By Dennis Kellogg
Director of Communications
Actor Jim Caviezel delivered a stirring and passionate call to defend life to highlight the Nebraska Right to Life 2025 Walk for Life Gala in La Vista.
The event, held Jan. 31, the night before the annual Nebraska Walk for Life in Lincoln, attracted a record crowd of more than 1,200 for dinner, awards, a discussion on chemical abortions and Caviezel’s talk.
Caviezel has appeared in a number of films and several television shows. His most recent role was portraying Tim Ballard in the movie “Sound of Freedom,” one of the most successful independent films in history. The movie is based on the true story of Ballard, a former government agent who embarks on a dangerous mission to save hundreds of children from sex traffickers. Caviezel may be best known for his critically acclaimed portrayal of Jesus in “Passion of the Christ.” The movie broke box-office records around the world, becoming one of the highest grossing films of all time.
Caviezel talked about the current culture and how it devalues both children and marriage between one man and one woman. He called abortion “murder,” something he said most people are fooled by, and a “grave sin.” He said Jesus teaches us about love and peace and we need to open our Bibles and study about Him.
Caviezel also challenged Church leaders including priests, bishops and the pope, to speak out about the wrongs seen too often in society and “preach an unapologetic gospel.” He told them they are not born to fit in, but born to stand out and to be heroes in doing so. Caviezel’s talk ended with a lengthy standing ovation as he left the stage.
Prior to Caviezel’s talk, emcee for the event, Father Timothy Danek of St. Joseph Parish in Auburn, asked questions of speaker and author Elizabeth Gillette, who was the keynote speaker at the Walk for Life the next day. Gillette said she has found healing and forgiveness following her own first-hand experience with abortion, and is now a passionate advocate for life. The two discussed chemical abortions, which they said now make up 82 percent of all abortions in Nebraska.
Gillette said the abortion industry is “lying to women and they’re doing it pointedly and they’re doing it purposefully… It really is marketing and profit.” Gillette said it is important to first understand who and what the pro-life movement is fighting.
“The women consuming this medication are not your enemy. The doctors doing this are not your enemy,” Gillette said. “The devil is your enemy, and he is prowling about the world and he is lying and he is manipulating and he is coercing. The human beings who are involved in this often do not realize the evil that they’re participating with. If you can separate humanity from evil, you’re going to be more successful in getting to the truth of what you can do to stop this problem.”
Earlier in the evening, Nebraska Right to Life Executive Director Sandy Danek thanked all of those who helped in the November election to defeat the pro-abortion Initiative 439 and pass the pro-life Initiative 434 that protects unborn children in the second and third trimesters.
“These are amazing people who did amazing things,” Danek said. “We could not have done it without you. I am so proud of you.”
Governor Jim Pillen addressed the group, applauding the passage of the pro-life initiative and also calling for all to stay involved in the ongoing fight to protect life in the current legislative session. Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska was presented with the Julie Schmit-Albin Leadership Award for his and his family’s support of the pro-life initiative.
Ricketts reiterated a common theme he mentioned often during his time as governor, “Nebraska is a pro-life state.”
He said, “Our movement is about love and compassion, dignity and respect.” Ricketts said the pro-life message resonates across Nebraska, and “that is why the forces that are pro-abortion targeted us, because they knew if they could beat us here, they could beat us anywhere. But they didn’t count on two things. They didn’t count on the grace of God, and they didn’t count on you.”
Ricketts told the crowd Nebraska has given the country a road map on how to defeat Planned Parenthood and pro-abortion forces in the future, reminding them also several times “we have more work to do.”
The Nebraska Right to Life’s “Light of Life Award” was presented to Charlotte Beran of Columbus. Beran, a teacher at St. Anthony School in Columbus, has her fifth-grade class adopt an unborn baby at the beginning of the school year and pray for the baby throughout the year. She was also very helpful in garnering support and signatures in Platte County to defeat the pro-abortion initiative.
Rebekah Allick, volleyball player for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, accepted the organization’s “Warrior of Life Award” on behalf of herself and five other Husker female athletes – Jordy Bahl, Hannah Camenzind, Lauren Camenzind, Abbie Squier and Malia Thoms. The athletes all participated in a television commercial asking Nebraskans to vote against the pro-abortion initiative and for the pro-life initiative on the ballot.
“We are so grateful to have played our part in helping protect unborn life in Nebraska and helping pass Initiative 434 and shutting down 439,” Allick said to loud applause from the crowd.
Allick said the invitation to appear in the commercial was a “battle cry from God to do something with what I’ve been given and stop treading lightly.” Allick added she was so grateful for even the hate she received online “because it showed me a speck of what our Savior endured,” going on to quote John 15:18-21 which includes the verse, “If the world hates you, know that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.”
Allick ended by telling those in attendance, “Never stop fighting the good fight and never stop fighting for life.”
Nebraska Right to Life is the longest-running statewide pro-life organization in Nebraska. It works to “restore legal protection to human life from fertilization through natural death.”
