CHICAGO (LifeSiteNews) — LifeSiteNews’ billboard proclaiming that “Christ is King” has been erected in Chicago thanks to the generous support of readers.
Following a LifeFunder campaign in October, the massive 14-feet high, 48-feet wide “Christ is King” billboard has been put up in Chicago, Illinois, reminding all residents of Christ’s eternal Kingship.
“We hope to spread this initiative to every state, proclaiming the Kingship of Christ on billboards and supporting the overall mission of LifeSiteNews,” Tim Jackson, LifeSiteNews’ director of Life Petitions and Advocacy, declared.
The Chicago billboard is located near the highway, meaning that it is seen by hundreds, if not thousands, of commuters every day.
Already, LifeSiteNews has been able to proclaim the Kingship of Our Lord thanks to the generous support of LifeSite readers who donated to erect huge “Christ is King” roadside billboards in Kansas City, Nashville, Texas, Nebraska, and New Jersey.
Each board appeared on the highway for four weeks and was viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
In fact, LifeSite’s Nebraska billboard, located nearby an Omaha Planned Parenthood facility, was recently visited by pro-lifers on their relay walk for the unborn.
The 27 pro-lifers, including a one-year-old baby and a 80-year-old religious sister, stopped at the Omaha Planned Parenthood to pray before continuing their journey, during which they passed LSN’s billboard. The pro-lifers wore shirts reading “Remember the Unborn” while carrying the LIFE Runner banner.
John-Henry Westen, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of LifeSiteNews, explained that spreading Christ’s Kingship is more important now than ever, saying, “Mighty nations stumble; world war threatens; there’s destruction on the battlefield and also in the womb, and all this is happening because man has forgotten God.”
Westen explained that the billboards aim to fulfill the command of Pope Pius XI, who said that “men must look for the Peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ.”
“He urged that the faithful give public honor to Christ the King so that individuals and states would submit once more to the rule of their Savior,” Westen said of the past pope. “And that is why LifeSiteNews is raising up the image of Christ the King across the United States.”
The billboard’s haunting depiction of Christ and His Sacred Heart may be unfamiliar to many viewers, but it is special to Westen.
“That particular image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus came from my dad who was a daily communicant from the time he was a child,” Westen stated when the campaign was first launched.
“He had it for as long as I can remember, and I was always fascinated with it as a child especially because everywhere I went in the room the Lord‘s eyes would follow me.”
“Countless Rosaries were prayed in front of that depiction of the Sacred Heart, and I’m sure my dad gazed on Him as he took his last breath,” Westen continued. “I’ve tried for years to find that same image [elsewhere], but I’ve never been able to find it.”