‘Those women are so brave’

Teens from Miami are ‘surprised and exhilarated’ by participation in annual March for Life in Washington.

DANIEL SOÑÉ | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Posted: 01.23.09

DANIEL SOÑÉ | FC
Prior to the march, people gather around the stage to listen to one of the speakers during the Life Rally.

WASHINGTON | Although they got up at 6 a.m., 130 high school students from the Archdiocese of Miami arrived too late at the Verizon Center. By 7:30 a.m., the arena, with a seating capacity for more than 20,000, was full.

Only two members of the Miami delegation were able to get in and attend the Mass and youth rally that preceded the annual March for Life Jan. 22 in Washington, D.C. But the alternative proved worthwhile: attending a Mass celebrated by Miami Auxiliary Bishop Felipe Estevez and the group’s chaplain, Augustinian Father Richard Mullen.

“It was really nice and great to have Bishop Estevez celebrate Mass with us in the hotel,” said Jim Dugard, chairman of the religion department and director of campus ministry at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami.

Father Eric Zegeer, parochial vicar of All Saints Parish in Sunrise, was among the priests concelebrating Mass at the Verizon Center prior to the March for Life Jan. 22.

DANIEL SOÑÉ | FC
Father Eric Zegeer, parochial vicar of All Saints Parish in Sunrise, was among the priests concelebrating Mass at the Verizon Center prior to the March for Life Jan. 22.

After the Mass, the group made its way over to the National Mall and experienced the truth of Dugard’s words the night before: “You will be marching with 500,000 of your closest friends and family for life.”

“I was surprised to see so many people there for the same cause,” said Chris Diaz, 17, a senior at Archbishop Curley Notre Dame High School in Miami.

Alexandra Di Armas, 18, a senior at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy in Miami, also said she was impressed by the margin by which pro-lifers outnumbered the opposition.

“At the end of the march we ran into three pro-choice people,” she said. “When we asked them why they were pro-choice, they just said, ‘Because it’s legal.’ That is all they could say. I guess to be surrounded by so many thousands of pro-life people was intimidating to the only pro-choice people we saw.”

The group marched from the National Mall, around the Capitol to the Supreme Court, which handed down the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. There, countless red roses, each one representing an aborted child, were laid against the steel barricades which blocked off the court’s steps.

Adjacent to the short wall of rose flowers, women from the Silent No More Awareness Campaign shared their testimony about their abortions.

The courage of these women deeply impacted Alexandra. “Those women are so brave. To have the courage to admit to having an abortion, regretting it and reaching out to other women is ‘wow.’”

The March for Life experience affected not only the students, but also Deacon Louis Phang Sang of Archbishop Curley Notre Dame High School.

“The experience has been really exhilarating for me because I saw so many young people present there. It showed me hope, but not just hope alone. It was hope based on faith. I have learned that life continues through them. What I perceived from these students was growth. I feel they have grown from this and so have I,” he said.

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