January was a busy month at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington as students returned from winter break, preparing for upcoming midterm exams and the annual Sadie Hawkins Winter Formal. Many students remained in a holiday mindset —some prayed for snow to cancel the exams. The Knights for Life, the school’s pro-life club, began preparing for their own highlight: the March for Life.
“The diocese makes it easy. You get on a bus and go down to the march,” said Edward Fitzpatrick, director of campus ministry, when asked about the hardest part of the trip preparation.
Fitzpatrick and Neil Sloan — another theology teacher at the school and one of the Knights for Life club’s two moderators — handled most of the work preparing for the march. While the diocese took care of a lot, the school’s main role was arranging buses and encouraging registration.
Encouraging students to register can be difficult, as the March for Life typically falls during midterms.
“Promoting the march during exam week is the hardest part. It’s a difficult week to ask students to spend the day traveling for a protest,” said Sloan.
However, the center office worked with students to reschedule fourth-period exams for those attending the march. Fitzpatrick and Sloan said the real difficulty is making sure students know these accommodations are available. On the morning of Jan. 23, members of the Knights for Life gathered at O’Connell before sunrise at 6:45 a.m., created posters, and organized into grade-level groups in order to avoid getting lost among the thousands of people attending the march. From school, the bus took students to George Mason University’s EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, where the diocese hosted its annual Life is Very Good Rally.
At the rally, trivia with the seminarians was followed by a talk from Catholic speaker Oscar Rivera, a performance by Seph Schlueter, the artist of the No. 1 Christian Billboard hit “Counting My Blessings,” and a T-shirt toss.
Bishop Michael F. Burbidge then celebrated Mass alongside priests from across the diocese. In his homily, Bishop Burbidge spoke of unity, urging attendees to march as one.
After Mass, each group grabbed their complimentary Chick-fil-A lunch, before departing to Washington. However, the Knights were not able to make it into the National Mall rally due to the security protocols surrounding Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson, who each spoke at the event.
That time was not wasted. Students used the opportunity to pick up signs and meet with other groups from across the country, including groups from Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Fla., to Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. Many students ran into a few O’Connell alumni along the way.
When the rally concluded, the students began the main purpose of their trip: marching for life.
The route started at the National Museum of Natural History, passed the Canadian Embassy, Capitol Hill, and the House office buildings, before ending at the Supreme Court. After passing the Cannon House Office Building, the group stepped out early, taking a quick refreshment stop at St. Peter’s Church on the Hill before returning to school.
As the march ended and students reflected on the day’s journey, the deeper significance of their participation — and the cause they were defending — came into sharper focus. Live Action, a global human rights nonprofit, shared some of their favorite signs from the March for Life in an Instagram post, including one that said, “I’m marching for the 33% of my generation who never got the chance.”
According to a Live Action compilation of national estimates, more than 60 million babies have died by abortion since 1973. Many believe it is our Catholic duty to protect life — all lives, no matter the circumstance.
“For me the March for Life felt like living out what Jesus teaches. It was so cool and inspiring to see everyone as a community marching and standing up for the protection of lives,” said sophomore Vivian Nyugen.
“Our marches give students the chance to witness the positive and joyful message of pro-lifers,” said Sloan. “We (march) because life is a great gift and all life is to be welcomed, protected and celebrated.”
“The March was such an amazing experience and it was so cool to be surrounded by a bunch of other people that also want to fight for truth,” said sophomore Keegan Davenport. “I really loved being able to fellowship with other Christians and learn more about the importance of life. It was awesome to be a part of the event and I’m excited to see how God uses it for his glory.”
Although we march to combat the evil of lives left unprotected, the March for Life continues to be a joyful national event, filled with people celebrating their lives and the lives of others, seeking to inspire others of the inherent dignity of life by their public witness.
Vanessa Aragon contributed to this story.
