Bosnian Pupils Taken on Religious March ‘for the Unborn’

High school pupils in the city of Mostar in south-west Bosnia and Herzegovina were taken by their school on Thursday on a 'Walk of Love for the Unborn', a Catholic religious march through the city, media reported.

It was not clear from the media reports if the pupils' consent or that of their parents was sought for their participation.

One of the organisers of the marches, a teacher at the Sestre Milosrdnice Secondary Medical School, Elizabeta Rezic, said that "we truly believe that because of what we are doing, someone will stay alive", FENA news agency reported.

The march on Thursday commemorated Mother's Day and the Day of the Sestre Milosrdnice Secondary Medical School, and ended with a prayer at the University Clinical Hospital Mostar's chapel, where pupils prayed "for pregnant women, unborn children, mothers and hospital workers", Rezic said.

In neighbouring Croatia there has also been a recent increase in public religious events held by devout Catholics.

On the first Saturday of the month since October last year, groups of men have been gathering in public places all over Croatia to pray for men to again become spiritual authorities in their families and promote the Catholic faith to others.

They also pray for women to dress and act chastely, and against abortion.

Human rights campaigners and women's rights groups have also started to hold counter-protests on first Saturday of the month at the places where the men's prayers are held.