Pro-life college students walk across America

Intermountain Catholic

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The Crossroads pro-life group walks to the Utah Women's Clinic to pray for those without a voice. Most of the people they meet are positive about their cause and amazed they would give up their summer.

SALT LAKE CITY — Students from colleges and universities across the country are walking over 10,000 miles through 38 states and through thousands of towns and cities on a pro-life pilgrimage with Crossroads.

There are three Crossroads pro-life walks across America going on simultaneously. The walks began in Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles May 18, and will end simultaneously Aug. 12, at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D. C.

The 13 Crossroads walkers who began their journey in San Francisco were in Salt Lake City June 10-11. They began their peaceful protest against abortion at a Mass at the Cathedral of the Madeleine celebrated by Father Anastasius Twuoha. In his homily, he thanked the walkers for being so open and bold about what they believe in and for being steadfast in their faith. Fr. Twuoha, who is from Nigeria, is the parochial vicar at St. Thomas More Parish, Sandy.

"Crossroads was founded in 1994 by Steve Sanborn, a student at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, in response to Pope John Paul II’s call to take an active role in the pro-life movement at World Youth Day in Denver, Colo., in 1993," said Dave Kelch, Crossroads group leader. "Pope John Paul II said, ‘Do not be afraid to go out into the highways and preach the gospel of life.’ We walk as witnesses for the dignity and sanctity of all human life from the moment of conception to natural death."

Kelch is from Pittsburgh, Pa., and attends West Virginia University. He is working on his Master’s Degree in secondary education.

"We walk 10 to 15 miles each day in shifts," said Kelch. "Half of us sleep in the RV (recreational vehicle), while the other half of us walk both day and night during the week. On weekends we are in cities or towns and we speak to parish groups to encourage pro-life activism in each community. We also raise funds for food, gasoline, and other expenses which help us get across America. We stay with host families on the weekends.

"During our walk, we stop at women’s clinics to participate in prayerful, peaceful protests and sidewalk counseling," said Kelch. "We tell youth groups that abortion has taken one-third of our generation and it is up to the young people to be active and make changes."

Following Mass, the Crossroads walkers walked to the Utah Women’s Clinic at 515 South 400 East, Salt Lake City, to pray the rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and prayed silently.

Walking across America for Kelch has been an adventure and a way to proclaim his faith. The group is offering up their summer to change the hearts of people in this country to put an end to abortion.

Crossroads walker Ellie Delahunt said this is a cause about which she is passionate because babies are so innocent and fragile. She is passionate because her parents adopted her younger brother when he was 2 years old and she was 9 years old. Delahunt just graduated from the University of Illinois and heard about Crossroads through the Newman Center.

"My brother was a family member’s child who could have easily been aborted," said Delahunt. "Having him in my life has helped me to see adoption as an option for those mothers who do not feel up to the reality of motherhood. My brother makes the pro-life movement a passion for my family."

"We pray as we walk to protect those who cannot protect themselves and those without a voice," said Delahunt. "Physically I enjoy running, so I was not worried about walking 10 to 15 miles each day, but my body had to adjust. Spiritually I took a leap of faith in the people I would be with and with whom I would be centered around a cause. I trusted God to take care of me."

According to statistics since abortion became legal in 1973, more than 42 million abortions have occurred in the U.S. Women under the age of 25 have 52 percent of abortions and teenagers have 19 percent. Two-thirds of all abortions are had by women who have never been married, more than 60 percent are women who have one or more children, 43 percent of women having abortions are Protestant, and 27 percent of women having abortions are Catholic.