AmP's special report on the March for Life

My report on this year's March for Life has been published at InsideCatholic (Crisis Magazine) here.

March for Life (5): March for Life Videos

Here are two of my exclusive videos taken today at the 2008 March for Life.

The rest (8) are available on the AmP YouTube channel.

First, enthusiastic marchers perform one of their pro-life chants for my camera:


Second, an eagle's eye view of the march from the Blogs4Life conference room:


Complete AmP Coverage of the March for Life collected here.

March for Life (4): March for Life Pictures (1 of 2)

Here are my exclusive photos taken today at the 2008 March for Life.

The rest (60) are available on the AmP Flickr page.










Complete AmP Coverage of the March for Life collected here.

March for Life (3): March for Life Pictures (2 of 2)

Here are my exclusive photos taken today at the 2008 March for Life.

The rest (60) are available on the AmP Flickr page.










Complete AmP Coverage of the March for Life collected here.

March for Life (2): Blogs4Life Videos

Here are some exclusive vidoes taken this morning at the Blogs4Life conference.

The rest will soon be made available on the AmP YouTube channel.

Senator Sam Brownback answering a question from the audience:



Random footage of the Blogs4Life conference and participants:



Complete AmP Coverage of the March for Life collected here.

March for Life (1): Blogs4Life Photos

Here are some exclusive photos taken this morning at the Blogs4Life conference.

The rest are available on the AmP Flickr page.








Complete AmP Coverage of the March for Life collected here.

Back from the March for Life...

... and let me say, it was incredible. Now to begin a marathon of uploading pictures and video (4GB!).

My Itinerary for the March for Life

Tomorrow morning I will be at the Blogs 4 Life conference hosted at the Family Research Council.

By noon, I will be on the National Mall marching with the Dominican Friars, by kind invitation. If you see me at any time during the March, please - by all means - walk up and introduce yourself. I'd love to meet you.

Around 3pm, I will probably return to the Blogs 4 Life conference, in their special rented room complete with wi-fi access and a eagle's-eye view of the marchers coming up the hill to the Capitol. I may or may not be able to post a mid-day selection of pictures and vidoes at this time. Hopefully someone is feeling generous.

I may also stop by the Blogger's Tea Party, hosted at the Catholic Information Center, time allowing.

At 5pm, I will be attending the Champions for Life Award Reception, and documenting it officially.

To wind down, I will probably stop by the Dubliner Irish Pub, a long-standing March tradition, before heading home to post my pictures and video, as well as recap the day's news stories and blog postings.

And Wednesday morning ... a surprise!

Oh, and more videos from today are now available on the AmP YouTube Channel, so give them a look-see.

Second Report: Vigil for Mass Pre-Gathering (pics & video)

An abbreviated report this time, due to technical issues (now resolved) that precluded coverage of the Rock For Life event.

I do however have a few pictures from the Vigil Mass pre-gathering uploaded to the AmP Flickr page.

There are also two new (HD-quality!) YouTube videos which capture how full-past-capacity the Basilica becomes for this Liturgy (scroll down to see them embedded in this post).

The originals are available on the AmP YouTube channel.

Related headlines:

CWNews: Pro-lifers converge on DC for Roe anniversary

LifeNews: West Coast Walk for Life Sees Record 25,000 Pro-Life People Participate

Zenit: Pro-Lifers March on West Coast

WTOP News: Annual 'March' Will Close City Streets

LifeNews: Pro-Life Advocates: Roe v. Wade Support Weak as Abortion Case Reaches 35

Here is the first high-definition short video of the interior of the Basilica from this evening:

A second video, taken from the front of the Basilica, is available on the AmP YouTube channel.

Meanwhile, seminarians were keeping a close watch on the sanctuary while preparing for the liturgy:

To switch gears quickly and end with an observation, the metro has been mobbed all day by March for Life walkers. I went on several trips as I criss-crossed the district assembling my coverage, and each time I was able to strike up a conversation with someone sitting near me by saying "So, are you here for the March?" "Yes!"

It would be almost impossible for the average DC metro dweller to not notice the throngs of young kids and chaperones on every car and at every station. They are very orderly groups(ticket mishaps aside) and far more outgoing than the daily commuters you normally encounter. A very fine witness, right there.

And remember, this is all pre-coverage to the March itself tomorrow! Stay tuned....

Related: All AmP postings on the 2008 March for Life.

