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| 21 Feb 2009: Ali with Colleen Bayer and little Elizabeth |
Shortly after returning from Rome Ali received a call from Colleen asking if she would speak at the FLI conference in New Zealand later in the year in October. She was delighted to go, even though she was very unwell for most of the trip. Apart from a pilgrimage to Lourdes six months before died, it was Ali's last overseas' trip, and was the occasion of her last major talk. Ali did not generally speak publicly on religious topics, but in New Zealand she spoke (among other things) of her conversion from atheism to Catholicism, and how suffering with Christ is "the greatest privilege possible in the world."
The friendship with Colleen and her family developed not only in New Zealand , but on subsequent visits to our home in Dorset when Colleen was in the UK. Colleen even came over from New Zealand solely to be present at Ali's funeral in December 2013. Clearly, Colleen had much regard for Ali, but it was a mutual regard, and a friendship that Ali treasured. Ali was impressed not only with what Colleen had done to promote the cause of life through FLI, but that she embraced the cause personally, at considerable cost, within her own family, by her selfless dedication to those with particular needs. There are many great people in the pro-life movement, and Colleen Bayer (with her husband Terry) is among the best of them.
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