Record group to travel to Washington, D.C. to protest abortion—people at home can follow online

Bishop Cistone will board one of eight charter buses to lead a diocesan group to the annual protest marking the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision.

WHAT: Bishop Cistone leads Diocese of Saginaw group to March for Life in Washington, D.C.
The Office for Communications will be posting news, photos and videos daily on the diocesan Facebook page and Twitter account. Members of the community are encouraged to follow the events of the pilgrimage online.

WHEN: Saturday morning, January 22, 2011
More than 400 pilgrims, the largest group to date, will gather at the Center for Ministry, 5802 Weiss St., in Saginaw Township, beginning at 7:00 a.m. They will leave the Center on eight charter buses, following an 8:00 a.m. Mass celebrated by Bishop Cistone. Expected departure time is 9:00 a.m.

SAGINAW — More than 400 Catholics, teens and adults, 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 Cistone, is the largest to date and will leave from the Center for Ministry, 5802 Weiss St., in Saginaw Township on Saturday morning.

More than 60 students will join the diocesan pilgrimage from Sacred Heart Academy in Mt. Pleasant, around 50 students from All Saints Middle & High School in Bay City and nearly 20 students from Nouvel Catholic Central will be on board the eight buses. In all, more than 20 parish communities throughout the 11-county diocese will be represented among the group.

While in Washington, D.C., Bishop Cistone will celebrate Sunday Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception; it is the largest Roman Catholic church in the United States and North America. There already are more than 2,000 marchers from across the country expected to be at the 9:00 a.m. Mass.

On Monday, Bishop Cistone and the diocesan group will join hundreds of thousands of people of all faiths for the annual March for Life from the National Mall to the Supreme Court. While Diocese of Saginaw groups have participated throughout the years, 2011 is the fifth consecutive year the diocese has sent a convoy of charter buses to the event.

The Saginaw group will make its return trip from Washington, D.C. on Monday evening following the March; the group is expected to arrive back at the Center for Ministry at 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning.