By William Malley–
On Jan. 21, 14 Gonzaga students attended the March for Life rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The March for Life rally is comprised of people who believe in life from conception, a concept taught by the Catholic Church.
Unlike previous marches, this year the Gonzaga group was limited by Gonzaga’s covid protocols on what they could or could not do.
“The March for Life was interesting, but we were limited in what we could do…. We couldn’t actually go into the crowd,” said Andrew O’Brien, senior.
Instead, Gonzaga students who went to this year’s March, prayed on the mall and then walked the route before the March officially began.
“We were forced to limit the amount of students allowed to come and what we could participate in on the march due to COVID-19 protocols,” Ms. Maddie Davin, co-moderator of the L.E.A.D. (Love. Educate. Advocate. Deliver) club, explained.
Mr. Patrick Sullivan, the director of educational technology, helps as co-moderator of Gonzaga’s L.E.A.D club, as well. Mr. Sullivan shared how he became involved in the pro-life movement.
“The meaning of the movement clicked for me in eighth grade, and I started becoming more involved after that,” Mr. Sullivan explained.
He grew up attending Catholic schools and went on to major in and go to graduate school for religious studies and theology. He has vast knowledge on Catholic Social Teaching, being a religion teacher for the past eight years, and is anti-abortion.
Mr. Sullivan explained Catholic Social Teaching .
“Everyone should live a life of dignity, doing what they ought to do to live a life of virtue. People should not have autonomy, but should do what they want only if it coincides with what they ought to do,” Mr. Sullivan explained.
It is a Gonzaga tradition for a group of students to attend to the March for Life, and even though COVID-19 has changed what going on the march meant, the students’ commitment to end abortion prevailed.
“We decided to bring a smaller group to refocus the students on the real focus of the march—to end abortion,” Ms. Davin said.