Local Catholics reflect on the March for Life

On the evening of Jan. 22, Catholic Courier photo editor Mike Crupi joined a group of 49 Rochester-area Catholics for a voyage from Penfield's Holy Spirit Church to Washington, D.C. for the annual March for Life. For the parishioners who took the overnight trip, this was much more than a bus ride, it was the start of a pilgrimage. Beginning with their early morning arrival at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for a Mass celebrated by New York Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan and culminating with a long walk to the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, the sleep-deprived group was energized again and again by prayers, speeches and songs and by walking side by side with tens of thousands of other pro-life activists. (Click here to view more photos from this event and/or buy prints.)

Comments

by Suzanne Stack on January 31, 2012, 3:05 PM: Kudos, Mike, for going along on this momentous journey. Great photos!!

by Ronald Buttarazzi Sr. on January 31, 2012, 6:18 PM

I saw photo of Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle greeting the Holy Spirit Church attendees at the Right to Life March in Washington. They and she make it very clear that being a Christian in a militantly secularist society is not a spectator sport.

Also a comment about Sarkozy’s statement about the importance of religion in France and its Constitution. Most people are unaware that during the French Revolution the Church was persecuted and Robespierre ‘s Reign ofTerror was an attempt to dechristianize France by the guillotine and deportation.

May I respectfully suggest you check the brave women Carmelites known as the Martyrs of Campiégne and recommend the book “To Quell the Terror.”

Their story is on the internet and made the subject of an opera by Francis Poulenc.