Joint Parish Respect Life Committee - Respect Life Blog

Update from the Helpers in Ghana

11/17/2022

The 13 year old girl in the picture was journeyed on with my team till she gave birth. The work is demanding but with help, support and prayers we shall make it. We are optimistic that with the needed help and support we can gradually make a difference. Human life is to be highly upheld and respected.

I want to express my profound appreciation to Don Magnotta for his encouragement and support which he has given to the Helpers through his charitable organization, IHM Foundation (www.ihmonline.org). We definitely need more help to go the extra mile in our approach.

Keep us in your prayers and be assured of our prayers, too.

Thank you and stay blessed!

Fr. Peter Hesse
Coordinator for Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, Ghana

Helpers Vigil, October 2022

11/16/2022

By Kevin Moore

On October 29, 2022 the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants gathered in prayer at Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Jamaica, New York for Mass, and a rosary procession to promote the dignity of all human life. The Helpers conduct large prayer vigils monthly, except for July, in various parishes in Brooklyn and Queens. Founded by Msgr. Philip J. Reilly in 1989, the Helpers have sought to convince all they come in contact with that life is indeed a precious gift from God and not an unwanted burden to be destroyed.

The day began with Mass offered by the assistant priest to Fr. Victor Bolanos, the pastor of this parish. I am sorry I did not catch his name. He delivered a beautiful homily in both English and Spanish on the necessity of defending life in all circumstances, especially in New York State where abortion is legal up to the moment of birth and for any, or no, reason. After Mass about 50 people, both Helpers and parishioners led, by Fr. Bolanos, processed to Choices abortion facility praying the rosary and singing hymns. The procession was peaceful and prayerful and there were no confrontations with the numerous clinic escorts at the facility when we arrived.

There were others from another pro-life group also present who were a bit more confrontational, hoping to sting the consciences of those women who entered the building. The Helpers rely on God, petitioning the Almighty with prayer to change hearts.

Following the conclusion of the prayers of the rosary we were invited to a delicious breakfast provided by the parish. It was a beautiful morning, and we noticed that fewer women entered the facility than when we had been there in the past. Praise be to God!

A Pro-Lifer's Priority

11/16/2022

Dear Editor:

To answer the question about pro-lifers not speaking about capital punishment, I offer this brief reply: People on death row do not number in the millions, and these people are not innocent. They have committed heinous crimes. Yet, they have lawyers who represent them and take them through the lengthy appeals process. There is a voice for them.

The urgency for some of us pro-lifers is for those who have no voice -- who our society claims have no rights, no human status, and where the attack on unborn life is at an all time high. We are not talking about 10, 13, or 25 individuals, we are talking about more than 63 million innocent babies who have committed no crime but to have been conceived.

Today, abortion is praised, financed, and celebrated. Many people claim it is a moral value, a woman's right to which we all must agree. Thank God, common sense and true human decency motivate pro-lifers' voices to say this is wrong.

If innocent life is not protected, whose life is safe from the whims of others?

Patricia Gregorek
Greenpoint

Reprinted from The Tablet, October 29, 2022.

Follow the Science

11/3/2022

By Thomas Murawski

Glendale: Gov. Hochul attempted to disparage candidate Lee Zeldin during the recent debate since he was a co-sponsor of a bill titled Life Begins at Conception. I have news for our esteemed governor, who is a Democrat and whose party is often quoted as saying, "Follow the science." In 2018, law professor Steven Andrew Jacobs of the University of Chicago (far from a right-winger) did a survey among scientists (biologists). The survey revealed that 95% of scientists who responded agreed that human life begins at fertilization (a.k.a. conception). This comes from a group that has many pro-abortionists, atheists, agnostics etc. I guess my governor knows better than these scientists, right?

Reprinted from New York Daily News, October 29, 2022.

Procreation

10/24/2022

By Rev. Msgr. Fernando Ferrarese

    Sometimes something is so big that we don’t notice it, especially when it has always been there. The issue of procreation is one of those major realities that we often don’t take in completely.

