Blog Posts - Joint Parish Respect Life Committee

Creating a World Where No Student Must Choose Between Their Child and Their Education

3/16/2022

By Josephine Rose

The Kathleen Mullally Foundation is a scholarship foundation committed to creating a society where no one feels they must choose between their children and their education. We provide a monetary grant scholarship for a pregnant or parenting students to further that vision.

The Foundation is dedicated to upholding every individual's inalienable right to life. We also acknowledge that our current society does not offer many support systems for students who encounter a conflict between upholding that value and pursuing their higher education. This scholarship is meant to provide students just such a support system in the form of a monetary grant. We especially encourage matriculated Queens College Students to apply.

I established the Foundation in 2020 to honor my dear aunt because of her great love and devotion for her many nieces and nephews.

The first recipient of the scholarship was Malika Pegues in July 2021. Malika is a Psycho-Neurobiology & Therapeutic Recreation Major at Queens College, CUNY. She attended online classes during the COVID-19 Pandemic from a domestic violence shelter while taking care of her three daughters. Malika is now a crisis counselor, and plans on completing her PhD in psychology.

See more information on applying for a scholarship and donating to the Foundation.

Recent Queens College Graduate Launches Scholarship to Help Pregnant or Parenting Students (Net Currents, August 19, 2021)

Pictured above is Josephine (left) with Malika. Pictured below is the scholarship award celebration at Bridge to Life, College Point, NY.

Compassion for All of God’s Creation

2/12/2022

Fr. Mann celebrates Mass for the Helpers of God's Precious Infants, St. Mary Church, Long Island City, November 20, 2021.

By Boris Musich

Fr. Frank Mann of the Brooklyn Diocese has an unusual ministry: he seeks to serve the artists community in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick. Over the years he has been instrumental in guiding young women experiencing troubled pregnancies who were considering abortion to give birth to their babies.

How did it all start?

Fr. Mann, who dabbles in art, had a studio in the same building as other artists in the neighborhood. One day, while sitting at his laptop in a coffee shop he overheard 2 women talking: one of them was saying that her boyfriend was trying to force her to have an abortion. Fr. Mann then introduced himself and counseled the young woman not to have the abortion. Word spread that Father offered a listening ear and he was able to intervene in over 30 similar situations over the course of the past 5 years.

Many of the artists were from out of the City but migrated to the street art and gallery atmosphere in Bushwick. Some were addicted to drugs and needed addiction counseling. The COVID-19 pandemic made life harder as many artists lost their day jobs or gallery spaces and moved back home, many back to the Midwest.

Several times Fr. Mann was called to talk to would-be suicides and was able to talk them out of it. Once a young woman was sitting on a rooftop ledge: she wanted Father to sit on the ledge with her but he said, ‘No way,’ since he is afraid of heights. Instead he said, “Give me your hand,’ and was able to bring her to safety.

From a young age, Fr. Mann has cared about animals and is now an ardent animal welfare advocate. He tries to stir the flame of caring and compassion in whatever way he can. Even though most of the artists and their friends are not overtly religious they do have a sense of the sacred and have compassion for other people and for animals.

Fr. Mann is also a big fan of Albert Schweitzer, the physician, philosopher and humanitarian who spent his life healing the sick in Africa. Schweitzer, who believed that a society crumbles when it loses a respect for life, has been a big influence in his life.

One of Fr. Mann’s current projects is a children’s book he’s written called, ‘The Wounded Butterfly,’ which is about a boy who befriends a caterpillar that inevitably turns into a butterfly. It speaks of a wonder at the beauty of all creation and seeks to engender a sense of the sacredness of life among its young readers. He hopes to find a publisher soon.

For more about Fr. Mann and his ministry see the article: “Priest Has Ministry to Street Artists Who are Transforming Neighborhood,” by Ed Wilkinson, February 27, 2017, Catholic News Service.

