Bishop Thomas John Paprocki will again lead the public in a prayer rally in front of the Illinois state Capitol on Tuesday, June 23 at noon. In the event of rain, the rally will be held in the Howlett Building auditorium.

Participants in the Prayer Rally for Fortnight for Freedom will assemble at the Lincoln statue on South Second Street and Capitol Avenue.

"May our gathering, solidarity and prayers be strengthened by the grace of the Holy Spirit to continue proclaiming the dignity of all human life from conception to natural death, the unique meaning of marriage and the importance of religious liberty for all," said Bishop Paprocki.

The rally, part of the annual Fortnight for Freedom observed throughout the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois from June 21-July 4, is sponsored by the Office for Social Concerns and Respect for Life.

The theme of this year's Fortnight is "Freedom to Bear Witness," a time when the church's liturgical calendar celebrates a series of great martyrs who remained faithful in the face of persecution by political power — St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher, St. John the Baptist, Ss. Peter and Paul, and the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome. The theme focuses on the "freedom to bear witness" to the truth of the Gospel and freedom to serve the poor and vulnerable with human dignity.

The pope spoke to the subject of human dignity in November 2014 when he said, "In the end, what kind of dignity is there without the possibility of freely expressing one's thought or professing one's religious faith? What dignity can there be without a clear juridical framework which limits the rule of force and enables the rule of law to prevail over the power of tyranny? What dignity can men and women ever enjoy if they are subjected to all types of discrimination?"

Bishop Paprocki created the idea of Fortnight for Freedom at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in November 2011 which resulted in the first Fortnight events taking place in dioceses nationwide beginning in 2012.