By Nancy Frazier O’Brien
Catholic News Service

Washington — When thousands gather at the Washington Monument at noon Jan. 22 for the 30th annual March for Life, many of them might feel they’ve already experienced a full day of pro-life events.

Although the annual rally on the National Mall, followed by a march along Constitution Avenue to the Capitol and the Supreme Court, is the focus of the day’s events for many, it is far from the only event commemorating the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade and Doe vs. Bolton decisions legalizing abortion.

Many Catholic participants in the march will join in the National Prayer Vigil for Life, which begins Jan. 21 with an 8 p.m. Mass in the upper church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.

Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua of Philadelphia, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, will be principal celebrant and homilist for the evening Mass.

The Mass will be followed by a rosary for life at 10:30 p.m. and night prayer according to Eastern Catholic tradition at 11:30 p.m., led by Bishop Andrew Pataki of the Ruthenian Diocese of Passaic, N.J., and members of Epiphany of Our Lord Byzantine Church in Annandale, Va.

From midnight to 6:30 a.m., members of Seminarians for Life International will lead holy hours in the crypt church. Following morning prayer at 6:30 a.m. in the upper church, Bishop Sean P. O’Malley of Palm Beach, Fla., will be the principal celebrant of a concelebrated Mass at 7:30 a.m.

Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington will host a youth rally and Mass from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at the Washington Convention Center. He will be the principal celebrant of the Mass, joined by bishops from the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Diocese of Wilmington, Del.

Cardinal George, who will concelebrate the Jan. 21 evening Mass, will celebrate a Mass particularly for Illinois participants of the March for Life at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 22 at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Church in Washington D.C.

In the neighboring Diocese of Arlington, Va., Catholics will gather for Mass at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington, with Bishop Paul S. Loverde as the celebrant. Young people will join in a Mass for life at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Falls Church, Va., before heading off to the March for Life.

Meanwhile at the Capitol, the National Pro-Life Religious Council will sponsor the ninth annual national memorial for the pre-born and their mothers and fathers from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Some 50 clergy representing Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant traditions were expected to preside at the event, which formerly was sponsored by the National Clergy Council.

The theme of the 30th anniversary March for Life is “Affirm the sanctity of each human life by word and deed.”

Following the rally and march, participants were to visit their senators and representatives in Congress.

That evening, the March for Life will sponsor the 21st annual Rose Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Washington.

Nebraska state Sen. Mike Foley, who served for several years as secretary-treasurer of the March for Life and the District of Columbia Right to Life Committee, is the featured speaker.