Posted January 22, 2016

Before departing Philadelphia to lead the Philadelphia contingent to Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life on Friday, Jan. 22, Auxiliary Bishop John McIntyre led a brief prayer service at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center Thursday afternoon, Jan. 21. The brief service, which recalled the sanctity of God-given human life and dignty, ended as the bishop blessed luminaries that were placed by students of John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ high School and Holy Innocents School in Philadelphia outside of the building on 17th street in center city Philadelphia.

They will remain illuminated all night and throughout Jan. 22 to mark the anniversary in 1973 when the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion on demand in America. Read more about the March for Life in Washington here. (Photos by Sarah Webb)

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Students of Holy Innocents School and John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School and archdiocesan employees gather in prayer as Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia John McIntyre blesses luminaries to be placed outside the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center in Philadelphia to remind passersby of the sanctity of life on the eve of the March for Life in Washington, D.C..

Students of Holy Innocents School and John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School and archdiocesan employees gather in prayer as Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia John McIntyre blesses luminaries to be placed outside the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center in Philadelphia to remind passersby of the sanctity of life on the eve of the March for Life in Washington, D.C..

Archdiocesan employees gather in prayer as Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia John McIntyre blesses luminaries to be placed outside the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center in Philadelphia to remind passersby of the sanctity of life on the eve of the March for Life in Washington, D.C..

Archdiocesan employees gather in prayer as Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia John McIntyre blesses luminaries to be placed outside the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center in Philadelphia to remind passersby of the sanctity of life on the eve of the March for Life in Washington, D.C..

Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia John McIntyre blesses luminaries to be placed outside the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center in Philadelphia to remind passersby of the sanctity of life on the eve of the March for Life in Washington, D.C.

Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia John McIntyre blesses luminaries to be placed outside the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center in Philadelphia to remind passersby of the sanctity of life on the eve of the March for Life in Washington, D.C.

Students from John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School place luminaries for life at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center along a wall facing 17th Street in Philadelphia.

Students from John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School place luminaries for life at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center along a wall facing 17th Street in Philadelphia.

Students of Holy Innocents School in Philadelphia, along with students of John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls' High School, place luminaries for life at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center along a wall facing 17th Street in Philadelphia. (Sarah Webb)

Students of Holy Innocents School in Philadelphia, along with students of John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School, place luminaries for life at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center along a wall facing 17th Street in Philadelphia.

Students from John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School place luminaries for life at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center along a wall facing 17th Street in Philadelphia.

Students from John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School place luminaries for life at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center along a wall facing 17th Street in Philadelphia.