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Elena Cambio
Catholic Courier
October 1, 2025
"Bringing 'hope and help to pregnant and parenting moms' is the purpose of the Walking with Moms in Need program at Peace of Christ Parish in Irondequoit, according to ministry coordinator Jane Way.
Peace of Christ is one of several diocesan parishes that have taken up Bishop Salvatore R. Matano’s call to participate in the USCCB pro-life initiative to help pregnant women say yes to life.
The ministry aims to provide 'a way of helping women who are saying ‘We can’t do this alone,’' according to Elizabeth Johnston, coordinator of life issues and cultural ministries in the Diocese of Rochester’s Department of Pastoral Services.
“Our ministry has grown in ways we could only imagine”
Johnston said Walking with Moms in Need helps parishes to inventory resources available in their areas that can help pregnant women choose life...
Peace of Christ Parish established its Walking with Moms ministry in the fall of 2022, and since then, 'Our ministry has grown in ways we could only imagine,' Way said.
Organizers’ first step was to identify pregnancy centers near the Winton-Culver neighborhood...
'We wanted to be able to connect our moms facing unplanned pregnancies with these wonderful pregnancy resource centers,' Way said. She added that these centers provide an abundance of information and referrals to outside agencies, '…in an atmosphere of compassion, respect, active listening and no judgment.'
Choosing life through corporal, spiritual works of mercy
...Dozens of Peace of Christ parishioners also have committed to cooking meals, organizing baby showers and diaper drives, collecting and distributing baby item donations, and providing other services to pregnant mothers in need, she added.
With the growth of the ministry at Peace of Christ, Kristine Burgio, pastoral associate at St. Mark’s Church in Greece, invited Way and Johnston to share their successful strategies with her parish. Since St. Mark’s ministry began in September of 2024, the parish response to Walking with Moms in Need has been extremely positive, Burgio said.
'The generosity for a baby shower held in January 2025 was overwhelming,' she noted in particular.
Burgio said St. Mark’s Walking with Moms in Need ministry incorporates the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. For example, parishioners make hand-made baby blankets and other donations to support Focus Pregnancy Center and engage in community outreach.
They also organize holy hours and have Masses said for the mothers, their children and for an end to abortion, Burgio stated...
Hopes more parishes will take up call to accompany mothers
Johnston said she hopes more parishes will take up the bishop’s call to minister to struggling pregnant women in their communities.
St. Mary’s of the Lake and St. Benedict’s Church in Watkins Glen, for example, have offered a Walking with Moms in Need program in their community since 2021, even adding such home-grown spin-offs as Walking with Dads in Need and Walking with Families in Need...
'It is our baptismal call to get involved and lovingly walk with people in their time of need. Walking with Moms in Need is the perfect initiative to do just that,' Burgio stated.
This message of accompaniment is essential to the effort, Johnston said, adding that mothers need to hear, 'You’re not alone; we’re here.'"
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