U.S. bishops announce Prayer Vigil for Life to take place Jan. 23-24 November 26, 2024By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Bishops, Feature, News, Respect Life, World News WASHINGTON (OSV News) — The annual Prayer Vigil for Life will take place Jan. 23-24, 2025, the U.S. bishops’ conference announced Nov. 22. The event is hosted each January by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Pro-Life Secretariat, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington and The Catholic University of America’s Office of Campus Ministry. It takes place on the eve of the March for Life, an annual protest of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which was overturned in 2022. The 52nd National March for Life will take place Jan. 24, 2025. “I enthusiastically invite Catholics from all around the country to join me in-person or virtually, in praying for an end to abortion and building up a culture of life,” said Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, Ohio, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, in the USCCB’s statement announcing the dates. Since the high court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in 2022 overturned nearly a half-century of its own precedent that held abortion to be a constitutional right, individual states have moved to either restrict abortion or expand access to it. “Together, we must pray to change hearts and build a culture of life as we advocate for the most vulnerable,” Bishop Thomas said. “I look forward to opening our Vigil with Holy Mass together with many other bishops, hundreds of priests, consecrated religious, seminarians, and many thousands of pilgrims.” At the vigil, the Jan 23 opening mass will take place in the basilica’s Great Upper Church from 5-7 p.m., with Bishop Thomas as the principal celebrant and homilist. A Eucharistic procession and the National Holy Hour for Life will follow the Mass. The vigil’s closing Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Robert J. Brennan of Brooklyn. The event will be broadcast on Catholic networks and livestreamed on the basilica’s website at www.nationalshrine.org/mass. More information about the schedule can be found on the USCCB’s website, www.usccb.org, and more information about on-site attendance at the basilica is at its website. Read More Respect Life ‘Remarkable victory’: Life advocates welcome defeat of assisted suicide bill in England and Wales Judge shields more Catholic health providers as Illinois assisted suicide law takes effect Housing, gender, abortion policies among state ballot measures in 2026 Cardinal Cupich, women religious, Catholic pharmacist sue Illinois over assisted suicide law Scottish school settles case with Catholic teacher fired after abortion discussion Cassidy takes aim at FDA mifepristone regulation, manufacturers Copyright © 2024 OSV News Print
