by Joseph Kenny

St. Louis Review, Friday, January 29, 2010

The word “unity” came to mind when Kevin Boatright was asked to describe the Jan. 22 March for life in Washington D.C.

“It’s an awesome experience to see the numbers of people and everyone there for one purpose,” said Boatright, who traveled there with members of his parish, St. Joseph in Farmington.  “It’s powerful.”

He also cited the variety of ages represented, from children and babies in strollers to elderly people in wheelchairs.

Being with 57 people from his parish who filled a bus also meant a lot, he said.

A fellow from St. Joseph parishioner, Rob Grindel, commented on the positive attitude of the marchers.  “we’re feeling good about the pro-life movement.  There’s a lot of young people here who are fired up.”

He especially appreciated a Mass that was celebrated in front of the capitol.

The presence of so many Catholics such as his parishioners were impressive, said St. Joseph pastor, Father Ricky Valleroy.  “You heard the voice of the people, the voice of the Church, spoken so loud.”

The march remembers the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States.  At least three major groups went on the trip from the Archdiocese of St. Louis along with a dozen or more parish groups that organized their own trips, said Beth Lauver, director of the archdiocesan Respect Life Apostolate.  Past trips have shown that the people on the march are inspired to carry their enthusiasm throughout the year, she noted.

Danny Kavanagh’s first time at the March for Life in the nation’s capitol left him struggling a bit to put it all in words. 
“The sheer number of people here—the excitement about being here and representing the unborn gives you goose bumps in a good way,” said Kavanagh, a seminarian at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in Shrewsbury.   

With the rally concluding and the march beginning, he cited the dedication of the people who came to the march.  He pointed out the large number of young people.  “as was mentioned, we are the most pro-life generation that has come through since Roe v. Wade (one of the 1973 Supreme Court decisions legalizing abortion in the United States).  There’s a lot to look forward to in the future,” he said.

Earlier, Kavanagh attended Mass at the Verizon Center, where the Washington Capitals hockey team plays its home games.  “It was filled with young people excited about the Eucharist and about being pro-life,” he noted.

Connie Eller, who works at Our Lady’s Inn and is a part of Missouri Blacks for Life and the Missouri Caravan, was looking up to the stage at the rally before the march, listening to a talk by Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J.  The congressman suggested letting President Barack Obama know that “we’re praying for him but we are going to fight every single abortion policy, the ones coming up and the ones already unleashed,” Eller said.

She noted that the gathering of tens of thousands of people included a large contingent from Missouri, including many Catholic leaders.  “And all the pro-life groups from across the country are here.  “It’s absolutely wonderful,” Eller said.

Also going on stage, she said was Debra Stuart, her 2-year old daughter and other women and their children in the “Babies Go to Congress” program started in 2009 by Heartbeat International, a network of pro-life pregnancy centers, to let legislators know firsthand how the centers benefit women who face crisis pregnancies.  Stuart had been
helped by Our Lady’s Inn while facing a crisis pregnancy.

Archbishop Robert J. Carlson also attending the march, said he earlier had told a group of young people that they are pilgrims.  “they’re here to be the Lord’s disciples and to witness to life, to let people know that we believe life is sacred from conception to natural death,”  Archbishop Carlson said.

For all people, he said, “we ask them to pray and be leaders and to help change the laws of our nation.”

He cited groups from St. Louis that totaled more than 3,000 people.  “It’s a wonderful group.  We had 1,000 at one gathering, 600 at another, a beautiful Mass this morning at 7 and another Mass with the youth ministry group.”

Greg Robeson, coordinator of Southside Youth Ministry and co-organizer of the Life Really Matters trip, said the young people attended many rallies, including a program at the start of the trip at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, where they saw a live sonogram of a pregnant woman where she and her husband learned that their 12-week-old baby in her womb is a girl.

The archdiocesan Office of Youth Ministry, with the collaboration of the Respect Life Apostolate, had about 500 teens on their trip.  Life Really Matters, organized by area youth ministers and other volunteers, took some 1,000 teens.