March for Life at DePaul

WAYNE  They are the voices of the pro-life generation — youth and young adults — who are leading the human rights battle of their lifetime that life in the womb is sacred. For the past two decades, the numbers of high school and college students attending the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. shows this young generation will not be silent and will be a strong voice for the voiceless in the womb.

At DePaul Catholic High School here, students gathered for an outdoor afternoon rally Jan. 29, the same day as the national March for Life, which was held virtually for the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bishop Kevin Sweeney was the keynote speaker at the DePaul March for Life.

In his talk to the students outside on the steps of DePaul, the Bishop encouraged all to think about the Scripture reading from Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.”

“We are here as people of faith with respect, not imposing our beliefs, but part of what we are about today, my sisters and brothers, is human understanding and ability,” the Bishop said. “Take religion out of it. Just look at the science — biology. But you don’t even need science.”

“Where were you the day before your birthdate? In your mother’s womb. Our lives began before you were born — it’s a fact,” he told the students. “As people of faith, we believe God had us in God’s mind from the beginning of time. And he chose you to give you as a gift to your mom and dad and to the world. God has a plan.”

With abortion a divisive topic across the country, the Bishop told the students, “If there’s anything we learned from the past few months in our country, we have to find a way to talk and to listen to one another. To respect those who disagree with us. And yes, Jesus taught us to love even our enemies. You can make a difference.”

At the DePaul March, Father Jhon Madrid, chaplain, led the opening prayer and afterward, Jason Agnoli, a senior and student council president of DePaul, shared his experience attending the March for Life in Washington the previous year. “Life is sacred,” he told his fellow students. “It was incredible to see the tens of thousands of people all marching for the same cause and to be able to talk to others about what it means to be pro-life.”

“As Catholics we look at life from conception to natural death and everything that falls in between that,” Russell Petrocelli, principal of DePaul, said in his remarks. “Violence on our streets. The way we treat one another. Even our response to this insidious virus that is plaguing us. It’s important that we respect all aspects of life and that you are a part of that bringing to our world a culture of life as opposed to a culture of death.”

After the talks, the students and faculty along with the Bishop marched in front of the school’s oval in freezing temperatures on blustery winter’s day to be a witness for life. Some held signs as they came together in solidarity similar to the March for Life in Washington.

In closing, the Bishop said, “What is most important is that we love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. If we do that, we will have a culture of life. We can disagree on certain things, we can find a way to get through it together and respect one another, but especially, respect the gift of life that we all received.”