{"id":16025,"date":"2016-09-17T22:42:00","date_gmt":"2016-09-17T22:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/march-for-life-in-berlin-draws-thousands-24281\/"},"modified":"2016-09-17T22:42:00","modified_gmt":"2016-09-17T22:42:00","slug":"march-for-life-in-berlin-draws-thousands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/march-for-life-in-berlin-draws-thousands\/","title":{"rendered":"March for life in Berlin draws thousands"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/EWTN_Rudolf_Gehrig_CNA.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Berlin, Germany, Sep 17, 2016 \/ 04:42 pm (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- More than 7,500 people took part in the annual March for Life in Berlin on Saturday, under the motto: \u201cNo Child is Unsuitable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The peaceful gathering was organized by the Federal Association for the Right to Life. Participants brandished placards supporting the right to life from conception to natural death.<\/p>\n<p>Five bishops took part in the event: Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg, who also celebrated the closing ecumenical Church service, Berlin's Archbishop Heiner Koch, and Auxiliary Bishops Matthias Heinrich of Berlin, Dominikus Schwaderlapp of Cologne, and Florian W\u00f6rner of Augsburg.<\/p>\n<p>Archbishop Koch called on the demonstrators to strive to ensure \u201cthat every human being can develop well, from their first moment in the womb to their final breath.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Right to Life-Association president Martin Lohmann, reflecting on the slight increase in participants and stronger presence of bishops from last year to this year, told media representatives: \u201cOur movement for life is growing \u2013 and that is a good thing!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Several Protestant groups participated in or supported the event. However, the official Lutheran association of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia did not participate in the march, instead issuing a statement distancing itself from the event, and essentially declaring that it supported the \u201cright of women to choose\u201d \u2013 and while \u201crecognizing the importance of advocating unborn life,\u201d its positions were \u201cnot commensurate\u201d with those of the March for Life. \u00a0<br>\n\u00a0<br>\n<strong>Counter-demonstration draws fewer participants<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>According to Berlin police, about 1,500 people came to a counter-demonstration organized by the Alliance for Sexual Self-Determination. Police had to stop counter-demonstrators from blocking the peaceful pro-life marchers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The pro-abortion alliance is supported by several German politicians and parties, including the Greens, the Left Party and several politicians of the SPD, among them Berlin's Governing Mayor, Michael M\u00fcller.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On its website, pro-abortion and gender-ideological demands are found alongside accusations that participants of the March for Life are \u201cChristian fundamentalists\u201d with \u201ca reactionary worldview,\u201d amongst other things.<\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?a=NohgyEiazSg:MmzDfamWCQA:yIl2AUoC8zA\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews\/~4\/NohgyEiazSg\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/EWTN_Rudolf_Gehrig_CNA.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Berlin, Germany, Sep 17, 2016 \/ 04:42 pm (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\" target=\"_self\">CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- More than 7,500 people took part in the annual March for Life in Berlin on Saturday, under the motto: &ldquo;No Child is Unsuitable.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The peaceful gathering was organized by the Federal Association for the Right to Life. Participants brandished placards supporting the right to life from conception to natural death.<\/p>\n<p>Five bishops took part in the event: Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg, who also celebrated the closing ecumenical Church service, Berlin&#8217;s Archbishop Heiner Koch, and Auxiliary Bishops Matthias Heinrich of Berlin, Dominikus Schwaderlapp of Cologne, and Florian W&ouml;rner of Augsburg.<\/p>\n<p>Archbishop Koch called on the demonstrators to strive to ensure &ldquo;that every human being can develop well, from their first moment in the womb to their final breath.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Right to Life-Association president Martin Lohmann, reflecting on the slight increase in participants and stronger presence of bishops from last year to this year, told media representatives: &ldquo;Our movement for life is growing &ndash; and that is a good thing!&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Several Protestant groups participated in or supported the event. However, the official Lutheran association of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia did not participate in the march, instead issuing a statement distancing itself from the event, and essentially declaring that it supported the &ldquo;right of women to choose&rdquo; &ndash; and while &ldquo;recognizing the importance of advocating unborn life,&rdquo; its positions were &ldquo;not commensurate&rdquo; with those of the March for Life. &nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/><strong>Counter-demonstration draws fewer participants<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>According to Berlin police, about 1,500 people came to a counter-demonstration organized by the Alliance for Sexual Self-Determination. Police had to stop counter-demonstrators from blocking the peaceful pro-life marchers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The pro-abortion alliance is supported by several German politicians and parties, including the Greens, the Left Party and several politicians of the SPD, among them Berlin&#8217;s Governing Mayor, Michael M&uuml;ller.