Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Welcome back to a new edition of our diocesan podcast, Big City Catholics, with Bishop Robert Brennan, the Diocesan Bishop of Brooklyn, serving in Brooklyn and Queens, and myself here, Father Christopher Henry at St. Joan of Arc Parish in Jackson Heights, Queens. This podcast releases on Friday, October 23rd, as we continue through this month of Respect Life Month, dedicated to all things in our world, our society, trying to reclaim certainly the value and dignity of all human life, from natural conception to natural death. But we do as we begin all things. We begin in prayer. And taking this prayer, Bishop, from the usccb, the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, their information that they have regarding the resources for this month of Respect Life beautiful prayer that they offer through the intercession of St. Joseph and our Blessed Mother Mary. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Dearest Saint Joseph, at the word of an angel, you lovingly took Mary into your home as God's humble servant. You guided the Holy family on the road to Bethlehem, welcomed Jesus as your own son in the shelter of a manger, and fled far from your homeland for the safety of both mother and child. We praise God that as their faithful protector, you never hesitated to sacrifice for those entrusted to you. May your example inspire us also to welcome, cherish and safeguard God's most precious gift of life.
Help us to faithfully commit ourselves to the service and defense of human life, especially where it is vulnerable or threatened. Obtain for us the grace to do the will of God in all things. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:01:59] Speaker B: So hello there, Father Henry. It's good to reconnect.
[00:02:02] Speaker A: Absolutely. Bishop I loved last week's podcast. Bishop.
[00:02:06] Speaker B: Wasn't that terrific? You know, I had been to St. Francis de Chantal either early this year or late last year was sort of in that winter time and I met a number of young adults through Father Lucas, the pastor. We had a nice lunch with a bunch of parishioners, but some very talkative young adults. And so it was nice to be able to connect with two of them. They represented the group and one woman who is a little bit older, who would remember some of the communist era times and the work of Yuri Populusko. Father Yuri, not only his martyrdom, but his great, great work promoting human dignity when in Communist Poland. The authorities were trying to take that away and it was a wonderful experience. We had the podcast before the Mass and then went right into the Mass. It was a beautiful, beautiful celebration, the full church, a lot of faith. And also they were in the practice of on the 13th of the month between May and October, praying the prayers of Fatima in honor of our lady of Fatima. And of course, October 13th was the last vision, the last appearance of Mary and Fatima. And so they had a big procession around the church, just very, very, very.
But that legacy of Father Popieluszko lives on. I had an interesting thing this week. I was we'll talk about the relics of Saint Bernadette. And a lady came out after mass and she said, thank you for mentioning Father Populusko. He was my religion teacher. Wow, imagine that, Imagine that. But this great priest who didn't go looking for this, he didn't look for any of it, but he was just thrown into it because, well, you might say he was on duty that day. And yeah, he got called and just developed that relationship with the workers and really helped the country during oppressive times and helped them to stand tall. So that was a great lead in. Because really we're coming now to the end of October, the end of Respect Life Month. Although Respect Life is always on our minds. And to think of somebody like Father Papyluszko who promoted human dignity is a great way to lead us into a reflection on the dignity of life, the life of every single human person at every moment.
[00:04:24] Speaker A: You said it right, Bishop. It's not just a one month event for us, but it is an opportunity within this month to really highlight the attacks on human dignity. And there's no short list of it. It's a pretty long list, Bishop, as we are attentive to what's going on in the world and in our nation,
[00:04:42] Speaker B: and we really can't look at everything in terms of victories and losses. But you know, you seem to take a step forward. I mean, there was, and we knew better. We knew there was a lot of celebration over the Dobbs decision, which was basically a constitutional question, that the government didn't have the right to just impose abortion on the whole country. But we saw that reversal of Versus Wade. But that wasn't the end of abortion in the United States by any stretch of the imagination. And we know that many states strengthened their abortion laws, making abortion more available. But the troubling thing, in September, I'm on the Pro Life committee for the United States Catholic Bishops Conference. We spent a lot of time talking about really what's become the most common form of abortion today. And that is the chemical abortion, the abortion pill. And so that is the most common form of abortion. But it's the same thing. It's that you are taking the life of an innocent child and terminating a pregnancy. But, you know, I guess in some ways it's disguised when you're not, you know, going to a hospital or a clinic. But in some ways it's actually more
[00:05:53] Speaker A: disturbing, this information, Bishop, that's available about the abortion by pill. The numbers are staggering. I mean, where we're reading that the rate of women taking abortion pills is increasing and is at hundreds of thousands per year. Hundreds of thousands per year. And so. And yet it's so easily accessible, right? Bishop this is part of the concern,
[00:06:18] Speaker B: like ordering something online so you don't even have to go to a doctor. Now, now it's, you know, with the advent of telehealth, you can just speak to somebody on a zoom call, get it all set up and it comes in the mail. And in some ways you say, okay, well that's easier. But on the other hand, the woman is left alone with the aftermath of this whole thing, having to deliver the child alone.
