The overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 raises a new question for pro-lifers who walk the National March for Life in Washington, according to Kevin Bohli: “What did I accomplish?”
“The March for Life can come across as a Catholic reunion downtown,” said Bohli, executive director of the diocesan Office of Youth, Campus and Young Adult Ministries. But a new event in Fairfax aims to help marchers reflect on the cause and bring renewed pro-life enthusiasm back home.
In collaboration with the Sisters of Life and the Knights of Columbus, the Arlington diocese will host Life Fest, a two-day, pro-life event at EagleBank Arena at George Mason University in Fairfax the evening before and the morning of the March for Life, Jan. 23-24, 2025. Life Fest will feature family-friendly talks and testimonials as well as music from the Irish band “We Are Messengers.”
The event is a union between the Arlington diocese — which hosted its Life is VERY Good event for 12 years in Northern Virginia — and the Sisters of Life and Knights, who hosted their event, Life Fest, for the last two years in Washington.
Attendees will have the opportunity to venerate first-class relics of Pope St. John Paul II, Blessed Carlo Acutis, the beatified Ulma family and Blessed Michael McGivney. The event will include Eucharistic adoration, and confessions will be available.
Bishop Michael F. Burbidge said in a press release last month that the diocese “is excited to continue our long history of hosting groups from across the country and providing these participants with a peaceful time of prayer in preparation for the March for Life. We are especially excited that this year we will be working alongside the Sisters of Life and the Knights of Columbus through this single ministry experience.”
The purpose of the event is to help marchers of all ages prayerfully reflect upon why they are pro-life, according to Bohli.
“It’s one thing to be very excited about being pro-life when you’re on a bus with 50 other young people driving across the country,” Bohli said. “But suddenly, you’re at home on a Friday night or you’re on the internet. Do your actions show that you’re pro-life when you’re hanging out with your friends? Do your actions really show that you’re pro-life?”
Find out more
For updated information, go to lifefestrally.com.
