"Abortion Foes Target Clinic - Catholic Bishop marches with Lambs of Christ " - by Melanie Gleaves-Hirsch, Syracuse (New York) Herald-Journal, Fri., Dec. 8, 1995
The spiritual leader of Central New York's 373,000 Roman Catholics hitched the collar of his black, lined raincoat around his neck and donned an Irish tweed hat before making history this morning.
Many believe Bishop James M. Moynihan today was the first Catholic bishop in the diocese's 109-year history to lead a local anti-abortion march.
"Thank you for coming," Moynihan told the 200 to 250 marchers moments before a procession left the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception at 8:04 a.m. "As you know, this is a prayer march, so there won't be any speeches... and there won't be any harangues."
"It will simply be a march and prayers to our Blessed Mother on this feast of ours," Moynihan said, referring to the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a holy day in the Catholic Church celebrated every Dec. 8.
"Everything else, we place in God's hands," Moynihan said. "Because as you know, everything is much better in God's hands. Sometimes our actions, and quiet actions, speak much louder than words."
The anti-abortion marchers, taking part in what they called a "Rosary Procession," walked about a mile from the Cathedral on Columbus Circle to the Planned Parenthood Center of Syracuse, 1120 E. Genesee St.
Some marchers, like Josephine Juliano of Utica and Helen Griffith of Frankfort in Herkimer County, rose at 4 a.m. and boarded a bus to the procession and a 7 a.m. Mass that preceded it.
"It's a sin to kill babies. Children are a blessing, not a threat to us. If (people) don't want to have children, they shouldn't have them," Juliano said.
Linda Fentner of Skaneateles walked along East Genesee Street at a good clip shortly after 8 a.m. today.
"I'm here because of life, not death," said Fentner, a devout Roman Catholic. "I ask for prayer," she added, clutching a set of rosary beads. "Keep the little ones alive."
Moynihan's words in front of the cathedral set a peaceful tone. Marchers walked down East Genesee Street and stood before Planned Parenthood to recite the Rosary - a method of prayer - without arrests, sit-ins or blockades.
Moynihan recited all 15 decades - groups of 10 - of the rosary, which consists of the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary and other prayers. Moynihan was originally scheduled to recite five decades and leave the other ten decades to other speakers.
Moynihan walked from the cathedral to Planned Parenthood flanked by the Rev. Norman Weslin, founder of the national anti-abortion group Lambs of Christ. During the Mass at the cathedral this morning, Weslin urged followers to close the clinic through prayer.
Flanking Moynihan on his right was the Rev. Albert J. M. Shamon of Auburn, a seminary classmate of the bishop's who once worked with Moynihan in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester.
Moynihan declined to discuss his role in today's march but talked briefly about theology. "All we try to do is preach the good word," Moynihan said as he walked.
Colleagues and some Central New York Catholics praised the bishop for his public stance against abortion.
"The Holy Father (Pope John Paul II) told us to get out on the streets," Shamon said. "The bishop is echoing the Holy Father."
"It is God who will stop the killing, you and I cannot...Let's give God a big hand," Weslin said after Mass today. "Be strong. Be like the Pope. Don't give into the pressures of a secular society."
As the abortion opponents gathered in front of Planned Parenthood, about 40 local clergy who support abortion rights gathered nearby, on the steps of University United Methodist Church.
"We think that standing here today is being pro-life," said the Rev. Judy Hjorth, associate conference minister of the New York Conference of the United Church of Christ.
Planned Parenthood officials received other offers of support on Thursday. A group called the Women of Reform Judaism from the Syracuse-based Temple Society of Concord will prepare and serve lunch to employees of Planned Parenthod today to show their support of the staff.
Also, former Democratic state assemblyman Melvin Zimmer, who converted from Catholicism to the Lutheran faith, walked into Planned Parenthood offices on Thursday to offer his support. In a telephone interview late Thursday, Zimmer said he will join clergy and other abortion rights supporters in front of University United Methodist Church.
Zimmer said he visited Planned Parenthood's offices after reading newspaper accounts of Moynihan's acceptance of an invitation to walk in the mile-long procession.
"I just want to say, Bishop Moynihan is right out front (expressing his views) and I'll be out front, too," Zimmer said.
"I always loved my church," Zimmer said. He bacame a Lutheran, he said, because he did not agree with the Church's stance on abortion and its refusal to ordain women to the priesthood.
On Thursday, both sides of the divisive abortion debate had one thing in common: They were gearing up for this morning's event.
Weslin was featured for a second straight day on Catholic Radio, a locally produced religious show. Catholic radio officials called Thursday's program "an expose½ of Planned Parenthood."
Weslin has been arrested frequently at women's health clinics and earned the prison nickname of "Father Baby Doe."
Anti-abortion activists said their movement is gaining momentum because Americans are increasingly more troubled by abortions, particularly late-term abortions. "We cannot let baby killing go unchecked," said Vickie Kraeger of Port Leyden in Lewis County, a close friend and neighbor of Weslin.
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"Bishop opposes abortion, disavows breaking law" - from the Syracuse Herald American, Sun., Dec 10, 1995, by Dan McGuire
Bishop James Moynihan told about 450 people Saturday they have to "speak up and speak out" against abortion.
The leader of 373,000 Roman Catholics in Central New York spoke at a Christmas prayer breakfast sponsored by Friends for Life.
In an interview afterward, Moynihan said that while he urges activism, he does not condone civil disobedience.
"I don't believe in disobeying the law. I must maintain credibility with my people," he said. "How can I maintain credibility if I ask them to disobey the law?"
On Friday, Moynihan and a priest with a different point of view toward civil disobedience joined to head a march to a Syracuse abortion clinic.
Rev. Norman Weslin is the founder of the Lambs of Christ. The group's tactic is civil disobedience, such as blocking clinics and getting arrested. Friday's march to Planned Parenthood, 1120 E. Genesee St., was peaceful, and Weslin urged his followers to close the clinic through prayer.
The 12th annual Friends for Life Christmas breakfast packed Barbagallo's Restaurant in DeWitt with nearly twice the usual attendance. The volunteer group campaigns against abortion and advocates sexual abstinence to avoid unwanted pregnancies.
Co-President Thomas Scibetta said attendance was heavy because of interest in Moynihan, installed as bishop in May.
"We're always trying to ask ourselves how Jesus would do it if He were leading the procession," Moynihan told the audience. "You always do it chariatbly, with great patience."
He said that's more effective.
"We don't want to offend," he told the group. "What we want to do is persuade...Our intuition tells us how to do it. We don't need to be rocket scientists to know how to behave."
He likened the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court's decision that created a woman's right to an abortion to the court's decision more than a century earlier that declared slaves were property.
"That decision must be reversed," he said of abortion. "Not by war. Not by violence. But by the rising up of humanity's conscience."
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