All are welcome to gather for the 2022 Hands Around the Capitol on Saturday, January 15, from noon to 1 p.m. in Augusta. The annual gathering publicly recognizes and mourns the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, calls for an end to abortion, and promotes the protection of human life from conception to natural death.
This year, the event will be an outdoor gathering. At noon, participants can park and gather outside of St. Mary of the Assumption Church, located on 41 Western Avenue, where signs will be provided. The group will march to the State House where it will place roses and, at 12:45, ring the Capitol bell 49 times to mark the years since Roe v. Wade was enacted.
“Abortion is wrong. It’s killing a child,” said Jon Harvey, secretary of the Maine State Council of the Knights of Columbus. “We stand for what the Church believes in, and we gather to support the bishop and to follow our faith.”
The annual event is sponsored by Maine Right to Life (www.mainerighttolife.com), which was founded to protect and uphold the dignity and worth of each human life from conception to natural death, seeking to uphold the inviolable sanctity of human life by making abortion, infanticide, physician assisted suicide, and euthanasia socially, ethically, and legally unacceptable and to actively promote positive alternatives.
 “We gather in solemn memorial to be the voice of the innocent, vulnerable, and speechless who had no choice in the decision that ended their precious life,” said Karen Vachon, executive director of Maine Right to Life. “Every life is valuable.”
Bishop Robert Deeley and other clergy will attend Hands Around the Capitol, which culminates in the encircling of the State House while the Capitol bell is rung. 
“This is God’s work. We are called to work with the grace he gives us to bring about a change of hearts and minds in our culture,” said the bishop. “We continue our advocacy in the hope that we will find a way for all in our society to embrace an ethic that values all human life, from conception to natural death.”
Later in the week, Bishop Deeley will participate in the Opening Mass at the 2022 National Prayer Vigil for Life on Thursday, January 20, at 5:30 p.m. at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. The Mass will be available via livestream at www.nationalshrine.org/mass.