Local, national marches resume in 2022
CHARLOTTE — The COVID-19 pandemic made giving public witness to the sanctity of all human life more challenging over the past two years.
Now that restrictions on larger gatherings have eased, pro-life advocates are encouraging people to attend March for Life events locally, and if possible, in the nation’s capital.
Mass and March for Life Raleigh
The Diocese of Raleigh will host its annual Mass and March for Life Raleigh Saturday, Jan. 15. Mass begins at 11 a.m. at Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, located at 715 Nazareth St., Raleigh. The rally and march begins at 1 p.m. in Bicentennial Plaza. For details, go to www.ncrtl.org/rally-and-march-for-life.
More information
Questions about pro-life activities happening in the Diocese of Charlotte during January? Contact Jessica Grabowski, director of the diocese’s Respect Life program, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 704-370-3229.
D.C. March for Life
Thousands of pro-life advocates from all over the country are expected to travel to Washington, D.C., for the national March for Life on Friday, Jan. 21. Organizers say it’s the largest annual human rights demonstration in the world.
The theme for the 2022 March for Life is “Equality begins in the womb.”
A rally will be held at noon on the National Mall, then at 1 p.m. participants will march up Constitution Avenue to the U.S. Supreme Court to pray.
Parishes from around the diocese are making plans to send busloads of parishioners to participate in various March for Life events Jan. 20-21.
Raleigh Bishop Luis Zarama will offer the annual Mass for Life for North Carolina pilgrims to the march, starting at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 21, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Priests from both the Charlotte and Raleigh dioceses will concelebrate.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
Annual March for Life still on this year in Washington
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The 49th annual national March for Life -- with a rally on the National Mall and march to the Supreme Court Jan. 21 -- will go on as scheduled this year amid a surge in the omicron variant in the nation's capital.
Outdoor events are not affected by the District of Columbia's vaccine mandate for indoor gatherings, but participants should expect to wear face masks. Indoor events associated with the annual march will have to comply with city COVID-19 restrictions.
The national Pro-Life Summit, sponsored by Students for Life, is also scheduled to take place Jan. 22 at Washington's Omni Shoreham Hotel. The event will feature former Vice President Mike Pence as its keynote speaker. Pence has been a frequent March for Life speaker, and in 2020 he introduced President Donald Trump at the event's rally.
The March for Life has canceled its three-day Pro-Life Expo and is combining two planned Capitol Hill 101 panel discussions Jan. 20 into a single event. The organization is still holding its annual Rose Dinner Gala.
Participants who are 12 and older attending the panel discussion or dinner will have to provide proof of receiving one COVID-19 vaccination by Jan. 15, or, if they are seeking a medical or religious exemption, they must have proof of a negative COVID-19 test within 24 hours of the event.
The Pro-Life summit is also requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination following the city's regulations. The summit, which in previous years has drawn more than 2,000 high school and college students, notes on its website that it is accepting vaccine exemptions "for a strongly (or sincerely) held religious belief ... in writing or orally" and it is also requiring masks at all events.
March for Life never projects attendance figures, but an informal survey by Catholic News Service of a few groups planning to attend this year's march indicates that the turnout may approach pre-pandemic levels.
Last year's march was turned into a virtual event due to the pandemic and the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Only an invited group of 80, joined midway by more than 100 others, marched from the nearby Museum of the Bible to just behind the Supreme Court. It was the first outdoor event in Washington since the Capitol violence, with both the Capitol and Supreme Court surrounded by high fences.
In previous years, total attendance for the rally and march up Constitution Avenue was estimated to be as high as 100,000.
"We have nearly 250 students and faculty headed to D.C.," said Ed Konieczka, assistant director of university ministry at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota. "That is five full buses -- our largest contingent since leading the march in 2017."
A similar number was estimated by organizers of the bus caravan for the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana.
However, the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire, decided in December 2021 that the COVID-19 risk was too high to sponsor a bus caravan.
Bevin Kennedy, diocesan secretary for communications, cited "the difficulty of monitoring and mitigating the COVID risk with a group of over 100 participants."
The march is held annually on a date nearest the anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion.
The first march was held Jan. 22, 1974, organized by Nellie Gray, a government lawyer, and the Knights of Columbus. The idea was to form a "circle of life" around the Capitol and the Supreme Court. Jeanne Mancini assumed leadership of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund after Gray died in 2012.
This year's theme is "Equality Begins in the Womb." The rally is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. with a performance by singer Matthew West. The march starts at 1:15 p.m. after the political speeches are completed.
There is considerable anticipation that this year's march could be the last one with the Roe decision hanging in the balance.
Later this year, the Supreme Court will announce its decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, an appeal by Mississippi to remove a lower court's injunction on its law banning most abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy.
If the court rules in favor of the state law, it will effectively overturn Roe v. Wade and send abortion laws back to the states.
