It is billed as the biggest pro-life event in the world, and justifiably so.
Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 legalizing abortion in the United States, crowds usually in the hundreds of thousands have been marking the Jan. 22 anniversary by flocking to Washington, D.C., to rally in support of life and march to the Supreme Court building.
They will do this until the decision is reversed or hell freezes over, whichever comes first.
Whatever the condition of the nether regions this year, the Eastern United States were certainly snowed under and frozen over. Did it put a dent in the crowd? Well yes, but not by much.
Looking at the crowd it seemed clear that the largest segment was from the Washington, Virginia and Maryland area and the second largest group included people who came a great distance and were already on the road when the magnitude of the storm became known.
It was areas like Philadelphia, already in the storm zone the day before, where for safety concerns there were massive cancellations. That doesn’t mean the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was totally unrepresented.
For example, there were two buses from St. Andrew Parish in Newtown, Bucks County.
“We worried about it and we prayed about it,” said Peggy Bradbury, the organizer for the parish.
The group, which included about 59 people on two buses from St. Andrew and surrounding parishes, left Newtown about 6:45 a.m. and arrived at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception at about 9:45 a.m., which was in time for two priests on the buses, Fathers Ken Brabazon and David Friel, to concelebrate at the 10 a.m. Mass.
Continue reading at http://catholicphilly.com
Lou Baldwin is a freelance writer in Philadelphia.
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