North Carolina Catholics March for Life
In Raleigh and D.C., rallies make powerful pro-life statements
From all over the state they came in January, first on a spring-like day in downtown Raleigh and a week later in frosty Washington, DC, to demonstrate in defense of human life. Carrying banners, pushing strollers, singing and praying together, North Carolina Catholics in large numbers joined other advocates for life to bring public attention to the issues of abortion, embryonic stem cell research, the death penalty and all the instances where society and public policy devalue the human person.
In Raleigh on Saturday, Jan. 13, Bishop Michael Burbidge joined Bishop Peter Jugis of Charlotte and more than 300 people who attended a rally at Nash Square followed by a march to the state capitol. The following weekend, both bishops led a large contingent of North Carolinians to Washington, DC, for the 34th annual March for Life on Monday, January 22. Bishop Burbidge and Bishop Jugis concelebrated in a Vigil Mass at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Sunday evening. The following morning, at 10:30 a.m., the faithful from the Dioceses of Charlotte and Raleigh gathered for Mass at the main altar in the Basilica of the National Shrine, where Bishop Burbidge was the principal celebrant and Bishop Jugis the homilist. The march following the Mass drew an estimated xx,000 demonstrators from across the nation.
Bishop Burbidge urged those unable to travel to Washington for the Mass and the march to join in solidarity, through individual or communal prayer, with those who made the trip.
The story in pictures