COLLEGE graduate Benedict Slee has set aside graduate job-hunting to trek down Australia’s east coast with the hope to save unborn babies from abortion mills.
The country Victorian has joined 10 young people on a 1500km pro-life walk from Brisbane to Melbourne, bearing with them a “counter-cultural” message against abortion.
“Participating in the walk then would have to be one of the most radical things that I have done in my life,” Mr Slee said.
“For starters, bearing witness to the Gospel of Life in a world where many do not place the same value and worth on the gift of life as we are called to do as Catholics is not only radical, it’s also counter-cultural.”
This is Mr Slee’s second pro-life walk with Crossroads Australia, and will take the 22-year-old nearly four weeks to complete.
The Campion College graduate from St James, Victoria, said his future laid in working towards “the renewal of a culture of life in Australia”.
He has already participated in pro-life rallies and was among a group of Campion College students who prayed outside an abortion clinic in Westmead.
He’ll cop a few fits of abuse on the pro-life walk before he takes up his next goal.
“On the walk we experienced the usual, and expected, derogatory abuse and insults, but on the brighter side we also had people stopping their cars and giving us some much needed encouragement along the way,” Mr Slee said.
“There were also other people who would ask what ‘pro-life’ meant and why we were walking.
“We would then explain the meaning of ‘pro-life’ and the mission of the walk, and many of them gave their agreement and encouragement to us, some even walking with us for a short time.
“It is usually in some of the most unexpected places where we may not otherwise have gone, that God is able to use us as His instruments and reach out to those in need of the hope and healing of the Gospel of Life.”
Crossroads Australia left Brisbane for Melbourne on January 9 and is expected to reach Newcastle by Sunday, January 17.
Parishes that would like to host the pro-life walkers between Brisbane and Melbourne can email the Crossroads Australia team on info@crossroadswalk.org.
By Emilie Ng
