The Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ annual Catholic pro-life event, OneLife LA, will move indoors to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels due to the ongoing fire emergency.
As in past years, the Saturday, Jan. 18 event was set to begin at La Placita near downtown LA with a pre-program prayer service, followed by a walk to the nearby Los Angeles State Historic Park for an afternoon program with pro-life speakers and musical performances.
But organizers announced Tuesday that the event’s walking portion would be cancelled and the program held inside the cathedral “out of an abundance of caution for health concerns due to poor air quality” from the fires and to alleviate the need for city or law enforcement that usually assist during the outdoor event.
The event will begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 18 in the Cathedral’s plaza, where community partner organizations will set up tables. The speaker and performance program will begin at 2 p.m., followed by the regularly scheduled Requiem Mass for the Unborn inside the Cathedral at 5 p.m.
“It is our hope to build upon the spirit of OneLife LA as a movement of love and mercy in our city especially during these times that have been devastating for so many families in our communities,” said Michael P. Donaldson, Senior Director of the Office of Life, Justice & Peace of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
“We will be in a different space and things will look a little different but our commitment to building a culture of life and accompanying the most vulnerable remains and extends to our brothers and sisters who are suffering from the destruction of the wildfires.”
The updated program for OneLife’s 11th annual event will include remarks from survivors of the recent LA fires and “reflections on the impact of the emergency on groups at risk like those facing homelessness and in the foster care system.”
The line-up of speakers includes Noel Diaz, founder of the El Sembrador media apostolate, and Sister Maria Goretti, a member of the Sisters Poor of Jesus Christ ministering to the homeless in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles.
Started in 2015, OneLife LA draws thousands of Catholics and pro-lifers every year to “celebrate the beauty and dignity of human life from conception to natural death” by promoting a “culture of life.” Last year’s event drew nearly 7,000 people despite wet conditions during a record rainy winter in Southern California.
Like other pro-life rallies around the country, OneLife is held annually around the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which established a nationwide right to abortion. The Court overturned Roe in 2022 and returned the matter of abortion to individual states, leading to stronger pro-life laws in some parts of the U.S. and more pro-abortion policies in others.
“My hope is that despite the odds that have been placed before us, we will continue to stand together,” Donaldson told Angelus. “But we'll stand together in hope, really showing what it means to be the Body of Christ.”
