Crossroads pro-life walkers pray for the unborn

Intermountain Catholic

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The Crossroads walkers from across the United States pray for an end to abortion in front of the Utah Women's Clinic June 14. IC photo/Christine Young

SALT LAKE CITY — "I am walking for the sanctity of life for the unborn, but I am also walking for the silent majority who believe in pro-life but have not yet found their voice," said Carlos Rivas, who leads the Crossroads walkers.

Three groups of Crossroads walkers from the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville, Ohio, left Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles May 24, to walk across America. They will meet in Washington D.C. August 15 for a pro-life rally. From the Pacific coast to the Atlantic, these simultaneous walks for life will cover over 11,000 miles, pass through 38 states, two provinces, and thousands of towns and cities. The Crossroads walkers who started their journey across the United States in San Francisco passed through Salt Lake City June 13-15.

"We walk 60 miles a day for about 20 hours each day and 300 miles each week," said Rivas. "We have a day shift and a night shift. The day shift starts after Mass each day and walks until about 7 p.m., then we stop for dinner. The night shift walks from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. We have a support vehicle that travels with us, and we sleep in a recreational vehicle.

"It is nice on the weekends when we stay with host families and get to sleep in real beds," said Michaela Lawless, who is a Crossroads walker from Tulsa, Okla.

Crossroads was started by a group of college students from the University of Steubenville in response to Servant of God Pope John Paul II’s call to the youth of America at World Youth Day in Denver in 1993, to ‘build a Culture of Life’.

The Crossroads walkers began the day June 14, with Mass at the Cathedral of the Madeleine before walking to the Utah Women’s Clinic on 500 South and 400 East. Deacon John Bash and his wife, Ileana, led the group as they prayed the rosary on the way to the clinic. The Diocesan Family Life Office sponsored the Crossroads Walkers.

"I really did not fully understand what the pro-life movement was until I went to an abortion clinic in Pittsburgh and really observed up close what was going on," said Rivas, who is from Miramar, Fla., is a pre-theology student at Steubenville, and also discerning the priesthood. "The women had scared faces, and the frightened images of them was burned into my heart. I had to fight through a lot of anger in Pittsburgh because they have pro-choice escorts who block sidewalk counselors from talking to these women. They surround the women and they have laws that say you cannot be within so many feet of the women. I initially went to pray peacefully, but I was drawn to what was going on around me. I could feel the devil’s presence there. That inspired me to walk with Crossroads. But I feel there is hope for America and hope for an end to abortion."

Lawless, a free-lance graphic designer for Catholic Answers in San Diego, became involved in the walk at the last minute. She was in California for a graduation, knew of the walkers, and checked the website to see when they were leaving. They were leaving the same day she was going to fly home to Oklahoma, but felt the Holy Spirit wanted her to walk.

"I am so grateful I am walking," said Lawless. "Within the group there is a real sense of unity because of our mission. You really build relationships that are going to last well beyond this walk. These relationships help to strengthen your own faith. People are amazed when they see our pro-life shirts, and it is a wonderful witness to people. It gives you a feel for the apostles who went out to teach others."