March for Life 2022: A Weekend to Remember

2/8/2022

Kate McNally, Pat Gregoric, Madeleine Santangelo-Palumbo and Catherine Donohoe

By Patricia Gregorek

On Thursday, January 20, 2022, Catherine Donohoe, Kate McNally, Madeleine Santangelo-Palumbo and Pat Gregorek drove to Washington, DC to participate in the 49th annual March for Life and other pro-life activities. That afternoon in our hotel, The Renaissance, we attended several panel discussions during the annual Life and Law Summit. Fr. Frank Pavone opened the session with prayer. Attorneys from St. Thomas More Society talked about pro-life cases won or still pending. They also explained what would be necessary to overturn Roe.

Lauren Muzyka, and other members of Sidewalk Advocates explained how they offer training and support for persons who feel called to stand in front of their local abortion facility and offer real help. Missy Stone spoke about a new pro-life organization, Reprotection, which helps individuals identify health violations at abortion facilities and provide strategies to shut them down. This stops abortions and the medical harm done to women. Reprotection has already closed 20 abortion facilities.

Thursday night we attended one of the first fundraisers of the weekend, The Vans for Life Dinner, held at the Trump Hotel. The goal of the event was to raise money for sonogram vans. At present, there are some vans stationed near abortion facilities where women can get free ultrasounds. This has had a tremendous impact on some women and they kept their babies. The success of this caused several abortion facilities to close and it is hoped that money raised could expand the fleet. Tim Tebow was the guest speaker. His mixture of gospel, football stories and pro-life exhortation made for humor and seriousness about being pro-life advocates.

Friday morning, we attended a traditional Latin Mass in our hotel celebrated by Benedictine monks from New Mexico. It was different from Mass as we know it, but the sound of the Gregorian Chant was lovely. Then it was off for some downtime to prepare ourselves for the day‘s main event, the March for Life. We dressed in warm clothes and, wrapped in scarves, hats and gloves, braved the 20-something degree cold. We walked to the start of the March to meet up with the Students for Life of America. Father Pavone was there to bless the marchers and we had some time to speak with him. Cathy and Madeleine were interviewed by Reuters. Those who enthusiastically, peacefully and prayerfully marched came from all over the country and many international marchers joined in -- some 50,000 to 100,000 strong.

The evening’s event included a trip to the Omni Hotel which was headquarters for the Students for Life who were hosting a weekend-long training summit. Throughout the weekend there were interesting workshops for the students on chemical abortions, how to protect your pro-life group on campus, the human dignity debate, serving women and saving lives, etc. The presentations were from The Heritage Foundation, Alliance Defending Freedom, Human Coalition, and Center for Academic Freedom, to name a few.

We had dinner with some of the students and Cathy met up with a member of her Bridge to Life board of directors, Kate Maloney, and with Norvilia Etienne, both now working for SFLA. We listened to brief talks by some of the student leaders and later that evening attended a private showing of the film, Life Mark, which will open in theaters later this year. It’s a great film inspired by a true story. Please go see it.

Back at our hotel we sat in the lounge and chatted about the events of the day. We saw guests leaving the Rose Dinner Gala, a major fundraiser for the march. We talked with Rebecca Kiessling, from Remember the One, and Cathy introduced us to Michele Sterlace-Accorsi from Feminists Choosing Life of New York.

Saturday we were lucky to have sunny skies for a safe drive back to New York. How could one pass up the opportunity to have breakfast at Cracker Barrel? So we didn’t. On the whole, the weekend was very positive, life affirming and educational as we learned many new ways for promoting life. It was also very gratifying to see the actions of Students for Life. We left seeing that the pro-life message is in good hands.

For more photos see the Events tab.

Fr. Peter Hesse, Pro-Life Champion

10/9/2021

Fr. Hesse with other pro-life prayer warriors outside abortion facility in Kew Gardens, Queens.

By Boris Musich

Fr. Peter Hesse was visiting the United States for the summer from his home country, Ghana. He is very interested in expanding the pro-life movement in the Accra Archdiocese so wanted to see what the American pro-lifers were doing.

