Young
pro-lifers rally at Philadelphia City Hall
By NADIA MARIA SMITH
CS&T Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA — The pro-life movement is taking on new vitality with
increasing numbers of young people committed to a culture of life, as
was evident at a rally Jan. 18 at City Hall.
The “Stand up for Life” demonstration drew students from Roman
Catholic High School for Boys, SS. John Neumann and Maria Goretti Catholic
High School, Cardinal Dougherty High School, Mercy Vocational High School
and Srath Haven High School in a challenge to city officials to put an
end to abortions in the City of Brotherly Love.
Priests, laity, young adults and alumni active in the pro-life movement
were also present for the hour-long rally, which included talks from teens
eager to spearhead a counter-revolution.
“Each and every one of us here knows what’s going on, and
knows that it has to change,” said Matt Woodruff, a student at Roman
Catholic High School who spoke at the rally. “Every day innocent
babies all over America are being murdered. … Let us all work so
that what has happened — and what has started when people stopped
listening and caring — can now be ended by us listening and caring.”
The interfaith rally was sponsored by Generation Life, the Pro Life Union
of Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Urban Family Council and Alpha Pregnancy
Services.
Clair Levis, a 17-year-old member of Generation Life’s Teen Board,
challenged her peers to make a difference, no matter how large or small,
using her own family of nine as an example.
She recalled that, as children, she and her siblings helped their mother
stuff pamphlets for use in sidewalk counseling outside abortion clinics.
“My mom would line us all up in assembly-line fashion, and we would
whip through six or seven boxes rapidly,” Levis told the crowd.
“In this little way, my family contributed to the pro-life movement.
As a family, we prayed for an end to abortion as well as for respect of
life from conception to natural death. …
“You don’t have to be rich or influential to make a difference,”
she said. “Simply do what you can do. All my family could do was
pray and stuff pamphlets, and that’s what we did. As I look back
now, I think that, just maybe, the love that we put into each pamphlet,
each Hail Mary, was passed from our little home to the counselor’s
hand to the mother’s hand and finally to her heart. I know somewhere
there is a baby saved because of that home-grown assembly line.”
The crowd also heard from Eddy “Strace” Lantigua of Cardinal
Dougherty High School, who performed his “Respect Life Rap.”
The rap song tells the story of Lantigua’s mother and the turmoil
she experienced when doctors warned that the body of her unborn son did
not have a spine, and that she should abort. She prayed for her son, had
him blessed in her womb by a priest, and carried him to term with faith.
When he was born, Lantigua said, he had no physical handicaps.
CS&T staff writer Nadia Maria Smith may be reached at npozo@ adphila.org
or (215) 965-4614
‘Board’
brings together and trains pro-life teens
By NADIA MARIA SMITH
CS&T Staff Writer
OVERBROOK — If you’re a teenager looking for others who are
committed to chastity and want to be taught how to become a leader in
the pro-life movement, Generation Life’s newest program is for you.
The Teen Board brings teens throughout the Archdiocese together, teaching
them to be dynamic pro-life leaders by helping them cultivate leadership
skills and deepen their knowledge of human sexuality, the importance of
chastity and the tragedy of abortion.
“I have grown up being taught to choose life, but a lot of times
parents don’t explain why. Teen Board really helps with that,”
said Claire Levis, a 17-year-old from St. John Chrysostom Parish in Wallingford.
For example, students learn how abortion became legal and the effects
of its legalization. They also learn how to present the chastity message
to their peers, how to articulate pro-life responses to some pro-abortion
claims and how to build a culture of life.
Teen Board meetings run from 9:30 a.m. to noon every second Saturday of
the month at Our Lady of Lourdes School in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia.
The meetings include a social, breakfast, a featured speaker and a discussion.
“It’s a fun two-and-a-half hours of interaction, education
and getting to know one another,” said Mary Worthington, the high
school outreach coordinator for Generation Life. She is also the Teen
Board’s organizer.
The board is open to all students, whether they go to Catholic, public
or private school or are homeschooled.
That is one of the strengths of the group, according to 16-year-old Liz
Coyle of Archbishop Carroll High School in Radnor.
“We get a lot of different perspectives … trying to fight
for a common cause,” Coyle said. “It’s a good idea to
get involved with other people who can help you fight the battles you
face everyday.”
There are other benefits as well, Worthington said.
“When students are looking at colleges, they need community service
hours and recommendations, and they need to show that they are an outstanding
person in the community — [someone] who has motivation and dedication.
It’s one way for them to show that they have what it takes to get
that scholarship, or get into that college and show they can make a difference
in the world,” Worthington said.
For more information about the Teen Board contact Mary Worthington at
mworthington@ generationlife.org or (215) 885-4668. You can learn more
about Generation Life by going to www.generationlife.org.
CS&T staff writer Nadia Maria Smith can be reached at npozo@adphila.org
or (215) 965-4614.