St. Pius X holds Respect Life Events
by Benjamin Shane Evans | October 20, 2026
Many parishes in the Diocese of Des Moines honored Respect Life Month with various events. Here are two examples of Respect Life Month, which occurred at St. Pius X parish in Urbandale.
Life Chain
The Life Chain was held along the sidewalk on Douglas Avenue in front of St. Pius X Catholic Church, Des Moines. The hour and a half long event included about 30 participants including adults, children, and associate pastor Fr. John Owusu Agyemang, who led songs and prayers, including the Rosary.
Roger and Cathy Soukup, Respect Life coordinators for St. Pius X parish, said that the primary goal for the event was a public witness for respect for life that focused on pro-life messages.
“We want to continue witnessing in respect for life as much as we can,” Cathy said. “One of the signs said about adoption being a loving option to choose. If an expectant mom who feels like she can't keep the baby can choose adoption, so it's kind of different messages in respect for life through the signs and being out in the public.”
Roger agreed and added that even with the Dobbs decision from the Supreme Court, it is important to continue to change hearts and minds.
“Law doesn't necessarily do it,” Roger said. “As we all know, you can have a law that says it's illegal to kill someone, it's illegal to rob someone. But it will still happen. If you if you can change the thinking of the people so that that in their minds, it's not right to rob someone or kill someone, and it's not right to have an abortion, then you're not just relying on a law to try to enforce it.”
Participants held signs that covered themes such as “Abortion hurts women,” “Adoption: the loving option,” and included Spanish-language outreach.
The Rosary Rally
The Rosary Rally occurred on Saturday, October 10, near the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun, which was on Tuesday, October 13. The event was held outside at St. Pius X near the church’s bell tower and began with the Angelus, followed by prayers, hymns, litanies, and the Rosary. Participants of many ages, including youth and seniors participated, as well as two sisters.
The rally was part of a national “America Needs Fatima” event, which included synchronized prayer across the country. It prayed for the nation, including respect life issues and protection of vulnerable people, as part of a devotion to Mary’s Immaculate Heart, according to the event’s website.
The event commemorated the Miracle of the Sun, which occurred on October 13, 1917, at Fatima, Portugal. According to the America Needs Fatima website, that day in October was “a day in which 70,000 people witnessed a miracle of biblical proportions, a miracle that can only be called ‘apocalyptic’ in its magnitude.” During the 1917 occurrence, tens of thousands witnessed the sun change following monthly apparitions of Mary to three children starting the previous May.
Roger said the St. Pius X event brought people together across the nation in devotion to Mary.
“You have people in a very divided time in our country, and in the world, a very divided time,” he said. “[Coming together in prayer] is a feeling of something that people are doing together. That there's a common purpose or a common attitude of petition and prayer.”