Contact: Leslie Palma, Priests for Life, 347-286-7277

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y., Dec. 11, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- Students for Life of America announced today that it will honor Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, with its 2013 Defender of Life award.

The award will be bestowed Jan. 26 during SFLA's annual National Youth Conference in Bethesda, Md.

"Throughout Father Frank's ministry he has been a leader, a visionary, and a courageously outspoken voice for the preborn," the organization said in a statement announcing the award. "His ground-breaking work exposing the true horrors of abortion through images of the aborted child, his countless hours standing and praying outside of abortion facilities offering women in crisis real help, and his great compassion for the women and men left with the heartache of abortion have inspired a generation to enter into the pro-life movement."

Father Pavone has been the National Director of Priests for Life since 1993. He is also the president of the National Pro-Life Religious Council. The New York native was ordained by Cardinal John J. O'Connor in 1988. After serving five years in parish ministry, the Cardinal released him to do pro-life ministry full-time. He has been involved in the pro-life movement since he was a teenager and attended his first March for Life in D.C.

"I am so honored and so happy to be receiving this award," Father Pavone said. "We know that youth are not only the future of the pro-life movement, they are vital to its work right now. I have met so many of the Students for Life across America, and they inspire me! Priests for Life and our Youth Outreach Director Bryan Kemper have been working closely with Students for Life and we expect this partnership to grow and flourish."

To read the full statement from Students for Life, please visit studentsforlife.org 

Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.