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.
Pope Francis meets with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at the Vatican, Oct. 4, 2021. / Credit: Vatican MediaWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 17, 2024 / 18:04 pm (CNA).Pope Francis might be traveling to Turkey next year for the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, according to Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew in comments he made on Thursday.Although the Holy See has not confirmed any travel plans, the ecumenical patriarch told a group of reporters that a committee is being established to organize a visit, according to the Orthodox Times. The referenced council took place in the ancient city of Nicaea in 325 A.D. in the former Roman Empire, which is now the present-day city of Iznik in Turkey. "His Holiness Pope Francis wishes for us to jointly celebrate this important anniversary," Bartholomew said.The Council of Nicaea was the first ecumenical council in the Church. It is accepted by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church,...
Pope Francis meets with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at the Vatican, Oct. 4, 2021. / Credit: Vatican MediaWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 17, 2024 / 18:04 pm (CNA).Pope Francis might be traveling to Turkey next year for the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicea, according to Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew in comments he made on Thursday.Although the Holy See has not confirmed any travel plans, the ecumenical patriarch told a group of reporters that a committee is being established to organize a visit, according to the Orthodox Times. The referenced council took place in the ancient city of Nicea in 325 A.D. in the former Roman Empire, which is now the present-day city of Iznik in Turkey. "His Holiness Pope Francis wishes for us to jointly celebrate this important anniversary," Bartholomew said.The Council of Nicea was the first ecumenical council in the Church. It is accepted by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, th...
School children read about the life of Blessed Carlo Acutis at the celebration of his new shrine at St. Dominic Parish in Brick, New Jersey. Oct, 1, 2023. / Credit: Thomas P. Costello IIACI Prensa Staff, May 17, 2024 / 14:46 pm (CNA).The film "Eucharistic Miracles: The Heartbeat of Heaven" about Blessed Carlo Acutis and the Eucharistic miracles he studied with such devotion is showing in theaters across multiple U.S. states and the nation's capital this weekend. Specifically, the feature film is showing in theaters in California; Nevada; Arizona; Utah; Idaho; Texas; Washington; Oregon; Indiana; New Jersey; Colorado; New York; Tennessee; Michigan; Georgia; Illinois; Florida; Kansas; Washington, D.C.; Virginia; Pennsylvania; and Mississippi.Gaby Jácoba, director of the International Catholic Film Festival, which is bringing the film about Acutis to movie theaters in the United States, emphasized the importance of "attending the first weekend" to see the film, in order for th...