Marching and Meaning
Originally published in The Catholic Witness
“Each child who is unborn, but is unjustly condemned to be aborted, bears the face of Jesus Christ, bears the face of the Lord, who, even before he was born, and then as soon as he was born, experienced the rejection of the world. And also each old person – I spoke of the child, let us also speak of the elderly, another point! – each old person, even if infirm or at the end of his days, bears the face of Christ.
They cannot be discarded, as the ‘culture of waste’ proposes! They cannot be discarded!” ~ Pope Francis
In the aftermath of the horrendous attacks in Paris, a massive march of more than a million people, including forty heads of state, took place in Paris. The shootings at Charlie Hebdo magazine, of police on Paris streets and of hostages at the kosher market in Porte de Vincennes were not the worst terrorist incidents in recent times. But they were the most symbolic because of the layers of victimization. The targets were not only innocent non-combatants; they were representatives and protectors of personal liberty and freedoms; of speech, religion and commerce. They marched under the banner Je suis Charlie! (I am Charlie!). It was that symbolism that brought out the marchers.
On January 22, tens of thousands, including hundreds from the Diocese of Harrisburg, marched in another world class city – Washington, D.C. It was the 41st memorializing the notorious Roe V Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision that decriminalized abortions up through the baby’s delivery. Sadly, there will be far less media notice of this march than the Paris march. This is not to cast a shadow on Paris, which was an evocative and inspiring demonstration. The March for Life is the largest and longest sustained public demonstration in American history.
True, the March for Life is a demonstration against U.S. abortion policy, but it is also a demonstration for the sanctity of every human life and the dignity of every person. It is a march of freedom, beginning with the freedom to live, which is the fountainhead of all other freedoms. It is a demonstration of the incalculable value of every person regardless of their condition or circumstances. It is a demonstration of religious liberty and freedom of conscience which is enshrined in our Constitution and national tradition. For all these reasons, the March for Life is a unique event in response to the gravest moral issue of our time: the national policy permitting the killing of innocents before or at the time of birth. No other threat to life and human dignity compares.
The symbolism of the March for Life is no less significant than the Paris march, as it demonstrates citizen support for the idea that all people are persons and that everyone counts. The concert of tens of thousands of marchers peacefully, hopefully, even joyously witnesses to the intrinsic and immeasurable value of all human life, born and unborn. The march symbolizes the principle that there are no accidental babies and no throw-away people.
Just as the marchers in Paris declared their solidarity with the victims of the terror attacks and with each other, the March for Life declares solidarity with the unborn and their mothers and fathers and with every vulnerable human being.
The same week as the Paris attacks, about 2,000 innocent villagers were murdered in Nigeria by terrorists from Chad. And that same week, more than 20,000 preborn babies were killed by abortion in United States alone. It is high time we all march under the symbolic banner Je suis un enfant à naître! “I am the unborn child!”
(Father Paul CB Schenck is Diocesan Director of the Respect Life Office and Chair of the National Pro-Life Center on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. A certified Bioethicist, he is available to speak on these and related topics. Contact the Respect Life Office at 717-657-4804.)
For additional writing from members and associates of the St. Gabriel Respect Life group, see below:
https://stgabrielcarlisle.squarespace.com/our-pro-life-views-1/