SLU students 'Celebrate Life'
Kristen Goehausen
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Students for Life sponsors Celebrate Life Week and began planning for the event following the March for Life in January.
"The events are planned and executed by our dedicated members," said Maria Thorson, president of Saint Louis University's Students for Life. "Speakers this year include James Hitchcock of SLU's history department and Mrs. Lorraine Barnett of Open Arms Crisis Pregnancy Center in Columbia, Mo. The Campion Society is also sponsoring a speaker, Dr. William Brennan of the School of Social Service."
Celebrate Life Week kicked off Sunday at 10 p.m. Mass. Monday, Students for Life held a Celebrate Life Festival in the Quad including free food, balloons, music and information.
"We really wanted to start the week off with a strong celebratory atmosphere, and I feel it was a success," Thorson said. "People were out, with us in the Quad having fun, enjoying the cotton candy, balloons and music and they were also getting information about fetal development," Thorson said.
Wednesday, Professor William Brennan of the School of Service spoke on "Pope John Paul II's Confrontation with the Language Powering the Culture of Death."
Hitchcock and Barnett will speak tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Carlo Auditorium on "Abortion: Male and Female Perspectives."
"In planning this event, we wanted to address pro-life issues, particularly abortion, from an angle that emphasized the personal aspect of decision-making and moral responsibility," Thorson said. "We also wanted to make people aware of the wonderful alternatives to abortion that have been powerful positive influences in the lives of so many women who have had crisis pregnancies."
Celebrate Life Week will close with a Concluding Prayer Vigil at the gazebo in Laclede Town Park near Olive Garage at 3 p.m. on Friday.
"Students for Life has no official religious affiliation, and people of all faiths are welcome," Thorson said. "We invite anyone who wishes to participate to join us in the rosary, prayerful reflection and song as we celebrate the precious gift of life and remember those whose lives are threatened by the injustices of our world."
How will this year's Celebrate Life Week differ from last year's?
"Celebrate Life Week is different every year because it is a product of the members' hard work and creativity," Thorson said. "The 'Celebrate Life Across the Lifespan' theme is unique to this year, as is the festival."
Students for Life chose the "Celebrate Life Across the Lifespan" theme to show the diversity of life issues that society faces, including abortion, cloning, embryonic stem cell research, capital punishment and euthanasia.
Students for Life also focuses on topics such as poverty, suicide and drug abuse.
"This week is about celebrating all human life, from conception to natural death, and raising awareness of the threats to life that exist in our society--a society that has been labeled a 'culture of death,'" Thorson said.
"The events generally have a positive, celebratory tone, but we are dealing with serious issues. We feel that these threats to the most basic rights of life and to human dignity are severe injustices that cannot be tolerated, and we would like to promote dialogue and knowledge of facts," Thorson said.