The pilgrimage was in honor of "respect life" month. The whole thing was led by Bishop James Moynihan, and the group consisted of older people, students from two Catholic high schools, and even some smaller children in strollers.
They walked about a mile in the snow.
Bishop Moynihan gave a small speech after the rosary finished. He said he has been leading this group for 13 years, and although this year they had walked in the snow, he had walked in colder weather. Moynihan also said in his speech that it is important to get the anti-abortion sentiment out there, and that by coming out and praying today, the effect is positive.
"As a result of our prayer and testimony, others come to believe"
However, even though the group does walk to Planned Parenthood every year, they never march this close to election day. So the question of whether or not the timing of this march was politically motivated, was a question left hanging in the air.
Betty DeFazio of Planned Parenthood in Syracuse gave us this statistic,
"...according to polling, 79% of Catholics in the United States believe that Catholics can make up their own mind on moral issues like abortion and birth control."
So, although people participating in the march claimed there was no motivation, there perhaps could have been some underlying factors.
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