November 13, 2024

Walk for nonviolence held in Springfield

REGIONAL
Story and photo by Carolee McGrath

Otilio Alvarado Ocasio and Jane Virgilio, members of the Greater Springfield Campaign Nonviolence, pose for a picture in front of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Springfield where a march for peace was held Sunday, Nov. 10.

SPRINGFIELD – About two dozen people turned out for the Walk for Nonviolence, Sunday, Nov. 10 at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Springfield. The march stepped off at 2:30 p.m. from Waverly Street and wound through the North End neighborhood. Along the route, the group stopped to pray for victims of violence.

“We do this walk in this neighborhood every year and the point of it is to gather and to recognize and bring awareness to the victims of violence in this neighborhood,” said Jane Virgilio, a member of the Great Springfield Campaign Nonviolence which organized the event.

Virgilio, a member of Mary, Mother of Hope Parish in Springfield, said Catholics are called to respond with peace.

“It’s an event to for us to walk together in peace and to understand that we have to keep the sadness unfortunately with us and to honor the victims by what we do in the future to reduce the violence,” said Virgilio.

“It’s important because we as a faith community I think we are called, we are called to want to connect with each other and to help each other to get to a better place,” she said.

Otilio Alvarado Ocasio, a longtime member of Blessed Sacrament Parish, has three adult children. He said he wants to ensure that all children have a safe place to live and play.

“We are going to go back to the basic principle that our Lord Jesus taught us, to love God, to love one another. That is what we need to have as a community to love one another, to have empathy, to support one another and to gather and to never forget. We cannot give up. We have to keep trying, to keep praying,” he said.

At the rally that followed the march, people prayed for those who died by violence and acknowledged causes of violence including poverty, drugs, domestic violence and mental health.

“I would like to deal with the root cause of violence especially when it comes to mental health,” said Ocasio. “How can we help? How can we support the community? How can we support those people,” he continued.

Organizers would like to see more city and state resources allocated to address the underlying issues of violence in the city and beyond.

A video version of this story will be on an upcoming edition of “Real to Reel” which temporarily airs Sunday mornings at 6:30 a.m. on WWLP-22 NEWS.