By Blanca Morales - Florida Catholic
Photographer: BLANCA MORALES | FC
Peter Cooper, a senior at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, wears the identifiable "Marian Blue" backpack given out to the Archdiocese of Miami high school pilgrimage group. The backpacks bear the name of the founder of the archdiocesan school pilgrimage, Jesuit Father William Kidwell.
Photographer: BLANCA MORALES | FC
Archbishop Thomas Wenski address March for Life pilgrims at Mass at St Mary Cathedral, Jan. 12. He reminded pilgrims that they attend the March as missionaries of Christ and missionaries of life.
The pilgrims will be witnessing to the vitality of life, the archbishop said, adding that those who are disciples of Christ also are missionaries for life.
At the end of Mass, the archbishop said a special blessing over the pilgrims who will be representing nine archdiocesan schools and one home school group.
“We pray that the every human life is protected from the moment of conception until natural death,” he said.
Following the Mass, students and parents prepared for the pilgrimage by checking in, picking up an identifiable blue backpack and meeting their chaperones, including Father Daniel Martin, parochial vicar at Little Flower Parish in Coral Gables, who will act as chaplain of the pilgrimage.
Though he previously attended the march as a college student, this will be the first year Father Martin, who was ordained last May, will attend as a priest.
Parents also had the opportunity to ask questions of Joan Crown, archdiocesan respect life director, and Jim Dugard, March for Life board member and head of the theology department at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami.
To the government, “we are a sanctioned protest march,” said Dugard. “It’s one of the most peaceful events I’ve been to,” he added.
Dugard also assured parents that students will return with a renewed sense of life.
“It’s a historical trip,” said home school student Lisa Handal, referring to the visit to the Holocaust Memorial Museum on the itinerary.
She decided to return for her second year because “as Catholics we believe in being pro-life.”
Photographer: BLANCA MORALES | FC
Sydney Klyczek, a 10th grader from Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory in Hollywood, prays as Archbishop Thomas Wenski blesses the archdiocese's March For Life pilgrimage group.
“Lisa told me about all things you get to do when you go,” she said.
Likewise, Sydney Klyczek, a sophomore at Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory in Hollywood, decided to attend based on the stories her classmates shared about the pilgrimage.
She said she looks forward to seeing the enthusiasm of fellow marchers.
Dugard reminded students that they will be going on a pilgrimage, and not merely a field trip.
“No, you can’t take a blow-dryer. Don’t worry about your hair; hats will mess it up anyway,” he told female pilgrims. “Offer it up. You’ll be rewarded for it later.”
“I pray everyone may be an agent for life, no matter what vocation they are led to,” Dugard added.
Comments from readers