Pittsburgh Catholic Newspaper - News and Features

News & Features

Local pro-life faithful ready for D.C. march
archived from: 2010-01-11
by: Pittsburgh Catholic Staff

Young and old will stand up for human life

Buses and vans being rented for transportation to the March for Life in Washington, D.C., Friday, Jan. 22, are filing up fast.

Parish pro-life committees and other local groups are organizing the journey of thousands in southwestern Pennsylvania to the nation’s capital to be witnesses to the world.

The theme of the 37th March for Life is “Stand Up Now! Unite for the Life Principles — No Exceptions! No Compromise!”

Bishop David Zubik, who participated in last year’s march, will again be there with diocesan seminarians.

“We are people of life 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year,” he said. “We have been here for 37 years. We will continue to be here for as long as the sacredness of life from natural conception to natural death is challenged.

“We are here to stand for humanity, to stand for every individual life. We will never be silent, we will never cease praying, we will never despair. Because we know that nothing is impossible with God.”

A large contingent every year at the march is made up of young people from across the region. They will gather for a youth rally and 10 a.m. Mass for life at the Verizon Center, with Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese of the Military Services as the main celebrant and homilist. Bishop Zubik is scheduled to concelebrate. Doors open at 7 a.m.

Pope Benedict XVI, in a message for last year’s youth Mass, noted that “no Christian can shirk the moral duty of affirming the sacredness of God’s gift of life at every stage of its development and working to ensure that this fundamental human right receives due legal protection.”

A vigil Mass is set for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 21 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The main celebrant and homilist will be Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, formerly of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

The pro-life events commemorate the 1973 Supreme Court decisions that legalized abortion on demand in the United States.

Instead of attending the march, some people who travel to Washington choose to stay at the basilica to pray for the march’s success, celebrate Mass and tour the magnificent church.

Others head up Capitol Hill to track down their senators and representatives to lobby them for the pro-life cause. Many politicians make themselves available during the day for visits from constituents.

To reserve a seat on a bus heading to the March for Life, contact your parish pro-life committee or People Concerned for the Unborn Child, a local advocacy group, at 412-531-9272.

E-mail this story