Pilgrims from Archdiocese of Mobile determined to have voices heard

By Rob Herbst
For The Catholic Week
A long bus trip to Washington, D.C., followed by snowy weather at this year’s March for Life only intensified the determination of young people from the Archdiocese of Mobile. 
Nearly 250 people took part in an Archdiocese of Mobile-sponsored trip. They, along with pilgrims from all three high schools in the archdiocese and several parishes joined thousands in Washington for this year’s rally. 
“There were so many obstacles, but God had a plan for our students,” said Archdiocese of Mobile Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry Dillon Stein. “It was an experience to see them full of joy, but also to see them standing up for life and the joy that is the newborn child.”
The March for Life began in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which once legalized abortion nationwide, and gathers pro-life advocates from across the U.S. This year's march -- its second year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe in 2022 -- took place as winter weather put much of the U.S. in a deep freeze, stalling transportation and canceling flights.
This year's march showed a movement eager to up its game to help American society embrace a culture that affirms and supports the dignity of all human life, not just for the unborn.
Stein said it is eye-opening for some to see so many people in Washington fighting for life.
“I had a student come up to me and say ‘I thought we were the only ones. I was blown away to see how many Catholics there were, but also how many people are fighting the same fight we are. 
"I think it was a witness to him, the universality of the Church.”
Prior to the march, several speakers took to the stage for the March for Life Rally and emphasized the theme of making abortion “unthinkable.”
Aisha Taylor, author of "Navigating the Impossible: A Survival Guide for Single Moms," took to the rally stage and reminded the crowd, "It was people like you who helped people like me to choose life for my unborn twins."
"I am eternally grateful for that pregnancy center," she said, adding that her presence among them was part of her pledge to "pay it forward" for all the support she had received to choose life.
But March for Life speakers also indicated strongly that changing the culture for life did not just affect the unborn, but extended to all human beings. Rallygoers watched on the screens a preview of the movie "Cabrini" — a film about St. Frances Xavier Cabrini who cared for immigrants, orphans and people of all races — which Mancini said exemplified the march's theme.
A voiceover in the "Cabrini" trailer reflected that New York, where Mother Cabrini ministered, is a city "built on immigrant bone."
It said, "Is this bone not ours as well? Did we not all arrive as immigrants? Do we not owe these children, our children, a life better than a rat's?"
Benjamin Watson, a former NFL tight end, said pro-life advocates must embark on "a new fight for life" that also addresses the factors behind abortion, and he connected those efforts to the wider struggle for peace and justice in society.
"Roe is done, but we still live in a culture that knows not how to care for life," Watson said.
An unrelated incident underscored Watson's words. 
As the March for Life was going on, the District of Columbia's law enforcement and emergency personnel were responding to a teenager who had been shot just a few blocks from Capitol Hill.
The national march also showcased organizers' determination to mobilize the thousands gathered for immediate and effective action. 
At one point, Mancini invited the crowds to pull out their phones and told them to text MARCH to 73075 and "send a message to Congress that you want to protect pregnancy resource centers."
Thousands of Catholics participating in the march came from prayer vigils and Masses held that day or the evening before.
At the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, preached to a crowd of 7,000 gathered for a vigil Mass that was followed by a National Holy Hour for Life.
At the morning Mass in the basilica Jan. 19, Bishop Earl K. Fernandes of Columbus, Ohio, encouraged Catholics not to get discouraged by setbacks in the pro-life movement, but to recall how Jesus Christ "fell three times under the weight of his cross but he got back up."
"Even after defeats we get back up and we march for life in radical solidarity with women and children," he said.
- OSV News’ Peter Jesserer Smith contributed to this article.

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