    Procreation is the great gift of God in which we can assist Him in creating new eternal beings (i.e. children). If we are indeed made in the image and likeness of God, then we must be creative beings in the manner of God. While we do this through Art and Science, we can preeminently do it through the creation of children, our children. This implies both the beginning of the existence of a new human being as well as the rearing and education of that being through an early life of learning and growth.

    God has ordained that this begin with the coming together in desire and ecstasy of two beings that complement each other yet are different: man and woman. Through the mutual exchange of passion and purpose, new life comes forth.

    To make sure that this desire is always foremost in the manner of these two types of being created by God Himself, He made the mutual exchange of essence to be the most pleasurable experience in the life of both beings. And since the rearing of these new beings be done with commitment and painstaking effort, a commitment of permanence would be required of these two very different beings. Hence the need for the mutual and longstanding desire and craving for the other that creates a stable environment for the young ones to grow to maturity.

    To give names to this process is now necessary. The two beings are called Male and Female. The process of creation begins with the exchange of essences and the uniting of those essences in what has become known as the sexual union. Furthermore, the commitment necessary to bring this not only to fruition in creating an albeit immature and needy being (a baby) but to educate and help grow to maturity this new being, a new institution named the Sacrament of Matrimony has been established by which the two beings commit themselves to each other and to the new life they have created with the special blessing of God. And so has God ordained this to happen.

    But then the deceiver appeared and sin made this process a drama. Because of the intense pleasure that surrounds the act of procreation, this soon became the reason for seeking sexual union. Fornication, adultery, and other acts that are not the will of God, since they do not accomplish the purpose of sexual union, spread like an epidemic. Soon people sought the act merely because it felt good. The responsibility and meaning that God intended were either ignored or openly vilified, as adults attempted the sexual experience with the young who had no idea of the power and the consequences of being used in this way.

    Thereby, the act that was meant by God to pass on the gift of life itself became the transmitter of the original sin of disobedience to God committed by our first parents.

    This misuse of the pleasure that God has given the act of procreation is so omnipresent in our culture that the pleasure has become the meaning of the act. The exchanges of the essences of a man and a woman in a committed relationship open to God’s will in engendering the creation of new eternal beings has been abandoned by this world as the true meaning of the action. It’s pleasure, which was meant to be a strengthening of the need for the action (based on its importance), has become the central point of the action. This is a twisted misunderstanding of the very nature of the sexual union. By abandoning the procreation of a human being in the essential marital act, the modern mind has corrupted the meaning of this most sacred act and thereby committed a great sin against the purpose of out God in giving us this privilege of engendering life, a life that will live forever.

    Hence the Church, through her teaching (most especially in the document Humanae Vitae) has tried to keep the meaning and purpose of the committed marital act intact. Sadly, she has been vilified for this, as is the usual action of the deceiver when confronted with a reassertion of God’s plan.

    As the reader can see I have avoided the loaded use of the word s-x. This is the same as the false god that has claimed the lives and meaning of millions of people. The worship of this god is spreading fast throughout the world.

    God has placed enormous power into the act itself. It is very attractive and, in the wrong hands, it is very addictive. It is thus the bringer either of true, faithful and responsible love, or of a very real danger. It is like a loaded gun that could either protect oneself and one’s family or, when mixed with anger and violence and nihilistic lack of purpose, it can kill.

    The Church has a very exalted view of the marital act. The severity of its sanctions for its misuse is justified given its importance to the future of the world.

Msgr. Fernando Ferrarese is the pastor of Immaculate Conception Church, Astoria, NY. This essay originally appeared in the Immaculate Conception Bulletin, October 9, 2022, and is reprinted with the author's permission.

Witness for Life, August 6, 2022

8/25/2022

By Kevin Moore

It was a bright morning when I stepped off the subway accompanied by my brother-in-law Philip Moore on our way to the Witness for Life held every first Saturday by the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants of Manhattan. Mass is offered at 8:00 AM at Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Nolita (north of Little Italy), usually by Fr. Fidelis Moscinski, leader of the Helpers in Manhattan. Fr. Fidelis was not able to offer Mass that morning as he had just been incarcerated for participating in a Red Rose Rescue in Westchester County.

