By Lisa Dahm
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Falling on the feast day of St. Marianne Cope, the annual March for Life rally at the state Capitol Jan. 23 drew more than 250 people, including students and parishioners, from across the diocese.
While some attendees held signs and waved at motorists driving through downtown Honolulu, others sat in folding chairs and listened as featured guests spoke in the Capitol rotunda. Curious lawmakers and staff members gazed down from the offices above the open-air space.
Guest speaker Father Shenan Boquet, president of Human Life International and a priest in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, discussed the importance of a culture of life encompassing all aspects of society, and he cited Pope Leo XIII’s quote on the foundation of human rights.
“He (the pope) said the protection of the right to life constitutes the indispensable foundation of every other human right,” Father Boquet said. “A society is healthy and truly progresses only … when it safeguards the sanctity of human life and works actively to promote it.”
Father Boquet said that legislators play a role in creating laws and promoting rights that reflect the value of human life in society.
“When we stand up for the culture of life, what we’re saying is in every life, no matter how good the conditions of that life are coming to be, and at every stage of that life, we value that life,” he said.
Father Anthony Tran, parochial vicar at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu and chaplain of the Vietnamese Holy Martyrs Catholic Community, walked with members of the community from the co-cathedral — 1-1/2 miles in the early afternoon sun — carrying signs and praying the rosary.
“We offered our prayers for the dignity of every human life, and especially for mothers who may be thinking about abortion,” Father Tran said. “Walking together like that was more than just symbolic — it was a real witness. It reminded us that we’re not alone in this, and that prayer and presence can speak volumes.”
Several legislators who spoke at the rally encouraged attendees to continue caring for the most vulnerable in society and standing up for the rights of the unborn.
Bishop Larry Silva also spoke at the March for Life, saying that Sts. Damien and Marianne should serve as an example of people who honored their “humanitarian commitment.”
The bishop said Catholics should not just honor the saints because “they’re like the holy Hall of Fame,” but try to imitate them and their devotion to God’s call.
“(St. Marianne) took it upon herself to listen to the Lord and to die to her own desires and her own plans so that she could do the work that she felt the Lord had called her to do in caring for the most vulnerable, especially the women and the girls who were sent to Kalaupapa without their parents,” he said.
When a woman is considering an abortion, Bishop Silva said, she often feels a sense of shame for getting pregnant, that she will be impeded by the birth of the child or that she will experience economic hardship. He said that sometimes carrying the baby to full term and giving birth would affect a person’s career goals or change their lives in ways they cannot foresee.
“And so, they refuse to die to themselves and instead choose death for the child,” he said. “We know that if they die to themselves, they will be blessed with the love of that child.”
He said that if the woman chooses life, she will be blessed in ways she could not possibly know ahead of time.
Acknowledgments, awards
The diocesan Respect Life Office, which organizes the March for Life every year, also orchestrates a visual art and media contest for students. This year’s winners ranged in age from prekindergarten to 12th grade and included students from St. Elizabeth School in Aiea, Maryknoll School in Honolulu, Sacred Hearts Academy in Kaimuki, August Ahrens Elementary School in Waipahu, St. Michael School in Waialua and St. John Vianney School in Kailua.
The office also honored outstanding Catholic families from across the state: the Tuncap family from St. Elizabeth Church in Aiea; the Stenger family from Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Pearl City; the Sole family from Our Lady of the Mount Church in Kalihi; the Aiona family from Resurrection of the Lord Church in Waipio Gentry; the Mahuka family from Mary, Star of the Sea Church in Waialae-Kahala; the Worman family from Sacred Heart Church in Hawi, Hawaii island; and the Carter family from St. Michael Church in Waialua.
At the end of the two-hour rally, the Knights of Columbus led sign- and pinwheel-waving attendees in a march around the Capitol block.
“As Father Shenan Boquet mentioned, ‘It only takes a spark to set the world ablaze,’” said Val Streff, co-director of the Respect Life Office with her husband, Deacon Gary Streff. “As we (stand) together at the state Capitol, we are the spark that sets the islands ablaze with our love for the Lord and love for the world.”
First photo: Participants in the March for Life Jan. 23 waved signs as they walked around the state Capitol block. (Courtesy Dann Ebina)
Second photo: Father Anthony Tran, center, and members of the Vietnamese Holy Martyrs Catholic Community at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu walked from their parish to the Capitol for the March for Life. (Lisa Dahm / Hawaii Catholic Herald)