And so while it looks cleaner, you might say it might be less gruesome at first, you know, it does leave the individual, the woman alone in this terrible experience. But it also makes it easier for men to abuse women. It makes it easier for sex trafficking because you can just provide these pills.
[00:07:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:06] Speaker B: And so there are real, real concerns. And the church, we're not alone in this. The church raises this. But a lot of people of goodwill all around the country are raising serious, serious concerns about this. And so one of the key things that concerns us is awareness that we can kind of make this reality known to people. There's one thing about the abortion pill is it is possible within a certain amount of time to take a reversal. There's another medication that can stop the effects before the actual ending of the life takes place. Would you believe that there are states that are banning the reversal pill? So he allowed the pill that kills. But banning, actually banning, I mean, can't hide the fact that this is a political agenda or at least an ideological agenda.
[00:07:57] Speaker A: And what's so unique about this pill by mail is that in any state, even in a state that would be considered more pro life state, can receive these pills from the states that would send them. So it's a real challenge, Bishop and I know that, you know, as a church, we stand with moms in need, we walk with mothers in crisis pregnancies. I agree, Bishop, that sharing the information, being aware and alert to this information is probably the first and best. Well, the best way is to pray. But sharing this information is a very important aspect of that and there's a
[00:08:36] Speaker B: lot of deceit in this. So we pray for the women themselves. We pray for the women with no judgment, but just prayer, prayer, prayer, and trying to increase that awareness. So we try to do that awareness. You talk about moms walking with moms in need, and we have two great organizations right within our diocese. We have the Bridge to Life and we have the Life Center. Two great organizations devoted to providing resources and more than just handing out something to get you through a moment, but really walking the journey with you. And so I'm so proud that so many of our parishes are connected with this one or the other of these organizations.
[00:09:15] Speaker A: Our parish here at Joan of Arc, we had a baby shower, a weekend where parishioners can come with items for moms in need. We're all trying our best to assist. And not just a pro birth church, but a pro life church, a church that is constantly there. And as you said, Bishop, 100% without any judgment, but just to lend the support. Bishop, recently again, on other aspects of this topic of respecting life, we see historically and uniquely the capital punishment that, that made headlines.
[00:09:50] Speaker B: Yes, capital punishment comes back into the war. We've had a couple of high profile cases.
The sad thing about that is that they're happening. I suppose the silver lining is, is that this is flashing a little bit of an awareness in people's minds that the reality that this is happening in our country is still there. So there were two cases that really got some attention. So in Tennessee where it was a woman who was being executed and it didn't work and yet it caused great pain and difficulty. That's not what we were about as a country. That's not what we're about. The church speaks very clearly on capital punishment. I hear the arguments about deterrence and I hear the arguments about protecting society, but we've come so far with curity, with jail, and it's not something that fits the definition of necessary for self defense. We're better than this. Some of the crimes are horrendous. So the other one that's come to mind was the fellow with the Fort Hood shooting. But he did was absolutely reprehensible. Going into a base and shooting up fellow servicemen, that's. That's just despicable. And there's no way of getting around that. But you know what? As a society, we're better than he is.
I don't mind saying that.
And we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard. You know, last week I kind of, in giving a tease to this week's, topics I raised when I recorded last week. It's looking like they were going to live stream the execution by firing squad. And really a lot of voices from all sides of the political arena, you know, both right and left, Republican and Democrat, really spoke up and said, wait a minute, this is beyond the pale.
And so that was actually reversed. The president reversed that and I'm glad he did. But it still leaves the fact that there is an execution scheduled in December and it's by firing squad. I think we have to say that we don't need to sink to that level. And, you know, once you start making the decision that certain lives are expendable, then life is expendable.
[00:12:14] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:14] Speaker B: We say it about abortion. I'll say it about capital punishment again, I'm not defending the people, the criminals, in any way, shape or form.