When Philip and I arrived, protestors from Abortion Rights for NYC were already outside the church and we came in through the back door of the church. We could hear the protestors while Mass was being celebrated by Bishop Peter Byrne, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York. Following Mass, one of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal told us that the rosary procession to Planned Parenthood would not be able to take place as the police had informed him that the protestors were too numerous for the police to guarantee our safety. Father told us that we could pray the rosary in front of the exposed Blessed Sacrament, or if anyone wished, they could walk to Planned Parenthood in twos and threes to pray there. Phil and I, being a bit long in the tooth, decided to stay in the church. Most of the younger people there went to pray at the abortion facility.

The yelling and screaming from the pro-abortion protestors got louder and louder as we continued to pray, led by Bishop Byrne. When we finished praying the rosary, Benediction was held, and we were then invited for coffee and bagels at the nearby Youth Center of Old St. Patrick’s. As Phil and I left the church the protestors were yelling epithets vociferously, calling us Nazis and other unlovely names. We did not venture out on the sidewalk but cut through the cemetery on the grounds of Old St. Patrick’s, as the only thing separating us from the protestors were a few police officers and an iron gate.

As we enjoyed a bite to eat and some coffee, we could still hear the protestors outside. One of the sidewalk counselors got up to speak and informed us that two women had turned around and decided to keep their babies while we were praying in church. We were all elated by this news. We later found out that five of the protestors had been arrested by the police, and one of the Friars was accosted by protestors while he was trying to get into his car. When Phil and I left, the protestors were still outside the Youth Center, and we were advised to us the side streets to get to our subway to head for home.

The Friars have asked us to invite others to come to these first Saturday vigils for life, as the more pro-lifers there are the easier it will be for the police to escort us. I would like to invite everyone reading this blog to come to the next vigil on September 3, 2022, beginning with Mass at 8:00AM.

Kevin Moore is the Treasurer of the Helpers of God's Precious Infants.

Mourning the Deaths of Children

7/25/2022

Dear Editor:

Little by little, we are being informed of all that happened in the tragic deaths of 19 children and two adults in Uvalde, Texas.
We grieve the loss of life, especially of innocent life, and we do so with moral outrage.
Each detail of this horrific event compounds our disbelief that we humans can be so depraved.
Our whole country rightfully grieves the death of these children and the agony of their families.
What about the unborn — the most innocent? Who protects them? Their deaths are equally barbaric. Where are those who mourn their deaths?

Judith Mooney
Flushing

Reprinted from The Tablet, June 17, 2022.

The Sexual Revolution is Still With Us

7/15/2022

By Madeleine Santangelo-Palumbo

For fifty years women have been taught that to achieve full equality with men they must be free to be sexually active. Movie, TV, celebrities and the media have portrayed sex and drugs as socially acceptable and a lot of fun.

Since Roe v. Wade more than 63 million babies in the U. S. have been aborted. They weren’t all because of unplanned pregnancies or because the women couldn’t afford to raise a child. Many women have had more than one abortion because it was legal, acceptable, available, and it can be used as a form of birth control. Many mothers have taken, encouraged and allowed their teenage daughters to abort their future grandchild because they didn’t want the burden of raising their grandchild.

Unfortunately, I and other members of the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants have witnessed this while we prayed and tried to counsel women entering an abortion facility. With the help of God we did save some beautiful teenage mothers and their babies.

Where were the Democratic Catholics when it came to vote for the candidates that stood for Pro-life issues that were with a different party? So many Catholics, including some religious, think of the Pro-life platform as only one issue and not the primary one.

Since Woodstock, HIV, Bill Clinton’s behavior with his young intern, young people have been taught that having experiences with sex, alcohol and drugs are all a part of being young. There should have been many more homilies over the course of years focused on the need to help young people choose to respect young women and for young women to respect their bodies; and also to uphold the value and respect for fatherhood. Parents should have been openly addressing, in simple language, these issues to help their children stay away from all the social vices.

It hasn’t been easy because we live in a society that has accepted, as the old song states, “. . . Anything goes,” but it isn’t too late. With the help of God, we all can fight the “Culture of Death.”

Witness for Life Disrupted by Protestors

6/12/2022

By Kevin Moore

On June 4, 2022 I attended the monthly prayer vigil at Old St. Patrick's Cathedral in Lower Manhattan. We began with Mass offered by Fr. Fidelis Moscinski of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.

