The Archdiocese of Los Angeles presented its 12th annual OneLife LA event at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on Saturday, which included a greeting by Archbishop José Gómez, presentations in the cathedral plaza by prominent Catholic speakers, music, and a milelong walk through the surrounding community.
The archbishop celebrated a Requiem Mass for the Unborn at the conclusion of the walk. While opposition to abortion is a key motivation behind the event, organizers listed eight other focus areas: homelessness, human trafficking, end of life, foster care and adoption, the environment, the disabled, racism, and immigration. The event included the presentation of a Dr. Tirso del Junco grant of $10,000 to the Knights of Columbus to aid women in crisis pregnancy situations.
In a bilingual welcome to participants, Gómez referenced the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States and declared that the country was founded on “the truth that God has endowed all men and women with the right to life.”
It is the government’s role to secure its citizens’ rights, he continued, but stressed that OneLife LA was not a political movement but a religious one, “a stirring of the heart and conscience … where every human life is sacred.”
Isaac Cuevas, archdiocesan senior director of the Office of Life, Justice, and Peace, an organizer of OneLife LA, said the event had an “amazing” turnout of nearly 5,000 people to “uphold the dignity of every human life.”
He continued: “We believe OneLife LA brings participants closer to their faith and brings a sense of community to our city around pro-life issues.”
OneLife LA is unique among the nation’s pro-life walks, he believes, as “there is a whole gamut of life issues on which we focus, such as caring for the elderly and concern for the persecution of Christians; we look at what’s going on in the country and throughout the world.”
Among those in attendance were many from religious communities, including the Carmelite Sisters of Alhambra. Three participated in the plaza event and walk, and 10 in the Mass that followed.
Sister Teresa Christine said the community participates in the event annually, as it is “a beautiful opportunity to be with other Catholics to speak up for life and to be united in love for every human life.”
The sisters enjoy engaging with other Catholics they meet at the event, she said, as “we love to see everyone’s passion and to hear their stories.” Among the participants with whom she spoke, she said, was one young woman who had previously identified herself as pro-choice but had had a change of heart and was participating in her first pro-life walk.
Ken Rose, California state deputy for the Knights of Columbus, received the Dr. Tirso del Junco grant on behalf of the Knights. He indicated that the money would be distributed among 20 pro-life pregnancy centers in the Los Angeles basin, including for the purchase of ultrasound machines.
Other speakers at the event included burn victim Sofia Alatorre Gonzalez, who told the story of her injury, and Nora Yesenia, a pro-life educator who told the story of her recent difficulties in pregnancy and introduced her baby daughter Victoria to the crowd.
‘We need one another’
El Paso, Texas, Bishop Mark Seitz served as the closing speaker, who lamented: “We’ve lost the idea that every human life is a blessing, and that we have obligations to one another.”
These include such persons, he said, as the unborn, sick and elderly, the imprisoned, and others: “Every human person is a blessing from God,” he said.
“We need one another,” he asserted, telling the story of growing up in a family of 10 children and having his father abandon the family, only to return 40 years later. Despite his father’s failings, the family cared for him during a lengthy period of his mental decline, resulting in his death at age 93 in 2024. He concluded that “we need one another” and that he would not have traded his time with his father for anything.
He concluded: “May Jesus Christ, who loved us even when we did not love him, be praised.”
The Los Angeles walk route did have a smattering of protestors, Sister Teresa Christine shared. She said of one: “He’d heckle us, and we’d yell back, ‘We love you anyway.’ Our response was one of love.”
