Walk for Life in 10 cities in the country

Canceled in October due to adverse weather conditions, Caminhada pela Vida was immediately rescheduled for March 18th. The new date ends up coinciding with the new moment when Parliament will review the euthanasia diplomaafter the veto of the President of the Republic and the rejection of the Constitutional Court.

The new text is being worked on by the four parties – IL, Bloco de Esquerda, PAN and PS – which presented an initiative on the medically assisted death law, and should be completed next week. The theme will therefore mark the Walk, but the initiative has a broader objective.

“We have already noticed that there is a certain pressure on free abortion deadlines and also on doctors. Obviously, the themes focused on will be, as always, the defense of life, more specifically the life yet to be born, the right to freedom of doctors to have conscientious objection and the life of the most fragile at the end of life”, he tells the Renaissance Jose Maria Seabra Duque.

For this responsible Portuguese Federation for Life, “more than being against it, what Caminhada pela Vida wants to do is to testify that life is always dignified and always beautiful. That is why, on the 18th, we will take to the streets to say that life, however small it may be, still inside the mother’s womb, or however fragile it may be at the end, is always worthy, it is always beautiful and always deserves to be defended.” .

As in previous editions, Caminhada pela Vida was organized in 10 cities: in addition to Lisbon and Porto, it will also take place in Braga, Guarda, Viseu, Aveiro, Évora, Coimbra, Santarém and Funchal. In Lisbon, the itinerary this year will be different. “We will depart from Largo Camões at 3 pm, and then we will head to Rossio”, reveals Seabra Duque, who considers it “a joy” that the initiative takes place in so many places.

“It’s a walk, but there are 10 cities that come together. The way in which Caminhada pela Vida has been growing is something that makes us very happy and it is also a sign that there is a people who, in fact, are interested in giving this testimony”, he stresses, remembering that work in this area does not limited to this public moment.

“The people who make the Walk for Life are those who already in their daily lives defend it in associations, defend it politically, and defend it in supporting families. And all these people who during the year, in associations and in their private lives, give their time to help protect life, on this day want to go out into the street to tell pregnant women who are going through a difficult time, to families who don’t know what to do with a baby that is about to come, and people who are sick at the end of life, who are not alone”.

“Participate heart and soul”

The initiative “is not denominational”, but the Portuguese Federation for Life is grateful for the encouragement it has received from the Church hierarchy, namely from the cardinal patriarch of Lisbon, but also “other bishops have been providing support. The Archbishop of Évora recorded a message and sent us a letter, along with several other bishops. We have received all the support. For us it is a very positive sign”, he says.

In the message he released in October, when the Walk was scheduled, and which is now being renewed, the Patriarch of Lisbon, D. Manuel Clemente, calls for the mobilization of Christians, recalling that it is important to assume in public the defense of the “values ​​of life”. .

“As has happened in other years, this time I also wish all those who are willing to participate in Caminha pela Vida to participate heart and soul, as always happens, and with ever greater adherence of families and groups”. cardinal, whoever is “on the side of life” cannot fail to publicly assume the values ​​he defends, along with concrete actions.

“It is important that we say in public what is in our hearts and our commitment to life, which has the obstacles that we know, in the lives of many people, in the difficulty in moving forward, in problems that arise, whether in terms of the conception , or now in relation to natural death. But we are really on the side of life and we want to show that, not just in a one-day walk, but in everyday walks, in solidarity with difficult situations, collaborating with everything that protects and promotes human life”, affirm.

The locations and times of Caminhada pela Vida can be consulted on the website and social networks of Caminhada pela Vida and the Portuguese Federation for Life.