And we have to do things to protect societies. And maybe in some cases very strict sentencing is called for. But we've come a long way in this country and we should be able to overcome this form of punishment, the taking of a life. And going back to the one in Tennessee when I was in, in Ohio, Ohio had as a state the death penalty. And two things. One couple of years before I got there, there was similarly a botched lethal injection. And companies stopped selling the chemicals needed for the lethal injection to the state for anything because of that fear. They didn't want to be associated with that. It got in the press and among people in the political arena the question of, you know, how can we find a humane way for capital punishment? And I thought, what a contradiction. Fortunately, there wasn't any capital punishment during the time I was there. It was on the books, but the governor never allowed it to take place. The governor, he's finishing his term now. He was consistently pro life. Governor DeWine was consistently pro life. And across the board on all those ethics, I always held him in the highest esteem because, you know, he didn't pick and choose. He was right across. Across the board. But that being the case, yeah. It's another issue that's been concerning for us. I say once you say that life is some life is expendable, all life is expendable. We had the big issue this year with the assisted suicide.
[00:13:53] Speaker A: Yeah. As well here in New York. And we spoke about that. We had the chance to talk about that when it reached the governor's desk again, how upsetting and the emotions that are used to help try to justify it plays with people's fears and concerns. And there's a lot of chance for abuse as well.
[00:14:15] Speaker B: And that you're starting to see. Recently there was. I came across an article about what's been happening in Canada even recently, where a person didn't. It sounded more like she didn't understand what she was getting herself into. And so you might say she changed her mind, but I don't think she really ever understood. Exactly. But you know what? Sorry. This is what we agreed to. It leaves itself up into abuses, and then the other thing. And this kind of brings me to another experience, a good experience this week, but we talked about Migrant Dignity. Still concerned about the whole TPS situation.
Concerned about a lot with immigration law. And, you know, I'm always going to say we have to be fair and speak about both sides of the political aisle. People living in tents in Floyd Bennett Field or on the grounds of Creedmoor. That's not dignity. That's not dignity at all. I'm really proud of the way our parish is. Really responded to the needs of people at that time. But, you know, we. We are concerned. We know that, again, you have to deal with some of the criminal element, and indeed, some violent criminals have been taken off the street, and that's not a bad thing. But on the other hand, a lot of other people are being caught in the whole thing, and that's a scary situation. And that, again, we have the. The right and the responsibility of securing borders. But treating people with dignity is always going to be our rallying call, no matter what. It's not a political agenda. I'll criticize both sides. It's about treating people with dignity and respect. The Haitian immigration became an issue because of the removal of the TPS status. Then it's affected other groups as well. But here's a case where you can't say people entered the country illegally.
What happened is people were granted protection, and suddenly it's removed. And the situation in Haiti has not gotten better. It's gotten worse. It's gotten worse. And people literally escaped from their homes, their businesses, leaving everything behind. So it's not like you say, okay, you just go back home and everything will be there.
[00:16:17] Speaker A: Now, Bishop, you had the chance to participate. There was a beautiful offering in solidarity with Migrant Dignity recently in our diocese.
[00:16:26] Speaker B: Indeed, you know, talking with the Haitian and just listening to some of the concerns, some of the fears and the joblessness, all of a sudden, people lost their jobs. And listening to all of that, one of the suggestions was it began as maybe some kind of prayerful witness. And then we talked about a procession, and we ended up with the Stations of the Cross.
And we used USCCP resources. Let me tell you something.
What a beautiful experience of prayer. And while it was the brainchild and a lot of the work of the Haitian, it was for all migrants. Migrant dignity. And lots of people were invited, and a good number of people came. We started St. Jerome, went from St. Jerome to St. Therese, from St. Therese to St. Vincent. Farah, Father Henry. Let me tell you, it was beautiful. It was prayerful. It was organized. It wasn't a rally, it was prayer.
And I was so moved and so happy to be a part of it. It was really incredibly, incredibly moving. So hats off to all those who organized it, to Father Hilaire, to Michel Guiller and all the team. They did just a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful job of it. You know, it gives us chance to remember that really, our first line of defense, just like you said when we were talking about the abortion pill, the first line of defense is prayer. And, you know, even when we have political wins like the Dobbs decision, it's not about scoring political victories. It's about transforming hearts and minds. And that'll only happen by prayer. And I mean constant pouring out our hearts in prayer and public prayer, public witness, because that does soften the heart a little bit. And God uses those prayers, God uses the prayers to transform a society. So I was so proud of how people who put the whole experience together, but right out into the car, because we had to make our way up to Christ the King for the youth gathering, they changed the schedule around so that I could do this. I concluded the day with Mass. We had about 800 young people there last Saturday, and that was largely, not exclusively, largely Queens.
