Imagine if Every Priest Were Arrested for Rescuing his Tiniest Parishioners!

Imagine this sign on the church door: "No Mass today. Father is in jail for defending the lives of God's littlest ones by order of the bishop who was arrested first!" 

Pro-life priest arrested for locking Planned Parenthood entrance in abortion ‘harbor’ New York

Back in the 1970s a friend and I went around visiting ministers and priests in the Diocese of Arlington and the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. urging them to participate in rescues at abortion businesses. We talked to the priests' senates in both Washington, D.C. and Arlington, VA. From dozens of visits to Catholic and Protestant clergy we had one, ONE, positive response. Rennie Scott, the pastor of Truro Episcopal in Fairfax (Clarence Thomas' parish before his conversion) would join  if other pastors did. There's safety in numbers is a truism that we saw born out in the attitude of the clergy. Yeah....maybe I'll go if you can get a bunch of other guys first. 

We often shook the dust off our feet as we left an interview. 

And, obviously,...it never happened. None of the pastors ever participated in our local rescues, not even as prayer warriors on the sidewalk. Later on, one heroic priest, Fr. Norman Weslin became known as Fr. Baby Doe for organizing rescues with participants who identified with the baby to the degree that they refused to give their names and went limp when arrested and had to be carried out. A handful of other Catholic priests participated in direct action at the killing centers. See here, here, and here [This one does no credit to the University of Steubenville]. 

Fr. Norman Weslin's last action before his death in 2012, protesting Obama's award at Notre Dame.
He was accompanied by Norma McCorvey, Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade, and Joan Andrews Bell

And then there are priests like Fr. Philip Reilly whose organization, Helpers of God's Precious Innocents, has saved many thousands of babies through sidewalk counseling. I can testify to the power of a Catholic priest witnessing at an abortuary, even if he never says a word. The presence of a priest friend of mine leading the rosary touched the heart of a Muslim couple planning to abort their fifth child. They went into the abortuary, but came out later and said, when they saw the priest (who was wearing a cassock), they couldn't do it. I stayed in touch with that family for about five years and my husband and I were invited to their oldest daughter's wedding. The mom told me their youngest, Mariam, was their "all American girl." 

To his credit, Bishop Thomas Welsh, Arlington's bishop, led a large protest at the Northern Virginia Women's Medical Center in Fairfax after our presentation to the priests' senate but the early rescue movement (called sit-ins at that time) continued to be small groups of laity blocking the doors of the killing centers. 

We saved babies and assisted their moms and some of us went to jail for brief periods, but the effort never caught on with most clergy except for a few priests here and there who joined sidewalk counseling efforts as described above.

Bishop Austin Vaughan (RIP)

One outstanding example, though, was Bishop Austin Vaughan, an auxiliary bishop in New York who was arrested several times with Operation Rescue, the large movement that saw hundreds out in front of abortion centers blocking the doors. The FACE Act [Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act] put a stop to that, but the Red Rose Rescues are re-invigorating direct action at the doors of hell without triggering FACE. Fr. Stephen Imbarrato founded Protest Child Killing, Fr. David Nix, and Fr. Fidelis have racked up a lot of arrests between them at Red Rose Rescues. The rescuers go into the waiting rooms and offer red roses and assistance to the women without blocking the doors. Their mere presence and compassionate care put a halt to business as usual...until the police arrived and "did their duty" to protect the paid assassins. 

I can't close this article without a mention of three courageous women who have led the way for the rest of us. Joan Andrews Bell, Linda Gibbons, and Mary Wagner. May God bless them with a crown of glory on Judgment Day.

From left to right: Linda, Mary, and Joan