In a nearly full Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, close to 3,000 people gathered for Mass Jan. 22 before many walked in temperatures in the teens to the State Capitol to participate in the 50th annual Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life March for Life.  

While hope prevailed June 24 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 high court decision that made abortion legal across the country, many pro-life Minnesotans despaired last week when the Minnesota House passed a bill to place the right to abortion into state law. A vote in the state Senate is expected this week.  

In his homily, Mass celebrant Archbishop Bernard Hebda noted from the Mass’ first reading that Isaiah preached to a people who were discouraged and demoralized.  

“They saw darkness coming in at every side,” Archbishop Hebda said, “yet Isaiah was able to speak to them about the light that would come — indeed, that a light, that light of the Messiah, would change everything.” Those who believed, who waited for the Messiah, were eventually able to see how everything would change according to God’s plan, he said. “It gave them great hope.” 

Archbishop Hebda was in Washington, D.C., for the Jan. 20 national March for Life. He described the “great excitement” celebrating the overturning of Roe v. Wade, yet at the same time, “we here in Minnesota had our eyes glued to the news to see what would happen at our own Legislature as really draconian rules were being proposed,” he said.  

About 180 people, including 140 high school students and young adults, also traveled by charted buses from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to the 50th March for Life in Washington, D.C. Jan. 20.   

The battle for the right to life is not finished, Archbishop Hebda said. “It’s only when we’re going to be able to persist and to persevere that God’s reign is going to prevail,” he said. “We’re reminded by the prophet Isaiah not to get discouraged, and to look for the signs of the light in the midst of darkness.” 

Archbishop Hebda said the faithful need to unite in the “beautiful mission” of proclaiming the dignity of each human life, and ask that Christ help bring about unity. The archbishop evoked the image of the Blessed Mother gathering “all of God’s children under her mantle of protection.”  

“We bring all life together,” he said. “We strive for that unity.” 

The 12 called to be the first Apostles were “normal, human, like all of us,” he said. “And yet when they were able to recognize that, indeed, Christ could work through them, when they united themselves to Christ and to one another, it’s then that they were able to change the world, that God was able to change the world through them. 

“We gather here today not as a people who are discouraged, but as women and men of great hope, knowing that when we give ourselves over to the Lord, when we’re willing to respond to his call, that it’s then that the Lord is able to do amazing things.”  

Everyone is called to be “an evangelizer for life,” Archbishop Hebda said, and talk about the dignity of each human life.  

“When we give ourselves over to Jesus, it’s amazing what he’s able to do,” he said. “Nothing is impossible with God.” 

Winners of the Champions for Life awards recognized during the Mass were Teresa Collett, an attorney and law professor at the University of St. Thomas; Karen McCann, a member of Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul, who has been involved in pro-life work for about 30 years; and the St. Gianna Club, a pro-life student group at Sacred Heart in Robbinsdale. 

At the beginning of Mass, Archbishop Hebda said it was inspiring to have a full Cathedral to celebrate life and honor the Champions for Life. “And as we gather, also to communicate to our legislators and to our community the strength of our support for the Gospel of life,” he said.  

Nicole Foley, a parishioner of All Saints in Minneapolis, said she was pleased that Archbishop Hebda spoke “really strongly on the importance of our vote.” While it seems that “we’ve maybe won the fight on the national level,” Foley said, the work of local legislators (on HF1 and SF1, codifying a right to abortion in Minnesota) had brought her to tears “a lot of times this week.” 

A mother of seven and of one miscarried baby, Foley said “it’s just, all lives matter, and it’s up to us, especially as Catholics, first to defend and to stand strong. And I was really pleased that the archbishop spoke about that.” 

Archbishop Hebda also acknowledged his gratitude for students in attendance from the University of Mary in Bismarck who were on their way back to North Dakota after participating in the march in Washington. “I was happy to see them with my own eyes at the march and know they were a joyful presence there,” he said. 

Katie Kriefall, 22, was one of those students from the University of Mary, returning from her second march in Washington. She attended her first march her senior year at Spring Lake Park High School, traveling with a group from Epiphany in Coon Rapids.  

Kriefall said the energy and attendance seemed similar this year to her first visit. “You get to the top of the hill and you look back and there’s just a whole wave of people, and it’s really inspiring to see that,” she said. With Roe v. Wade overturned, she said there was a different reason for being in the nation’s capital, “but there’s a lot of very different work to do now,” she said.  

Kriefall said it’s “very unfortunate” to learn what’s happening in Minnesota’s Legislature, which speaks to “the amount of work that still needs to be done.” 

Debra Duncan, 69, a parishioner of St. Luke in Clearwater, said she has worked as a nurse for 40 years, about 10 of those in labor and delivery. That’s one reason she said it was important for her to be at Mass and participate in the March for Life.  

During her work in labor and delivery, she said she had seen that “a lot that goes on there” but never participated in an abortion. “I have worked with young kids (one 14) that have had babies and given them up for adoption.” 

Duncan said “life is important … and we need to respect and have dignity for all life from conception until natural death.” 

During the Mass, Archbishop Hedba said Minnesotans must “express our voice to our senators as soon as we can, because the vote will be as soon as this week.” He suggested accessing the Minnesota Catholic Conference website at mncatholic.org or the archdiocese’s website at archspm.org to find ways to express views to state senators.  

The 50th annual Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life March for Life began at 2 p.m., with many people walking from Mass at the Cathedral to the State Capitol, some marching around the grounds until a program started on the Capitol steps at 2:30 p.m.. 

Father Chad VanHoose, pastor of St. Jude of the Lake in Mahtomedi, led the invocation. Speakers included Alyssa Bormes, a parishioner of Holy Family in St. Louis Park, and a member of Women in the New Evangelization; and from MCCL: Scott Fischbach, president; and Cathy Blaeser and Don Parker, co-executive directors. Parker also introduced legislators in attendance. 

Mary Ann Hermanutz, 84, a parishioner of Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Rockville, Minnesota, said she has only missed one of the 50 marches for life, and that was due to a bad ice storm. She and others living near her have been driving to first Friday adoration at the state Capitol. “We’ll be back the first Friday of February no matter what the Legislature does,” she said. “We are praying and hoping to stop Minnesota from being a mecca for abortion, for killing,” Hermanutz said. “We don’t want that reputation. We don’t want any babies being killed.”