The Archdiocese of Los Angeles on Jan. 24 held the 12th annual OneLife LA, an event that includes a walk through Los Angeles, speakers, performances, and a Requiem Mass for the unborn. This year’s event focused on a range of issues related to the dignity of human life, such as end-of-life issues, immigration, and abortion.
Angelus News reports that the event drew about 5,000 participants. Archbishop José Gómez welcomed the participants and mentioned the upcoming 250th anniversary of the U.S. in his address. The country, he stated, was founded on “the truth that God has endowed all men and women with the right to life.”
He added that while it is the government’s job to secure the rights of its citizens, OneLife LA is primarily a religious event, “a stirring of the heart and conscience … where every human life is sacred.”
Former radio host Nora Yesenia also spoke at the event, sharing her testimony as a mother.
Yesenia tragically lost a baby and part of her reproductive system in an emergency surgery. After the surgery, doctors told her it would be nearly impossible to conceive again.
Yesenia then introduced the crowd to her five-month-old daughter, who was conceived after the loss of her first baby. She also announced that she is expecting another child.
“If there’s something I want you to remember: God decides,” Yesenia told the crowd.
Bishop Mark Seitz offered the closing speech, and spoke about his own childhood with nine siblings. His father abandoned the family when they were still young and did not return for 40 years. The family still cared for him when his mind began failing him until his death at 93 in 2014.
“It was beautiful, it was challenging, it was hard, it was scary, it was all of those things,” Bishop Seitz said.
He then discussed the importance of respecting the dignity of all people — even in old age and in difficult circumstances.
“We kind of recoil before human vulnerability, don’t we?” he said. “We ignore it, we hide it away. We don’t like to acknowledge it. And the sick, the frail, and the elderly all suffer because of it.”
Archbishop Gomez, in his speech, spoke about the dignity of every human being: “And we mean every human life. At every stage and in any condition. No matter what their skin color, or where they came from, or the language they speak, or what documents they have.”