Helpers Receive Encouragement from Court Ruling

By Marie Elena Giossi

Heartened by the Supreme Court’s April 18 decision to uphold the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, faithful Catholics marched through the streets of Flatbush on Saturday, April 21, with a renewed determination to pray for an end to abortion.

Nearly 60 youth and adults participated in the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants monthly pro-life prayer vigil. Mass was conducted at St. Catherine of Genoa, Flatbush, followed by a procession to the nearest abortion facility, Kings County Hospital Center.

Marie Elena Giossi Photo

HELP FOR THE UNBORN: The Helpers of God’s Precious Infants pray outside Kings County Hospital, where over 2,500 babies are aborted every year. Retired Bishop Thomas V. Daily and Msgr. Philip Reilly, joined by Det. Steven McDonald, lead the prayers.

Retired Bishop Thomas V. Daily was the main celebrant for the 7:15 a.m. liturgy, concelebrated by Msgr. Philip Reilly, Helpers’ founder and director; Father Kevin Sweeney, vocation director; Father Gerald Dumont, pastor; and Father Anthony Iroh, parochial vicar. Deacon Marco Lopez from St. Rita’s, East New York, served as master of ceremonies.

Attendees began to arrive around 7 a.m. and Father Dumont welcomed both parishioners and visitors, including quadriplegic Detective Steven McDonald, all of whom “came to pray for respect for life from conception to natural death.”

During his homily, Bishop Daily said that the world is going through “tough times” and that’s why Catholics need to be “tough people by coming and praying the rosary like you here today.”

He praised the five Roman Catholics on the Supreme Court – Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas – for doing their part as Catholics by upholding the partial-birth abortion ban earlier in the week.

“We live each day and accept God’s will as it comes to us. And we pray for the little ones in the womb,” said the bishop.

Bishop Daily requested that vigil-goers pray also for the mothers, abortionists and all who “are plagued with spiritual blindness,” that they may grow in their respect for life and human dignity.

After Communion, the Blessed Sacrament was exposed for adoration. Bishop Daily and Msgr. Reilly guided the people from the pews to the asphalt on Albany Ave. where they could give witness to life.

Holding rosary beads, young women and adults of all ages meditated on the Luminous Mysteries as they processed to and from the hospital. For more than an hour, they contemplated the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries in front of the entrance to the hospital’s Ambulatory Care Center at Clarkson Ave. and East 39th St.

Msgr. Reilly informed the crowd that “most late term abortions in the city are performed at Kings County Hospital.” He noted that one of the abortion methods they employ, saline abortion, is used to extinguish approximately 2,500 lives annually.

Saline abortions, also known as saline amniocentesis, saline instillation, salt poisoning and salting out, is generally performed in the second and third trimesters.
During this procedure, a needle is inserted into the mother’s abdomen and a deadly salt solution is injected into the amniotic sac. The saline poisons the child, burning its lungs and skin, and sends the baby into convulsions. Doctors induce labor within 24 to 48 hours.

This procedure can present serious health risks to the mothers, and has even proven fatal in some cases.
Prayers were paused as Msgr. Reilly asked for a moment of silence to “pray for mercy at this site, at sites all over Brooklyn and Queens, around our country and the world.”

Just after 10 a.m., the crowd returned to church for Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

Msgr. Reilly then took the podium to discuss two positive developments: the Supreme Court’s support of the partial-birth abortion ban and the Vatican’s International Theological Commission’s newly published document regarding salvation for infants who die without being baptized.

Published on April 20, the document, Msgr. Reilly said, offers long-awaited hope that unbaptized and aborted babies “go directly to God and receive the fullness of eternal life,” rather than linger in limbo.

Msgr. Reilly said he has long believed that God unites the blood of aborted babies to the blood Christ shed for humanity.

While these developments are heartening, he reminded the crowd that “the other side isn’t sleeping. But with the grace and power of God, we can’t be stopped.”
Bishop Daily and Msgr. Reilly then led the faithful in a verse of “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name,” as attendees dispersed.

Proud parents and grandparents, Bernard and Rita Williams, parishioners at St. Catherine’s for the last 26 years, were heading home to spend time with their family.

“We have been coming every year,” said Bernard. “We value and respect life and we don’t believe in abortion.”
“We come because we know God answers prayers,” Rita added.

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