FALLS CHURCH, Va. (OSV News) – On the Saturday after thousands marched in defense of life in Washington, scores of pro-life Latinos participated in the annual Hispanic Pro-life Conference near the nation's capital. This year's conference theme was "The Family and the Dignity of All Human Life."
As in previous years, this Jan. 25 Spanish-language conference at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Falls Church included testimonies, panels and educational sessions for youth and adults, aiming to present ways to oppose abortion and build a culture of life.
During one of the initial sessions at the daylong conference, Fr. Jesús Muñoz, parochial vicar at St. Thomas More Cathedral in Arlington, spoke about bioethics, which he defined as "life seen from an ethical point of view."
The priest discussed the inherent value of all humans who "are created in the image and likeness of God."
Fr. Octavio Gómez, national editorial director of Radio María, agreed with Fr. Muñoz, saying that "God created all of us human beings with such great dignity from the very moment he created us," and that people are children of God, which "makes the life of the human being totally inviolable."
He added that it is well-known and "undeniable" that a child in the womb is a human being from the moment of conception. "Genetically, that is totally undeniable," said Fr. Gomez, echoing the teaching of the Catholic Church that teaches all human life is sacred from conception to natural death.
Fr. Gómez told those present – and those following the conference's Facebook livestream – that people who have committed abortions "do not do these things out of evil." He said that often the young people or young girls who abort are not "perverse" but lack "the light that comes from God, the wisdom that comes from God, to understand what he wants for us."
Though there was no shortage of data and resources available at the event – which was organized by Alianza por la Vida, a local nonprofit – several sessions focused on the impact of abortion on mothers and fathers.
During a priest-led panel, Fr. Víctor Salomón, parochial vicar of Good Shepherd in Russellville, Alabama, spoke about the role of the priest in healing after an abortion.
"This is something we have not formally addressed in the curricula, either in the basic formation of us priests or in ongoing formation," said the priest, who is the co-host of the program "De 2 en 2" on the Catholic channel EWTN.
"We priests always have to let people know explicitly, especially from the pulpit, that the church is open to forgiveness, to mercy, to forgive," said Fr. Salomón, who added that "God never tires of forgiving; we are the ones who sometimes get tired of asking for forgiveness."
For Fr. Salomón, men and women should be able to find a spiritual guide and a personalized accompaniment in their pastors.
Likewise, he proposed that those seeking healing, women, and men, be given the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, which "is for situations where the person is seriously ill." He also said that, in his personal experience as a pastor, he has participated in many abortion healing retreats, adding, "The most acute pain that I have seen in my life as a priest is the mom and dad" who come to the realization "that they helped kill their child."
"That pain ... it is a very hard trauma that needs all the tools that we can give from the church," said the priest.
Fr. Salomón recommended to those who chose to have an abortion in the past to also work with a therapist specializing in the management of trauma left after an abortion.
"It is very important for the church, as pastors, that we know the different programs that exist for abortion healing, that is, to put them at the disposal of mothers and fathers, and all those who are suffering after an abortion," said the priest.
He highlighted the work being done by initiatives such as Rachel's Vineyard, a Catholic ministry for post-abortion healing. "They do one-on-one accompaniment and all the group accompaniment, because part of abortion healing requires people to share the trauma," Father Salomón said.
Other resources include Project Rachel, a ministry of the Catholic Church that offers care and compassion to women and men suffering from abortion, which is present in about 150 dioceses in the United States. According to the Spanish-language version of hopeafterabortion.com (esperanzaposaborto.org), this diocesan project "functions as a healing network" comprised of specialists to provide women, men, and young people "touched by a loss due to intentional abortion, allowing them to grieve their loss, receive forgiveness and find peace."
At the pro-life event in Virginia, Fr. Salomón affirmed that abortion not only affects the mother but also "affects the father; I have had the opportunity to see how it affects siblings, uncles, aunts, uncles, grandparents, it affects the whole family."
Likewise, the priest said that "everything must be organized so that all the parish communities are welcoming to those who are suffering from an abortion and always make available healing testimonies."
Fr. Salomón warned that "when one lives in a place where abortion has been decriminalized for many years, a culture of death is created, as Pope St. John Paul II said, then even for many mothers the trauma is encapsulated ... decades can pass, but at some point, it emerges with force."
For Fr. Salomón, part of the post-abortion healing process requires giving a name to the unborn child "to make the rite of mourning for that child until that mother or father does not make that process, there is no liberation, that is what I have seen."
During a second round of interventions, Fr. Gómez urged the families to read and reflect, in a devotional environment, on the Word of God and to spend time before the Blessed Sacrament.
"How is it possible that we have been fed the lie that a child is a problem?" said Fr. Gómez. "That a child is a burden, no, it is a blessing."
He also called those present that they can be "agents of that light of the Gospel that will illuminate the darkness" and build a culture that cherishes the blessing of life.
