Over 9 years ago, I founded Project Defending Life (PDL) Catholic Pro-life Ministries in Albuquerque, New Mexico and I remained PDL’s full-time Director until taking a sabbatical in 2013. During that time, one of the many tenets I preached and PDL strived to live by was, “Don’t worry about what other people are doing or not doing to end abortion, just focus on what the Holy Spirit is calling each one of us to do every day to end abortion.” I believed that this mindset was essential in terms of maintaining unity in our ministry and avoiding the temptation of divisiveness. Keeping this thought in mind, when Archbishop Michael Sheehan of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe asked me to “liven up” their annual “Unity Mass,” I retained the word “unity” as I came up with the concept that became known as “The Sanctity of Life Awareness and Unity Day (SOLAUD).” This event, anchored by a Mass at St Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe celebrated by the 3 bishops of New Mexico, immediately became the largest annual pro-life event in New Mexico and has been to the present.
In the last week or so, I have been reminiscing about the 1st official SOLAUD held in 2008. It was born out of a impromptu event myself and several other priests put together at the Cathedral the year before when 400 people showed up with little notice and walked on the sidewalks after Mass in a snowstorm to a rally at the State Roundhouse. As I thought back, I fondly reflected on how closely the 1st official SOLAUD resembled every SOLAUD that followed. We had a youth Mass the night before, a Conference with guest speakers and many pro-life ministry exhibits in the morning during which the Knights of Columbus served a complimentary continental breakfast, the Bishops’ Mass at noon, followed by a procession through the plaza and streets to the Roundhouse with a large variety of signs from abortion victim images to homemade signs and banners, culminating in a rally and legislative visits at the State Roundhouse. About the only thing that changed in the next year and subsequent years was a concerted effort to include our Christian brothers and sisters from other denominations which I always supported. It has been a wonderful event that has remained basically intact…truly a “sanctity of life” day focused on “awareness” and “unity” in an effort to end pre-born child killing in NM.
However something interesting has happened this year. A group of people got together, including some from PDL, and decided to change the name of the event to the “NM Rally for Life.” Meanwhile, the 3 Catholic bishops and dioceses of New Mexico continued using the original name, SOLAUD. With this change of name (or 2nd name…I know, it is confusing) came other changes, most notably restricting or dictating what type of signs were welcome at the event. There was an emphasis that this was a “family oriented event” (which it always has been) and “not a protest,” terminology which seemed to tell certain people with a certain mindset, “you are not welcome.” Again, SOLAUD has never restricted any type of signs (except political signs in election years) and notably, the bishops of NM had no intent to change that policy this year.
The addition of the name “NM Rally for Life” to the SOLAUD has been puzzling for sure. Some of the changes seem to be antithetical to the concept of “unity.” As the founder of both the concept of SOLAUD and of the ministry (PDL) that has always been one of the key partners of this wonderful event, I encourage everyone to settle on one name while understanding that this annual event has always been about “unity” and about welcoming all pro-life people and groups of all mindsets and strategies to come together and work to end pre-born child killing in NM.
All this being said as a reflection for coming years, for this year, let’s make sure we all get to Santa Fe tomorrow and, in unity, stand up for life as we protest pre-born child killing.