— Kurt Jensen, Catholic News Service
March for Life Charlotte
The 16th annual March for Life Charlotte was held Friday, Jan. 14, to mark the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion. Part prayer vigil, part public march, the event is meant to be a time of prayer to call attention to the more than 63 million lives lost to abortion since 1973, and the need to end the tragedy of abortion.
It began with a 9 a.m. Mass for the Unborn offered at St. Vincent de Paul Church, located at 6828 Old Reid Road in Charlotte.
At noon the march kicked off from the Pastoral Center towards Independence Square at the corner of Trade and Tryon streets.
Father Ernest Nebangongjoh, parochial vicar at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte, preached during a brief program in Independence Square.
Dr. Matt Harrison, a Catholic physician who pioneered the abortion pill reversal procedure, also spoke.
Then the rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy was prayed to conclude the march.
See the full schedule and other details at www.marchforlifecharlotte.org.
For inquiries, contact Tina Witt with March for Life Charlotte at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 704-301-2531.
Parishioners at St. James Catholic Church in Louisville, Ky., use collection baskets April 4, 2021, amid the coronavirus pandemic. (CNS photo/Amira Karaoud, Reuters)CHARLOTTE — Catholics in the Diocese of Charlotte will join in the worldwide effort to support missions in the United States and abroad in the Combined Mission Collection that will be taken up at Masses in all parishes the weekend of Jan. 15-16.
This annual collection funds five initiatives: the Collection for the Church in Latin America, the Collection to Aid the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, the Catholic Home Missions Appeal, the United States Mission Appeal (Black and Indian Missions) and the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa.
“‘I will make you a light to the nations that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’ Words from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah continue to speak to us in our day. We are all called to bring the Good News of salvation to the ends of the earth,” Vicar General and Chancellor Monsignor Patrick J. Winslow said in a letter to parishioners. “The 2022 Combined Mission Collection, which will be taken at Masses on the weekend of Jan. 15-16, gives each of us an opportunity to reach out to people throughout the world.”
Last year when fewer people were attending Mass because of the pandemic, donations totaled $186,985 to this special collection. The prior year, donations totaled $272,834. Here is how donations to the Combined Mission Collection make a difference:
- The Collection for the Church in Latin America funds formation programs for priests, religious, lay leaders, missionaries and pastoral workers. It also and supports the Church’s work with the poor in the poorest areas of Latin America.
- The Collection to Aid the Church in Central and Eastern Europe helps to rebuild the Church in those countries where communism once prohibited public acts of religion.
- The Catholic Home Missions Appeal provides funding for evangelization efforts in remote parishes throughout rural America.
- The United States Mission Appeal supports evangelization programs among African Americans and Native Americans in almost every diocese in our country.
- The Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa supports the pastoral works of the Church through grants for projects such as pastoral care for the sick, evangelization, youth ministry, religious education and peace-building workshops.
— Kimberly Bender, Online reporter
Other special collection dates for 2022
- April 16-17 (Easter Sunday): Seminarian Education Collection (first of two). The Seminarian Education Program, in which 45 men are currently enrolled, is mostly funded through the annual Diocesan Support Appeal, the Friend to Seminarians Program, and this collection.
- May 14-15: International/National Combined Collection. Donations received from this collection benefit five organizations: Catholic Relief Services, Collection for the Holy Land, Collection for the Works of the Holy Father (Peter’s Pence), The Catholic University of America and the Catholic Communications Campaign.
- Aug. 27-28: Archdiocese of Military Services Collection. This collection, taken up every three years, will fund its co-sponsored Seminarian Program, which identifies vocations within the military and is now educating men for the priesthood and subsequent military chaplaincy.
- Sept. 24-25: Priests’ Retirement and Benefits. This collection, taken up the weekend after the Eucharistic Congress, goes to support the Diocese of Charlotte’s diocesan priests actively serving the faithful of western North Carolina, and religious order priests, for whom retirement contributions will be made.
- Oct. 22-23: World Mission Sunday (Propagation of the Faith). This collection supports the work of the Church in its missions around the world.
- Nov. 5-6: Seminarian Education Collection: The Seminarian Education Program, in which 45 men are currently enrolled, is primarily funded through the annual Diocesan Support Appeal, the Friend to Seminarians Program and this special second collection.
- Nov. 19-20: Catholic Campaign for Human Development. This collection funds the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, established by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to help break the cycle of poverty by funding organizations that help people help themselves. With its mission of improving education, housing situations and local economic development, the CCHD continues to make a positive impact in communities nationwide. Twenty-five percent of the funds from this collection are put to use in the Charlotte diocese.
- Dec. 10-11: Religious Retirement. This appeal, coordinated by the National Religious Retirement Office, offers support for senior Catholic sisters, brothers and religious order priests whose communities lack sufficient retirement funding. Nationally, some 27,000 women and men religious who are past the age of 70 benefit.