Don Magnotta, a member of the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, took Fr. Peter to various pro-live events and organizations in the New York City area, including a 40 Days for Life vigil in Hempstead and a Helpers prayer group that meets on Saturdays mornings in front of All Women’s Medical Pavilion abortion facility, in Kew Gardens (photo).

On his return to the Accra Archdiocese, Fr. Peter will undertake to start a Pro-Life Support Group at the 3 major hospitals he directs. Although abortion is illegal in Ghana, it is practiced behind the scenes.

Don has helped build a clinic in the archdiocese through a charity that he directs, International Help of Missionaries (IHM), and will also assist Fr. Peter in his pro-life work. If you would like to donate to Fr. Peter’s work please go to the IHM site.

This is what Fr. Peter said about the huge task that awaits him in his country:

"Concerning the Pro-Life Support Group which I am about to start officially, I must say this stems out of a great passion illumined by the power of the hospital and highly motivated by Don when I met him. Don of IHM has been of a tremendous support in helping us in our Archdiocese to build a clinic. We are not yet done with the project because of funds but we keep praying.

Although, I am yet to officially launch the Pro-Life Support Group, I have started doing something already. Thanks be to God I have 2 persons who will help in counseling. Currently, I have a youngster who after childbirth, abandoned the baby and left it the hospital. Actually, I am the Director in charge of three big hospitals in the archdiocese so I have asked that one nurse should take full custody of the baby till I get back home. This will really entail a lot since I must search for the mother or her relatives. If I am not able to find any clue, I have no choice other than to continue to take care of the baby by officially handing it to a group of nuns who run an orphanage — then I pay for the bills, feeding, and upkeep . . . .

The Pro-Life Support Group will have target groups such as hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and schools. There are high rates of abortion in both secondary schools and colleges so I need to really lace my boots and get out there to work . . . . This really involves a lot, but come what may, I am ever-determined because life must be PROTECTED AND THE DIGNITY OF HUMAN LIFE should be respected.

Stay blessed, keep me in your prayers as I do same for you. Regards to the entire team and please thank Don for all his support and motivation."

Best regards,
Fr. Peter

Meet the New Abortion Boss: The Devil’s Disciple

10/9/2021

By Alice Lemos

If pro-lifers in New York believe that the new governor, Kathy Hochul, will have a more benevolent attitude towards them – and to babies – than Andrew Cuomo, they are sadly mistaken. She will continue his pro- abortion agenda, and since she is a woman, the media will cover for her even more.

Governor Kathy Hochul recently addressed a predominantly black congregation in Brooklyn where she told them that God had wanted them to be vaccinated and that they should be her “disciples” to spread the pro Covid vaccination plan and that they were “doing God’s work”. It appears that the same God that told her to preach to the converted did not communicate with her about the fate of hundreds of thousands of babies facing death thanks to New York’s extremely liberal abortion law – a law that she helped to promulgate and wants implemented in all fifty states! There was a time when NewYork’s pro-lifers – with the help of the State Senate which was in the hands of the GOP for years and a small group of more moderate Democrats - were able to stop the most radical pro-abortion legislation that Andrew Cuomo, raised a Catholic, was ready, willing and able to propose.

I am referring to the Reproductive Health Act, which the former governor finally was able to sign into law on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade after the GOP had lost control of the State Senate (proving, once again, that elections have consequences). Cuomo celebrated by lighting up the Empire State Building in Planned Parenthood pink–which is also the color of breast cancer awareness and of course, baby girls! RHA essentially removes any and all protections for pre-born infants and even allows for abortions on a baby’s delivery date. Since New York has one of the highest rates of abortion in the United States, this bill was totally unnecessary and even removes elementary protections for pregnant women abused by boyfriends who end up with a dead baby because of such abuse. An unborn baby, killed in the commission of a crime, can no longer be considered a victim of that crime thanks to Cuomo and his merry band of abortion supporters.