In his homily Fr. Moschinski noted that at the end days of the Roman Empire, St. Augustine wrote that people would have a choice of serving God or serving themselves, and that those who chose to serve God would be persecuted because those who chose otherwise would not want to hear anything that the people of God would say to them. Fr. went on to say that we are facing the same problem today.

Fr. Moscinski was certainly correct. After Mass ended, pray-ers were met by a chorus of cat calls and shouts from pro-abortion protesters who refused to let Fr. Moscinski and the rest of us get by them, even with the escort of the police. Unlike the month previous, there were many more police officers to help us, but the protesters moved very, very slowly preventing us from making much progress. The police sent out a warning that those disrupting the procession would be subject to arrest, but no one was actually arrested. We continued to pray the rosary as these disturbances were ongoing, and we have prayed the Joyful, Luminous, and most of the Sorrowful mysteries before we were able to reach Planned Parenthood.

The protesters continued to try and harass us, but the police moved them to a sidewalk on the next block. Sidewalk counselors and a few pray-ers were sent ahead by Fr. Moscinski so that there would be a Helpers presence while the protesters were trying to prevent us from gaining access to Planned Parenthood.

We returned to church for Benediction, followed by the protesters, who continued to yell and scream at us. The good news is that only a few people entered the Planned Parenthood facility while we were there. It is a difficult enough decision to make concerning the life of your child without 50 to 75 people screaming all around you. Planned Parenthood has repeatedly asked these protesters to stop, but they have refused. I suspect Fr. Moscinski was inwardly smiling while he was being harassed and prevented from exercising his constitutional rights.

Kevin Moore is the Treasurer of the Helpers of God's Precious Infants.

A Pro-Life Legacy

4/7/2022

By Madeleine Santangelo-Palumbo

The following speech was given at the 147th Anniversary Lincoln Dinner, Queens Village Republican Club, on March 20, 2022 .

I want to thank the Queens Village Republican Club for making me a recipient of the Sanctity of Life Award. Sanctity means to make holy, to consecrate, to make free from sin, to purify. With this in mind we must teach, preach and pray in a loud voice that life is sacred and good for all -- from womb to tomb.

When the infamous Roe v. Wade decision was first imposed on the American people in 1973 abortion seemed irreversible! The abortion movement was dancing with the so-called Sexual Revolution of the Sixties which flipped morality upside down. The media helped spread the idea that everyone supported abortion on demand. Abortion became an industry with tens of millions of dollars. Modern biology, genetics, sonograms, common sense and decency all tell us that a baby in the womb has just as much right to live as the rest of us; and is just as much a ‘person.’ The Democratic Party is very pro-choice. They didn’t support the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. They don’t acknowledge the fact that since Roe v. Wade there have been 60 million abortions.

I was born and raised in Brooklyn and I obtained all my three degrees at night while working. Since 1966 my teaching experience spanned all levels of education: Catholic elementary schools, Catholic high school, Long Island University, C. W. Post, and St. John’s University outreach programs. Although I was an educator for 44 years I have been inspired, motivated and invigorated by being a member for 25 years of the Joint Parish Respect Life Committee, founded by Dr. Florence Maloney who did outstanding work responding to current legislative, political and cultural battles.

In the past Dr. Maloney received awards from the Diocese of Brooklyn and the Queens Village Republican Club. She implemented the Catholic Speaker Series held throughout Queens. Many letters, petitions and visits were presented to NY elected officials and candidates and the media. She established the publication, Respect Life News, which has been succeeded by the Joint Parish Respect Life Committee website.

Florence’s memory is not perfect right now; but our memory of her strong leadership will live on for years and is carried on today by the president, Thomas Murawski, and by myself as vice-president, and all the pro-life members.

In 1986 I began teaching at Bishop Kearney High School. For years I had traveled by bus to the annual March for Life in Washington, DC and now I wanted to take some of the students to represent Brooklyn. I was granted permission to establish a Celebrate Life Club. Being an Art and English teacher, I co-moderated with a wonderful Catholic Studies and History teacher, Patricia Gregoric. Each year we attended the March with more than 40 active club members. I attended the 49th annual march this year with Cathy Donohoe, the president of Bridge to Life, and Patricia – and we hope it will be the last!

