Editor's Note: More photos of the Dallas March for Life can be found at the North Texas Catholic's Facebook page by clicking here.
DALLAS — Thousands packed the campus of the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe for Mass on a brisk Saturday and later joined hands in demonstration in a march through downtown to the courthouse where the famed case that eventually legalized abortion began.
Ramona Trevino (center), prays during the memorial Mass; she was a rally speaker and was a former abortion clinic manager who quit and joined the pro-life cause in a big way.
The message: Say yes to a culture of life by demanding that the rights of the unborn, granted only through the grace of God, be reinstituted through the end of legal abortion.
The ecumenical Dallas March for Life attracted an overflow Cathedral crowd at the Mass jointly celebrated by Bishops Kevin Vann of Fort Worth and Kevin Farrell of Dallas, and Auxillary Bishops Douglas Deshotel and Mark Seitz of the Diocese of Dallas. The march, which followed the Mass carried the crowd of several thousand, carrying bright yellow balloons proclaiming “LIFE,” along with banners and placards, pushing strollers and simply walking from the Cathedral to the Earl Cabbell Federal Courthouse where Roe v. Wade was first filed in 1970.
“We are here to pray to end abortion, a killing of the innocents and the healing of the victims, the women, who are hurt for a lifetime at this horrible sin,” said Father Jason Cargo of the Diocese of Dallas, homilist at the Jan. 21 Mass.
“We are here to pray to end the affront to the human person throughout all of our society.”
Sunday, Jan. 22, marked the 39th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade, which made legal the procedure of abortion. Since that day, more than 52 million babies have been aborted in the United States alone.
(From left to right) Dallas Auxiliary Bishops Mark Seitz, J. Douglas Deshotel, Fort Worth Bishop Kevin Vann, and Dallas Bishop Kevin Farrell march on Ross Avenue.
In marking the occasion, President Barack Obama said, “I remain committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose and this fundamental constitutional right.”
The Catholic Church since its earliest days in the first century has condemned abortion.
In 1995, Pope John Paul II affirmed the the Church’s teaching on abortion by declaring that it is “unchanged and unchangeable. … By the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his successors I declare that direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being.
“This doctrine is based upon the natural law and upon the written word of God, is transmitted by the Church’s tradition, and taught by the ordinary and universal Magisterium. No circumstance, no purpose, no law whatsoever can ever make licit an act which is intrinsically illicit, since it is contrary to the law of God which is written in every human heart, knowable by reason itself, and proclaimed by the Church.”
In his homily, Fr. Cargo reiterated that embracing a culture of life includes saying no to contraceptives and a respect for the dignity of every human being.
J.C. Ball and his daughter, Emma Ball, 3, from Fort Worth, take part in the march.
God is the author, Fr. Cargo said, and the dignity of each of us is manifested through being one with God. This fact makes us sacred, he said.
“We are here to say that every action, every choice we make should be one for the culture of life,” said Fr. Cargo, who said he is haunted by not doing anything to convince a college fraternity brother and his girlfriend to not have an abortion 15 years ago.
“Many of us are quick to say every person has the right to life, but then we go out and kill the good name of another by the slander of gossip. Many of us say [we are pro-life], but we woefully sit and listen to family friends and say we must use contraception, or I can only have two children to live the way I want to live.”
Fr. Cargo implored congregants to, “say yes to life, say yes to being Catholic.”
Bishop Farrell welcomed the throngs — a diverse crowd of young and elderly and every age in between — who came from every part of North Texas and thanked those who stood outside in the cold to participate in the Mass through closed-circuit television. He said, though, it was a “sacrifice we should all be willing to make to save human life” to mark the commemoration of “the fatal and tragic day some 39 years ago.”
Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff in the Roe v. Wade case, talks to a crowd of 8,000 at the rally.
“I felt it was time that I actually did something about it and not stand by the side and just say what I believe,” said Christina Hunziker, 30 of Hurst who was on hand for her second march. Her friend, Mark Kelly, 35, of Coppell was participating for the first time in the annual event.
Hunziker and Kelly said they believed Roe v. Wade isn’t the only barrier to promoting a culture of life but that a massive media infrastructure from Hollywood to local newsrooms are imposing obstacles. Both said they believed Roe would be overturned.
The march is hard to ignore.
“I know this makes people more aware. People [see us] and stop and look. I don’t think people want to hear the truth. It’s easier for people to ignore.”
Bishop Farrell, like every year, said he is hopeful a Mass and demonstration won’t be necessary next year. After all, he reminded, “the chosen people were only condemned to 39 years in the desert.”
God, alone, Bishop Farrell said in the opening Mass, “has the power to impart the breath of life. … Grant, we pray, that we whom You have made the stewards of creation may remain faithful to this sacred trust and constant in safeguarding the dignity of every human life.”
Copyright © 2011 by North Texas Catholic