Supporters march for life in Washington D.C. and around the diocese

Home-schooled students stood with adults on the sidewalk in Webster Jan. 19, waving their hands and respect life signs at motorists, and receiving several supportive beeps of the horn. They had just attended Mass across the street at their parish, Sacred Heart of Jesus. Their prayer and public witness were ways of being in solidarity with people who were participating in the March for Life in Washington, D.C., that day.

The previous night, other students and adults attended Mass at St. Paul Cathedral in Worcester, before boarding buses for the march. 

“It’s really cool to see everyone in the same place, all for the same cause,” Lillian Evans, a ninth-grader from Trivium School in Lancaster, said as she waited for Mass to begin at St. Paul’s. 

“And it’s such a great cause,” added her classmate, Theresa Rame.

“We’re here to protect the unborn – always,” explained another classmate, Elizabeth Guinee.

The march is an annual response to the Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, which was overturned in 2022.

Since that decision on Jan. 22, 1973, more than 65 million babies have been aborted, according to Allison LeDoux, director of the diocesan Respect Life Office which organizes buses to the annual march. 

“Tonight you pray and board buses,” Msgr. Richard F. Reidy, diocesan vicar general, said in his homily at St. Paul’s. “Tomorrow you will march in our nation’s capitol in a cause of civil rights and human rights. For we can never safeguard the quality of life unless we first secure the right to life.” 

He noted that the week was bookended by champions for the defense of human rights, with Martin Luther King Day falling on Monday and the March for Life on Friday. Both causes stem from the truth that all people are created equal, with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, Msgr. Reidy said.

He said January is bookended by dates commemorating human rights milestones. Jan. 1 was the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, in which President Abraham Lincoln declared freedom for slaves in Confederate states. Jan. 31 is the anniversary of Congress passing the 13th Amendment, to abolish slavery.

“A century later, Martin Luther King was killed trying to secure [equal] rights,” Msgr. Reidy said. “King’s was a cause that was fought in the courts, on the streets and in the hearts of Americans long after the slaves were freed.”

Msgr. Reidy told listeners that, since the Roe v. Wade decision, people like them have traveled to Washington, petitioned the government, prayed and worked to establish a culture of life. He thanked them and expressed hope that they will thank God for their lives and every life.

Kiley Mullins, a senior at North Branford High School in Connecticut, said this was her first March for Life.

“Sometimes people are a little against me,” she said, but one has to “stand up for what’s right.” 

Her brother is a student at Assumption University, and she traveled with their group.

One bus carried the Assumption group, some people from the Trivium School contingent and other individuals who registered to attend; others from Trivium filled a second bus, Mrs. LeDoux said. She said there were about 100 travelers. 

One newcomer was Bradley Sjosten, a member of the Knights of Columbus Adelphi Council and St. Anne Parish in Shrewsbury. 

“This is something that I had wanted to do for a long time,” but “life gets in the way,” he said. He said that as he has grown older, he has come to appreciate life differently, and better understand abortion, which he said should be called murder. Being part of the Knights of Columbus and the First Friday Club has “brought me closer to God,” he said.

He said he was very pleased to see young people present.

His wife, Maureen Sjosten, said she participated in the march her four years of high school, but then went to college and started a family. 

“I would love to go back again,” she said, but right now she is a public school teacher.

Following the March for Life, Mr. Sjosten told The Catholic Free Press that the march “was an amazing display of today’s youth standing for God and what is right. It was amazing to see so many youth at the Basilica [of the Immaculate Conception] and throughout the day. ... I am humbled and grateful.”

Preaching to home-schooled children and other people at Sacred Heart in Webster, Father Adam Reid, pastor, noted that the Church says all lives matter. That must be emphasized in a world that says: “It’s all about a personal decision,” so life can be taken by abortion or physician-assisted suicide.

During the public witness, “we’ll say to those driving by, peacefully, lovingly” that life is the greatest gift from God and cannot be taken away, Father Reid said.

After Mass he said, “Future heroes will continue the legacy of heroes that I have seen” at the March for Life. 

“Not everyone has come to appreciate yet what we understand” about the dignity of life, so some passersby might use unkind gestures, he warned. He said that’s when it’s especially important to remember Jesus’ words about being blessed when persecuted for the sake of righteousness. Father Reid told listeners not to strike back, adding, “Our kindness will communicate as much as our presence.” He said they would pray together and silently. “We’re praying that more people will come to see” the gift of human life, he said.

A local vigil on the day of the March for Life, is “truly a very tangible way to be in solidarity” with those who have made great sacrifices to emphasize human dignity, Father Reid told The Catholic Free Press.

“My fervent hope is that we can build on what we do here today, drawing in other people and perhaps other parishes,” giving people who cannot go to the march a way to communicate about the gift of life, he said.