Washington, D.C., January 27, 2025
Photo: oca.org
Orthodox Christian hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and laymen came out over the weekend to march and walk for life in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco.
This year marked the 52nd annual March for Life in the nation’s capital on January 24. The official March website notes that “Even with the wonderful blessing of Roe v. Wade being overturned, which allows more freedom at the state level to enact pro-life laws, the necessary work to build a culture of life in the United States of America is not finished.”
“Rather, it is focused differently. Sadly, the number of abortions annually is still well over 900,000 each year, and that number is expected to decrease only by roughly 200,000 each year in a post-Roe America.”
The Orthodox delegation was led this year by several hierarchs: His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of Washington and All America and Canada, His Eminence Archbishop Michael of New York and New Jersey, and His Grace Bishop Andrei of Cleveland of the Orthodox Church in America, which has been the leader in the Orthodox pro-life movement in America since the 1970s, and His Grace Bishop John of Worcester of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, the OCA reports.
The Orthodox hierarchs were invited on stage for the opening invocation, after which Met. Tikhon led the Orthodox clergy and faithful in a Service of Supplication for an End to Abortion before proceeding with the March.
From the Walk for Life West Coast. Photo: Orthodox Christians for Life
And on Saturday, January 25, the annual Walk for Life West Coast was held in San Francisco. Among the thousands of pro-life activists were a record 200 Orthodox Christians, reports Orthodox Christians for Life.
The day began with the Divine Liturgy at the OCA’s Holy Trinity Cathedral, with a homily by Fr. Josiah Trenham, and a breakfast reception.
At both pro-life events, the Orthodox Christians carried icon banners and joyfully sang various Orthodox hymns as they marched.
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