Any restrictions on late term abortion involve the abortionist’s contemplation of the woman’s “life and health” – with no objective definition of either. There are, in essence, no meaningful restrictions on abortion in New York State thanks to RHA, its supporters in the Democrat party and Cuomo – who has yet to be excommunicated. RHA even removes protections for an infant born alive during an abortion.

RHA considers abortion to be a “fundamental right” and there is the justified fear that it could even criminalize being pro-life. In New York State, under Cuomo, the pro-abortion absolutists have won. Cuomo in 2014 even stated that “pro lifers have no place in New York because that is not who we are.”

As everyone knows, Cuomo was forced to step down as governor after harassing dozens of women. He also sentenced the elderly to death in his Covid-19 infected nursing homes and even concealed the true number of dead while having his staff ghost write the book “Crisis”– in mid-Covid crisis. His “book” was essentially a tribute to his “managerial skills” while he was killing off thousands of New York’s Medicare patients and disabled! He has yet to apologize and it seems he will keep the ill-gotten gains of his book’s revenues.

Now we have Kathy Hochul, who is also Catholic, as Governor of New York. Hochul is as radical as Cuomo is on abortion and unlike the growling former governor, does her abortion advocacy with a smile. Hochul’s reaction to the commonsense Texas heartbeat bill is to state that NewYork is a “safe harbor for those seeking abortions” and has advocated for chemical abortions to be performed with the aid of video conferences. She also seems unaware that Texas women still have access to Plan B which can be bought over the counter. She has demanded that Facebook remove any and all references to chemical abortion reversal and wants New York to be the mecca of abortion tourism for women in Texas and other states. Meet the New Abortion Boss – she may be worse than the old one and even more dangerous.

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Blogger Alice Lemos is a member of the Jewish Pro-Life Foundation board of directors, a staunch pro-lifer and activist, the mother of a marine veteran, and a cancer survivor. Contact Alice at lemosalice223@gmail.com.

This blog posting first appeared on the JPLF website and is being reprinted with the permission of the author.

9/11 Memorial to the Unborn – Are Remembered

10/9/2021

By Boris Musich

There are nearly 3,000 names inscribed in the bronze panels surrounding the two huge memorial pools at the 9/11 Memorial. Among them are 11 instances where a woman’s name is followed by “AND HER UNBORN CHILD”: a testament to the reality and sanctity of life in the womb.

To read more about the women and their unborn babies who were killed on September 11, 2001 see:

9/11 Memorial Honors Unborn Babies, by Emily Ngo, Newsday, September 11, 2011.

9/11 Memorial Lists 11 "Unborn" of Pregnant Victims. NBC Channel 4 News, September 11, 2011.

No Masks for the Unborn

7/22/2021

By Madeleine Santangelo-Palumbo

Early Saturday morning we witness as members of the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants outside a Queens abortion facility on Queens Boulevard. As we pray and make an attempt to give women a pamphlet filled with helpful information, we observe an attractive young-looking grandmother wearing a mask as she escorts her 16-year-old attractive young mask-wearing daughter to kill her grandchild.

    One of the counselors managed to speak to the grandmother and she said that this was very hard for her because years ago she had aborted her baby at age 16 and she suffers with regret for doing that till this day. She wasn’t going to stop her daughter because she said it’s her choice!

    The counselor tried to tell her that you can redeem yourself by stopping your daughter from killing her unborn baby. He stated that you are only teaching your daughter to use abortion as a form of birth control and not to choose “Life” for the unborn person which would be your beautiful grandchild. The counselor quickly showed her pictures on his cell phone of a young mother with her beautiful child of six years old who was saved from abortion at this facility.

    Unfortunately, the masked young mother went into the abortion facility. It’s very hard to stand outside and peacefully pray for all that enter the chamber of death.

