The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will be taking about 180 people, including 140 high school students and young adults, on four chartered buses to the Jan. 20 March for Life in Washington, D.C. It will mark the first March in the nation’s capital since the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 24 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion across the country.
The archdiocese organized the first trip to D.C. in 2009; this year, the archdiocese is taking participants Jan. 17-22. Bill Dill, marriage preparation and youth ministry events coordinator for the archdiocesan Office of Marriage, Family and Life, and Madeline Larson, the office’s assistant marriage preparation and youth ministry coordinator, recently joined “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley to discuss the trip.
Dill is a veteran of the March for Life in Washington, but this will be Larson’s first. “As a young adult, I’m just really grateful for the work of those who have come before me,” she said, and made it possible for her and her peers “to live in a post Roe v. Wade world.”
But Larson, 22, said it feels like a greater call to action today, “especially as a young person, to live out the culture of life that we want to see across the United States.”
“So now, it’s not a dream for Roe v. Wade to end,” Larson said, but a dream to improve the lives of women who are in unexpected pregnancies. And to care for those at the end of life and who need care, she said.
This year’s rally takes place Jan. 20. Those traveling by bus from the archdiocese will also have the chance to visit the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Lincoln Memorial. The trip also includes one day at a national pro-life summit hosted by Students for Life of America and Students for Life Action, which Dill called a highlight because “it helps them learn” and equips them to share what they’ve learned.
While many attendees will be high school students, others are older, Dill said. And those unable to make the trip can participate in the Respect Life Mass Jan. 22 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.
When Conley asked about the value of going to the march, Dill replied, “Who are the most vulnerable in our culture?” One of the easiest, simplest ways to “be a gift” is standing up for those who don’t have a voice, Dill said. “And that’s where I love bringing out the heroism of our young people,” he said. “They want their life to make a difference.” The people who participated in the past can claim that, Dill said, including “a claim in this victory of Roe v. Wade being overturned.”
But the battle is not over, Dill said. “The battle is for the hearts of our young people, the hearts of our country, and we want to win that with love and charity,” he said. “And that’s why we march.”
To hear the full interview, listen to this episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which debuts at 9 p.m. Dec. 30 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. Dec. 31 and 2 p.m. Jan. 1.
For more information about the national march and related events, visit marchforlife.org/national-march-for-life. Spots on the archdiocese’s chartered buses are sold out, but individuals can travel on their own.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes an interview with Father Michael Van Sloun, director of clergy personnel for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, who discusses the meaning and importance of the Jan. 1 solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God; and a reprised interview with Father John Paul Erickson, pastor of Transfiguration in Oakdale, who offers tips for making new year’s resolutions.
Listen to interviews after they have aired at PracticingCatholicShow.com or choose a streaming platform at https://anchor.fm/practicing-catholic-show.
