From left, Ben and Jen Eirikson of St. Michael in Pine Island carry a banner as they walk from the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul following the Prayer Service for Life to the State Capitol for the March for Life Jan. 22. Ben is the grand knight of the parish Knights of Columbus Council 16016 (St. Padre Pio Council). The pastor of the parish, Father Randal Kasel, led prayer during the walk from the Cathedral to the Capitol. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Addressing more than 2,000 people at the annual Prayer Service for Life in the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said Jan. 22 the nation could be on the brink of a “post-Roe world” in the battle against abortion.

The moment requires prayerful discernment of God’s will to build a culture of life, and for a deep respect for all life, born and unborn, the archbishop said in his homily.

As the nation awaits a U.S. Supreme Court ruling (expected in July) on Mississippi’s law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy — versus the current 24 weeks established in 1973 by Roe v. Wade and subsequent court rulings — people can continue to work through charity and justice to help women and families struggling with crisis pregnancies, the archbishop said.

Such assistance is available and must continue to be offered through nonjudgmental networks of community crisis pregnancy centers, child care, pregnancy and parenting classes, shelter and housing assistance, the archbishop told a full Cathedral.

Quoting from a Jan. 22 opinion piece in USA Today by Ashley McGuire, a senior fellow with The Catholic Association, the archbishop said the Jan. 21 March for Life in Washington was different than the 48 that preceded it. This year’s march was held “on the brink of a post-Roe world” that calls for pro-life advocates to act with “calm and steadfast seriousness,” he quoted from McGuire.

While pro-life advocates pray for a good outcome in the high court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the archbishop said, people should also listen for “marching orders from the Lord, for promoting a culture of life on what could be a changed landscape as the battle shifts from Washington to each of our states,” including Minnesota.

Families, high school students and others at the prayer service, many of whom continued to the annual March for Life at the nearby State Capitol despite temperatures in the teens and wind chills below zero, noted the gravity of the moment.

“We’re optimistic that almost 50 years of this unjust decision might be overturned,” said Stephen Maas, 44, at the prayer service with his wife, Jennifer, and their five children, ages 6 to 15.

“I think there is a lot of anticipation,” Maas said. “It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. The overturning of Roe v. Wade will be just the first leg.”

“I think there’s hope,” said Sarah Clyde, 16, a sophomore at St. Agnes School in St. Paul and member of the school’s Pro-Life Club, about the pending Supreme Court case. Meanwhile, Clyde was ready to march with about a dozen other members of the club, to show “that there are still young people proclaiming for life. We are the pro-life generation.”

Clyde joined a line of people marching from the Cathedral to the Capitol to hear speakers including Republican State Sen. Julia Coleman of Chanhassen and Republican Rep. Michelle Fischbach of Paynesville.

Signs carried from the prayer service — which was sponsored by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office of Marriage, Family and Life — to the march sponsored by Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, proclaimed Clyde’s “Pro-life Generation” and more, including, “Abortion is nothing to celebrate,” “Protect Life” and “Follow the Science, Life Begins at Conception.”

Sarah DeCock, 33, a member of St. Mark in St. Paul, said she was happy to be there, helping people “recognize the sacredness of human life, and be able to witness that there are people who want to uphold that in family and society.”