“I stand with some of the nearly 300 young people who went from our city’s neighborhoods most beset by violence to claim their right to life — to join with hundreds of thousands of others to call for an end to meaningless rhetoric, to say no to incrementalism and yes to solidarity and to make a pact to continue in one, persistent, diverse yet unified voice calling for justice,” Cardinal Cupich told a gathering of more than 1,500 at the end of a Good Friday Via Crucis in the city’s Brighton Park neighborhood on March 30.

Catholic students who attended the national “March for Our Lives” the previous weekend in Washington, D.C., stood with the cardinal and some spoke out for an end to gun violence.

“These young people who come from places some might call the margins have claimed a place at the center of our nation and have given all of us a lesson in courage. They came from the war zones of our city and spoke the truth — that their lives are sacred — and held those in power accountable for the bloodshed they know all too well,” Cardinal Cupich said. 

“Brothers, the way of the cross did not end 2,000 years ago. It continues in this neighborhood, but I am here to remind you that death does not have the last word. Here too there will be resurrection!”

A video of the walk and Cardinal Cupich’s remarks can be viewed at bit.ly/2GMS2Zu.