Washington, D.C., January 27, 2020
Photo: oca.org
For the 33rd year in a row, Orthodox Christians actively participated in the March for Life in Washington, D.C. as a group. In 1987, Metropolitan Herman of the OCA (then Bishop of Philadelphia) and Archpriest John Kowalcyzk marched for the first time, and the Orthodox representation has steadily grown since then.
The March is held every year in January around the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s disastrous Roe v. Wade decision that legalized the murder of children in the womb.
The day of the March, Friday, January 24, began with the Divine Liturgy for the feast of St. Xenia of St. Petersburg celebrated at the St. Nicholas Cathedral in the capital by His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon (OCA) and a number of other OCA bishops, including His Grace Bishop David of Santa Rosa, who celebrated the 5th anniversary of his consecration as a bishop that day, Bishop Thomas of Charleston of the Antiochian Archdiocese, and Bishop Apostolos of Medeia of the Greek Archdiocese.
Photo: oca.org
Greeting all those who had gathered to partake of the Holy Eucharist before marching for innocent babies, Met. Tikhon said:
I give thanks to God for the community of believers who have gathered from afar this morning in my Cathedral. In the midst of so much of the fractured existence that we experience day by day, with political polemics, enmity between nations, difficulties even within the Church, it is by the Grace of God that we are able to come together in the unity of faith and oneness of purpose. We should not be misled, or consider this situation unremarkable. A great mystery has been revealed to us, and God himself has allowed us to participate in it: we have come together to worship our Heavenly Father, who has given us his Son, by his Holy Spirit.
A full video of Met. Tikhon’s address has been published by the OCA:
At the March itself, Met. Tikhon led the hierarchs of the OCA and other jurisdictions, and the gathered clergy, monastics, and faithful in a prayer service for the innocent children whose lives have been taken.
“Today, we march in solidarity with many others from across our nation to show our government leaders our commitment to life—to life that begins from the very moment of conception. As we march today, we sing praises to God, our God Who does wonders, praying that He work His wonders and move the heart of our nation to repentance,” His Beatitude said.
Photo: oca.org
Met. Tikhon then led the Orthodox faithful in the March for Life together with the OCA hierarchs Archbishop Melchisedek of Pittsburgh, Archbishop Michael of New York, Archbishop David of Sitka, Bishop Paul of Chicago and His Grace Bishop Daniel of Santa Rosa, together with Bishop Thomas of the Antiochian Archdiocese and Archbishop Daniel of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA.
The OCA’s St. Tikhon’s and St. Vladimir’s Seminaries were also represented by their deans and students, as well as the Ukrainian Church’s St. Sophia Seminary.
