A truly pro-life celebration of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade would lead to cooperative efforts to pass legislation protecting life, women’s rights and motherhood, said an editorial in Vatican News and L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper.

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore temporarily closed June 24 on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion

Amid cries of defiance and jubilation, Father Tim Wezner stood out for his quiet prayer, holding a rosary and contemplating the crowd outside the Supreme Court of the United States June 24 after a majority of justices overturned a landmark decision that for almost 50 years made abortion legal across the land.

Two leaders of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops hailed the Supreme Court’s June 24 decision to overturn the court’s 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide and said it is time for “healing wounds and repairing social divisions” with those who take opposing views on abortion.

Leaders in the pro-life movement in Maryland welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 24 ruling striking down the Roe v. Wade decision that had made abortion legal for the last half century, but they cautioned there remains much work to build a culture of life.