2026 fall 40 Days for Life campaign kicks off

The Diocese of Venice has launched its fall 40 Days for Life campaign, featuring peaceful prayer vigils at abortion facilities in Naples, Fort Myers, and Sarasota. The campaign runs daily from September 23 through November 1, 2026. Participants stand in vigil to pray for the unborn, parents, and an end to abortion in Florida and the United States.

A kickoff rally at the Fort Myers site drew about 60 people. Father Daniel Flens, a parochial vicar at St. Andrew Parish in Cape Coral, offered the opening prayer and invocation for the vigil. Paul Hellenbrand, who has led the Fort Myers campaign for more than a decade alongside her husband, Deacon Rick Hellenbrand, said she hopes this will be the last year they have to be there.