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Writer's pictureDiocese of Boise

Idaho teens take part in D.C. march, activities

The following story appeared in the January 28 Idaho Catholic Register.

The Treasure Valley Teens for Life in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. The organization raises money throughout the year in order to attend the National March for Life. Its website is tvt4life.com. (Photo courtesy of Carol Brown)


Members of the Treasure Valley Teens for Life were well represented at this year’s National March for Life on Friday, Jan. 21 and the National Pro-Life Summit on the following day.


The Idaho young people raised money throughout the year to be able to attend the national march and participate in its related events.


Carol Brown, one of the group’s adult chaperones, provided the Idaho Catholic Register with a brief blog of the group’s activities.


Thursday night, Jan. 20

We attended the Life Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. There were lots of priests and seminarians there from all over the country, including about a dozen Bishops and seminarian Mónico Heredia (studying at St. Paul’s Seminary for the Diocese of Boise). Also attending was Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States.


Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore was the homilist. He spoke about the importance of walking with expecting moms and that everyone has a destiny. Even the very youngest, such as St. John the Baptist, leapt in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary, the mother of Jesus, approached Elizabeth. We saw the images projected on the Basilica bell tower from Catholics for Choice. One of the messages claimed that 1 in 4 abortion patients is Catholic. If true, that statement just showed us we have a lot of work to do. The messages from the pro-choice group did not ruin the peace we received being with so many pro-lifers at this special Mass.


Friday, Jan. 21

We spent the morning with the kind interns and staff of Sen. James Risch of Idaho. We toured the Capitol and ate lunch in Sen. Risch’s office. We were the first tour led by the senator’s staff in months. It was surreal seeing the Capitol so empty. We had the Rotunda to ourselves.


Because we were already at the Capitol, we had to backtrack to the start of the march since the march ends at the Capitol and the Supreme Court. However, that allowed us to be right at the beginning of the march. Attendance was down from previous marches, due to pandemic restrictions, but estimates still placed the numbers of marchers at 150,000, an amazing group of people. It was impressive to get that many people when it was so cold outside. The collection of people was as varied as the signs that identified atheists, other Christian denominations and political organizations. However, the majority of the marchers were clearly Catholic, with many young Catholics from colleges and high schools. We saw very few counter-protesters.


It was probably too cold for them.


Friday evening, we were able to see a preview of the movie, “Lifemark.” It is a true story based on the documentary, “Life on Parker Street.” The producer took questions and thoughts about editing and on the movie in general. They hope to have the movie released by this fall.


Saturday, Jan. 22

We attended the National Pro-Life Summit, a great day with nationally-known pro-life speakers such as former Vice President Mike Pence; political commentators Michael Knowles and Liz Wheeler; Alveda King, direc-tor of Civil Rights for the Unborn; and Catholic apologist Trent Horn.


Not as well-known but powerful witnesses were individuals who spoke who had survived abortion, many of them proponents of pro-life legislation.

We also heard attorneys from the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Clinic case recently heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. There was lots of discussion about life in a “post-Roe” America.


Sunday, Jan. 23

We attended Mass at the Sacred Heart Chapel, where Archbishop John Carroll, the first Bishop of America, had celebrated Mass. We then went to Arlington National Cemetery and prayed a rosary.


Interestingly, we were interviewed by LifeSite News and saw our picture (taken at the Life Mass in the Basilica) in an article on Catholic News Service.


The city’s museums and restaurants were so happy to have us here and thanked us for coming as we visited locations with our Celebrate Life hoodies with “Idaho” written down the sleeve.


Below is what some of our Treasure Valley Teens for Life said about the trip:


Mariah Colbert, 17: “The sheer amount of high school kids who shared the belief that life needs to be protected was incredibly inspirational. After attending a high school in Berkeley, Calif., it was really comforting to know that there are thousands of high schools kids who fight for the things I fight for.


Sophie Campana, 18: “Just seeing all the signs around us and feeling the energy of the entire march was an incredible experience. There were so many different cities and states represented. I even met someone who had travelled from Ireland just to join the National March for Life. The march is the most moving event that I have ever been part of. I firmly believe that I am part of the ‘post-Roe’ generation.”


Davis Greenwood, 17: It was beautiful to see all the Catholics at the National Basilica. It felt like home, seeing everyone from across the country gathered in one place. It was amazing and peaceful. At the march, you could feel the energy around you. It was very hopeful!


Ben Brown, 16: The summit was so amazing! I learned so much about how to be more effective in saving babies and helping moms.


Serenity Ryan, 14: It was so inspiring to see how many people were excited to march. It made me happy to see so many people excited to defend life and to shut down Planned Parenthood.


Thomas Brown, 18: It’s crazy how the media will report about someone projecting an image on the side of a church, but will report so little about 100,000 people marching in Washington, D.C.


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