Pro-lifers participate in the Illinois March for Life in Springfield, April 17, 2024. / Credit: Photo courtesy of March for LifeWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 22, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).Thousands of pro-lifers, including many groups of Catholic high school and college students, attended the Illinois March for Life in Springfield last week.Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, told CNA that the march was "joy-filled" and "hopeful" and had a large youth turnout.Catholic youth from "Crusaders for Life," a pro-life group from St. John Cantius Parish in Chicago, was one such group that traveled several hours to participate in the event.The group's members could be seen at the front of the march holding brightly colored umbrellas and inflatables. Many of the young people cheered, danced, and played drums and cymbals, while others in the crowd chanted pro-life slogans and prayed.Thousands show up in Illinois to March for Life. Incredible. pic.twitte...
Pro-lifers participate in the Illinois March for Life in Springfield, April 17, 2024. / Credit: Photo courtesy of March for Life
Thousands of pro-lifers, including many groups of Catholic high school and college students, attended the Illinois March for Life in Springfield last week.
Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, told CNA that the march was "joy-filled" and "hopeful" and had a large youth turnout.
Catholic youth from "Crusaders for Life," a pro-life group from St. John Cantius Parish in Chicago, was one such group that traveled several hours to participate in the event.
The group's members could be seen at the front of the march holding brightly colored umbrellas and inflatables. Many of the young people cheered, danced, and played drums and cymbals, while others in the crowd chanted pro-life slogans and prayed.
Despite Illinois having some of the most pro-abortion laws in the country, allowing the killing of unborn children until birth, Mancini said the thousands of marchers from across the state brought "a message of hope and love for both mom and baby."
Co-sponsored by Illinois Right to Life and March for Life, the Illinois march is an annual event that begins in front of the state Capitol and proceeds through downtown Springfield.
Mancini said the march was more important than ever because of ongoing efforts to incorporate abortion into the Illinois Human Rights Act.
Already passed by the Illinois House of Representatives, the state Senate is currently considering a bill that would amend the Illinois Human Rights Act to declare that "a person has freedom from unlawful discrimination in making reproductive health decisions [including abortion] and such discrimination is unlawful."
"Illinoisians understand the importance of witnessing for life at the Capitol in Springfield now that the power to protect the unborn has been returned to the American people through their elected representatives post-Roe," she said. "By marching at the Capitol in Springfield, legislators witness a multitude of Illinoisians stand for the inherent dignity of the unborn child and mother."
The atmosphere at the march was "joy-filled and hopeful, but also reverent with the understanding that we were bringing a voice for the voiceless to the Capitol," Mancini said.
So proud of our youth who participated in the March for Life in Springfield, Illinois today! pic.twitter.com/wApR1rKhlL
The Catholic Times, a news publication of the Diocese of Springfield, reported that over 1,500 Catholics attended Mass in an auditorium at the University of Illinois-Springfield in preparation for the march. The Mass was celebrated by Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki, who was also a speaker at the march.
Samuel Sweeley, a Catholic junior at St. Teresa High School in Decatur, Illinois, told The Catholic Times that he came to the march to bear witness that "God made us all with a purpose."
"No matter what environment you are born into and no matter who you are, you always have a chance to grow closer to Jesus, to live a beautiful life, to love God, and to enjoy that life," Sweeley said.
The spiritual shepherd of the Church in Singapore is Cardinal William Goh, archbishop since early 2013 and a cardinal since 2022. / Credit: Sean Boyce/EWTN NewsNational Catholic Register, May 3, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).Pope Francis recently announced his intention to travel to Southeast Asia in September to visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore. The island nation of Singapore is one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse regions in Asia and is home to about 395,000 Catholics. The small but strategically important nation also has the highest urban density in Asia but is ranked as the country with the highest quality of life. Like everywhere else, it also faces the threats of secularism and relativism and a loss of traditional values, especially a commitment to family and respect for the elderly. The spiritual shepherd of the Church in Singapore is Cardinal William Goh, archbishop since early 2013 and a cardinal since 2022. He sat down in his res...
null / Credit: ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 2, 2024 / 18:20 pm (CNA).The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) released a pair of emergency rules that it said are aimed at combating "misinformation" and a "deeply dishonest scare campaign" by the Biden administration about the state's new six-week pro-life law. The rules, published on May 1, establish guidance for lifesaving measures and clarify that certain procedures, including treatment for ectopic pregnancies, are not considered abortion and remain legal under the Florida Heartbeat Protection Act, which went into effect on Wednesday. This comes amid significant criticism over the state's pro-life law that prohibits abortions on women after six weeks of pregnancy except for in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is in danger. The new AHCA rules further clarify those exceptions. "The agency finds there is an immediate danger to th...
Oviedo Archbishop Jesús Sanz Montes accused the government of focusing "in a biased and manipulative way on the problem of pedophilia as something attributable only to the Catholic Church." / Credit: Archdiocese of OviedoACI Prensa Staff, May 2, 2024 / 18:50 pm (CNA)."They have done it again. It is a kind of obsessive mantra every time they need a smokescreen to distract from the real problems we have and to which they so clumsily and insidiously apply their tortuous governance."That is how the archbishop of Oviedo, Jesús Sanz Montes, began a letter released this week titled "The Accusing Rattle" in which he responds to the socialist government's announcement of an exclusive plan to address sexual and power abuses committed within the Catholic Church.In the opinion of the prelate, the country's executive "has tried to focus in a biased and manipulative way on the problem of pedophilia as something attributable only to the Catholic Church, which represents an exclusive...