And tomorrow, Saturday, we'll have gathering at Our lady of Angels, which will be largely, not exclusively, Brooklyn. And again, those young people are themselves tremendous witnesses for life. To see their exuberance, their joy, but their reverence and prayer, it really inspires.
[00:19:01] Speaker A: It certainly does. And when it's lived properly, right. Bishop, we see, you know, the beauty of life, the beauty of celebrating our faith, the beauty of appreciating each day as a gift from God. And when we see young people coming together, when we see all of our faithful coming together in different acts of love and prayer.
And, Bishop, another beautiful act of love and prayer that we just experienced in the diocese was the visit of the relics of Saint Bernadette.
[00:19:30] Speaker B: Oh, that was beautiful. I celebrated the evening Mass. There was a Mass earlier in the day for school children.
I expected it to be big. I expected it to be a big event. Lots of People were asking about it. Now, this is. It's a visit to the United States, the whole eastern seaboard, I believe Father Jeremy Canna said, but don't worry, St. Bernard's not going to experience any cold or snow. She's going to be. She's going to be visiting the southern states in the winter.
But right now, the relics are here in New York. They were with us on Monday, and people were coming in droves, and they were very, very strict. The people from the sanctuary of Lourdes, what could be done? The reliquary was surrounded by a glass, and you were not allowed to touch anything. They had some of the rocks from the cave. You could touch those. But the people who were the honor God, what they would do is they could take like a prayer card or a rosary and touch the glass with that. And let me tell you something. As much as I expected the crowds, what I didn't expect were the number of people who were there for somebody else. And what stories of heartbreak, what stories of faith, hope and love I heard as people were leaving the church, please pray for my granddaughter. Please pray for my husband or my wife. People came with genuine. Going back to Father Populousco he once spoke about. I quoted it last week, you know, why do people come to these masses? For the homeland. They come to pour out their sufferings in prayer. And, you know, that's what we did. We put out our hopes and our sufferings and our thanksgivings. It was very beautiful. Now, you were actually in Lourdes, right?
[00:21:13] Speaker A: Yeah. It was interesting enough that as I was going to visit Lourdes, Bernadette was coming to visit Brooklyn and Queens. But we had a beautiful pilgrimage, and I felt the same aspect fish of that. Everyone on my pilgrimage was there. Everyone was there filled with intentions in their hearts. And. And as you say, the majority praying for someone else. I had never visited either of those places. We were in Fatima and in Lourdes. It was a first for me, and it was a really blessed opportunity for me to be able to celebrate Mass in both places and.
And just feel that, that sense of the unity, the prayerfulness, the hope. I met a young Irish couple in Lourdes. He was a roofer who had a terrible accident at work and fell off the roof and had come with his bride to offer prayers for healing. And I had the chance even just to ask him about his faith. And he said, well, you know, this has strengthened his faith, you know, being able to come together and come in prayer.
Just stunning stuff, Bishop. And just a beautiful, humbling experience of prayer and Faith. And you and I have talked about this a number of times in different contexts, but I think the evil one wants us to think that we're alone, that we're part of a dying church. Young people, this is not cool for you. No one goes. But then when you have these youth rallies or these prayerful moments or these processions, these Stations of the Cross, you. We. We are strengthened by them.
[00:22:40] Speaker B: Bishop Whalen tells me, because I couldn't be at the beatification of blessed Fulton Sheen, but he said, at the beatification at St. Louis in that arena, and when they received the relics at St. Patrick's both places were filled with young families. Young families. You know, what a great way to conclude our conversation today because, you know, we started with our concerns about attacks on human dignity, and yet isn't it great that we're finishing with such stories of faith with people who are really bright and shining lights in. In the world today and that God is doing great things?
[00:23:17] Speaker A: God is doing great things.
So, amen. On that beautiful note, Bishop, perhaps you could offer a blessing for us.
[00:23:25] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:23:25] Speaker A: The Lord be with you with your spirit.
[00:23:28] Speaker B: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he look upon you with kindness and gracious. There's peace. And may the blessing of Almighty God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit descend upon you and remain with you forever and ever. Amen.
[00:23:41] Speaker A: Amen. Thank you, Bishop. Thanks one and all for joining us each and every week on this diocesan podcast, Big City Catholics. For more information about a Pro Life resources and Respect Life Month, you can visit respectlife.org and find more information about all prayers, resources, leader tools, kits, etc. God bless you, and we'll see you again next week.
