Marchers from the southern part of the diocese carry a banner from one of the parishes represented in their group, Mother of Perpetual Help in Maryville.

Over 316 people from the Springfield diocese participated in the March for Life Jan. 23 in Washington, D.C. Three buses and a minivan transported 171 people from Jerseyville, Maryville, Collinsville, Nokomis, Vandalia and Effingham. Father Daren Zehnle, parochial vicar at St. Anthony of Padua in Effingham, and seminarians Zach Edgar from Mother of Dolors in Vandalia and Brian Alford from Mother of Perpetual Help in Maryville traveled with the group organized by Becky Bauerle, youth minister at Mother of Dolors, Vandalia, and Mother of Perpetual Help, Maryville. Father Chris Comerford, pastor at St. Louis in Nokomis, joined them in Washington.

Another three buses transported 143 from Springfield, Jacksonville, Greenville, Farmersville, Kincaid, Raymond and Oconee. Father Dan Willenborg, parochial vicar at St. Mary in Taylorville, St. Rita in Kincaid and Holy Trinity in Stonington, traveled with the group, as did Deacon Ben Hoefler from St. Aloysius in Springfield and Deacon Dave Erdman from Blessed Sacrament in Springfield. Jonathan Sullivan, director of the diocesan Office for Catechesis, also traveled with the group, along with Kyle Holtgrave, associate director of Youth and Young Adult ministries in the Catechesis office, who organized the group.

Father Dave Hoefler, pastor of Blessed Sacrament in Springfield, met the group in Washington and celebrated Mass with them at St. Peter Church in downtown Washington the morning of the March. Concelebrating Mass were Father Comerford, Father Willenborg, Father Chris Uhl, OMV, parochial vicar at St. Mary in Alton, and a priest from New York.

Father Zehnle celebrated Mass for the other group at their hotel that morning, enabling them to secure a position closer to the beginning of the march.

"The day before, we arrived for the Vigil Mass at the Basilica early, so we had excellent seating down front," said Bauerle. She said Bishop Kevin Vann from the Diocese of Fort Worth, a priest from the Springfield diocese, came over and spoke to them at the Basilica.

For Bauerle, it was her 20th march. "There were 300,000 at the march, but there was no mention of that by the media."

When the group from the southern part of the diocese completed the march, they sent a small delegation to drop off postcards from parishioners to members of Congress, and then walked to Union Station to board their buses and leave for New York City.

"The next morning we were standing outside on the plaza as The Today Show was filming. People at home saw us on television, wearing our March for Life scarfs, and holding our pro-life posters," said Bauerle.

They visited St. Patrick Church, had lunch at Planet Hollywood, and took a three-hour bus tour of the city, which included stops at Ground Zero; St. Peter Church, the first and oldest church in New York; and the convent of Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton.

The group, all wearing matching red and white striped scarves, were stopped many times by people who asked who they were, said Bauerle. "We told them, ‘We're pro-life people. We were at the March for Life yesterday in Washington.' Their response, again and again, was to thank us for bringing young people with such a message to New York."

The other group from the diocese was near the end of the march in Washington. "The temperature was in the low 40s, there wasn't much of a wind, and the sun was out. This year was probably one of the more pleasant, temperature-wise, in the years I've been going," said Deacon Hoefler.

Their group left at 7 a.m. the next morning for New York, and drove straight to Ground Zero. They left New York at 3 p.m. Friday, and arrived back at the Catholic Pastoral Center at 10 a.m. the next morning. The group from the southern part of the diocese left New York Friday night, and arrived home on Saturday.

"When I think about it, the trip to Ground Zero gave us a whole other side of a life and death issue," said Deacon Hoefler. "In the audiotape, we heard about people's courage as they helped pull out survivors.

"In a very similar strain, we're out there speaking out for the life of unborn children. As we listened to those tapes, hearing from people who were actually involved in rescuing at Ground Zero, the kids came away from that really kind of sober, because of the impact that had on their lives."

 Even as their bus had pulled into New York, there had been a reality check. "We came through the Lincoln Tunnel, and were heading for Ground Zero, when our bus driver pointed out to us we were driving along the Hudson River. ‘Over there, a little way down, is where that plane went down a week ago,' he told us."