Because ‘Life Is a Gift’

Jan. 29, 2026

Knights of Columbus march to defend the inherent dignity of every human person alongside tens of thousands in Washington

By Katie Yoder

Jan. 29, 2026

Students representing Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., help carry the banner at the front of the March for Life on Jan. 23. (Photo by Paul Haring)

Every year, The Catholic University of America Council 9542 leads their university community in the March for Life. Together, the Knights carry the school’s giant banner reading “Celebrate LIFE.”

“It looks like Knights leading a charge,” said Justin Caulfield, grand knight of Council 9542. “And ultimately, we know that this charge will win.”

On Jan. 23, Council 9542 joined tens of thousands of pro-life advocates from across the country for the 53rd annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. The march, which identifies itself as “the largest annual human rights demonstration in the world,” began in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion nationwide.

Today, the march seeks to change laws and culture until abortion becomes not just illegal, but unthinkable. The 2026 march — the fourth held since the court overturned Roe in 2022 — emphasized the inherent dignity of every human person beginning at conception, with the theme “Life is a Gift.”

Speakers addressed a vibrant, largely youthful crowd bundled up for the winter weather in brightly colored hats and coats. Handmade and printed signs — including the Knights’ “Love Life, Choose Life” signs — filled the crowd as smiling marchers waved them.

“The fight to end abortion is serious business,” Jennie Bradley Lichter, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, told participants at a pre-march rally on the National Mall. “But we go about that business with peace, confidence and the overspilling joy that’s on display here today, because all of this is rooted in our deep conviction that life is a gift.”

A family participates with other pro-life advocates in the March for Life in Washington, D.C., Jan. 23. (Photo by Paul Haring)

Marchers cheered as Lichter and other speakers marked 2026 as the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes a right to life. They cheered again when Lichter read a special message from a former marcher — Pope Leo XIV.

“I send warm greetings to those of you participating in the 2026 March for Life,” the Holy Father said in his message. “I likewise express heartfelt appreciation and assure you of my spiritual closeness as you gather for this eloquent public witness. By advocating for the unborn, please know that you are fulfilling the Lord’s command to serve him in the least of our brothers and sisters (cf. Mt 25:31-46).”

In addition to Lichter, speakers included Debbie Biskey, CEO of Options for Her; Sarah Hurm, a mother who sought abortion pill reversal and later gave birth to her son; Elizabeth Pillsbury Oliver, president of Georgetown University Right to Life; and Cissie Graham Lynch, senior adviser and spokesperson for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse.

Following a video message from President Donald J. Trump, several elected officials addressed the crowd, including Vice President JD Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, co-chair of the congressional Pro-Life Caucus.

A VITAL PRESENCE

The Order has been involved since the earliest years of the march, volunteering and sponsoring the event for more than five decades. Each year, Virginia Knights serve as marshals, helping lead the procession and guiding participants along the route.

“[The Knights] are the reason the march has been able to endure for so many years,” Lichter said. “We’re very grateful.”

The Order also serves as a platinum sponsor of the national march, in addition to supporting the March for Life’s expanding state march program.

Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore stands with high school students holding Knights of Columbus “Love Life, Choose Life” signs on the National Mall during the March for Life, Jan. 23. (Photo by Paul Haring)

“The legacy of Blessed Michael McGivney continues to guide the Knights of Columbus’ pro-life mission,” Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly said in an interview. “We are being true to our founder’s original vision — and that vision was to help families in a particular way, to help vulnerable women and vulnerable children.”

Among the hundreds of Knights participating were members of the board of directors, led by Supreme Knight Kelly and Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore.

“The March for Life is an extremely important event for our country and indeed for our world,” Archbishop Lori said.

The Knights of Columbus recently commissioned a new national survey of 1,408 adults, conducted by the Marist Poll Jan. 12-13 and released the day before the march.

While a majority of respondents identified as pro-choice, the poll found that 64% of Americans support placing limits on abortion. It also found that 63% of respondents said health care professionals with religious objections to abortion should not be legally required to perform them, and that 88% agreed laws can protect both mothers and their unborn children.

The poll also found that 84% of Americans, including 75% of Democrats, support pregnancy care centers. More than 2,700 pregnancy resource centers throughout the U.S., many supported by Knights of Columbus, provide life-saving help for women and their babies.

Beyond public opinion, the Knights of Columbus works to build a culture of life through concrete acts of service. Through the Order’s ASAP (Aid and Support After Pregnancy) program, Knights in the United States and Canada have raised more than $19 million for pregnancy centers and maternity homes since 2022. Since 2009, the Order has also helped fund more than 2,000 ultrasound machines by matching 50% of the cost after a local or state council raises the rest for an approved pregnancy center.

Before the march, the Knights hosted the fourth annual Life Fest — a morning rally featuring speakers, music and Mass — with the Sisters of Life in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

Knights from Friar Council 5787 in Providence, R.I., and other students from Providence College prepare to participate in the March for Life in Washington, D.C., Jan. 23. Pictured, from left, are council members Joe Campione, Pete Bratschi and Michael Infussi. (Photo by Jeffrey Bruno)

‘SOMETHING WORTH DEFENDING’

Knights from several college councils participated in the march, including St. José Luis Sánchez del Río Council 18656 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Marquette University Council 6883 in Milwaukee; Notre Dame Council 1477; J.H. Newman Council 15452 at the University of Kentucky; and Friar Council 5787 at Providence College.

At Catholic University, Caulfield said he first attended the March for Life two years ago, as a freshman. On the morning of this year’s march, he rose early to serve at Mass before carrying the banner representing Knights’ college councils.

His classmate Michael Short, a senior and former deputy grand knight of Council 9542, distributed signs to classmates before the march. He said being pro-life means respecting the sanctity of both mothers and their children.

Pedro Rosa-Caraballo, a transfer student at Catholic University and a member of Council 9542, attended the march for the first time. He served at Mass, helped carry his university’s banner and led a rosary. He said his involvement in the pro-life movement grew out of his faith and earlier efforts to establish a Students for Life chapter at his former university.

“We’re made in the image and likeness of God,” Rosa-Caraballo said, “that is something that’s worth defending from the moment you’re conceived all the way up until you die.”

*****

KATIE YODER is a freelance writer based in the Washington, D.C., area.

Father Isaiah and Sisters of Life band perform at Life Fest

Because ‘Life Is a Gift’

A VITAL PRESENCE

‘SOMETHING WORTH DEFENDING’

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