Britain’s March for Life will be held in London this year for the first time.
The march, which has been held in Birmingham for the last six years, started off with 100 people but last year attracted an estimated 3,000.
This year’s march, to be held on May 5, will involve speeches in Parliament Square as well as a festival in Westminster Central Hall including pro-life workshops, activities for children and an exhibition.
Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, co-director of March for Life UK, said the new location was a “sign that the pro-life movement is growing”.
“We were using every bit of space in Birmingham,” she said. “There wasn’t room to grow any bigger.”
She said organisers also wanted to follow the example of pro-life marches in other countries, which tend to be held in capital cities.
But the march will cost a lot more money in London, Ms Vaughan-Spruce said, simply because London prices for equipment and other services were higher. Security will also be strengthened, she said, with a private security firm operating alongside police. Previous years have been marred by protests from pro-abortion activists.
Ms Vaughan-Spruce said she believed there was a “renewal of the pro-life movement in this country”, especially among students, with pro-life groups springing up at universities across the country. She said that the Irish referendum, debate about “buffer zones” and proposed legislation decriminalising abortion had all served to increase interest in the issue.
Another organiser told the Catholic Herald that the move to central London would be “a huge step forward for pro-life activism in the UK”.
Bishop presides at ancient rite
Bishop Michael Campbell of Lancaster has presided at a rite of religious clothing in Florence.
Five women made vows as Sisters Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus Christ Sovereign Priest – a traditionalist community of nuns. The women were escorted to the altar by their fathers and wore wedding dresses which they later set aside for habits. The bishop said it was “deeply moving”.
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