Young people help to promote a ‘culture of life’, says Bishop Emeritus at Pro-life Essay
Maura Baker
Staff Writer
Annually, eighth-grade students from diocesan secondary schools are invited to participate in the Pro-life Essay Contest. This year, the contest’s theme aligned with the USCCB’s 2025-26 Respect Life Theme, “Life — Our Sign of Hope.”
“Bishop Daniel Thomas, Bishop of Toledo, asked us to be anchors of hope in our diocese. I took this theme and ran with it when speaking to our students,” said Faye Roch, director of the Office of Pro-life who organizes the contest.
20 finalist essays from 10 different schools were chosen out of 250 essays, including a first, second and third place winner and two honorable mentions. Winners received scholarships courtesy of the Knights of Columbus for their efforts.
On March 26, finalists and their families, along with Pro-life advocates and members of the contest’s selection committee gathered for a banquet. During which, members of the committee read to the crowd excerpts from each finalist’s essay, as well as the winners’ and honorable mentions’ essays in full.
This year, the first-place essay was written by Emma Haney of St. Joseph School, Crescent Springs. (To read her winning essay see page 5.) Second place was awarded to Drew Marshall, St. Pius X School, Edgewood, and third place to Sammi Schmitz, also from St. Pius X. Honorable mentions were awarded to Addison Delaney, St. Mary School, Alexandria, and Briana Saalfeld, Holy Cross Elemenrary School, Latonia.
Awards were distributed to students by Bishop Emeritus Roger Foys, who additionally gave his remarks at the banquet.
He began by quoting Pope Leo XIV’s general audience the day before, “The sanctity of life, from conception to natural death, must be defended — especially now in a world marked by the madness of war.”
“We fought for many years, almost 50, to overturn Roe v. Wade,” Bishop Foys said, “… The easiest work is behind us, because what we need to do now is to promote a culture of life.”
Recalling the negative reception to the bills overturning on major news outlets and within communities, Bishop Foys said that “happened because, even though we were able to overturn that Roe v. Wade decision, we still had not achieved a culture of life … It’s behind me, at my age, but it’s ahead of us, especially in these young people,” he addressed the essay finalists.
“I think these essays tonight should give us hope — should be an anchor of hope for us that there are young people who can express in many, many ways, in a profound way, their love of life,” he said. “I think that’s remarkable, and for that we should be grateful, and we should thank God, and we should thank these young people.”
