January 31, 2013
Just before sunrise on Friday, January 25, a
packed bus departed St. John’s Queens, NY, campus bound for
Washington, DC, to join nearly half-a-million people in the 40th
Annual March for Life. Held every year at this time,
the march draws attention to the 1973 decision of the Supreme Court
to legalize abortion in the Roe vs. Wade case and rallies
to overturn it.
The group of 43 St. John’s students headed to the National
Mall to hear senators and members of Congress speak
out for the unborn and the protection of life. Rick Santorum, the
former presidential candidate who served as senator from
Pennsylvania, addressed the crowd, offering words of affirmation
and encouragement to all gathered. “You are the voice for the
voiceless, you are those who stand for love in a world of death,
and we are proud to stand here with you,” he said. “One day we will
stand here in triumph, because love and truth always triumph.”
The cold couldn’t dampen the spirits of the marchers, of which
half were made up of young people. James Finnegan
’13MS, a St. John’s graduate student and former president
of Students for Life, was thrilled at the opportunity to have one
of the largest delegations in the University’s history come
together to connect and share their beliefs as a community and on
the national stage. “This is very much a day of prayer and
remembrance,” Finnegan said. “This is a movement about changing
hearts and minds.”
When the speeches concluded, the St. John’s students and more than
500,000 fellow defenders of life descended on Capitol
Hill. While solemn prayer echoed through the crowds,
the cheering and singing of youth and adults alike resounded
throughout Constitution Avenue in fervent support of life at any
stage. “The best way to combat a culture of death is with the
celebration of life,” said Andrew Scott, Campus Minister for
Spirituality.
The day concluded with Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception. Scott remarked that the liturgy was the
perfect way to end the day. “After a day of activism, we must bring
it back to prayer,” he said. “With the present day pro-life issues,
prayer is perhaps the most important thing we can do.”