By Press Release
Last Saturday, a group of Islanders travelled to Portsmouth to take part in a well-attended public procession and prayers, organised by the Friars of the Marian Franciscans, based in Copnor.
The procession took place through Portsmouth ending at the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Memorial in Commercial Road. The theme was to show and promote reparations for the ‘horrors of abortion’, and to give public witness to the Holy Rosary and Mary, the Mother of Christ. It was at this time in 1968 that the Abortion Act was passed by Parliament.
The statue of Our Lady of Fatima, a major pilgrimage shrine in Portugal, was carried in procession while prayers were recited. Around 150 people of all ages were present as the statue, adorned with flowers, was placed in front of the memorial fountain and rosaries were prayed and hymns sung. Portsmouth’s Saturday shoppers looked on, with some asking about the event and what it was praying for.
The assembly ended with a poem read by the poet, Edmund Matyjaszek from Ryde, entitled “Queen of Flowers”. A copy hangs in the Lady Chapel at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Ryde.
Rufus Pickles - Local Democracy Reporter