Pro-abortion activists disrupted a Catholic Eucharistic Procession in Washington DC. on Saturday, yelling “Christian bigots go away” and “thank God for abortion” as the procession made its way through the Capitol.

The month of October in the Catholic Church is dedicated to the Holy Rosary, and includes the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7. The church procession began at St. Peter’s Church on Capitol Hill and proceeded to the eastern edge of the National Mall where a National Rosary Rally was held.

The pro-abort agitators ambushed the priest and faithful during the procession, screaming insults and slogans through bullhorns, and waving LGBTQ flags. One activist held a banner in front of the priest that read “Pussy Posse.”  As Catholic laymen carried a statue of Our Lady of Fatima, activists waved National Organization For Women (NOW) signs that read “Keep Abortion Legal.”

At the Rosary rally, Catholic nuns were screamed at, mocked and heckled as they tried to sing the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Sister Deirdre “Dede” Byrne at one point turned to the hecklers behind her and said, “Jesus has a message for you: Jesus loves you very much.”

The Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7, in commemoration of the Holy League’s defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. The Holy League was made up major Catholic powers in Southern Europe, including the Papal States, Russia, Venice, Genoa, Malta and Spain.

On the day of the battle, there was campaign throughout Europe to pray the Rosary, and although the Turkish forces were very powerful, all but 13 of the nearly 300 Turkish ships were captured or sunk.

Pope St. Pius V attributed the victory to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and moved to institute the feast now celebrated universally as Our Lady of the Rosary.