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Happening ... in the Local Church
Marchers ready to stand up for life
 Students
from St. John the Baptist Parish, Tipton, help carry a banner from St.
Patrick Parish, Kokomo, during the annual March for Life in 2007.
Members of both parishes are among those from the Local Church planning
to participate in this year’s march on Jan. 22. |
By Lisa Wilson-Cotillier
The Catholic Moment
Thirty-five years ago, abortion on demand was legalized, making abortion lawful during all nine months of pregnancy. And ever since, pro-lifers from every state in the Union have converged on Washington, D.C., to march for life.
This year’s annual March for Life is set for Tuesday, Jan. 22. United by the theme — “Build Unity on the Life Principles throughout America. No Exception! No Compromise!” — youth and adults of the Local Church will gather with others from around the nation to recall and peacefully protest the legalization of abortion on demand that began with the 1973 Supreme Court decisions Roe vs. Wade and Doe vs. Bolton.
Pat Millea, director of youth ministry at St. Alphonsus Parish, Zionsville, will travel with youth and adults of the parish on the pilgrimage. Nearly 100 youth and adults from other parishes, including Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Carmel; St. Lawrence, Lafayette; and St. Peter, Winamac, will join the Zionsville delegation. Other parish groups traveling to the march include St. Joan of Arc and St. Patrick, Kokomo, and St. John the Baptist, Tipton.
Students from St. Theodore Guerin High School in Noblesville and Central Catholic Junior-Senior High School in Lafayette will participate. The Frassati Society of Young Adult Catholics also is continuing its tradition of hosting a pilgrimage to the March for Life.
“It’s an amazing experience for the youth on two levels,” Millea said. “First, as Americans, they get a sense of what it means to stand up for what they believe is right. Second, as Catholics, they have the opportunity to stand up for life with thousands of people who have the same beliefs. To see so many others standing up for truth and to feel their support is really valuable.”
Each year, the activities leading up to the march are similar, but, Millea said, “Seeing the passion and life the young people have for this cause really reaffirms and inspires my faith.”
The event includes a rally on the Ellipse, a march to the U.S. Capitol and Supreme Court Building, and the opportunity to listen to various speakers and visit pro-life forums.
The rally will begin at noon in the Ellipse, just south of the White House, with participants proceeding along Constitution Avenue to the Supreme Court.
Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, chairman of the Committee for Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, will be the principal celebrant and homilist at the National Prayer Vigil for Life on Jan.. 21 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Confessions, rosaries, holy hours, the Liturgy of the Hours and litanies are to fill the overnight hours until a 7:30 a.m. Mass Jan. 22 to be celebrated by Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston.
Also on the morning of the march, the Washington Archdiocese expects more than 20,000 Catholic teens and young adults to attend a youth rally and Mass at the Verizon Center, Washington’s largest sports arena.
The event will feature recording artists and speakers including Steve Agrisano, Matt Maher and Val Limar Jansen. A youth Mass with Washington, D.C., Archbishop Donald Wuerl will follow.