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>On its website, pro-abortion and gender-ideological demands are found alongside accusations that participants of the March for Life are &ldquo;Christian fundamentalists&rdquo; with &ldquo;a reactionary worldview,&rdquo; amongst other things.<\/p>\n<div>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?a=NohgyEiazSg:MmzDfamWCQA:yIl2AUoC8zA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews\/~4\/NohgyEiazSg\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-europe"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>March for life in Berlin draws thousands<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Berlin, Germany, Sep 17, 2016 \/ 04:42 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- More than 7,500 people took part in the annual March for Life in Berlin on Saturday, under the motto: &ldquo;No Child is Unsuitable.&rdquo; The peaceful gathering was organized by the Federal Association for the Right to Life. Participants brandished placards supporting the right to life from conception to natural death. Five bishops took part in the event: Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg, who also celebrated the closing ecumenical Church service, Berlin&#039;s Archbishop Heiner Koch, and Auxiliary Bishops Matthias Heinrich of Berlin, Dominikus Schwaderlapp of Cologne, and Florian W&ouml;rner of Augsburg. Archbishop Koch called on the demonstrators to strive to ensure &ldquo;that every human being can develop well, from their first moment in the womb to their final breath.&rdquo; Right to Life-Association president Martin Lohmann, reflecting on the slight increase in participants and stronger presence of bishops from last year to this year, told media representatives: &ldquo;Our movement for life is growing &ndash; and that is a good thing!&rdquo; Several Protestant groups participated in or supported the event. However, the official Lutheran association of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia did not participate in the march, instead issuing a statement distancing itself from the event, and essentially declaring that it supported the &ldquo;right of women to choose&rdquo; &ndash; and while &ldquo;recognizing the importance of advocating unborn life,&rdquo; its positions were &ldquo;not commensurate&rdquo; with those of the March for Life. &nbsp; &nbsp;Counter-demonstration draws fewer participants According to Berlin police, about 1,500 people came to a counter-demonstration organized by the Alliance for Sexual Self-Determination. Police had to stop counter-demonstrators from blocking the peaceful pro-life marchers.&nbsp; The pro-abortion alliance is supported by several German politicians and parties, including the Greens, the Left Party and several politicians of the SPD, among them Berlin&#039;s Governing Mayor, Michael M&uuml;ller.&nbsp; On its website, pro-abortion and gender-ideological demands are found alongside accusations that participants of the March for Life are &ldquo;Christian fundamentalists&rdquo; with &ldquo;a reactionary worldview,&rdquo; amongst other things.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/march-for-life-in-berlin-draws-thousands\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"March for life in Berlin draws thousands\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Berlin, Germany, Sep 17, 2016 \/ 04:42 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- More than 7,500 people took part in the annual March for Life in Berlin on Saturday, under the motto: &ldquo;No Child is Unsuitable.&rdquo; The peaceful gathering was organized by the Federal Association for the Right to Life. Participants brandished placards supporting the right to life from conception to natural death. Five bishops took part in the event: Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg, who also celebrated the closing ecumenical Church service, Berlin&#039;s Archbishop Heiner Koch, and Auxiliary Bishops Matthias Heinrich of Berlin, Dominikus Schwaderlapp of Cologne, and Florian W&ouml;rner of Augsburg. Archbishop Koch called on the demonstrators to strive to ensure &ldquo;that every human being can develop well, from their first moment in the womb to their final breath.&rdquo; Right to Life-Association president Martin Lohmann, reflecting on the slight increase in participants and stronger presence of bishops from last year to this year, told media representatives: &ldquo;Our movement for life is growing &ndash; and that is a good thing!&rdquo; Several Protestant groups participated in or supported the event. However, the official Lutheran association of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia did not participate in the march, instead issuing a statement distancing itself from the event, and essentially declaring that it supported the &ldquo;right of women to choose&rdquo; &ndash; and while &ldquo;recognizing the importance of advocating unborn life,&rdquo; its positions were &ldquo;not commensurate&rdquo; with those of the March for Life. &nbsp; &nbsp;Counter-demonstration draws fewer participants According to Berlin police, about 1,500 people came to a counter-demonstration organized by the Alliance for Sexual Self-Determination. Police had to stop counter-demonstrators from blocking the peaceful pro-life marchers.&nbsp; The pro-abortion alliance is supported by several German politicians and parties, including the Greens, the Left Party and several politicians of the SPD, among them Berlin&#039;s Governing Mayor, Michael M&uuml;ller.&nbsp; On its website, pro-abortion and gender-ideological demands are found alongside accusations that participants of the March for Life are &ldquo;Christian fundamentalists&rdquo; with &ldquo;a reactionary worldview,&rdquo; amongst other things.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/march-for-life-in-berlin-draws-thousands\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-17T22:42:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/EWTN_Rudolf_Gehrig_CNA.