40 Days for Life a year-round commitment

As Toronto’s 40 Days for Life campaign draws to a close Nov. 1, organizers are adamant that the call to protect unborn life while supporting expectant mothers extends well beyond the annual vigil. 

This year’s campaign is once again headed by David González, who for the past three years has brought together participants for 40 days of prayer and peaceful demonstrations near a Toronto abortion clinic. There, pro-life supporters have been gathering to pray for the protection of unborn life and women facing crisis pregnancies. 

“ Once again, people could find us together in prayer just 50 metres away from an abortion clinic. We also partner with the St. Joseph's Centre of Hope for Women, whom we fundraise and volunteer with as well,” González said. 

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Taking place in the parking lot of St. Charles Borromeo Parish, González noted that while attendance has been difficult to measure due to the drop-in nature of the initiative, he was encouraged at seeing the faithful show up over in solidarity with the cause as in past years. 

The 2026 campaign will conclude on the Solemnity of All Saints, with a candlelight vigil followed by Holy Mass at St. Bernard de Clairvaux Parish. The closing gathering and dinner will also highlight the campaign’s partnership with St. Joseph’s Centre of Hope for Women, with organizers hoping to raise further funds and collect various baby items to support mothers and their children.

“It’s always nice on that final day to look back with a certain sense of accomplishment. It is usually a very big crowd, surrounded by candles, and we like to bring in Frank E. D’Angelo, president of the non-profit centre, to speak to what he continues to do at the pregnancy centre for expectant mothers,” González said. 

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Local Knights of Columbus are expected to attend the closing service as well, having pitched in supportive funds to the cause in the past. González also teased taking a moment to honour the venerable Jérôme Lejeune, the Catholic scientist who discovered the chromosomal cause of Down syndrome, with St. Bernard’s music ministry set to perform a pro-life number following the Mass.

While the closing event is admittedly a solemn time of reflection and appreciation for those continuing to support the pro-life cause in Toronto, organizers are stressing support should not end after 40 days. 

“The campaign is something of the prayer arm of the pro-life movement, and while I don't mean to diminish prayer, we should be doing things for women who find themselves in crisis pregnancies,” González said.  “Things like putting together baby baskets are a great idea. My youth group at my parish did ones with baby clothes, diapers and lotions, so that when a woman comes to the centre, D’Angelo would present her with these baskets. He always needs lots of good-quality donations.” 

Further opportunities to volunteer, donate financially and support other organizations such as the Sisters of Life continue to provide ways for support year-round. 

For González, those extended opportunities are part of the campaign’s continued importance, one that lies in giving people a concrete way to live out their convictions through prayer, but also practical witness. 

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“This is one way to simply show that you care about the issue and use the power of prayer to do something concrete about it,” he said. 

The candlelight vigil will take place from 5-6 p.m. at Dufferin Street and Lawrence Avenue West, Toronto, ahead of the 6:30 p.m. closing Mass at St. Bernard de Clairvaux Parish, celebrated by Fr. Boniface Perri. 

A version of this article appeared in the November 01, 2026 issue of The Catholic Register with the headline "40 Days for Life a year-round commitment".