Married for 19 years to Francisco, raising three daughters, Gabriela, 17, Isabella, 13 and Christina, 9. It was Christina's Down syndrome inspired Leticia to stop teaching English at a local college to full time freelance writing and media advocacy for children with Down syndrome You can find her work all over the web, and in print in National Catholic Register, Canticle, The Alhambran, National Right to Life News, Celebrate Life, and Faith and Family magazine. Leticia has been a guest on several radio shows and podcasts. She was recently interviewed about her advocacy group KIDS Keep Infants with Down Syndrome on EWTN by Teresa Tomeo at the March for Life and she will be appearing as a guest on their show, "Faith and Culture" shortly. She has contributed stories to "Stories for the Homeschool Heart", "Letters to Priests" and, is about to publish a collection of stories from Catholic Special Need Parents entitled, "A Special Mother is Born" with WestBow Press this spring. She is a popular speaker on family issues and the spiritual life.
Among the groups honored by an audience with the Holy Father during World Youth Day, was a group of sick and disabled youth from St Joseph’s Hospital. Like the seminarians, university professors, and women religious, the Holy Father wanted to remind them of their vital importance in the life of the Church. This may surprise […]
Today the French government holds the fate of thousands of innocent lives in their hands. The French Parliament is considering a bill mandating that health care professionals offer universal pre-natal testing for Down syndrome. When a diagnosis of Down syndrome is given to a pregnant woman in France, there is a 96% abortion rate. Most […]
It was the first day of spring in 2005. I was at the florist in the seaside village where I grew up, assembling a basket of flowering spring plants for my sister who had just given birth. To have my hands immersed in budding greenery, inhaling earthy scents, replaced for a few moments the pall […]
The priest upon whose experience the book and movie The Rite are based, Father Gary Thomas gives an extended interview to Leticia Velasquez, about the writing and purpose of the book, the realism of the movie, and his experiences with the Rite of Exorcism: Velasquez: I’d like to ask my first few questions about the […]
While exorcists admit that their ministry can sometimes be a heavy burden, it would be a mistake, they say to overstate the power of the Devil. As Father Amorth writes, “A priest who is afraid of the Devil is like a shepherd who is afraid of a wolf. It is a groundless fear.” The Devil,” […]
