Archdiocese honors young woman and couple with pro-life awards
By Natalie Hoefer
During the Respect Life Mass at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis on Oct. 1, members of the archdiocese received special recognition. Sara Cabrera of St. Thomas More Parish in Mooresville received the Our Lady of Guadalupe Pro-Life Youth Award, and Mary and Larry Dougherty of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Indianapolis received the Archbishop Edward T. O’Meara Respect Life Award. (Related story: Archbishop Thompson calls Catholics to be ‘all in’ when it comes to respect for life)
Below are highlights of the numerous reasons Sara and the Doughertys received such recognition.
‘Her convictions come from her heart’
Sara Cabrera, a member of St. Thomas More Parish in Mooresville, receives the archdiocese’s Our Lady of Guadalupe Pro-Life Youth Award from Archbishop Charles C. Thompson during the annual Respect Life Mass at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis on Oct. 1. (Photo by Natalie Hoefer)
Sara Cabrera was just 7 years old when she wrote a letter to then-President Barack Obama in 2015.
“My dream is that one day we stop aborting babies in the United States of America and in the whole world,” she wrote. “Abortion is killing children like me and future presidents like you. … Abortion is killing our nation!”
With nearly a decade more experience in the pro-life movement under her belt, 16-year-old Sara was selected as this year’s archdiocesan Our Lady of Guadalupe Pro-Life Youth Award winner.
“I was pretty shocked at first,” she says. “I’ve been to previous [archdiocesan] Respect Life Masses, and I’ve always been impressed seeing the amazing people that receive that award. So, being one of those people to receive the award is really shocking.”
Not so shocking, really, when considering the young woman’s accomplishments in pro-life advocacy.
Between the time she wrote that letter in 2015 and October 2022, Sara, a member with her family of St. Thomas More Parish in Mooresville, worked alongside her mom, who works full time in pro-life ministry.
Last year, Sara began to hit her stride in advocacy efforts of her own.
Since last October, Sara co-founded a pro-life homeschoolers group, earned scholarships to participate in two national leadership programs and won a local pro-life speech contest.
Her efforts began last fall when Sara and her best friend Olivia Murrey, both homeschooled and 15 at the time, co-founded Homeschoolers 4 Life.
The goal of the group is to “to enable more homeschoolers to be more comfortable in advocating for life and educating the public on the horrors of abortion and [on] all of the resources there are for women in crisis pregnancy,” says Sara.
The group has held prayer vigils at abortion centers, sponsored two conferences and a pro-life movie night, visited legislators at the state capital and more.
This past summer, Sara attended two leadership programs on scholarships.
“I applied for a fellowship for Students for Life’s National Leaders Collective program and was one of only 15 who were selected,” she says.
The National Leaders Collective is a yearlong program to help cultivate “confidence and leadership skills.” It includes Zoom meetings, book discussions, virtual presentations, a personal mentor and an in-person conference in Washington.
Shortly after attending the conference, Sara returned to the Washington area on a scholarship from Generation Joshua for its iGovern Statecraft summer leadership camp.
“We learned how politics work in the U.S.,” she says. “It was a government simulation program where we all had a role like president or cabinet member that we acted out, and we had to solve a world crisis together.”
At the end of the experience, Sara was singled out from the 117 participants to be honored with the program’s Susan B. Anthony Award.
“The award is based on a student’s performance during the week in simulation, in group discussions and in interacting with others,” explains Daniel Heffington, communications manager for the Christian-based, teen civics and leadership organization.
“It’s also someone who stands out with an obvious, committed pro-life ethic, someone who understands, demonstrates and can articulate that ethic and stands out as a leader who can influence and persuade their peers in a positive way.
“Sara could be a teen laughing and having fun, but also engage on an astute level—you could tell her convictions come from her heart.”
Two days after returning from Washington, Sara joined her family on an all-expenses paid trip to Orlando, Fla., to receive the Knights of Columbus International Family of the Year Award—this after receiving the Knights’ Indiana Family of the Year honor two months prior.
Sara is driven to promote life “because abortion is the social injustice of our time,” she says. “I can’t really see myself being such a strong advocate for anything else in society now because of all the children missing from my generation and all the unborn now—it’s really sad.
