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Thousands attend vigil at National Shrine

Dennis Sadowski | Catholic News Service

Abby Benoit, left, a student from Teurlings Catholic High School in Lafayette, La., joins the over-capacity crowd for the opening Mass of the National Prayer Vigil for Life at the Shrine Jan. 21.

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Four-year-old Rose Dorss gets a lift up for a better view of the opening Mass of the National Prayer Vigil for Life at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington Jan. 21. The Dorss family of Front Royal were among the hundreds of people attending the vigil, which is held each year prior to the March for Life.

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A capacity crowd packs the Shrine for the opening Mass of the National Prayer Vigil for Life in Washington Jan. 21.

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WASHINGTON – Rosary in hand, Tom Pottratz surveyed the throng
gathered for the opening Mass of the annual March for Life
Jan. 21 at the Basilica of National Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception.

What he saw gave him a sense of satisfaction.

Mixed among the crowd were more than 1,000 people, many of
them of school age, from his hometown of Indianapolis.

Twenty years ago, when Pottratz started attending the March
for Life, Indianapolis was not well represented.

After a few years, Pottratz recalled for Catholic News
Service, he wondered what could be done to bring the same
enthusiasm for making the annual trek to Washington that he
saw in people from other parts of the U.S. to the young
people of central Indiana.

Pottratz, a member of St. Louis de Montfort Parish in
suburban Fishers, Ind., approached Archbishop Daniel M.
Buechlein of Indianapolis, offering to organize bus trips for
teens to attend the march and its related activities. The
archbishop gave his blessing. Then recently retired, Pottratz
went to work.

The first year, 1996, he was able to get about 180 teens to
fill four buses. Thereafter the project grew. He stepped back
from the effort a few years ago when parishes, schools and
deaneries began sponsoring their own buses. This year about
25 buses made the trip from Indiana to Washington.

“I’ve always known most kids are pro-life but they’re a
little reluctant to get up and stand in front because of what
the popular media says,” Pottratz said. “That’s until they
come out here one time and they see 150,000 other youth. They
say ‘Wow, it’s kind of cool to be pro-life. OK, I can do it
now.'”

The teens from Indianapolis helped generate an atmosphere of
excitement in the basilica as the Mass neared. The
congregation filled the aisles, side chapels, the vestibule
and even part of the crypt level below the upper church.

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chairman of
the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, presided
at the Mass. He was joined by Cardinals Francis E. George of
Chicago, Sean P. O’Malley of Boston, Justin Rigali of
Philadelphia, William H. Keeler, retired archbishop of
Baltimore, and William W. Baum and Theodore E. McCarrick,
retired archbishops of Washington.

In his homily, Cardinal DiNardo welcomed the thousands of
Catholics from across the country who made the trip to
Washington for the annual vigil and march marking the 37th
anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision
that legalized abortion.

The cardinal said he was particularly grateful for the
presence of thousands of young people, whom he called “a sure
mark of infectious joy, the sign of life.”

He recalled the martyrdom of a youthful St. Agnes – Jan. 21
is the feast day of the Roman saint – saying her witness to
faith as a child can be an inspiration for all Catholics in
the continuing campaign to protect life.

“St. Agnes was so small that the chains intended to bind her
hands and wrists slid off,” he said. “Unfortunately, in our
culture we have grown into the chains that bind us and hold
us fast in a grip of deadly attitudes about human life, about
the human person, especially in the moments of his or her
beautiful but fragile beginnings and in those vulnerable
times of old age and illness.”

The cardinal offered his views on the current health care
reform legislation before Congress. He said the House and
Senate versions of reform fail to uphold the dignity of
people and freedom of conscience.

He said that while the House version of the bill reaffirmed
the long-standing policy against using federal funds for
health plans covering elective abortions, the Senate stripped
that provision from its bill.

“That (Senate) bill is also less successful in making health
care affordable for all who are poor or vulnerable,
especially immigrants,” he said. “Neither bill has sufficient
conscience protections at this point.

“Our response must be clear and articulate to Congress on the
essential criteria for genuine health care reform. Abortion
is not health care. Health care is about saving and
preserving lives not destroying lives. As our president
before Congress recently said, everyone should be cared for
and no one should be deliberately killed,” he said.

Cardinal DiNardo urged the thousands in the basilica to
embrace life willingly and earnestly, as did the saints who
span the centuries.

He said the actions to influence lawmakers on abortion –
lobbying, public marches, writing letters – are important.
But so, he said, is prayer and embracing Jesus on the cross.

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