Despite the best efforts of the Catholic Terps to lose me pretty much the whole course of the Pro-Life March, I managed to make it through another rousing protest.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the March's founder, Nellie Gray, who had a rather nasty fall on stage during the speeches. We were repeatedly asked to pray for her, and she was taken away in an ambulance.
Darned if I can find much in the news about it though. It takes more clicks than I have patience for.
On the other hand, I suppose there isn't really much to report on the March. There aren't really any dramatic incidents that happens. Everyone pretty much gets along. Nobody riots, and nobody set up an offensive counter-protest.
I always feel better for having done the March; it gives me the feeling that I can say I took a public stand against abortion at some point in my life. It will be something to tell the grandkids about when they gasp at the page in their history books describing the early 21st century practice of abortion. Still, the March itself has a tendency to be a bit uneventful. You spend more time standing around outside in the cold listening to speakers that don't really appeal to you, and then shuffling a couple blocks down the streets of D.C. to say a quick prayer in front of the Supreme Court (the Catholic Terps didn't even make it all the way this year).
Perhaps the most impressive phenomena about the March was just seeing the sheer volume of Catholicism. There were four Masses scheduled for this morning. I arrived too late to meet up with the Terps in the Verizon Center...I was told it was filled to capacity. That was okay, because it turns out the Terps couldn't get in either. So off to St. Patrick's I went (following a lead)...only to find out it was equally full. St. Patrick's appears to have initiated an impromptu Mass at an earlier time just to clear out people for the scheduled Mass (I did manage to squeeze my way in the door for the earlier time). Nevertheless, I rather felt like one of the virgins who hadn't enough lamp oil, and then was turned away at the door by the bridegroom.
The point is there were a lot of Catholics and there was a lot of Catholicism, making this event not just a political rally against national atrocities, but a kind of Catholic culture greet and meet. I do think this sometimes lends to a certain degree of conflict as the March becomes one part protest, one part Columbus Day parade. You'll probably never meet a more jovial or gregarious band of people gathered together to defend the relentless and merciless slaughter of innocent lives. If you've been on the March, you'll hopefully know what I'm talking about.
Mark Stricherz over at getreligion noted the "Catholic pep rally" aspect too. I think it's great.
Posted by: Alan | January 23, 2008 at 01:30 PM