Assembly of Bishops Delegation Participates in the 2024 March for Life
Friday, January 19, 2024
Washington, D.C. - The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America sent a delegation to the annual March for Life in the nation’s capital on Friday, January 19, 2024.
Bishop John (Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America) led the delegation. He was joined by Bishop Theophan (Albanian Orthodox Diocese of the Americas, Ecumenical Patriarchate), Metropolitan Tikhon (Orthodox Church in America) and Bishop Andrei (Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America, Orthodox Church in America).
The members of the delegation attended the National Prayer Vigil for Life at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Thursday, January 18, the evening before the march.
The next day, on Friday, January 19, Bishop John offered the opening prayer at the beginning of the rally on the National Mall where he said: “O Heavenly Father, Good Comforter, and Lord Jesus Christ; Creator of all things, you who knew us in our mother’s womb and ordered the world for our salvation, protect your babies both born and unborn, guide their parents, reveal to us the ways which we should walk today and every-day…” The Orthodox hierarchs were joined on-stage by Roman Catholic Bishops led by His Excellency Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, Bishop of Arlington and Chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Despite inclement weather, the march began at 1 p.m. and proceeded along Constitution Avenue to the U.S. Supreme Court, where prayers for the victims of abortion were offered.
