The first post-Roe Vigil for Life Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., Thursday evening was a standing-room-only event for many as the 9,000-seat upper church quickly filled to capacity.

USCCB pro-life committee chair Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, told the families, college students, and young people gathered from across the country that “a new, important phase of work in the pro-life movement begins now.” He urged those gathered in prayer who would be marching in the 2023 March for Life on Friday to communicate the love of God in their public witness for the unborn.

The annual event began with a greeting from Pope Francis, read by Apostolic Nuncio to the United States Archbishop Christophe Pierre. The Holy Father wrote of his deep gratitude for “the faithful witness shown publicly over the years by all who promote and defend the right to life of the most innocent and vulnerable members of our human family.”