California
|
Share:

The day after their New England counterparts joined hundreds of thousands of Americans in marching for life in Washington, D.C,. the students of Thomas Aquinas College, California, made the case for life on the West Coast at the 16th annual Walk for Life in San Francisco.

The College’s students have participated in every Walk for Life since the event’s founding in 2005. This year, at the request of the Walk’s organizers, they once again took on volunteer positions, directing traffic and crowds along the streets of San Francisco. The women of the College also helped to lead the parade, bringing considerable energy and spirit to the effort! (See video, below.)

The journey to the Walk for Life 2020 began after the close of classes on Friday, when some 250 California students boarded three coach buses. They arrived late in the night at North Beach’s Saints Peter and Paul Church in San Francisco, where the Salesian fathers graciously offered them places to sleep. The next morning, they attended Mass and then headed over to the Civic Center Plaza for the Walk.

Clad in their red sweatshirts, the College’s students prayed, sang, and peacefully called for an end to abortion alongside more than 50,000 fellow walkers. They also spoke candidly to various media outlets about their commitment to the protection of all human life.

“We read a lot of philosophy and science and history, and I would say we learn what life is, we learn who man is, we learn what the purpose of man is,” junior Stephen Cyr told EWTN News. “Every  person, every human being, has a right to life. No one has the right to take that away from them.” Addressing her fellow women, junior Katie Beckman added, “You don’t have to sacrifice your child in order to achieve your dreams. Children bring us to even greater dreams.” And senior Peter Reilly told viewers of NBC News, “Our school and my friends have been praying for an overturning of Roe v. Wade."

When they reached the end of the Walk, the students celebrated with joy and enthusiasm:

Finally, on Sunday morning, the students made the 375-mile trip back to campus, tired, but grateful — grateful for the benefactors who helped sponsor their trip, for the prayers of countless well-wishers and friends, and for the opportunity to bear witness to the Culture of Life.

Walk for Life 2020
  • Walk for Life 2020
  • Walk for Life 2020
  • Walk for Life 2020
  • Walk for Life 2020
  • Walk for Life 2020
  • Walk for Life 2020
  • Walk for Life 2020
  • Walk for Life 2020
  • Walk for Life 2020
  • Walk for Life 2020
  • Walk for Life 2020
  • Walk for Life 2020
  • Walk for Life 2020
  • Walk for Life 2020
  • Walk for Life 2020
  • Walk for Life 2020
  • Walk for Life 2020
  • Walk for Life 2020
  • Walk for Life 2020