Upcoming Events View All
2
Speaker: Social Media and Teen Mental Health

Tuesday, 04/02/2024 at 6:30 PM

5
6
From the Heart Rummage Sale

Saturday, 04/06/2024 at 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

6
St. Mark Book Fair

Saturday, 04/06/2024 at 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

7
Poet Laureates Alive: Smith, Harjo, and Limon with Noeli Lytton

Sunday, 04/07/2024 at 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

7
Divine Mercy Sunday

Sunday, 04/07/2024 at 2:00 PM

9
Eco-Series Film for April: River Blue

Tuesday, 04/09/2024 at 6:30 PM

10
Where Art Serves the World

Wednesday, 04/10/2024 at 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM

10
Made for More Speaker Series

Wednesday, 04/10/2024 at 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM

12
Quarter Auction

Friday, 04/12/2024 at 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM

People carried a banner past U.S. Supreme Court building while participating in the 49th annual March for Life in Washington Jan. 21.
People carried a banner past U.S. Supreme Court building while participating in the 49th annual March for Life in Washington Jan. 21.
Photo Credit: Jim Bourg | Reuters

Pro-life marchers' energy, enthusiasm is 'palpable,' says march official

Bishop Burbidge said the March for Life 'is a powerful witness to essential truths that unite us: All of life is sacred'

WASHINGTON -- One aspect of the annual March for Life that never changes is the loud cheering when the lead group, carrying the banner, arrives in front of the Supreme Court.

That tradition was sustained Jan. 21 as groups from Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia, and Immanuel Lutheran School in Alexandria Virginia, joined by Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, arrived from the pre-march rally held in subfreezing temperatures on the National Mall.

The march up Constitution Avenue to the court had taken them slightly more than two hours.

The crowd, not quite the more than 100,000 who attended in 2020 when President Donald Trump addressed the rally via live video feed from the Rose Garden, nonetheless appeared robust, and easily was within the estimate march organizers always give as being in the tens of thousands. A contingent from the Archdiocese of St. Louis' Generation Life was in attendance as were other groups from the archdiocese. 

And that was just fine with Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund.

"Every year is unique, she told Catholic News Service before the rally began. "But the energy and enthusiasm of the marchers is palpable."

Mancini wouldn't speculate on the future of the national march if, later this year, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively overturns the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision by upholding the Mississippi abortion law in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health.

But there's one plan in place if that occurs.

Overturning Roe would return all abortion restrictions to the states. So Mancini said the plan is to have statewide marches established in all 50 states over the next seven years. There are currently a handful of state marches, an effort that began six years ago.

Jeff Hunt, director of the Centennial Institute, a think tank attached to Colorado Christian University, said he thought legalized abortion was a nonstarter with the young people who have dominated March for Life for many years.

"Many of them grew up with their brother's or sister's sonogram taped to the refrigerator door, " he said. "I think that's shaping the idea that a child is not a bunch of cells you can kill."

He thought the current generation of young people is "naturally more pro-life than previous generations."

Marianne Hofer, coordinator of the student pilgrimage from the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, said, "We're extremely excited. We're very honored to be here at a time when Roe could be overturned."

The university sent 230 students. Hofer estimated that about half were at their first March for Life.

The march was briefly delayed after it got underway when members of Patriot Front attempted to march alongside. But they were quickly dispersed.

In a statement issued ahead of the march, Bishop Burbidge said the March for Life "is a powerful witness to essential truths that unite us: All of life is sacred and, thus, the life of the unborn child must be protected from the horror of abortion and life at every stage must be revered, cherished and treasured."

"We march peacefully each year in our nation's capital to give witness to these truths to a nation in which many in public office and others throughout our communities continue to reject them. Yet we will never despair nor tire of proclaiming the Gospel of Life, with firm belief in the power of God to transform hearts," he added.

He echoed what Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori said in his homily at a Jan. 21 vigil Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception: that the Church stands read through its many pastoral ministries "to assist parents who choose life and need support and care."

Related Articles Module

From the Archive Module

Prolife marchers energy enthusiasm is palpable says march official 7236

Must Watch Videos

Now Playing

    View More Videos