WASHINGTON – The Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion “is a response of love for both mothers and their children in the womb,” the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ pro-life committee said in a statement issued to mark the Jan. 22 anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision making abortion legal in all 50 states.
“The Church’s teaching proclaims a message of life, reminding us that every life is a sacred gift from God from the moment of conception until natural death,” said Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori.
The archbishop’s Jan. 21 statement came as thousands of pro-life supporters gathered to “stand for the rights of the unborn” at the 49th annual March for Life on the National Mall in Washington.
Catherine Fochi, 19, of Our Lady of Hope Parish, Blackwood, was among those from the Diocese of Camden to take part in the march. She said she enjoyed seeing a large youth presence at the event. “It’s inspiring because I know there’s a community out there – from all different backgrounds – who can relate on one thing: that we are all pro-life.”
For Bob LaPalomento of Church of the Incarnation, Mantua, the march was his eighth time attending. He said it was his hope that the event would “open the eyes and hearts of those willing to disregard life and help them recognize that all life is precious.”
LaPalomento, a Deputy Grand Knight in the Knights of Columbus, said standing up for life in all its stages helps him grow spiritually. “I feel like I am carrying on our Lord’s work. He’s giving us precious lives, and it’s our responsibility to care for them and bring them up in the faith.”
Jane Harre attended the march with Mantua’s Knights of Columbus. At 78, she admitted the walk was difficult. “But God gives power to the weak and strengthens us. I felt that I needed to depend on that today.”
For Harre, standing against abortion is personal. “I had my first baby at 16, and during those times, my daughter could’ve easily been put aside. She’ll be 62 soon. I have a lot to be thankful for.”
“Equality Begins in the Womb” was the theme of this year’s event, which always includes a rally with dozens of speakers on the Mall, followed by a march to the U.S. Supreme Court.
During his homily for the Mass ending the National Prayer Vigil for Life, celebrated in Washington before the march, Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley of Boston likened the pro-life cause to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Dreams, the cardinal said, can take a long time to come true.
“We’re all painfully aware that dreams are seldom realized overnight. They point us in a direction and they encourage us to make the journey,” he said.
Such was the case for St. Joseph, he explained. Joseph was visited in a dream by an angel, who told him that King Herod – who wanted the Christ Child dead – was now dead himself. “Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel,” the angel said. The Holy Family had fled to Egypt to escape Herod’s murderous rage.
“Joseph’s whole life is completely upended but he completely and generously obeys God’s will,” Cardinal O’Malley said during the Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
In much the same way “half a century ago,” he recalled, that happened to him – when he was a Capuchin Franciscan priest ministering in Washington and happened upon March for Life founder Nellie Gray.
“We had a dream that we wouldn’t have to go back on a cold day in January every year,” he said, and that Roe v. Wade, “would one day be relegated to the dustbin of history.”
“Perhaps this will be the year of Herod’s death, when legal protection for unborn children will be enshrined in our laws,” he noted.
Catholic News Service contributed to this article.
at the bottom and then tap “Add to Home Screen”
