Prayer, new societal vision needed to fight abortion, archbishop says

Published: 2007-01-22

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Calling silence and ignorance the "twin allies of atrocities," Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington urged participants in a Mass preceding the March for Life Jan. 22 to "repudiate all forms of violence" and pray for an end to abortion. "If the spiral of violence and death that haunts our streets, schools, families and communities is to be broken, we need a new vision," he said. "We must realize and proclaim that there is something wrong with our society if all we can offer a woman caught up in the drama of an unexpected pregnancy is abortion." The archbishop was chief celebrant and delivered the homily at an early morning Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The 7:30 a.m. Mass closed an all-night vigil -- sponsored by the basilica, the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities and The Catholic University of America -- that also included a rosary for life, night prayer, Holy Hours, morning prayer and the opportunity for confession.

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