December 22, 2006

Pro-life forces plan D.C. march

by Jennifer Brinker, Review Staff Writer
It's time again to start making plans to attend the 34th annual March for
Life in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Jan. 22.

The annual march commemorates the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that
legalized abortion in the United States. Last year's march drew more than
100,000 people from across the country, including thousands of people from
the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

The largest organized trip to Washington from the St. Louis area is the
Missouri-Illinois Life Caravan, offered through Missouri Right to Life. As
of this week, there were 11 buses scheduled to go on the caravan.

Cost is $130 per person, which includes a round-trip bus ticket to
Washington, D.C. The deadline for reservations is Wednesday, Jan. 10.

The caravan will depart Sunday, Jan. 21. Participants will board buses at
prearranged meeting points across St. Louis and Metro East. All groups will
meet at the St. Louis Gateway Arch Downtown for a prayer rally and media
conference before leaving on the overnight trip to Washington.

Groups will arrive at their destination the morning of Jan. 22, where they
will meet with members of Congress and listen to speakers from 9-11:30 a.m.
on the top floor of the Hart Senate Office Building. The noon march and
rally near the Washington Monument will follow. Later in the afternoon, they
will attend appointments with senators, members of Congress and their aides.

The overnight trip back to St. Louis is expected to arrive the afternoon of
Tuesday, Jan. 23.

Caravan spokesperson Connie Eller said this year's focus with legislators
will be Missouri's passage of Amendment 2, which constitutionally protects
human cloning and embryonic-stem cell research.

"Something has to be done to remedy that," Eller said of the amendment's
passage Nov. 7. "We need to advocate for ethical adult stem-cell research
and to definitely see to it that Missouri taxpayers don't get ripped off."
She added that those attending the caravan will meet with lawmakers to talk
about other pro-life legislative issues on the national and state levels.

The Missouri-Illinois Life Caravan is open to anyone over age 7. Youths ages
7-18 must be accompanied by an adult. To make reservations or for more
information on the caravan, including a list of pickup points, call Tricia
Davies at (314) 822-8516 or e-mail her at lifecara [log in to unmask] Or visit
Missouri Right to Life's website at www.missourilife.org.

There also are a number of groups travelling separately from the
Missouri-Illinois Life Caravan. They include St. Gertrude School in Krakow;
St. Francis Borgia Grade School, PSR and Regional High School in Washington;
Most Sacred Heart in Eureka; St. Louis University Students for Life; St.
Monica in Creve Coeur; and St. Pius X High School in Festus.

Some 900 teens and their chaperones from the archdiocese also are expected
to take part in Life Really Matters, the largest contingency of youths from
the area to attend the March for Life.

The annual event is organized by a team of local teachers, youth ministers
and campus ministers, said Greg Robeson, regional director for Southside
Youth Ministry, a regional youth ministry effort in the South St. Louis
area.

Robeson said about 600 people already have registered for the trip. Teens
can still sign up, he noted, but they must join a parish or school youth
group already registered to go on the trip. He encouraged teens to check
with their school or parish youth group for more information.

Teens will attend a sendoff event Friday, Jan. 19, at St. Joseph Parish in
Cottleville. Father Christopher Martin, associate pastor, is helping to
organize the program, which will feature speakers, music and praise, and
worship. Father Martin also will celebrate Mass for the teens.

While in Washington, teens will stay at a Doubletree Hotel and participate
in programs there Jan. 20 and 21.

Highlights include Karl Zimmerman and the Big House Band and several
speakers. Teens also will participate in Mass and receive the Sacrament of
Reconciliation.

Before the Jan. 22 March for Life, St. Louis teens will join more than
20,000 young people from across the country at the Verizon Center (formerly
MCI Center) for the Rally for Life and Youth Mass, sponsored by the
Archdiocese of Washington.

Archbishop Raymond L. Burke also will participate in several activities to
commemorate the anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision. On Jan. 20, the
archbishop will celebrate a Mass at 8 a.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of St.
Louis, Lindell Boulevard and Newstead Avenue.

Afterward, he will lead a procession and prayer vigil to the nearby Planned
Parenthood abortion facility.

Archbishop Burke will depart for Washington, D.C., Jan. 21 and concelebrate
the Vigil Mass for Life at 8 p.m. that night at the Basilica of the National
Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The main celebrant and homilist will be
Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, former archbishop of St. Louis.

On Jan. 22, Archbishop Burke will celebrate Mass for Missouri-Illinois Life
Caravan pilgrims at 7 a.m. at Holy Rosary Church in Washington. He also will
participate in the rally and march.

Kenrick-Glennon Seminary is sending a contingency of 53 seminarians and four
priests to this year's March for Life, said Matthew DeBlock, a third-year
student at Kenrick School of Theology.

Leading the group will be president-rector Msgr. Ted Wojcicki; Father Edward
Richard, vice rector, dean of students and associate professor of moral
theology; Father Randy Soto, associate professor of Sacred Scripture-New
Testament; and Father C. Eugene Morris, episcopal vicar for the Office of
the Permanent Diaconate and adjunct professor at the seminary.

The seminarians, said DeBlock, will leave for Washington, D.C., Jan. 19 and
plan on attending several events, including the youth Mass and rally at the
Verizon Center, the Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of
Immaculate Conception and the Mass with Archbishop Burke at Holy Rosary the
morning of the march.

"We encourage the guys to do some sightseeing, to tie in the element of
history ... and the whole constitutional aspect of why we're standing up for
the pro-life movement," said DeBlock. "It's important for guys to experience
that atmosphere in Washington, D.C., and tie that in with what the Church is
teaching and how we incorporate that with our faith."











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