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/march-for-life-in-berlin-draws-thousands\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/march-for-life-in-berlin-draws-thousands\/\",\"name\":\"March for life in Berlin draws thousands\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-17T22:42:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-17T22:42:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Berlin, Germany, Sep 17, 2016 \/ 04:42 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- More than 7,500 people took part in the annual March for Life in Berlin on Saturday, under the motto: &ldquo;No Child is Unsuitable.&rdquo; The peaceful gathering was organized by the Federal Association for the Right to Life. Participants brandished placards supporting the right to life from conception to natural death. Five bishops took part in the event: Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg, who also celebrated the closing ecumenical Church service, Berlin's Archbishop Heiner Koch, and Auxiliary Bishops Matthias Heinrich of Berlin, Dominikus Schwaderlapp of Cologne, and Florian W&ouml;rner of Augsburg. Archbishop Koch called on the demonstrators to strive to ensure &ldquo;that every human being can develop well, from their first moment in the womb to their final breath.&rdquo; Right to Life-Association president Martin Lohmann, reflecting on the slight increase in participants and stronger presence of bishops from last year to this year, told media representatives: &ldquo;Our movement for life is growing &ndash; and that is a good thing!&rdquo; Several Protestant groups participated in or supported the event. However, the official Lutheran association of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia did not participate in the march, instead issuing a statement distancing itself from the event, and essentially declaring that it supported the &ldquo;right of women to choose&rdquo; &ndash; and while &ldquo;recognizing the importance of advocating unborn life,&rdquo; its positions were &ldquo;not commensurate&rdquo; with those of the March for Life. &nbsp; &nbsp;Counter-demonstration draws fewer participants According to Berlin police, about 1,500 people came to a counter-demonstration organized by the Alliance for Sexual Self-Determination. Police had to stop counter-demonstrators from blocking the peaceful pro-life marchers.&nbsp; The pro-abortion alliance is supported by several German politicians and parties, including the Greens, the Left Party and several politicians of the SPD, among them Berlin's Governing Mayor, Michael M&uuml;ller.&nbsp; On its website, pro-abortion and gender-ideological demands are found alongside accusations that participants of the March for Life are &ldquo;Christian fundamentalists&rdquo; with &ldquo;a reactionary worldview,&rdquo; amongst other things.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/march-for-life-in-berlin-draws-thousands\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/march-for-life-in-berlin-draws-thousands\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/march-for-life-in-berlin-draws-thousands\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"March for life in Berlin draws thousands\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\",\"name\":\"CNA Daily News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CNA Daily News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"March for life in Berlin draws thousands","description":"Berlin, Germany, Sep 17, 2016 \/ 04:42 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- More than 7,500 people took part in the annual March for Life in Berlin on Saturday, under the motto: &ldquo;No Child is Unsuitable.&rdquo; The peaceful gathering was organized by the Federal Association for the Right to Life. Participants brandished placards supporting the right to life from conception to natural death. Five bishops took part in the event: Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg, who also celebrated the closing ecumenical Church service, Berlin's Archbishop Heiner Koch, and Auxiliary Bishops Matthias Heinrich of Berlin, Dominikus Schwaderlapp of Cologne, and Florian W&ouml;rner of Augsburg. Archbishop Koch called on the demonstrators to strive to ensure &ldquo;that every human being can develop well, from their first moment in the womb to their final breath.&rdquo; Right to Life-Association president Martin Lohmann, reflecting on the slight increase in participants and stronger presence of bishops from last year to this year, told media representatives: &ldquo;Our movement for life is growing &ndash; and that is a good thing!&rdquo; Several Protestant groups participated in or supported the event. However, the official Lutheran association of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia did not participate in the march, instead issuing a statement distancing itself from the event, and essentially declaring that it supported the &ldquo;right of women to choose&rdquo; &ndash; and while &ldquo;recognizing the importance of advocating unborn life,&rdquo; its positions were &ldquo;not commensurate&rdquo; with those of the March for Life. &nbsp; &nbsp;Counter-demonstration draws fewer participants According to Berlin police, about 1,500 people came to a counter-demonstration organized by the Alliance for Sexual Self-Determination. Police had to stop counter-demonstrators from blocking the peaceful pro-life marchers.&nbsp; The pro-abortion alliance is supported by several German politicians and parties, including the Greens, the Left Party and several politicians of the SPD, among them Berlin's Governing Mayor, Michael M&uuml;ller.&nbsp; On its website, pro-abortion and gender-ideological demands are found alongside accusations that participants of the March for Life are &ldquo;Christian fundamentalists&rdquo; with &ldquo;a reactionary worldview,&rdquo; amongst other things.