By Elizabeth O’Brien
OTTAWA, August 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After covering approximately 4,500 kilometers to encourage pro-life awareness and pray for an end to abortion, Canada’s Crossroads Walkers are just over a week away from the long-awaited goal of Parliament Hill.
Ever since they started in Vancouver this May, the first Canadian group to perform the Crossroads walk has been taking turns day and night, burning up a set number of kilometers during each shift, in order to reach the capital by August 11. They have crossed the Rocky Mountains, traversed the prairies and made their way through the wilderness of Northern Ontario. Now they are only days away from Parliament Hill.
LifeSiteNews.com interviewed Crossroads participant Cyril Doll as he was walking along Highway 2, overlooking the St. Lawrence River northeast of Brockville. When asked what has been the most challenging aspect of the 3-month long journey, Doll said that it was the physical pain. “I think everyone could attest to that. The physical challenge has definitely been the hardest.”
“It would seem as if the further along the easier it would get,” he said, but that isn’t the case. “Everyone’s pretty beat up right now-the blisters, the wear and tear, the shin-splits.”
The other most difficult part of the trip, he told LifeSiteNews.com, is the “apathy we’ve received from Canadians from coast to capital. If we don’t have people constantly asking us what we’re doing, supporting us, or even detractors, it’s a temptation to lose focus. If you don’t have someone either fighting you or patting you on the back, you kind of forget what it’s all about.”
He noted, however, that seeing people’s apathetic attitude “strengthens our will to keep going, to say, ‘hey 
this is needed. We have to keep going otherwise we’re just a guilty as everyone else.’”
Doll also told LifeSiteNews.com that the greatest blessing, the most rewarding aspect of the journey has been “having faith and just knowing what we’re doing is going to make a difference. We may not see the fruits of our work,” he said, “but as Catholics we know that our pain, our suffering, our prayers are never going to go to waste. The good Lord is distributing the graces.”
“It’s rewarding knowing that at the end of the day, as a group of walkers, we can all rest in comfort knowing that we are reaching our goal.”
At present there are seven walkers: Cyril Doll (Calgary, AB), Jeremy Fraser (High River, AB), Greg Roth (Saskatoon, SK), Etienne O’Toole (Vancouver, BC), Ben Broussard (Sulpher, LA), Sarah Gallaher (Manassas, VA) and Wendy Macagno (Mojave, CA).
The group is planning to arrive in Ottawa on Friday, August 10 in time to join a group of pro-lifers in prayer before the Morgentaler Abortion Site on Bank Street at noon. The next morning, they will then pray for an end to abortion in front of the Supreme Court of Canada.
Supporters are encouraged to gather at the Centennial Flame at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday morning to give the walkers a warm welcome as they arrive at Parliament Hill. Pro-life MP Pierre Lemieux (Glengarry-Prescott-Russell) will be present and has said, “He is pleased to welcome them on Parliament Hill.”
The Crossroads Walkers Ottawa Schedule:
Saturday
10:30 a.m. – pray at the Supreme Court Building
11:00 a.m. – Parliament Hill – MP Pierre Lemieux will welcome the walkers
Walkers will speak at three churches for Mass:
St. Patrick’s Basilica at 4:30 pm – corner of Kent and Nepean Streets
Divine Infant Parish at 5:00 pm – 6658 Bilberry Drive, Orleans
St. John the Apostle Parish at 5:00 pm – 2340 Basline Road, Nepean
Sunday
Morning Mass:
St. Patrick’s Basilica, corner of Kent and Nepean Streets:
Time: 8:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m. and 12:15 p.m.
Divine Infant Parish, 6658 Bilberry Drive, Orleans:
Time: 8 a.m., 9:15 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.
Annunciation of the Lord Parish, 2414 Ogilvie Road, Gloucester:
Time: 8:30 a.m., 9:45 a.m. and 11:15 a.m.
St. John the Apostle, 2340 Basline Road, Nepean
Time: 8 a.m., 10 a.m. and Noon
Evening Mass:
Annunciation of the Lord, 2414 Ogilvie Road, Gloucester:
Lifeteen Mass at 6 p.m. and youth meeting, LIFE Night, afterwards from 7:15 to 9:15. (They will be speaking at the youth group meeting for 10 or 15 minutes)
Divine Infant, 6658 Bilberry Drive, Orleans at 6:30 p.m.
St. Patrick’s Basilica (corner of Kent and Nepean Streets) at 9:00 p.m.
Previous LifeSiteNews coverage:
Canada’s Crossroads Walkers Enter Toronto With Parliament Hill Only Two Weeks Away
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jul/07072506.html
Students Begin Walk Across Canada to Promote Pro-Life Cause
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/may/07052207.html
Crossroads Walkers Through the Prairies, Loving the Canadian Shield
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jul/07070608.html
600 Miles Later Canada’s Crossroads Walk Still Going Strong: Walkers in Calgary for the Weekend
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jun/07060804.html
Canada’s Crossroads Walkers approximate daily Schedule
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jun/07060810.html