More than 100 people from the Diocese of Charlotte joined in the March for Life in Washington, D.C. Jan. 24. (Photo by Aidan Creter)The Catholic News Herald is with pilgrims from the Diocese of Charlotte at the National March for Life in Washington, D.C. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more coverage of their voices and experiences.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than 100 pilgrims from the Diocese of Charlotte joined in solidarity with tens of thousands to witness for life in the 52nd March for Life at the nation’s capital, themed “Why We March.”
Family Life Office Director and one of the trip organizers Father Peter Ascik knows why we march. As he said, “There is no time like the present to be engaged. In fact, it is possibly the most crucial time in our lives to be engaged politically and in other realms. We are shaping the next 50 years right now.”
Two buses left St. Vincent De Paul Church in Charlotte before sunrise Thursday morning. The group put their suitcases in the luggage compartment of the Rose Charters bus, pulling out their rosary beads and taking seats in anticipation of the six-hour drive to D.C. from Charlotte.
Packing stories
For some, it was their first time going to the national march; for others, it was their 25th. Along with their luggage for the three-day trip, they all packed a different compelling story about why they march.
Respect Life Program Director and March for Life coordinator Jessica Grabowski said, “Now that we are moving into our third year, we have seen people returning to make this pilgrimage yearly to our nation’s capital. We also have new individuals and families who are joining us for the first time.”
This is a diverse crowd with families big and small; some will march solo, like Glenn Keller from Our Lady of the Angels Mission in Marion, who in his later years felt the calling.
“I hope 250,000 people come. I would love if it was the largest March for Life in history,” Keller said.
Others brought all their children, like Paul and Elizabeth Laskowski from St. Mark Parish in Huntersville, who had on board all six of their children.
“We are excited to go as a family and witness to this cause, even though Roe v. Wade was overturned. It is always a fight to protect life at all stages. It is awesome to bring our kids back year after year to do this. It’s kind of like a family tradition,” said Paul Laskowski.
Pilgrims from the diocese joined in the opening Mass for the annual Prayer Vigil for Life Thursday night at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Friday morning, the group went to Life Fest in Fairfax, Va., where they heard testimonies from people who have received God’s mercy, either by having their unplanned baby or by terminating their pregnancy and later receiving forgiveness.
Stopping to pray
Winslow familyIn St. Joseph on Capitol Hill, a small church only footsteps away from the march, Monsignor Patrick Winslow presided over Mass on Friday morning. The Mass was not highly publicized and was primarily for people from the Diocese of Charlotte. Still, it was filled with the familiar choir voices and faces of the Charlotte seminarians from Mount St. Mary in Cincinnati. The air was thick with heavy incense, but through it Monsignor was able to make out his entire family – mother, father, sisters, nieces and nephews, all who have made it their own tradition to March for Life since as long as his father, Richard Winslow, can remember.
Monsignor Winslow’s homily also focused on the theme “Why we march.” He acknowledges that the Dobbs decision (the landmark 2022 Supreme Court case that overturned Roe v. Wade) leveled the playing field, relating the issue to football, but says, “It is not good enough; it is not over.”
Monsignor Winslow said he believes the way to win over the younger generation is not demanding they do the right thing, but instead helping them understand and care about the dignity of life, as they have proven they care about other issues such as the environment.
“We don’t want to coerce everybody to do the right thing. Rather, we want people that are able to see the truth and to cry out for laws to protect the dignity of life. That’s what we want. This is why we march, because there is so much more to be done,” he said.
Monsignor Winslow knows St. Joseph’s is in the perfect location to join the March for Life each year and hopes that the Mass for diocesan pilgrims will grow in attendance and become a tradition.
“In later years, you will say, I was there when there were just a couple of dozen people,” he said.
Joining the March
After Mass, the seminarians and the Winslow family burst through the church doors to join tens of thousands of fellow marchers. A wave of black cassocks weaved through the crowd while Monsignor Winslow marched and cherished the time with his own family, his nephew Jack, 16, giving him a huge, overdue hug.
“I had him on my shoulders during this same march 10 years ago, and now he is 16.”
But this all would not have been possible if his biological great-grandmother had terminated her pregnancy, as thousands of Americans do each year.
“I myself am the grandson of an adopted person. An abortion could have been a real possibility; me, my family, none of us would exist,” Monsignor Winslow said.
The March of Life may be a seemingly small step, but Monsignor Winslow believes it is indeed giant.
“If our diocese, or any other diocese, stopped or suddenly thought it was unimportant, it would just fade away,” Monsignor Winslow said as he marched.
Other diocesan pilgrims included Dominican sisters from the Philippines, brothers from the Missionaries of the Poor in Monroe who are from Uganda, parishioners from Nigeria and El Salvador – all with their own unique cultures and shared Catholic faith – also marched from the Washington Monument all the way to the U.S. Capitol together with one common message: we must love the unborn and protect the dignity of human life.
The diocese marchers all wore blue hats with little blue pom-poms, the only physical similarity between them. The March doesn’t discriminate but takes everyone as they are, weak, strong, young, old.
Warm hearts lead the way
In the middle of the frigid cold, people felt the warmth between them, not on their skin but in their hearts, a peace that can only be found in a unified whole. The march was a way for them to share in the miracle of motherhood and the true blessing of a child. Each marcher was a walking testimony.
Jessica Grabowski marched along with her new baby in a stroller, her husband by her side, with their toddler on his shoulders, as their two other boys clung to their sides, a pro-life sign in both their small hands.
“I have been marching for 20 years, since I was in middle school, traveling to D.C. for many of those years on a pilgrimage like this one,” she said. “I have marched as a child, a young adult, as an expecting mother and now with my husband and children. It is just as inspiring and important at every stage of life to publicly stand for life and against abortion. The need for all and many to stand up for the unborn will be forever needed and a priority until each precious life is protected from conception until natural death.”
Blanca Salg, a 68-year-old parishioner from St. Patrick Cathedral, moved slowly but steadily using her walker. She was marching for her mother: “I was created because my mother was raped. Even though it was hard, she gave me the gift of life. I march because for the rest of my life I want to defend children,” she said.
The Lebowski couple marched for mothers, too. Their young children marched close to their side, four of the six given to the couple through the gift of adoption.
Looking on, as he marched alone this year because his kids are grown and his wife’s hips hurt, Neil Schunke remembered adopted children of his own.
“We used to sleep on the floor in the church before this event. This is a way of witness. I’ve been blessed with loads of nieces and nephews, kids and grandkids,” Schunke said.
Some considered the march as a physical prayer, like first-time marcher Brother Martin from Uganda, who found a special joy through the peace created by the Masses with a similar love.
“Sometimes you need to support life physically. When you support it physically, you show people what to do without telling them,” he said.
Indeed, the 100-plus marchers from the Charlotte diocese – joining tens of thousands of others – showed the nation “why we march.”
— Lisa Geraci, Aidan Creter and Amelia Kudela
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