Monday January 18, 2010
Pro-Life March in Dallas Attracts Thousands
By James Tillman
DALLAS, TEXAS, January 18, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) — Thousands of Texans attended a rally and march in Dallas this Saturday, protesting legalized abortion and marking the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade through prayer and peaceful public witness.
The day began with a rosary prayed in front of a Dallas abortion facility, before turning to a special Mass with Bishop Jevin J. Farrell of Dallas and Bishop Kevin W. Vann of Fort Worth. About 2,500 people attended.
After the Mass, a throng of pro-lifers walked from the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe to the Earle Cabell Federal Courthouse, where Roe v. Wade was first filed in 1970.
At the rally, Bishop Farrell spoke about the long struggle that the pro-life movement has experienced.
“It is so appropriate that we are standing here today, thirty-seven years after a journey that began right across the street,” he said. “And we pray in our hearts and in our souls, that it won’t be necessary to be here next year.”
He continued: “We must never give up. So many – 50 million people – have already lost their lives because so many people have stood on the sidelines in this issue. We must never give up. We may become tired; we may become weary; we may feel that there is no more hope; we may lose hope. … [but] we have to keep going, and we have to think of how we can save the lives of those who could be potentially lost in the coming years.”
The march is organized to a great extent by the Catholic Pro-Life Committee of North Texas, but members of other Christian denominations also attended. “We stand with our Catholic brothers and sisters,” said Erwin Tang, who attends Prestonwood Baptist Church.
More marches are planned around the country on this coming Friday and Saturday to mark the 37th anniversary of the January 22, 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that ruled abortion to be a right guaranteed by the Constitution.