CROSSROADS
— Brother Paul Weber, a Franciscan from Nova Scotia, is one of
a small group of people walking across Canada in support of the unborn.
Young
people cross country in support of life
By Frank Flegel
REGINA — There are
just seven of them walking across Canada but their message, that all
human life is sacred, reaches thousands.
“I am the oldest of
seven children,” said Frances Platt, a teacher who joined the
other six marchers in Saskatoon. “My whole family values life
and I just think it’s important to stand up for it.”
The group is led by Brother
Paul Weber, a Franciscan monk from a Nova Scotia community.
“As a group it’s
been a very powerful experience as they see us walk with the cross as
we go through the cities and towns,” he said. “They know
what we’re about and ask us questions. And because we’re
young a lot of people are drawn to ask, ‘What are making these
young people do this?’ and we explain we’re out to change
hearts and minds.”
Weber said they have had
people express a change of heart about abortion after talking with the
group.
They began the walk May 14
in Vancouver and will finish in Ottawa Aug. 14, walking 25 kilometres
a day, day and night, in shifts.
They spent two days in Regina
giving talks in churches and, together with a few local people from
Regina Pro-Life, held a short prayer service in front the General Hospital.
Led by Weber, the group walked up and down the avenue that leads to
the hospital’s main entrance, holding their posters proclaiming
the sanctity of life and the down side of abortion.
The message brought to the
churches was threefold: to pray for the group, spread the word about
the unborn and provide donations to help sustain the group in their
walk.
This is the third year for
what has become an annual walk in Canada following what began in the
United States in 1995 by a group called Crossroads: Taking Steps to
Save Lives.
It is estimated that more than 2,000 abortions are carried out in Saskatchewan each year. According to one of the walkers, that’s nearly the equivalent of 85 classrooms at 25 students to a class. One walker suggested perhaps school closures wouldn’t be as much of an issue if all those babies had been born.
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