As tens of thousands of pro-life advocates gathered in Washington, D.C., Jan. 24, for the 52nd National March for Life, more than 100 of our own diocesan youth were among the multitude.
The Diocesan March for Life Youth Pilgrimage, open to young people in grades 8-12, began the previous evening, as parish and high school groups arrived at EagleBank Arena on the campus of George Mason University for the Life Fest Rally. The morning of Jan. 24, Mass was celebrated in the arena, and the crowd of 8,000 strong headed to the heart of Washington, D.C., for the march.
“It was an inspiring experience,” said Landen Mina, who traveled with a parish group from St. Mark, Virginia Beach.
Mina, who is in eighth grade, said the dogma of the Immaculate Conception – that Mary was conceived without sin in order to bring Christ into the world – helped him understand how deeply God has planned each of our lives, even before the moment of our own conception.
“Abortion goes against that plan, and it sacrifices the dignity that we have as humans,” said Mina. “That’s what inspired me to go out and defend life.”
Even as a first-time attendee, Mina said he wasn’t too nervous. “I was with so many other teens, and they were all sharing their positive experience on the March for Life,” he said.
Another bulwark of support came in the form of our diocesan clergy. Mina described seeing waves of seminarians from the Diocese of Richmond and meeting with Bishop Barry C. Knestout after Mass.
“They were so supportive,” he said. “That’s one of the highlights of the trip for me.”
Violet Bailey, a sophomore at Catholic High School, Virginia Beach, and events coordinator for the Students for Life club, noted the sheer number of young people united for the cause.
“There were so many people from so many different places,” said Bailey. “There were so many high schoolers, but we all felt the same way – it was super cool.”
Fellow Students for Life club member Raul Acevedo, who serves as vice president, said that his favorite part of Life Fest was the opportunity to venerate the relics of St. John Paul II and St. Teresa of Calcutta. Now a senior at Catholic High, Acevedo’s attention to the pro-life cause was raised while he was in eighth grade.
“I had a friend in middle school who was adopted, and so was his brother. His mom had the option to abort him or put him up for adoption, and obviously, he was put up for adoption. It really opened my eyes to the fact that my good friend could have been killed,” said Acevedo.
“I didn’t even know it was an issue up until then,” said Acevedo. “When I heard about it, it sounded unreal. You wouldn’t put out a law making it legal to kill people in the street.”
Nolan Greene, fellow senior at Catholic High and the president of the Students for Life club, was also affected by a personal encounter he had in middle school. “My theology teacher in seventh grade gave his testimony – when his mom got an ultrasound when she was pregnant with him, all the doctors said he would be a vegetable, so there was no point continuing the pregnancy,” Greene recounted.
“Obviously, the guy went on to teach theology, and he was a really good teacher. It taught me that you shouldn’t have the right to decide whether a baby lives or dies before it’s born,” said Greene.
Alisz Buyaki, 17, attended both Life Fest and the March for Life with a parish delegation from St. Thomas Aquinas, Charlottesville. She enjoyed the performance at Life Fest by Catholic musician Matt Maher, and she was struck by the testimonies of women who had gone to the Sisters of Life for support.
“One woman spoke about how pressured she was feeling to have an abortion, and she ended up seeing some Sisters of Life and she decided not to,” Buyaki said. “Another spoke about how she did have an abortion, and several years later went to a Sisters of Life event and opened up to one of the sisters, and how she felt so loved and cared for by them.”
Greene was also impacted by the testimonies he heard during Life Fest.
“Probably one of the biggest, most impactful things was hearing how abortion can be like an industry … They tell people certain lies, like, ‘Fetuses are just a clump of cells, it doesn’t really matter,’” said Greene. “We heard from a mother who was considering an abortion about what the industry told her.”
Owen Talley, 17, had a simple reason for attending the pilgrimage with the St. Mark delegation: “I like babies, and keeping them alive is a good thing,” he said.
Talley added that he would be interested in returning next year – a sentiment shared by many of the youth, including those who have gone back year after year, like the delegation from Catholic High School.
“The sheer number of people is mind blowing. It’s a lot easier to fight and support when you’re surrounded by people who feel the same way,” said Acevedo.
“Seeing how many people my age were really into it shows how much we all really care,” said Buyaki. “It’s really inspiring.”
Read more about the National March for Life.