Thousands of pro-life Catholics attend Life Fest affirming ‘love is the answer’

OXON Hill, Md. (OSV News) — Michael McGivney Schachle lit up the room as he walked onto the stage at Life Fest with his parents. “Father McGivney, pray for me,” the 10-year-old said, smiling into the microphone.

His parents, Daniel and Michelle Schachle, went on to tell the story of their son’s miraculous healing in the womb attributed to the intercession of Michael’s namesake, Blessed Michael J. McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus.

“He’s got an extra chromosome 21, which I always say now is the ‘joy chromosome’ — he’s got extra joy,” Daniel told OSV News of Michael who has Down syndrome and was diagnosed with a life-threatening condition called hydrops fetalis before birth. “He loves completely and he loves freely … I think if we were all more like him in our attitude, the world would probably be a better place.”

Their testimony was one of several celebrating life and love at the fourth annual Life Fest held by the Knights of Columbus and Sisters for Life. The morning rally and Mass, which took place hours before the 53rd annual March for Life, drew thousands of pro-life Catholics that made up a largely youthful crowd. They gathered just outside the nation’s capital at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

Sister of Life Faustina Maria Pia told OSV News that she hoped the young people there realized the gift of their own life because “if you believe in the goodness of your life, you can then fight for the life of another.”

“Today is a day that we really want to make a strong impact on our nation, to witness to this beautiful sanctity of human life,” she said of the event. “There’s no more powerful way than to pray.”

The event featured musical performances, Eucharistic adoration, a Eucharistic procession, Mass, confession, and testimonies from speakers including national pro-life speaker Lila Rose of Life Action, the Schachle family, and Kerry, a woman who sought healing with the Project Rachel ministry and the Sisters of Life after her abortion.

Afterward, Kerry told OSV News that she wrote her testimony “mostly for women and men that have experienced abortion, to know that there’s healing and there’s hope, that you don’t have to be carrying such a burden and such a deep wound for such a long time.”

During the event, music from the Sisters of Life’s band, “All the Living,” Father Isaiah, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal, and Damascus Worship filled the room. People lined up to venerate first-class relics of St. John Paul II, St. Teresa of Kolkata, St. Carlo Acutis, the Blessed Ulma family and Blessed McGivney located in the same space.

“It’s really great to be around so many other Catholics,” Patrick Bernard, a senior studying biochemistry at Georgia Southern University based in Statesboro, Ga., said, pointing to the relics as well as the many religious orders present at the event.

He and his friends said they drove for more than eight hours to attend Life Fest and the March for Life. They arrived the night before, around 10pm.

“We’re here just to celebrate life, to stand for life,” he said. “If you don’t have respect for life, then nothing else matters.”

His classmate, Mary, who is studying geology, said she decided at the last minute to come for the first time. Mary, who declined to give her last name, said she was adopted.

Mary said of her birth mother: “She decided to give me life, and that was such a great gift.”

If young people take away one thing, Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly said, he hopes it is that “love is the answer.”

“The sisters have been talking about that, and I can tell you, from what I have learned in my life, is that love is the answer,” he said. “Ultimately, any struggle you’re facing, any problem you have, joys, griefs, love is the answer.”

The morning ended with Mass, where Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, the supreme chaplain of the Knights, served as the main celebrant while Bishop Joseph Espaillat, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York, served as the homilist. Every time Bishop Espaillat said the words “because love,” the crowd responded “is the answer.”

Bishop Espaillat preached about the Church teaching on the sanctity of life and on abortion and stressed the importance of a consistent life ethic.

“We, today, are making decisions to come up, to wake up, to get on buses, to get in cars, to get in trains to come to Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States of America to say that, as Catholics, we stand for life,” he said to applause. “We stand for the truth.”

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