Our Celebrate Life Club engaged in many projects, fund raisings and petitions. We took action to stop the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act and educated the community about the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). Our club was selected to partake in the Youth and the Future of the Pro-Life Movement Conference held at Nassau Community College. We entered the Culture of Life speech contest sponsored by the Brooklyn Diocese and the New York State Right to Life Committee. I am proud to say our students won monetary prizes and one of them received a full scholarship to Yale; and in the first year started a Celebrate Life club of her own!

As an active member of the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, founded in 1987 by Msgr. Philip Reilly, I was able to invite him to speak at the school where he gave an inspirational speech on the “culture of life.” Some of our students visited Monsignor at the Monastery of the Precious Blood in Brooklyn and were given a grand tour. Msgr. Reilly’s niece Susan Moore and her husband, Kevin, are carrying on his great work.

Another guest speaker was Rebecca Kiessling, an attorney and author who was conceived in rape. She is the face of the “rape exception.” Our students experienced meaningful time focusing on vital pro-life issues so that in the future they will take a political candidate’s position on life issues into account when they vote.

Early on Saturday mornings for years I stand with the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants outside the All Women’s Medical Pavilion on Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens. We pray, display posters, and try in a friendly, peaceful manner to counsel women approaching the abortion facility; and even the men who may be escorting them. The HGPI is a movement to save babies by saving their mothers.

Over the course of years unexpected “miracles” have happened. Our star sidewalk counselor, Donald Magnotta, has been fortunate to actually dialogue with an abortion doctor and some staff, which resulted in four of them quitting their jobs. More miracle turnarounds have happened: two beautiful high school teenagers, at different times, were reluctant to enter the facility but, after viewing our booklets, seeing our posters, hearing our prayers and speaking to Donald, we learned that they both had very difficult situations.

On those two different Saturdays I drove the young woman and her mother to the Life Center in Brooklyn and made arrangements to get baby supplies and temporary financial aid; and then we traveled to Manhattan and met with the Sisters of Life. Over the years, eight to be exact, these two young women were helped with jobs, apartments, baby supplies, furniture, etc.

With financial help and support from Donald we held a baby shower and visited them both in the hospital where they gave birth. Father Robert Czok baptized one of the babies. Both women are now married and have helped other young women to keep their babies.

I am a board member, representing Queens, on the New York State Respect Life Committee which is an affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee. It keeps New Yorkers informed on the life issues and educates them on who the pro-life candidates are and the vital importance of their vote. It also conducts Public Policy Days in Albany, conferences and many other activities.

For years I have been one of the facilitators for a program called Rachel’s Helpers – Forgiven and Set Free. It helps support post-abortion women through Bible study, prayer, reflections, and supported discussions. It has helped many women to be free from the bondage of guilt and grief that follows an abortion. These are courageous women who have chosen to face the hurts of their past. Confidentiality and trust enables these women to begin their journey toward healing of mind and spirit.

I have been a campaign volunteer for the honorable New York City councilwoman, Vickie Paladino. She is a strong dynamic voice for us. God bless her!

I will be attending the International Gift of Life Walk, held in Lower Manhattan, on March 25 and sponsored by Personhood Education NY whose leader is Dawn Eskew. Many supporters are present today, including Phil McManus, vice president.

As an artist my artwork is a microcosm of my life as a teacher, mother, wife, and grandmother, which has helped me in my pro-life testimony and social concerns.

Republicans must continue to be Good – and support Supreme Court justices who will interpret the Constitution strictly and overrule Roe v Wade. The Culture of Life is the positive way to see the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. Let us all help the Republican Party make America Good again!

Authors

Frank Drollinger
Msgr. Fernando Ferrarese
Patricia Gregorek
Alice Lemos
Florence Maloney
Frederick W. Marks
Pamela Menera
Judith Mooney
Kevin Moore
Thomas Murawski
Boris Musich
Melinda Rabbia
Josephine Rose
Madeleine Santangelo- Palumbo

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