COUNTYWIDE : A Challenge to Youths to Abstain

The talk was all about sex at the Anaheim Convention Center on Thursday, and there wasn’t an empty seat in the house.

More than 9,000 high school students from across the state turned out for a youth event sponsored by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles that included an array of workshops on issues ranging from teen-age sex to gang violence.

“A lot of times, kids feel like, ‘I’m the only one who prays or believes in God’--especially public school kids who are under a lot of peer pressure,” said Tom East, youth ministry director for the archdiocese. “This gives them a chance to see that they are not alone.”

The Religious Education Conference, a four-day spiritual renewal retreat for Catholics, started with the youth events Thursday. This 25th annual event, entitled “On Holy Ground,” is expected to draw more than 18,000 people from across the United States, Canada and the Philippines. More than 100 priests, bishops and theologians are scheduled to attend the adult activities, which begin today and will last through the weekend.

Seminars will deal with varied topics, including drug and alcohol abuse, the media and its influence on values and ethics, divorce and the use of the Gospel to stem gang violence.

The first day was devoted to youth enrichment. Thousands of teen-agers jammed the center to hear a frank discussion on abstinence billed as, “The Straight Scoop on Love, Sex and Dating.”

The workshop was led by Dana Point resident Jim Burns, who peppered his talk with quotations from the Bible about sexual sin.

“When a man and a woman come together in sexual intercourse, it is the most graphic example of two people becoming one,” said Burns, president of the National Institute of Youth Ministry, a youth support group. “That’s why you can’t have casual sex, because its sacred, magical, mystical.”

In what he labeled “the sexual purity challenge,” Burns told the students that “to be holy and lead a Christian life means to be set apart.”

“Some of us have to have enough courage to go against the grain of the crowd,” he said. “It doesn’t mean that you won’t date or have fun relationships--but you’re choosing to give God your body.”

At one point he asked: “How many of you are willing to give God your body?” About two dozen people raised their hands.

Burns got rave reviews from Adam Foreman, a ninth-grader from Salesian High School in Boyle Heights.

“I think people should wait until they get married to have sex,” said Foreman, 14. “But it’s hard because there is a lot of pressure on you if you are still a virgin.”

Christina Pascascio, an 11th-grader at St. Mary’s Academy in Inglewood, said the discussion “made us think.”

“Usually when (adults) talk about sex, they always talk about the negative,” said Pascascio, 16. “He talked about the positive too, but he said that people exploit sex.”

Grizel Mejia, a senior from Holy Family Academy in Glendale, also praised the speakers.

“They’re really good because they talk to us at our level so we can understand,” said Mejia, 18. “I like the examples they use and the way they put themselves in our point of view.”

Later in the day, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles, celebrated a Mass for the youths.