WASHINGTON – “We must continue to support pregnant and parenting mothers in need and offer spiritual and emotional help to all who have participated in abortion,” said Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, marking the 53rd anniversary of the decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion nationwide. Noting there have been several pro-life victories since Roe was overturned in 2022, he cautioned that human life is still gravely threatened by legalized abortion as it continues to be aggressively promoted at the state and federal level.

Bishop Thomas’ full statement follows:

“January 22 marks the anniversary of the tragic U.S. Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, that legalized abortion nationwide and led to the loss of over 65 million children and immeasurable harm to their parents and family members. This solemn day is commemorated each year with the observance of the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children for prayer, penance, and our personal recommitment to the cause of life.

“We continue to give thanks to God for the opportunity to defend human life in law through the overturn of Roe in 2022. Since that time, we have seen several pro-life victories. Most recently, at the national level, Congress acted heroically last year in largely defunding Planned Parenthood of federal taxpayer dollars. Meanwhile the Administration has reversed several of its predecessor’s pro-abortion policies.

“Despite these successes, human life is still gravely threatened by legalized abortion as it continues to be aggressively promoted at the state and federal level. Many challenges remain, including pro-abortion ballot initiatives, the increased use and availability of abortion pills, and the need to protect the Hyde Amendment to keep taxpayer funded abortion out of national health care bills. We must continue to support pregnant and parenting mothers in need and offer spiritual and emotional help to all who have participated in abortion. Our united prayers, sacrifices, and efforts to protect human life and heal the wounds inflicted by abortion remain as important as ever. 

“As our Holy Father Pope Leo XIV has said, ‘God's mercy calls us to protect every life, especially those society overlooks—the child yet to be born and the elderly nearing their journey's end—because each bears Christ's face.’

“May we see the face of Christ in every single person, in every pregnant mother, and every child in the womb. Let us remain steadfast in our commitment to ensure that every human life may be protected in law and welcomed in love, and that abortion may be unthinkable.”

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WASHINGTON – Catholics across the country are encouraged to observe a nationwide prayer vigil from Thursday, January 22 to Friday, January 23, 2026, to pray for an end to abortion and a greater respect for all human life.

The National Prayer Vigil for Life is hosted each January by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and The Catholic University of America’s Office of Campus Ministry. The vigil has always taken place on the eve of the March for Life, which marks the date of the historic 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

The Opening Mass will take place in the Great Upper Church at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. at 5:00 PM on Thursday, January 22. The principal celebrant and homilist for the Opening Mass will be Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities. 

Following the Opening Mass, a 7:00 PM National Holy Hour for Life will take place in the Crypt Church (lower level) of the Basilica, which will include Recitation of the Rosary and Benediction. Bishop James T. Ruggieri of the Diocese of Portland, will be the presider for the holy hour. The vigil concludes at 8:00 AM on Friday, January 23 with the Closing Mass celebrated by Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, OFM, Cap., archbishop emeritus of Boston. The full event schedule and additional details may be found on the Basilica’s event page at https://www.nationalshrine.org/event/2026-national-prayer-vigil-for-life/. 

The live television broadcasts on January 22 for the 5:00 PM Opening Mass and the January 23 Closing Mass at 8:00 AM will be provided by the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN)
and will be available via live-stream on the Basilica’s website at www.nationalshrine.org/mass.  For more information about on-site attendance at the Basilica for the National Prayer Vigil for Life, please visit the information page on the Basilica’s website.

Overnight seminarian-led holy hours will also be taking place from January 22-23 from 9:00 PM – 8:00 AM. For more information about the overnight holy hours and the accompanying livestream, please visit the USCCB’s website. 

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Baptizing one's children is as essential as providing them with food and clothing, Pope Leo XIV told parents.

"Just as they received life from you, their parents, now they receive the meaning to live it: faith," he said, referring to the 20 infants about to receive the sacrament of baptism in the Sistine Chapel Jan. 11, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

"When we know that something is essential, we immediately seek it for those we love," he said in his brief homily. "Who among us, in fact, would leave newborns without clothes or food, waiting for them to choose how to dress, and what to eat when they grow up?"

"If food and clothing are necessary for life, faith is more than necessary, because with God, life finds salvation," he said in Italian. 

Pope Leo led the baptismal prayers and poured the water over the heads of the infants of Vatican employees. He assisted some parents by cupping his hand under an infant's head to provide support, and he tenderly offered his hand to babies whose arms flailed for something to grasp. He also gently wiped away some rivulets running down a few heads.

All of the gestures during the rite "are beautiful testimonies" of God's limitless love, he said. "The water of the font is the washing in the Spirit, which purifies us from all sin; the white garment is the new robe that God the Father gives us for the eternal feast of his Kingdom; the candle lit from the Paschal candle is the light of the risen Christ, which illuminates our path."

"May baptism, which unites us in the one family of the Church, sanctify all your families at all times, giving strength and constancy to the affection that unites you," he said. 

Afterward, Pope Leo again spoke about the importance and meaning of baptism before he led the recitation of the Angelus prayer with visitors gathered in St. Peter's Square.

By baptizing the newborns, he said, they "have become our new brothers and sisters in the faith. How beautiful it is to celebrate the love of God -- who calls us by name and frees us from evil -- as one family!"

Baptism "accompanies us forever," he said. "In moments of darkness, baptism is light; in life’s conflicts, it is reconciliation; at the hour of death, it is the gateway to heaven."