    We have been protecting ourselves by wearing masks, keeping the right distance and getting tested. Why aren’t we all concerned with protecting all the unborn infants from death? So many of us are upset about how Governor Cuomo handled the COVID-19 outbreak in nursing homes that killed a great number of senior residents. Why aren’t we all concerned that Governor Cuomo, a Catholic, is pro-choice – which is pro-abortion and pro-end of life/assisted suicide? Why do Catholics vote for him? Why aren’t there more advertisements about protecting the unborn, helping mothers to keep their babies of for them to consider adoption over abortion?

    Let us pray that while we protect ourselves and others, we should teach our young people to be concerned for all God’s precious creatures and our beautiful earth, but most of all to protect and save the unmasked pre-born infants from abortion.

Note to AISH -- Please Don't Be Blasé About Abortion

7/5/2021

By Alice Lemos

Imagine my horror and discomfort – coming so shortly after the collapse of a condominium in Miami where so many Jewish lives have been lost – at reading “My Choice” by Sara Shamansky (republished by the Jewish AISH from The Tablet) in which Shamansky, who claims to be an “Orthodox Jew” willingly goes through an abortion because her baby has been diagnosed as having a birth defect (by the way, she does not go into detail as to what that defect could specifically be – what matters to her is that her supposedly “much wanted child” would have problems which she simply cannot deal with – even if the problems could be corrected or lessened through post natal surgery.) She admits that, although she claims to be religious, that “It [abortion] wasn’t that I was against abortion per se . . . but now, suddenly, it was immediately relevant, part of my world.”

How “modern” – how “unorthodox”!

Yes, that is the solution to a baby who might have disabilities. Rather than reach into her heart for the love she claims she felt for her unborn child, she searched for a rabbi to tell her what she wanted to hear: one that would tell her that “it was our choice, it was our decision to make.” As for her husband, the father of the baby, he is spineless and actually tells her that IT IS HER DECISION TO MAKE! So much for the importance of fathers.

If you want to know why the world is upside down look at Sara Shamansky and her hapless husband: instead of seeking treatment for their baby, they took what they saw as the “humane” or “easy” way out. Shamansky actually writes that she was “afraid of hospital stays and surgeries . . . of never being free.” There you have it: a woman who claims to be religious who gives into her selfish instincts. She also claims that she “does not want to be judged”. Then why did she write this article? He who excuses himself, accuses himself as the French say. She nauseates me. And yes, I am being judgmental since she put it out there. And I think of the young woman with Downs Syndrome whom I heard speak at a conference sponsored by the Sister of Life and then I think of the Shamansky woman and the fraud that she is. As for AISH, which has published her article several times, they should change their name to “Tone Deaf”.

Read the article, My Choice, at https://www.aish.com/sp/so/My-Choice.html?.

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Alice Lemos is a member of the Jewish Pro-Life Foundation board of directors, a staunch pro-lifer and activist, the mother of a marine veteran, and a cancer survivor. Contact Alice at alicelemos@jewishprolifefoundation.org.

This blog posting first appeared on the JPLF website and is being reprinted with the permission of the author.

Pro-Life Champion: The Untold Story of Monsignor Philip J. Reilly and His Helpers of God's Precious Infants, by Frederick W. Marks

5/18/2021

By Frank Drollinger

Stories, stories, stories. This is a book full of moving and delightful anecdotes as well as sober and moving thought.

If you will enter its world, you will learn new things. Dr. Marks gives here a picture of an extraordinary effort in the current culture of life. Like all good efforts, those in this book can seem to be beggars to those not open to truth, goodness and beauty—not their imitations—which are available free of charge.

The book’s many stories can draw you in. They come with keen insights into our daily life.

You will want to at least take a look at several things in the book that are worth the price paid of the time you spend reading them. I’m thinking first of all—at least for myself—of the help of Saint Anthony in getting Monsignor’s new idea for pro-life activity started (page 75)—an idea that would quite literally spread across the globe. Many of us have Saint Anthony stories. This one ranks right up there.

We are used to the false narratives and examples and conclusions put out by the pro-choice movement and its fellow travelers in media and government. We seldom see, in one place, the great refutations this book presents. We find here an encouragement and intelligence that can affect our own witness both in the movement and in daily life. Indeed, we will find things that we will want to add to our own daily conversations with family, friends and acquaintances.