First report: Cardinal O'Conner Conference (pics & video)

I'm just returning from the Cardinal O'Connor Conference long enough to upload some pictures and videos. Full report to follow. Next on the itinerary: Rock for Life Training & Activism.

Here is a photograph of Deirdre McQuade's keynote address at the O'Connor Conference:

New pictures from the Conference have been uploaded to the AmP Flickr page.

It was my first time using the camera, so the output was a little sketchy. It does very well with outdoor and up-close photos, however, and those will predominate in tomorrow's March for Life coverage.

Here is an embedded YouTube video of an excerpt of Deirdre McQuade's response to a question asked by an audience member after she had given her keynote address:

Here, next, is a sample from one of the conference's "break-out" sessions, this one by Fr. Kevin T. FitzGerald, SJ, MD on the topic of "the future of stem cell research", and also available on the AmP YouTube channel:

Related news:

• All AmP postings on the 2008 March for Life.
• CWNews: Pro-lifers converge on DC for Roe anniversary

Weather forecast for the March for Life predicts possible rain & snow

Even the lions at the Smithsonian National Zoo here in DC don't quite know what to do:

The current forecast for Tuesday the 22nd, the day of the March, is as follows:

• 6-9AM: Partly Cloudy, 23-28 degrees
• 12-3PM: Scattered Snow & Showers, 36-38 degrees
• 6-9PM: Cloudy, 37 degrees

So dress warmly!

Also, the Catholic Information Center is offering complimentary coffee and donuts to walkers starting at 9AM, and the Cafeteria below the National Basilica is offering the same from 6:30-8AM.

[photo credit: AP Photo/Smithsonian's National Zoo, Mehgan Murphy]

Tip: EWTN's live streaming of March for Life events

The schedule (all times EST):

Here is the link to watch the programs streamed live.

Media contact: Deirdre McQuade on behalf of U.S. Bishops

From the press release:

WHAT: 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade Supreme Court abortion decision.

WHO: Deirdre McQuade, chief spokesperson on pro-life issues for the Catholic bishops of the United States, is available for interview and comment for abortion-related stories/programs on Roe v. Wade anniversary.

Deirdre A. McQuade, MA, MDiv

CONTACT: Gene Tarne at 202-347-6840 / cell 571-331-7018; usccbprolife@comcast.net

Ms. McQuade will be very active over the next few days. She is giving the opening keynote address at the Cardinal O'Conner Conference in Georgetown tomorrow morning at 10:15. I plan to attend.

More background from when she was named Spokesperson for Bishops’ Pro-Life Secretariat.

She's even made it to a popular online quote repository.

Ignatius Insight has an excellent interview with her posted.

And of course, if you can't get ahold of her, I check my email practically every hour, on the hour.

March for Life: Jan 21 Schedule of Events (+update)

As part of my ongoing coverage of the 35th Annual March for Life, here are the events that are taking place tomorrow, January 21st (Monday). The actual march takes place on Tuesday the 22nd.

From the LifeSiteNews listing:

• 8 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Cardinal O'Connor ConferenceSee. Speakers include Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of Knights of Columbus, Helen Alvare esq., of Catholic University of America, and others. I will be attending at least the morning sessions of this event.


• 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Rock for Life Training & Activism Weekend. I may attend this event briefly.


• 7 p.m. Huge National Prayer Vigil for Life at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Starts with Mass attended by thousands of pro-lifers and several hundred clergy and religious. Following the Mass there will be prayers throughout the night until morning for those able to participate. Mass will be celebrated by Cardinal Regali.


• 10a.m. - 4 p.m. March for Life Convention Sessions II + III at The Hyatt Regency, D.C.


• 7:30p.m. Local theology-on-tap in Alexandria, VA with speaker Dawn Eden. More info here.

Related news:

• Gerald has done a great job photo-blogging San Francisco's West Coast March for Life on his blog, The Cafeteria is Closed. I was especially pleased to see the local Dominican friars out in force, cappa and all.
• CNA: 25,000 attend West Coast Walk for Life, event continues to grow
• CNA: President Bush proclaims National Sanctity of Human Life Day (full text)
• CNA: Opposition to abortion is a non-negotiable requirement of Catholics, says Bishop Aquila

And, as you can see, the pilgrims are already appearing, in greater numbers, at local events:

this post will be updated throughout the day....

update: News from and about the blogs:

