Institute shows young leaders how to take pro-life message to streets
By Debbie Shelley
Catholic News Service
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Young pro-life leaders at a leadership seminar in Baton Rouge moved from "seat work" to "feet work," taking what they learned about developing communication skills on right-to-life issues into the community.
The leaders -- about 30 high school and college students -- attended the first Joshua Leadership Institute at the Catholic Life Center of the Diocese of Baton Rouge July 11-15. The five-day event is co-sponsored by the Knights of Columbus and Louisiana Right to Life.
"Through lecture and interactive presentations, or 'seat work,' students are educated and prepared to defend life, but not until they go out and put it into practice, or 'feet work,' do they realize they can 'change so much,' as one student commented," said Ben Clapper, director of Louisiana Right to Life.
He told the Catholic Commentator, Baton Rouge's diocesan newspaper, that the institute covers all aspects of life, from conception to death. It includes presentations on embryonic stem-cell research and end-of-life care.
For three years, Louisiana Right to Life and the Knights have held Camp Joshua, a weekend event, at different locations around the state in the spring. But the time was right to launch the longer, more intense Joshua institute, Clapper said.
Elsewhere in the country, Oregon Right to Life holds Camp Joshua. The organization's Web site says it is the Northwest's only pro-life leadership camp. Wisconsin Right to Life holds what it calls Teens for Life Training Camps.
In Baton Rouge, participants heard from Dr. John Bruchalski, who formerly performed abortions and who now runs a thriving pro-life medical clinic in Fairfax, Va.
Bruchalski described what an abortion is, how abortion affects both women and men and how his listeners can promote life for the unborn. After his presentations, the youths visited the Care Pregnancy Clinic and saw a live ultrasound and listened to a mock counseling session.
Steve Wagner from Justice for All, a Kansas-based training program for pro-life leaders, taught the youths how to "reclaim their campus for life" with tips on how to speak effectively with people about abortion. The next day, the institute attendees went to Louisiana State University's Free Speech Alley, student center and main quadrangle to survey students about abortion.
Free Speech Alley, first initiated by students in the 1960s, is an area on campus that provides a forum for debating various issues.
Heidi Leonard, 16, of Covington said it was interesting to note that while many of the students they talked to said they were pro-life, their answers on their surveys showed they were not clear on what they believe about the issue or that they held a "more pro-choice" point of view.
Maria Graham, a sidewalk counselor from Dallas, trained the youths in sidewalk counseling and accompanied them as they prayed in front of a local abortion facility.
The participants also heard from and spent time with Bobby Schindler, brother of Terri Schiavo, who died in 2005 after a lengthy legal battle that resulted in a Florida court ordering her feeding tube removed. Schindler encouraged the students to speak for the vulnerable at all stages of life.
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