Over 170 people from 18 countries gathered in Barcelona, Spain, from 30 January to 2 February 2025 for an international symposium of 40 Days for Life leaders who want to end abortion locally. Leaders from as far as Taiwan, Latvia, the USA, Mexico, and most of Europe attended this classic event full of camaraderie, spiritual hope, and formation.

Shawn Carney, President, co-founder, and CEO of 40 Days for Life reminded attendees to invite people to get out of their homes and joyfully invite people to change society. 40 Days for Life reminds us that God exists and cares and even though much of the West lives as if God does not exist, we need to be a witness to hope to stop the womb being one of the most dangerous places in the world. Father Paul Felix spoke about how an abortion centre can be a place to bring about the configuration of Christ.

Ramona Trevino, Director of Outreach for 40 Days for Life, shared her testimony from working at a Planned Parenthood affiliate in North Texas in 2008 to becoming pro-life. She believed the euphemisms of reproductive health care and the lie that it was a woman’s right to choose. She was more separated from God than ever, she referred women for abortion and worked for Planned Parenthood which received half a billion dollars in federal funding. She was pregnant at 16, didn’t abort but left an abusive relationship. How did God reach out to her hardened heart? She listened to Catholic radio which satiated her curiosity on contraception and abortion. Ramona was disgusted that Planned Parenthood provided training about how to not get caught with Under age sex trafficking after Live Action did an expose.

A 40 Days for Life vigil was organized outside her place of work. She quit her job and spoke to the volunteers. Floodgates of grace poured on her as the scales fell from her eyes. She lost everything but their home, but gained so much more. Her conversion was drastic and dramatic.

Matt Britton, legal counsel for 40 Days for Life, said that someone needs to bring Europe back to God. In 1973, 9 men in black robes allowed abortion in the USA which led to 70 million Americans killed by abortion. Now the states are divided, while state constitutional amendments have allowed some states to put abortion into their state constitution. In the USA, there is a large amount of legal action making a nation of lawsuits and not law. 65% of abortions now are chemical abortions. Trump has already reversed abortion mail orders. As the reversing of the weaponization of Government against the unborn happens, we need to fight for those who have no voice as we are free, and come what may we will stand in their place.

The Bishop of Alicante Spain, Jose Ignacio Munilla has been a strong supporter of 40 Days for Life and has used the internet extensively for evangelization. He gave a talk speaking about how science and faith can be in service of human dignity. 40 Days for Life is a witness to how life is not a development of consensus but starts with conception. Each spiritual soul is directed created by God as eternal. Science and faith have not always seen eye to eye, but they can complement each other as to how and why things happen. Ideologies of the 20th century have attempted to be a new religion, turning a human being into a great enemy of nature.

Eneida Martinez gave a stunning personal testimony as a mother. She grew up in Colombia surrounded by violence and suffering as the daughter of a single mother. She became a mother at 14. The lack of experience normalized everything as many were killed on the streets and the police did nothing. She got pregnant again and had a first abortion. A third pregnancy meant she persevered as a single mother with 2 children from 2 fathers at 18 in a situation of extreme poverty. She left town to become a technical expert in the city.

She moved to Spain and got into a physically abusive relationship. She left him and then got another abortion after her boyfriend said, “If you don’t kill it, I will kill it.” At the abortion, she saw the faces of the other women having abortions transformed into pain and anxiety. She wanted to see the screen of the ultrasound. She woke up in the hospital vomiting with blood leaving the body everywhere. Her heart died when she realized she did not have the baby anymore. She fell into the lie believing that everyone wanted to hurt or harm her. Finding herself pregnant again, she was congratulated as she never had an experience of joy in her heart being pregnant. Eneida exhorted everyone to defend life from those who do not have a voice.

Father Francesco Giordano is Director of Human Life International in Italy and professor of theology at the Angelicum University in Rome. He told the audience to go beyond appearances to see God in spiritual battles. In the film Nefarious in 2023, it takes a man possessed by a demon to reveal blunt realities to an atheist doctor. We learn through the senses and learn faith through hearing. There is a spiritual world we do not see, and while diabolical activity can be a distraction, focused prayer, and adoration can work to save souls.

Tomislav Čunović, executive director for international affairs, summarized the speakers and reminded the audience that we are a spiritual movement and a family or circle of influence can impact those far from God. Our hope is in Jesus Christ, and as life is a gift from God we can save souls by trusting in God. Threats to humanity show that we live in a sick culture. We have 40 Days for life because God asked a small number of men to pray, and now even abortion workers have been helped.

The Leader of the Year award was given to Paula Pimentel Calderón. She runs her own NGO and has found time to organize 40 Days for Life vigils for over 10 years in Portugal. Paula’s sterling sacrificial work keeping this wonderful public witness means hundreds of mothers and children are alive because of her great team’s witness and sacrifice. She met her husband at 21 and wrote a pro-life treatise while at law school.

Her vigil location is the only freestanding abortion facility in Portugal where almost a third of all abortions in Portugal are committed. A 2007 referendum legalized abortion for up to 10 weeks. “If you want to save lives, and are not a doctor or a fireman, you should be in 40 Days for Life,” Paula says. Paula embodies many characteristics of what it means to be a great leader. She has hope, helping people find their spiritual way in a place where often there is no hope. Often we don’t see the spiritual fruits, but we go in trust and hope. Paula knows now is the time God gave us to go and make a difference.

Father Van Allen Hager was also remembered as a Priest dedicated to the unborn. He died on October 10, 2024, aged 80, leaving a profound legacy for the pro-life movement in Colombia. His grandmother became pregnant with his father after rape but respected the child’s life and embraced motherhood. In one of his last campaigns, he helped save 15 babies, and in the past year, more than 100, thanks to his guidance and support. He was a good shepherd who led with courage, perseverance, and love in peaceful struggle, prayer, and intercession for the unborn. May his legacy continue to guide us in the fight for life.

Overall, the conference was full of hope, inspiration, and encouragement. Leaders were sent forth, to bring newly acquired knowledge back to their home country to make an even bigger difference on the mission field.