STATEN ISLAND, NY, May 8, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The pro-life group Priests for Life says that it will hold a memorial service this week in honor of the victims of Kermit Gosnell, during which the victims will also be given names.
The service was originally scheduled for today, but has been moved to later this week after Priests for Life National Director Fr. Frank Pavone was delayed in Wisconsin, according to Communications Director Leslie Palma. Palma said the service will be held in the Priests for Life office on Staten Island, but they are still working out a final time.
Fr. Pavone had previously requested from the Medical Examiner the bodies of the babies that were recovered from Gosnell’s clinic in Philadelphia, to provide them with a proper burial.
“These are not just medical waste. These are human bodies,” said Fr. Pavone. “Real human beings were killed.”
The bodies of some 45 babies were found at Gosnell's facility. The remains were frozen and stored in a variety of containers, including milk jugs, cat food cans, and even a cherry lime-ade container.
This week, Pavone said, Priests for Life will take the step of giving names to those babies.
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“We will have a memorial service, which we will make available online, in which we will acknowledge the human dignity and personhood of these children, and bestow names upon them,” said Pavone.
“God has entrusted the lives of all of us to one another. Though a father or mother may forsake the child, that does not give us permission to do so. We claim these children as our brothers and sisters.”
The medical examiner has said he will get back to Fr. Pavone about whether Priests for Life can obtain the remains of the babies. Fr. Pavone has also contacted the judge in the case to see if Gosnell would be willing to meet with him.
Kermit Gosnell is on trial for allegedly killing four newborn babies born alive during botched abortions by snipping their spinal cords. However, his employees have testified that “hundreds” of living babies were killed in this way.