A good place to see all of this is the chapter, “Marks of a Teacher” (pages 89-93). Marks (the author) tells us that “Cardinal Schönborn had it right when he told Bishop Daily that the Helpers “changed the face of Austria.”” And Marks adds, “Austria owes much of the change to a quality that I shall call “teacherliness,” for lack of a better word. It is one part communications skill, one part mastery of subject matter, and a third part appreciating the good qualities of one’s students. Monsignor qualifies on all counts.”

Monsignor gives us a compelling overview of how abortion took hold in the first place. The book also gives us a look at what Monsignor is trying to do to improve the quality of homilies. In his program, called “We Want To Teach, We Want To Be Taught,” he wants to replace the scripture review approach with a catechetical method.

The pro-choice movement is a compound of falsehoods, and it introduces these into its arguments, always substituting a different lie for the one that is being exposed. The ground keeps shifting. A good teacher—Monsignor Reilly—can keep the matter on track.

The book is, I think, a conscience-forming event. If you are an active pro-life person, I think this will encourage and improve what you do. And even if you have been a regular with Monsignor at vigils, I think you will find it a new benefit to have so much of Monsignor’s history in one place and in a continuous, memorable presentation. Whether you are a bishop or a beggar, I believe you will find yourself somewhere in the story.

This is a book we can go back to:

We can get a look at some of the history of New York that we may never have heard.
We learn who make the best shock troops in the movement.
The number of “turnarounds” at an abortion clinic is directly proportional to the number of persons in the praying group.
The three things that a woman will never learn from an abortionist.
Monsignor Reilly, who at one time was principal of Cathedral High School, became an unwelcome person there, because of the strong pro-life message he continually advanced.
How Monsignor was able to invigorate the pro-life movement after Operation Rescue began to run down.
Bishop Daily’s help in separating, as greatly more important, the pro-life movement from other issues, such as was being done by some of the clergy.
How Monsignor was able to successfully prevent the New York City Council in its attempts to deprive The Helpers of God’s Precious Infants of its First Amendment Rights.

As you read, you begin to see that because of the approach Monsignor takes, the stories frequently lead to what J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings, called eucatastrophe—“the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears…”

For myself, this is something that can occur at a vigil in the presence of evil at an abortion clinic— the silent and powerful way goodness can seep into your soul—and into the souls of your fellow pray-ers and counselors. I think that if you would experience the wellsprings of hope, you may find them at Calvary, which is what Monsignor calls the abortion clinic.

Blessed Herman: Saint of the Unborn

5/14/2021

By Frederick W. Marks

Have you ever heard of Blessed Herman, known as the saint of the unborn? He came into the world with cerebral palsy and spina bifida in the eleventh century in southern Germany. At delivery, doctors gave him five years to live (five turned out to be forty-five).

If today’s parents knew of the ill health of such a child before birth, the poor fellow would likely be aborted, but Herman’s parents raised him for seven years, then turned him over to the Benedictine monks of Reichenaur Abbey where he was lovingly educated.

The monks did so much for him that he became one of the world’s most brilliant and accomplished men — the leading religious poet of his age, fluent in Arabic, Greek and Latin, an expert on every subject under the sun and a builder of musical and astronomical equipment. On top of this, he is the author of the beautiful prayer, “Hail Holy Queen.” But the most striking thing about him may be the fact that, throughout his life, he seemed so very happy and was always smiling. Though he could hardly walk or talk and went blind in his thirties, he never wanted anyone to feel sorry for him, believing that suffering is a gift from God. What an inspiration for the pro-life cause, what a reason to keep on praying, fasting, and demonstrating for an end to abortion!

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Frederick Marks, author of Pro-Life Champion: The Untold Story of Monsignor Philip J. Reilly and His Helpers of God’s Precious Infants.

May 10, 2021
Forest Hills, New York

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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