Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 29, 2023 / 15:55 pm (CNA).
Catholic priest and pro-life activist Father Fidelis Moscinski, CFR, has been sentenced to six months in federal prison for blocking access to a Planned Parenthood abortion facility by placing locks and chains on the gated entrance.
Judge Steven Tiscione laid down the six-month sentence, which is the maximum available for the specific crime. Moscinski was found guilty of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which imposes harsh penalties for obstructing access to an abortion facility or a pregnancy center.
“My actions … were done because Planned Parenthood as an organization is in the business of killing,” Moscinski told the judge while asking for a lenient sentence, according to his remarks provided by the pro-life organization Red Rose Rescue.
Although the priest is a member of Red Rose Rescue, the organization has emphasized that his effort to block access to an abortion clinic was not sanctioned by the group. Red Rose Rescue said members can engage in pro-life activism outside of their organization, but they are a sole agent when doing so.
“Every procured abortion that occurs on [Planned Parenthood’s] premises constitutes the deliberate killing of an innocent human being,” Moscinski continued in his statement to the judge. “Furthermore, these bloody and violent acts also cause grave spiritual and psychological harm to the mother of the child. All of my actions then and now are directed solely towards preventing the murder of defenseless children and the wounding of their mothers.”
The Franciscan friar also criticized the FACE Act.
“This pseudo-law seeks to cloak the act of killing preborn children under the euphemistic and Orwellian language of ‘reproductive health care,’” Moscinski said. “I am not guilty of violating this law because this law cannot be seen as anything other than null and void since it attempts to give legal protection to actions which are intrinsically evil and unjust.”
Moscinski asked Tiscione to “somewhat mitigate the injustice this court has perpetrated” by providing him the most lenient sentence possible. Instead, the judge handed him the most severe sentence and cited his previous arrests for pro-life activism as his justification for the sentence.
The priest’s pro-life activism occurred on the morning of July 7, 2022, at the Planned Parenthood of Greater New York clinic in Hempstead, New York. He effectively shut down the clinic for about two hours by placing locks and chains on the entrance and covering some of them with glue, according to the Department of Justice.
Once the fire department and police department cut through the locks, Moscinski laid down in front of the entrance to prevent cars from entering the gate, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Moscinski has previously been arrested for his pro-life activism, but this is the first time he has been found guilty of violating the FACE Act. Last year, he was arrested for trespassing in an abortion clinic after entering the facility in protest and refusing to leave when ordered by staff and then by police.
Earlier this month, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Red Rose Rescue that seeks to bar Moscinski and other members of Red Rose Rescue from going within 30 feet of an abortion clinic. Even though Moscinski’s FACE Act violation was not part of a Red Rose Rescue, the attorney general cited that incident as one of the incidents to justify the lawsuit.
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This Franciscan Friar of the Renewal is acting like a true man, like a true follower of St. Francis and and true follower of Christ. True men stand ready to protect the most vulnerable. Now compare this Franciscan to too many of the OFMs who have traveled far afield of how real men are supposed to act, the kind of man St. Francis was and, above all, the kind of man that Christ was.
Blocking for me, but not for thee.
I recently saw a story on a young lady from Texas who was contemplating an abortion, but due to the strict law and the timing she went with an “open adoption.” (still painful). They interviewed a Texas adoption agency who said adoptions are up 30%.
Good man. Dominus vobiscum.
Kudos, Father! Any word from Dolan? (crickets)
This judge is evil and so is Lettia James and I hope someday they pay the price unless they repent! If they don’t maybe all the aborted babies can haunt them and make them miserable forever!
While in prison he can, like St. Peter and St. Paul, convert others. Prayers.
A brave and committed man and brother, no doubt, but a fool at the same time. As Christians ,in a Democracy, we must obey the law and allow others to function within the law. We are still able to use the ballot box to make our convictions known, but should comply when the tide is again turning against us. We are free to refuse, however, to do anything against our convictions, but respect those who act accordingly to their convictions. Fine lines must be drawn,and I realize that each has their own line which they will not cross. We must , learn to respect the convictions of others and not doubt their integrity. That said, perhaps he expected his punishment and is using it as a way to bring attention to the cause that he stands for and hopes that people will see the evil of abortion . Much like the attention that the Berigan brother priests got by incarcerations.
Let’s say he save a life that day, then what’s your opine?
A fool? A fool for Christ’s sake if one at all. You say we must “respect those who act accordingly to their convictions.” I’d say it depends on what those convictions are and what they support.
It’s worthwhile for all of us to dig up a copy of Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”
“One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws…Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.”
Martin Luther King Jr. (1963)
So you’re saying, James Connor, that Catholics in 1930’s Germany should have gone along with the Nazi takeover because it was brought about by people acting “according to their convictions”?
Look, Mr. Connor. If you want to vote for Democrats whose key policy goal is the murder of innocent children by the millions, then that’s on you.
But don’t try to claim that it’s right or just or moral.
Because it is and will always be repugnant. The height of evil.
Father Moscinski is a true hero. He has the fortitude and courage to stand up against those who murder innocent little babies. God be with him and bless him always.
Definition of a real man and true follower of Christ. Abortion is cold murder that’s all it is, don’t let anyone ever say it isn’t or try to wiggle out by saying some stupid scientific shit. May God Bless Father Moscinski and protect and bless him in jail and may others be converted as well.
Note that St. Francis was famously called a Fool for Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:27
The murdered unborn are with God. It is foolish to think we can be united to God if we idly stand by while millions of His children are murdered. Shall we synodle about this?
Amen, Mr. Fool!
LOL!
Let’s have a Synod!
You might want to be careful calling anyone a fool. Jesus Christ warned us about doing that, remember?
You might want to be careful about calling anyone a fool. Jesus Christ warned us about that. Remember?