Thousands join March for Life in Berlin

CNA Newsroom, Sep 20, 2022 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Around 4,000 participants took part in the March for Life in the German capital on Saturday in support of the right to life for all people from conception to natural death.

“Like every year, the event was peaceful and joyful on the part of the participants,” the organizer, the Federal Association for the Right to Life, said, according to a report by CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.

Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg told EWTN.TV’s Anna Diouf that he took part every year simply to raise his voice for the right of the unborn.

“This is not simply a matter for those among us who are Christians,” the Bavarian bishop said on Sept. 17. He described the right to life as a constitutional right and a good that is worth defending by everyone, not only Catholics.

An ecumenical celebration followed the march through central Berlin. The service was led by the Vicar Bishop of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Germany, Emmanuel Sfiatkos, and Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Maria Renz from the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart.

Musical performances at the Brandenburg Gate and numerous speeches were part of the program. Parliamentarian Hubert Hüppe of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) referred to many different threats to people before and after birth, including selective forms of prenatal diagnostics and the legalization of assisted suicide.

“The right to life is the most important fundamental right,” the politician said. “If you don’t have that, you are left with nothing.”

Midwife Sarah Göbel stressed that most women under pressure and considering an abortion would like to have their child in a self-determined way, but are put under massive strain. Women need sensitive accompaniment “so that they can develop their great potential,” Göbel said.

The next “March for Life” in Berlin will take place on Sept. 23, 2023.