Praying for life:
Youths’ presence highlights March for Life

By Katie Berger
Special to The Criterion

Archdiocesan youths felt a renewed confidence and enthusiasm during the March for Life on Jan. 23 after Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore told them the night before that the number of abortions is at its lowest since 1975.

Cardinal Keeler attributed much of the decrease to the gradual change in attitude among young people—a statement he made during his homily to an overflowing crowd of more than 6,000 pilgrims at the Pro-Life Vigil Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Jan. 22 in Washington, D.C.

The reality of abortion is what annually brings thousands of primarily young pilgrims to the March for Life in Washington, D.C.

“The opposition to abortion is strongest among the youth,” the cardinal said.

Nearly 500 archdiocesan youth and chaperones formed the archdiocesan-sponsored pilgrimage, making the trip by the busload.

Pilgrims riding four archdiocesan buses joined buses from Roncalli High School in Indianapolis, the Indianapolis North and Batesville deaneries, and St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis to participate in the 33rd annual March for Life.

Mikey Padilla, a Columbus North High School sophomore from St. Bartholomew Parish in Columbus, said he felt reassured by seeing the number of youth gathered, many of whom seemed similar to him.

“It’s pretty cool that the average kid is now pro-life,” Mikey said.

Year after year, the consistent witness of archdiocesan young people in Washington is a testament to their determination to defend the dignity of each human life, participants said.

“I think that it’s a sign that our younger people recognize that life truly is a gift from God,” said Father Bill Williams, the chaplain at Father Thomas Scecina Memorial High School and associate pastor at St. Simon the Apostle Parish, both in Indianapolis.

“I believe that with the persistence that we have, people will come to see the truth that abortion is evil,” said Jeff Read, a sophomore at Marian College and resident of the Bishop Bruté House of Formation in Indianapolis, who is a seminarian for the Evansville Diocese.

Changing laws regarding abortion will help but it won’t end abortion, according to Father Jonathan Meyer, associate director of youth and young adult ministry and associate pastor of Our Lady of the Greenwood Parish in Greenwood.

“If we change laws to make abortions illegal, they will still happen,” Father Meyer said. “We need to change hearts.”

That change of heart comes when youth understand the value of chastity, Father Williams said.

“When chastity is important,” he

said, “then obviously the gift of life is important.”

Emily Wethington, a junior at Scecina from St. Michael Parish in Greenfield, participated in the national pro-life march for the first time.

Emily said the pilgrimage was “kind of breathtaking because I didn’t know that many [young people] felt the same way. I feel that it’s just wrong to take [the lives of] innocent human beings who don’t get a chance to live.”

Through their determination and pro-life service, Emily and thousands of other young people who participated in the march are a part of the generation that can make a positive shift toward what Cardinal Keeler called “the triumph of life.”

(Katie Berger is the youth ministry coordinator at St. Barnabas Parish in Indianapolis.) †