• "Why We March" by Joe of Life At The Frontier, and will also be at Blogs4Life.
• Causa Nostrae Laetitiae will be at the Blogs4Life conference as well as the March.
• BlogsforTerri, finally, also gives the Blogs4Life conference a healthy plug.
• Bishop Lori of Bridgeport, meanwhile, will be "alongside a large number of pilgrims from our diocese." There's an endearing comment from a young man posted in response.
• MOJ: Change of Attitude Toward Abortion

March for Life News - Jan. 18th

First off, reader Eric informs us:

"I spoke to Sister Teresa Mary at the Basilica a moment ago and she informed me that a TLM will be said both days in the Lourdes Chapel. On Monday the Mass will be said at 2PM On Tuesday the Mass will be said at 9:30 A.M. The priest is of the Diocese of Rockford."

A call for volunteers at the Verizon center rally:

Young Adult Volunteers Needed for 2008 March for Life Youth Rally!

With less than one week before the Rally, we could still use some dedicated volunteers to help pull off such an important event!! The one area we could still use help with:

1) Outside team - Since the Verizon center gets to maximum capacity by about 9 am, we will need to have people stationed outside the Verizon center to give directions to the buses and "walkers" as to where they can go to participate in one of these overflow Masses. These folks will need to be at the Verizon center between 7:45 & 8 am and will probably be able to leave by 10:30 or 11 am.

Again, please reply to yam@adw.org, if you are interested in volunteering for this event!!

The Catholic Information Center's schedule of events:

Monday, January 21

1-1:45 p.m. - Showing of I Was Wrong, presented by Joyce Zounis.

2:30 p.m. - Joyce Zounis interviews Millie Lace about her story, which appears in the book Real Abortion Stories.

Tuesday, January 22

9 a.m. - CIC opens early. Coffee and donuts for March-for-Life participants.

3-6 p.m. – Blogger tea party hosted by Dawn Eden [more info at her blog.]

Related (and recommended): "Ten Challenges for the Pro-Life Movement in 2008" by Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, President of Human Life International.

Update: from the comment box:

I'm in a bind... I have 45 teens and chaparones that are in need of a place to stay. We would prefer a parish hopefully close to the metro outside of the District as our bus driver can only drive 12 hours in a 24h day so he won't be able to drive us around the area. If anyone can help or has any suggestions, I would really appreciate the help.

If anyone can help or has ideas, post it here. thanks!

this post to be updated as the day progresses...

AmP to use Web2.0 features to report March For Life!

In order to, among other things, provide better mutimedia coverage of this year's March for Life I've purchased a Kodak V1253 Digital Camera.

In addition to taking pictures up to 12 megapixels in size, the V1253 is also the first commercially-available camera (as I understand it) to offer HDTV-quality video recording. To my way of thinking, 100,000+ catholics marching for life in near-freezing temperatures deserve to be represented well, especially when the mainstream media demonstres a hypocritical tendency to ingore their efforts.

My long term plan with this purchase is to provide more exclusive pictures and audio/video content of local Catholic events, and the March for Life seems like a perfect place for that plan to take shape concretely. This way, by the time Pope Benedict XVI visits in April, I should have a bit of experience in covering these sorts of events under my belt. And of course, if anyone wants to send a correspondent to World Youth Day in Sydney this summer.... I haven't yet unpacked my bags from the last one.

In terms of "web2.0" features, I'll be uploading my videos to the AmericanPapist YouTube channel (which has already been viewed 133 times, somehow?) and uploading the still images to the AmericanPapist Flickr page (over 15k views!). That updating will begin this weekend, once I have a chance to attend several of the March for Life-related events.

Needless to say, I'm footing the bill for all this myself, and I have no regular sponsors to compensate the time I spend blogging and covering these events. To that end, and specifically with another semester of books, lodging, internet access, transportation and (above-all) tuition to cover, any free-will offering would be most welcome. The little Paypal donate button on the sidebar is a good place to start.

Also, the timing has never been so opportune as now to place an AmP Blog advertisement, especially if you are trying to promote a pro-life product or service. I'm expecting a large uptick in daily visitors during the upcoming weekend and throughout the March for Life, so do take note.

After all, with over 1.35 million visits to AmP since its founding, it's clear folks are watching.

Okay, time to get down to business: this promises to be a wonderful weekend - stay tuned!

P.S. And if any of you are wondering, a redesign of the AmP blog is in the works, but still far off.

