Sanctity of Human Life Month: Rocky Mountain March for Life & Adoration for Life set for week of Jan. 19-2

By Julie Bailey

COLORADO SPRINGS. January is Sanctity of Human Life Month. You may ask, “But wait, isn’t that in October?” I can certainly appreciate your confusion.

In the Catholic Church and across the Christian community, we recognize October as Respect Life Month, during which we hold the Life Chain and the Fall 40 Days for Life Campaign. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) promotes Respect Life Month, and the first Sunday of October as Respect Life Sunday, by providing themed materials to support parish activities that encourage the faithful to pray and act in ways that specifically support the dignity of every human life. This year, our Bishop’s Respect Life Roundup took place in October.

So, what’s the deal with January?

The disastrous U.S. Supreme Court ruling known as Roe v Wade was handed down on Jan. 22, 1973. That decision, which essentially legalized abortion across the country, gave birth to a pro-life movement encompassing people from every walk of life, religious and not, who rose up to fight the grave injustice perpetrated against unborn children, their parents, and society as a whole.

National, state and local marches for life grew out of this movement as did organizations like national and state right to life coalitions, 40 Days for Life, Students for Life, Sidewalk Advocates for Life, Save the Storks and many others. Life-affirming pregnancy resource centers emerged from this movement. Even after the 2022 Supreme Court decision Dobbs v. Jackson overturned Roe v. Wade and returned abortion law-making to the states, these organizations continue to stand up, speak, and fight the culture of death and its poster child: unfettered elective abortion.

So, as January 2026 approaches, I encourage you to participate in the fight in some way.

On the Martin Luther King holiday, St. Mary’s High School students team up with the Respect Life Apostolate (RLA) to hold the Rocky Mountain March for Life (RMMFL) In 2026, this event will take place on Jan. 19. Typically, about 200 folks gather at the corner near Planned Parenthood on Centennial Boulevard at 9 a.m. for a rally, which is followed by a two-mile Eucharistic Procession to Corpus Christi Church where participants enjoy a time of Eucharistic Adoration, Mass and a pizza lunch. If the weather is too cold to walk (as it has been in recent years) the group will take shuttle buses to and from Centennial Boulevard and walk a shorter route. In this case, prayers and speeches will take place inside.

In conjunction with this event, the RLA sponsors Rocky Mountain Adoration for Life (RMAFL) in parishes throughout the diocese. Our aim is to have at least 60 hours covering every day of that week, beginning after the RMMFL and ending Friday. These Holy Hours are devoted to praying for an end to the Culture of Death and for all people to respect and honor the dignity of every human life.

For a parish to participate in RMAFL, it is not necessary to add hours to an existing adoration schedule. A parish may simply designate one or more hours during that week for the RMAFL prayer intentions. The RLA will publish the schedule and provide prayer aids to all participating parishes. It is our hope that parishes all over the diocese will participate so as to give opportunities to pray for life with our Eucharistic Lord to as many of the faithful as possible. If your parish would like to participate, email the RLA Director, Julie Bailey, at jbailey@diocs.org.

All these activities, and all our RLA ministries, are made possible by the generosity of donors at the Bishop’s Respect Life Roundup and throughout the year. Another special January activity made possible by your generosity is the Diocese Youth Pilgrimage to Washington D.C. for the National March for Life. This January we plan to take a group of over 30 people to our nation’s capital to participate in what past pilgrims have called the most joyful gathering they’ve ever experienced.

If you haven’t yet taken the opportunity to donate to the RLA in support of all these activities, you can do so on the RLA website, https://www.diocs.org/Offices/Respect-Life-Apostolate or by contacting the RLA office at 719-866-6478. And, if you have already supported the RLA with your generous gift, thank you!

(Julie Bailey is Director of the Respect Life Apostolate of the Diocese of Colorado Springs.)