Teens will pack 7 charter buses to protest abortion on Friday in Washington, D.C.

 As national debate continues over abortion funding in health care, Bishop will lead diocesan group to annual protest marking the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision

SAGINAW — Nearly 350 faithful Catholics, mostly teens, will travel with their bishop to attend the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. to protest the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. The group, led by Bishop Joseph R. Cistone, will leave from the Center for Ministry, 5802 Weiss St., in Saginaw Township on Thursday morning.

 “I am looking forward to our pilgrimage to Washington for the March for Life,” Bishop Joseph R. Cistone said. “When I first came to Saginaw on May 20 for my announcement as the new bishop, I spent some time talking with students at Bay City All Saints High School. One student told me of their practice of going in a group by bus to D.C. and asked if I would let them continue this year. I told them, ‘Yes, by all means!’ I was impressed by their enthusiasm and support for the unborn.”

 “I believe our young people have a clear appreciation for the evils of abortion and need to ‘stand up’ publicly for life. I expect this year’s trip to D.C. to be even more inspirational for me. I am sure it will be noisy in the bus, but I look forward to sharing these days of journey with our young men and women. It will be a great opportunity for us to get to know each other better in an informal setting. And, I hope we continue to do it each year together until that day of grace when our legislators and the Supreme Court commit themselves and the country to protect all innocent life from conception to natural death.”

More than 60 students will join the diocesan pilgrimage from All Saints middle and high schools in Bay City and around 80 students from Sacred Heart Academy in Mt. Pleasant will be on board the seven buses. In all, more than 20 parish communities throughout the 11-county diocese will be represented among the group.

Hundreds of thousands of people gather each year in Washington, D.C., for the March for Life from the National Mall to the Supreme Court. While Diocese of Saginaw groups have participated throughout the years, 2010 is the fourth consecutive year the diocese has sent a caravan of charter buses to the event. 

The Saginaw group will make its return trip from Washington, D.C. on Saturday evening following a Mass in the Crypt Chapel at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, celebrated by Bishop Cistone. They will be joined by groups and bishops from the Diocese of Grand Rapids and the Diocese of Rockford, Ill.