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/march-for-life-in-berlin-draws-thousands\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"March for life in Berlin draws thousands","og_description":"Berlin, Germany, Sep 17, 2016 \/ 04:42 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- More than 7,500 people took part in the annual March for Life in Berlin on Saturday, under the motto: &ldquo;No Child is Unsuitable.&rdquo; The peaceful gathering was organized by the Federal Association for the Right to Life. Participants brandished placards supporting the right to life from conception to natural death. Five bishops took part in the event: Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg, who also celebrated the closing ecumenical Church service, Berlin's Archbishop Heiner Koch, and Auxiliary Bishops Matthias Heinrich of Berlin, Dominikus Schwaderlapp of Cologne, and Florian W&ouml;rner of Augsburg. Archbishop Koch called on the demonstrators to strive to ensure &ldquo;that every human being can develop well, from their first moment in the womb to their final breath.&rdquo; Right to Life-Association president Martin Lohmann, reflecting on the slight increase in participants and stronger presence of bishops from last year to this year, told media representatives: &ldquo;Our movement for life is growing &ndash; and that is a good thing!&rdquo; Several Protestant groups participated in or supported the event. However, the official Lutheran association of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia did not participate in the march, instead issuing a statement distancing itself from the event, and essentially declaring that it supported the &ldquo;right of women to choose&rdquo; &ndash; and while &ldquo;recognizing the importance of advocating unborn life,&rdquo; its positions were &ldquo;not commensurate&rdquo; with those of the March for Life. &nbsp; &nbsp;Counter-demonstration draws fewer participants According to Berlin police, about 1,500 people came to a counter-demonstration organized by the Alliance for Sexual Self-Determination. Police had to stop counter-demonstrators from blocking the peaceful pro-life marchers.&nbsp; The pro-abortion alliance is supported by several German politicians and parties, including the Greens, the Left Party and several politicians of the SPD, among them Berlin's Governing Mayor, Michael M&uuml;ller.&nbsp; On its website, pro-abortion and gender-ideological demands are found alongside accusations that participants of the March for Life are &ldquo;Christian fundamentalists&rdquo; with &ldquo;a reactionary worldview,&rdquo; amongst other things.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/march-for-life-in-berlin-draws-thousands\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2016-09-17T22:42:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/EWTN_Rudolf_Gehrig_CNA.jpg"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/march-for-life-in-berlin-draws-thousands\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/march-for-life-in-berlin-draws-thousands\/","name":"March for life in Berlin draws thousands","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-09-17T22:42:00+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-17T22:42:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Berlin, Germany, Sep 17, 2016 \/ 04:42 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- More than 7,500 people took part in the annual March for Life in Berlin on Saturday, under the motto: &ldquo;No Child is Unsuitable.&rdquo; The peaceful gathering was organized by the Federal Association for the Right to Life. Participants brandished placards supporting the right to life from conception to natural death. Five bishops took part in the event: Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg, who also celebrated the closing ecumenical Church service, Berlin's Archbishop Heiner Koch, and Auxiliary Bishops Matthias Heinrich of Berlin, Dominikus Schwaderlapp of Cologne, and Florian W&ouml;rner of Augsburg. Archbishop Koch called on the demonstrators to strive to ensure &ldquo;that every human being can develop well, from their first moment in the womb to their final breath.&rdquo; Right to Life-Association president Martin Lohmann, reflecting on the slight increase in participants and stronger presence of bishops from last year to this year, told media representatives: &ldquo;Our movement for life is growing &ndash; and that is a good thing!&rdquo; Several Protestant groups participated in or supported the event. However, the official Lutheran association of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia did not participate in the march, instead issuing a statement distancing itself from the event, and essentially declaring that it supported the &ldquo;right of women to choose&rdquo; &ndash; and while &ldquo;recognizing the importance of advocating unborn life,&rdquo; its positions were &ldquo;not commensurate&rdquo; with those of the March for Life. &nbsp; &nbsp;Counter-demonstration draws fewer participants According to Berlin police, about 1,500 people came to a counter-demonstration organized by the Alliance for Sexual Self-Determination. Police had to stop counter-demonstrators from blocking the peaceful pro-life marchers.&nbsp; The pro-abortion alliance is supported by several German politicians and parties, including the Greens, the Left Party and several politicians of the SPD, among them Berlin's Governing Mayor, Michael M&uuml;ller.&nbsp; On its website, pro-abortion and gender-ideological demands are found alongside accusations that participants of the March for Life are &ldquo;Christian fundamentalists&rdquo; with &ldquo;a reactionary worldview,&rdquo; amongst other things.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/march-for-life-in-berlin-draws-thousands\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/march-for-life-in-berlin-draws-thousands\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/09\/march-for-life-in-berlin-draws-thousands\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"March for life in Berlin draws thousands"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16025\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}