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The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has announced the 2025 Prayer Vigil for Life, which will take place in January. While the festivities will be hosted at the nation’s capital, this year the entire country is invited to join in via a livestream.
In the announcement, Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo issued the invitation to support the pro-life movement nationwide “in-person or virtually, in praying for an end to abortion and building up a culture of life.” The Prayer Vigil for Life is scheduled to take place over two days: Thursday, January 23, and Friday the 24th.
The annual event is hosted by the USCCB’s Pro-Life Secretariat and hosted at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Located at the Catholic University of America, the university’s Office of Campus Ministry also joins the effort to raise awareness of the need to end the practice of abortion.
Even though the Supreme Court overturned Dobbs v Jackson – and by extension Roe v Wade, a decision that made abortion federally legal – in 2022, the Prayer Vigil still takes place on the anniversary of the 1973 Roe decision. Just as the overturning of Roe has made abortion a state-level decision, now the pro-life movement has turned its efforts to ensure stronger policies to protect preborn children and their mothers, at the state-level.
“Together, we must pray to change hearts and build a culture of life as we advocate for the most vulnerable. I look forward to opening our Vigil with Holy Mass together with many other bishops, hundreds of priests, consecrated religious, seminarians, and many thousands of pilgrims,” said Bishop Thomas.
The Vigil will begin with an opening Mass in the Great Upper Church of the basilica, presided over by Bishop Thomas, at 5 p.m. Afterward, attendees will participate in a Eucharistic Procession, followed by a National Holy Hour for Life, including the praying of the Rosary and Benediction. Each of these events will be livestreamed from the basilica’s website, as well as broadcast on a variety of Catholic networks.
The vigil concludes with a Closing Mass at 8 a.m. on Friday, January 24, celebrated by Bishop Robert J. Brennan of Brooklyn.