“I want every child to have chance for life and have a good experience with life, to be loved by Christ and by some sort of family.”
Teens interested in the two leadership opportunities Sara participated in can go to studentsforlife.org/students/leadership and lnkiy.in/iGovern.
‘Honored’ and ‘humbled’
Mary and Larry Dougherty, members of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Indianapolis, receive the archdiocese’s Archbishop Edward T. O’Meara Respect Life Award from Archbishop Charles
C. Thompson during the annual Respect Life Mass at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis on Oct. 1. (Photos by Natalie Hoefer)
When Larry and Mary Dougherty moved from New York to Indianapolis in 2003, they were pleased with the culture they found.
“We love living in Indiana because it’s such a pro-life state and because of the values people here have,” says Mary.
In New York, she was a special education teacher and for 17 years ran a day center for those with severe disabilities. While she served on her parish’s pro-life ministry, it was her experience in working with those with special needs that motivated her to become involved in the pro-life movement in Indiana.
“I was so discouraged by so many who don’t value the life of an unborn child who will have Down syndrome,” says Mary. “There were so many with Down syndrome in my program. I consider them so special, and there’s so little value placed on them.
“I think that’s why I wanted to volunteer with Right to Life of Indianapolis [RTLI].”
She began volunteering with the organization in 2004 and took a part-time job as its director of programming in 2007, a job she still holds.
Mary organizes volunteers and RTLI events, including the organization’s involvement in planning the Indiana March for Life.
Most of her involvement with the organization involves teenagers and young adults—setting up Teens for Life high school clubs, working with Students for Life groups, coordinating the organization’s annual essay and speech contests for youths.
“My goal is to reach teens and educate them on pro-life values,” she Mary. “The best part of my job is watching the students grow and seeing what they do.”
She has also been president of the pro-life ministry at her and Larry’s parish, Immaculate Heart of Mary in Indianapolis, since 2014, and teaches confirmation classes there.
Larry is also involved in his parish, but the majority of his volunteering is with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP). He is president of the Indianapolis council’s North District, serving 10 SVdP parish conferences in their work to help the poor.
Larry also does home visits for the conferences of Immaculate Heart of Mary and St. Andrew the Apostle Parish. He volunteers at the society’s distribution warehouse in Indianapolis one afternoon a week and has been training new SVdP members for five years.
“I see how St. Vincent de Paul helps mothers and children, especially through home visits,” he says. “I remember one single mom who had three children. The youngest was just a few months old. They needed furniture and beds—they had no beds! We helped furnish her apartment and directed her to our food pantry so she could get help there as well.”
Larry sees how the Society of St. Vincent de Paul shatters the myth that those in the pro-life movement “help mothers have babies but don’t care for them after.
“That’s what St. Vincent de Paul does—we provide clothing, food and whatever [moms and their children] need. That’s primarily why I do it—I don’t want people to say to Mary, ‘You give up on them.’ It’s really about loving them both.”
Together, the Doughertys support each in their respective ministries and in living Christian lives.
“We share the same Catholic values, and that’s important to us,” says Mary, noting that she and Larry are also members of the Serra Club of Indianapolis, promoting and praying for vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and religious life.
“We agree on the Church’s teaching on abortion. We like to pray together about it, like participating in LifeChain events and 40 Days for Life [campaigns] together.”
She calls Larry “my best volunteer. He’ll go to anything with me to help”—including volunteering with Mary all three days of the last National Catholic Youth Conference when other primary volunteers were unable to attend.
Mary in turn supports Larry in his work with the St. Vincent de Paul Society by donating food and items.
When she learned that the two were nominated as this year’s Archbishop Edward T. O’Meara Respect Life Award, “I was shocked, actually,” she says.
“I’m honored to receive this [award] because I know so many people who got it before, and it’s great to be in their company. I learned more about pro-life [issues] since I came to Indiana from all those involved in the pro-life movement who’ve been doing it for years.”
As for Larry, he says he is “humbled” to receive the award, noting “there’s a lot of deserving men who do a lot for the pro-life movement. But it’s an honor.”
Larry is especially “glad my wife is getting it—she deserves it.”
Such support is what the couple is all about, says Mary: “It’s him supporting me in what I do, and me supporting him in turn.” †
