March for Life 2020

On Friday, January 24th, 2020, tens of thousands of pro-lifers, FSSP priests and parishioners among them, descended on our nation’s capital to witness to the sanctity of human life at the 47th annual March for Life.

The crowds that moved from the Washington Monument down Constitution Avenue on their way to the Supreme Court created an inspiring and colorful landscape under the cloud cover of a grey winter afternoon. Out of so many they were one, an unmistakable and united voice demanding the just treatment of the most innocent and defenseless among us. Indeed, the incredible variety of human beings who poured onto the streets that day bears witness to the universality of the message. Black, white, Latin, Native American, Asian – they all were there. The old, the young, men, women, teenagers, children, babies – they all were there. University students, high school students, religious orders, youth groups, Catholic dioceses and churches, FSSP parishes, Protestant churches, secular organizations – they all were there.

Powerful too were the individual witnesses of participants who marched with signs that told their stories: women who had bravely chosen, as pregnant teenagers, to give their babies life; adoptive mothers who were grateful that their children’s biological parents chose life; adopted children who proclaimed the value of their existence. One young woman was a child of rape who was alive because her mother had left her Planned Parenthood appointment; another held a sign commemorating her four siblings who were aborted. Each one re-echoed the same theme: no matter the problem, abortion is never the solution, and life is always a beautiful, God-given thing.

We’ve gathered the photos. Some of the best ones were shot by Allison Girone, who takes the beautiful pictures at St. Mary’s, our parish in Philadelphia, PA. Lucas Brown of All Saints Parish, our apostolate in Minneapolis, captured the experience of the busload of parishioners who traveled over 1,000 miles to participate in the March. We’ve also included photos from the West Coast March for Life that took place the next day in San Francisco and was attended by many of our California parishioners. Enjoy, and we’ll see you at next year’s March for Life. +

Photos by Allison Girone