On the March

Forty seven members of Jesuit High School’s Pro-Life Club made the club’s annual trek to Washington, D.C. last week to support the rights of the unborn at the March for Life.

Led by school president Fr. Richard C. Hermes, S.J., the Jesuit students joined hundreds of thousands of marchers on Friday (Jan. 27), heading from the National Mall right up to the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court as part of the largest pro-life demonstration in the world. The event marked the 44th year since the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling regarding abortion. Click here to learn more about the March for Life at MarchforLife.org.

The four-day pilgrimage was filled with educational and spiritual experiences. Shortly after their arrival on Wednesday (Jan. 25), the group visited the International Holocaust Memorial Museum, and later that day they toured Georgetown University, the nation’s oldest Jesuit university, founded in 1789.

Thursday (Jan. 26) included a visit to St. Matthew’s Cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington; listening to lecturers at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, including Catholic author and social activist George Weigel; celebrating the Mass for the Unborn at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception at Catholic University; and Compline at the Dominican House of Studies.

Friday morning (Jan. 27), prior to the March for Life, they celebrated Mass with students from other Jesuit schools around the country. The Rally for Unborn at the National Mall began at Noon, followed by the March for Life.

Saturday (Jan. 28), the Jesuit group visited Gettysburg National Military Park, site of the historic Civil War battle, and Mount St. Mary’s University, where they celebrated Mass at Immaculate Conception Chapel.

One of the trip’s chaperones, Jesuit teacher Kevin Brawley, tweeted numerous updates daily on the @TigerPilgrims Twitter account, from which users can scroll through the Jesuit contingent's timeline of experiences.

View a photo slideshow below of the Pro-Life Club’s trip to D.C. for the March for Life: