Twin Brothers Become Priests After Their Mother Rejects Abortion

International   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Sep 4, 2020   |   2:45PM   |   Valparaiso, Chile

Twin brothers who both became priests are reaching thousands of people with the message of God’s truth after their mother chose life for them in difficult circumstances nearly 40 years ago.

Aleteia reports Fathers Paulo and Felipe Lizama have active ministries both in person and online in the Catholic diocese of Valparaíso in their native Chile, and they credit it, in part, to their mother’s trust in God.

Their mother, Rosa Silva, was encouraged to abort her twin sons after doctors thought that they detected a fetal abnormality, possibly conjoined twins, during an ultrasound appointment, according to the report. Silva said she also was told that her pregnancy could be life threatening.

Refusing to give up hope, Silva said she decided to accept “whatever God sends me” and chose life for her sons. Whether the doctors were wrong or God worked a miracle, the family does not know; but on Sept. 10, 1984, both twins were born healthy, the report states.

“I always feel special affection and tenderness when I think of the heart of my mother, who was willing to give her life for me; for us,” Paulo said.

Growing up, the twins’ main interests were church and soccer. As they approached their 18th birthday, they said they both separately began to feel called to enter the priesthood. They said neither twin told the other about their plans to enter seminary because they did not want to influence each other; both made the decision on their own.

“I don’t know which of the two of us felt the call first. I think God did things very well, to protect the freedom of our response,” Paulo told the news outlet Aciprensa.

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Their story gained international attention in 2013 soon after they both were ordained. Today, the twins continue to share their miraculous story as they minister in the diocese and online. According to Aleteia, “Their posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter reflect their joy in their priesthood, their sense of humor, their closeness to each other and to their family, and their love of soccer.”

“How can we not defend life? How can we not preach the God of life? This event gave an impulse to my vocation, it gave it a specific vitality … I’m convinced of what I believe in, of what I am and of what I speak, clearly by God’s grace,” Paulo said.

Their mother’s courage is another example of the beautiful gift that can come from choosing life even when the unborn baby or babies are diagnosed with health problems. If it were up to Silva’s doctors, her twins never would have been born, and the world would have been without two men who have dedicated their lives to service.