Schedule of Events: The 35th March for Life (AmP Complete Coverage)

As I blogged earlier, the 35th Annual March for Life will be happening in my backyard of Washington, DC next Tuesday, January 22nd. There are also many related events scheduled in the days leading up to the March.

This is the link you want to bookmark for upcoming March for Life posts.

I'll be personally walking with the local Dominican Friars, as well as attending as many private events and public conferences as I can swing. According to Wikipedia, this is the most attended annual march in Washington D.C. (100k+) so there is plenty happening.

I also hope to have a flickr slideshow of exclusive images and several high-quality youtube videos up throughout the long weekend, so stay tuned!

*Notice: March for Life Buses *must* purchase a DC permit*

To get started, let's take a look at the important events coordinating with this year's March for Life:

• Official schedule of events from the USCCB (beginning with Jan. 21 Vigil Mass)
• MarchForLife.org - the organizers of the even
• StudentsForLife.org - they host a pro-life conference in DC on the 20th.
• Cardinal O'Connor Conference for Life - Takes place at Georgetown on the 21st.
• 2008 Rally for Life & Youth Mass - Jan 22nd, by the Archdiocese of Washing & Abp. Wuerl
• The American Life League is hosting Rock for Life, a training & activism weekend for youth.
• Blogs For Life Conference - A must for St. Blog's community members, hosted by the FRC
• Priests for Life has a list of events listed here and here (focusing on Fr. Frank Pavone).
• LifeSiteNews offers its schedule of 2008 Conferences and Activities here.

I'm planning on attending Abp. Wuerl's Mass for Life on Sunday evening, and much of the Cardinal O'Connor Conference for Life on Monday. I don't think I'll make it to the Youth Rally on Tuesday morning, but I will be at the Blogs for Life Conference a couple times when I'm not walking with the Dominicans. In the evening I'm currently planning on attending the ICL, Champions for Family Reception.

Now, let's take a look at recent stories about or mentioning the March for Life:

• Last year, President Bush called the Marchers for Life and gave them encouragement. CNS: "Culture of life means changing hearts, president tells March for Life"
• Dawn Eden informs us that the Catholic Information Center is doing several things to help Marchers, including discounts, free wireless internet and a tea party! She'll also be at Blogs for Life.
• This year, CNS reports, "Founder says walk to Capitol Hill still the top March for Life event"
• LifeSiteNews announces that the entire student population of Christendom college is coming.

We should not forget to mention the West Coast March for Life, taking place on Saturday the 19th. The fourth French Pro-Life march in Paris will take place on the 20th, last year they assembled 10k people.

(And I would be remiss to not mention that every of age Catholic pro-lifer warms up at The Dubliner Irish Pub after the cold day of marching. I'll be there. In fact, I'll probably be switching between "The Dub" and Kelly's Irish Times.)

The Dominican Friars posted videos on YouTube from last year's March: [Part 1] - [Part 2].

The March for Life website has provided video from the 2007 pre-march rally:

The best places to find up-to-date pro-life news is the ProLifeBlogs aggregator, as well as Jill Stanek.

Notice: Readers are more than welcome to submit information to this post by posting it in the comments!

Warning: March for Life Buses *must* purchase DC permit

Fr. Joe is trying to spread the word:

Pass the word as quickly as possible… WARNING!!!

March for Life: Important Information on Buses - If your parish or school plans to take a bus to the Rally & Mass, or March for Life, please note that the District of Columbia now requires that any charter bus (even a school bus not owned by your school) must obtain a Trip Permit to enter the city. The permit costs $50. The bus operator can obtain the permit online at http://dmv.dc.gov/info/trippermit.shtm (click on “Trip Permit”). Failure to do so may result in a $500 fine or 180-day jail sentence for the bus owner. We look forward to seeing you on January 22.

Can anyone confirm or deny this requirement? Thanks.

update: confirmation from several sources, including AmP reader Mary:

[From the Archdiocese of Baltimore website:] Riding the Bus to D.C. for the Pro-Life Youth Rally and Mass? STOP and Read This Notice.

The District of Columbia now requires that any bus from any state or country used in the transportation of a chartered party obtain a trip permit. This permit costs $50.

For more information and to obtain the permit visit http://www.dmv.dc.gov/ and click on "trip permit."

There you have it. Please spread the word as the application takes time to process.

update 2: A tip from the comment box:

"Yeah, the easy way around this is to off load in VA or MD and have your crew take the subway to and from the march." - Will Cubbedge

Here is a map of the DC metro, and here is the metro homepage.