The national headquarters of the American TFP bustled with life on the weekend of the annual March for Life, January 19-22. From coast to coast, guests gathered for informative lectures, lively discussions and camaraderie. At the event, college students battling the pervasive Cultural Revolution renewed their desire and enthusiasm to struggle for the restoration of Catholic culture and principles.
The conference, “Beyond Pro-Life: Why We Must Challenge the Whole Cultural Revolution,” addressed the root causes of abortion, tracing the origin of today’s crisis back to the humanism born of the Renaissance. Students were also encouraged to analyze the current culture and discern how dress, manners, art, music, and entertainment influence hearts and minds and set society on a destructive collision course against God and His divine law.
Sparking great interest was a talk delivered by H.I.R.H. Prince Bertrand of Orleans-Braganza: Chastity: An Ideal of Catholic Chivalry. To illustrate how purity is a virtue worthy of true manhood, Prince Bertrand recounted a marvelous deed of Godfrey of Bouillon, leader of the First Crusade, who enjoyed outstanding physical strength. To measure such strength, a sultan once asked him to cut off the head of a camel, which he did with a single blow. The astonished Muslim asked what the secret of his strength was. The crusader replied that his secret was “never to have sinned against the virtue of chastity.”
Other riveting lectures expounded upon topics such as innocence, knighthood, confidence and the role of the laity in temporal society. TFP Student Action members also shared stories of their adventures while promoting traditional moral values on university campuses.
Pro-life leaders from Brazil, France, Germany, Italy and South Africa also attended the event, eager to represent their countries at the March for Life in Washington, D.C. on January 22.
Colin Sallinger, a student at Louisiana State University, enjoyed the event: “I am truly blessed to have had such an opportunity. It’s great to see that there are still people out there who refuse to swallow what the liberal media is constantly trying to shove down our throats,” he said.
At Holy Mass on Monday morning prior to the March for Life, participants spiritually prepared themselves not only to march against the sin of abortion, but vigorously oppose the whole Cultural Revolution and thus go beyond pro-life.
Just as the Crusaders of old said the most beautiful adventure in the world was theirs, those now engaged in the cultural war for Christian civilization can say their adventure is equally beautiful and even more critical.