Pilgrimage For Life Inspires Diocesan Young People

They were cold, wet, tired and hungry – but none of them complained.  It was one of those late-January days where the wind swept up from the Atlantic, pounding the city with a blustery, slush-rain mix; and it felt about 10 degrees colder than the thermometer display.

I had the video camera rolling as young people from across the Diocese of Evansville stood in these uncomfortable conditions, and what I remember are the smiles.  Here they stood, drenched and chilled, and they were smiling, praying, singing.  It was a study in contrast.

What causes youth to be joyful in extreme circumstances like this?  Why, over the last three years, have we packed buses and carried 1,000 young people to Washington, D.C.?  Because our youth are intelligent and passionate about the truth, and that is driving them to return again this year to be voices for those who cannot speak for themselves – shouting to the world that all life has dignity, from conception until natural death.

Registration has already begun for the fourth annual diocesan Pilgrimage for Life to Washington, D.C.  We will depart on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014, following the Mass for Life celebrated by Bishop Charles C. Thompson, and we will return on Thursday morning, January 23, in time for school.  Students will only miss two days of classes due to the Martin Luther King national holiday, and the time missed must be counted as excused by all school systems due to the religious significance of the Pilgrimage for Life.

All registration information, including registration packets and scholarship details, can be found on the official Pilgrimage for Life website, www.EvansvillePFL.org. 

The deadline for registration is Nov. 29.  Some of the registration process has changed this year, so those interested should visit the website and read the information posted there carefully.  Additional questions can be sent via email to PFL@evdio.org.

Dabrowski is the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry.