Lorna DesRoses, director of the Office of Black Catholics for the archdiocese, found the editorial powerful in light of the newspaper's place in the community.

"I think it is a very significant thing that the Bay State Banner has come out against Question Number 2. They are a very widely read paper within the black community, very well respected, with a long history within the community," she said.

Father Walter Waldron, pastor at St. Patrick Parish in Roxbury since 1984, said, "It was a real pleasure to see that editorial. It was short, but it was to the point."

Father Waldron said he cited the editorial at an annual pro-life Mass at his parish on Oct. 11, focused on maintaining dignity and respect for life, even as it ends.

Meyer Chambers, a parishioner at St. Katharine Drexel Parish in Roxbury and director of Boston's Black Catholic Choir, said the editorial separated itself from moral or religious grounds for opposing Question 2.

"That is something that we cannot do as Catholics, but as a black Catholic man I think it is really admirable to see that the Bay State Banner stands with us," he said.