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See our coverage in The Catholic Sun.

In 1973, the Supreme Court made a decision that’s led to the deaths of millions of unborn children. Roe v. Wade effectively made abortion on demand legal across the nation and pro-life advocates have been fighting to overturn the decision ever since.

This year, local pro-life advocates will gather at Tempe. The series of events kicks off tonight with the annual Mass for the Unborn, 7 p.m., at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, 2121 S. Rural Road, Tempe. Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted will celebrate the Mass.

The next day, on the Jan. 22 anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the faithful will gather for a prayer demonstration in front of Planned Parenthood, 5 p.m., 1250 E. Apache Blvd., Ste. 108, Tempe. A pro-life concert, rally and prayer vigil on ASU’s Hayden Lawn, 6:15 p.m., Jan. 22, Arizona State University, Tempe.

The events will end the following evening with a Catholic Youth and Young Adult Rally for Life, 6:30 p.m., Jan. 23, All Saints Catholic Newman Center, 230 E. University Dr., Tempe

These pro-life demonstrators will join their prayers to the thousands expected at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. They will also be celebrating an opening Mass on Jan. 21, the eve of the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Over 16,000 worshipers — many of them youth from schools around the nation — are expected to attend the opening Mass and all-night prayer Vigil and then join tens of thousands more the following day to participate in the national March for Life.

Chair of the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia, will be the principal celebrant and homilist at the Vigil Mass, concelebrated by his fellow cardinals and hundreds of the nation’s bishops and priests.

After the Opening Mass there will be confessions, a National Rosary for Life, Night Prayer according to the Byzantine Rite, and holy hours from midnight until 6 a.m. led by seminarians from across the country. The Basilica and The Catholic University of America will host up to 1,600 pilgrims overnight. On January 22, the morning of the March for Life, the National Shrine will also host Morning Prayer at 6:30 a.m. and a closing Mass of Penance and Prayer at 7:30 a.m. Bishop Paul Loverde of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, will be the principal celebrant and homilist.

The National Prayer Vigil for Life is co-sponsored by the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), The Catholic University of America, and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.