LOWER MANHATTAN — Lunchtime pedestrians and tourists took double-takes on March 25 as the normal bustle of the Financial District gave way to drums, bagpipes, and megaphones carrying slogans of the pro-life movement. 

The 10th annual International Gift of Life Walk in New York City stepped off from Foley Square and quickly moved onto Broadway. The street is also known as the “Canyon of Heroes” for its legacy of hosting ticker-tape parades celebrating heroic accomplishments, like sporting championships or military victories. 

Prominent in the procession were the drummers, pipers, and other musicians of the Holy Choir of Angels Band from St. Louis de Montfort Academy in Herndon, Pennsylvania. Other pro-life supporters followed the marching band whose members wore red berets or red sashes. 

Paul Victory, 17, played the trombone in the procession. He said it was important to march to advocate for life. 

“Murder is wrong,” Victory said. “Even someone who has just reached the age of reason can know that murder is a sin, even if it’s complicated.”

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St. Louis de Montfort Academy is operated by the Catholic advocacy group, Tradition, Family and Property. TFP Director John Horvat II told The Tablet that angry pro-abortion voices had opposed previous marches. 

At this event, the opposition was scant, with one scowling man silently standing at a street corner, his middle finger raised as marchers passed. Two other men at different spots also cursed the participants. 

The Gift of Life Walk is sponsored by Personhood Education of New York. Its president and founder, Dawn Eskew, noted the event is always held on March 25 to commemorate the International Day of the Unborn Child, as designated by St. Pope John Paul II. The day was also The Feast of the Annunciation. 

She said New York City is the venue because it is widely known as the “abortion capital of the world.” 

She praised the academy’s commitment to participating in the event, and credited other allies, including pro-life activist Bernadette Patel of Bay Ridge, and Auxiliary Bishop Peter Byrne of the Archdiocese of New York

Before stepping off, the prelate offered words of encouragement to marchers. 

“We need people who are pro-life to show up,” Eskew said. “We have a plan for next year to get more people here.”