To commemorate the 1973 landmark abortion decision of Roe v. Wade, the archdiocesan Pro-Life Office will sponsor the annual Mass for the Unborn Jan. 23 at 10 a.m. at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

In addition, a number of other events are planned to mark the historic date and provide an opportunity for Catholics to mourn the unborn babies, their mothers, their fathers, and all who have been hurt by abortion and to show support for the church’s pro-life position in a public manner.

Bishop-emeritus William George Curlin of the Diocese of Charlotte, N.C., will celebrate the Mass for the Unborn, which is followed by the Together for Life Memorial Service and Silent Walk at the Georgia State Capitol. Boxed lunches will be available after the Mass.

Bishop Curlin will join former U.S. Sen. Zell Miller as a featured speaker at the memorial service, which will begin at noon at the steps of the Capitol. Immediately following the service, all are invited to join a police-escorted silent memorial walk through the streets of downtown Atlanta.

“Rise Up for Life Georgia,” 24 hours of prayer and action for young people, will be held at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta, beginning Sunday evening, Jan. 22, and continuing through the night. Mass will be celebrated at 7 p.m., and guest speakers Gianna Jessen, a singer and pro-life activist who gives her testimony with humor and in song, and Georgia State Sen. Mitch Seabaugh, a pro-life leader in the Georgia State Senate, will speak from 8-10 p.m. The program will be followed by a lock-in for seventh- through 12th-grade students, who will meet with their legislators on Monday, Jan. 23, and then participate in the Together for Life Memorial Service and Silent Walk.

At 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 20, Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory will celebrate a memorial Mass with Father Tad Pacholczyk of the National Catholic Bioethics Center at the Cathedral of Christ the King.

Following the Mass, Father Pacholczyk will be the guest speaker at the Cathedral Life Issues Series, speaking on “Embryonic Stem Cells and Cloning: Scientific Issues and Moral Objections.”

Father Pacholczyk, director of education and a neuroscientist and staff ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, is a nationally known expert who presents church teaching on complex bioethical issues in a way that can be understood by all.

On Jan. 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in America with their Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton rulings. Since then 46,000,000 unborn children in this country have been killed by abortion.