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(LifeSiteNews) — Recently pardoned pro-life rescuer Will Goodman gleefully recalled the “rush of joy” he experienced in prison as he learned he had been pardoned by President Donald Trump last Thursday.

He also reflected on his time in prison, the profound challenges and consolation graces he received, along with his first experience of entering a Catholic church again for Holy Mass after his release. “It was like heaven,” he said.

Goodman is one of the “D.C. Nine” peaceful pro-life rescuers who attempted to save the lives of preborn girls and boys in October 2020 at a late-term abortion facility in Washington, D.C. He was prosecuted by the Biden Department of Justice under Attorney General Merrick Garland and sentenced to 27 months in a federal prison by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.

The decades-long pro-life activist also sent a brief video message to LifeSiteNews expressing his gratitude to God, President Trump and LifeSiteNews readers who supported the rescuers with prayer, letters, and even commissary donations.

Goodman also asked for prayers for unborn children who receive “a death penalty without a presidential pardon” and who “need your help” along with “their moms and dads.”

“We need to do more work to end this national, international holocaust against the most innocent, God’s beloved children,” he said.

Prison time ‘a great blessing,’ consoled by presence of J6 inmates and Steve Bannon

Speaking during a telephone interview with LifeSite on Monday, Goodman reflected on his time in federal custody, which began August 29, 2023, when he and his fellow rescuers were convicted and immediately incarcerated for violations of the FACE Act along with unprecedented charges of “conspiracy against rights.” This latter charge allowed the court to tack on enormously extended sentences.

Always spiritually positive, recognizing his mission as being a part of God’s Providence for his life, Goodman said “it was a great blessing to have a 17-month ‘retreat,’ compliments of Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice. And I mean that sincerely. I thank God for the gift of being able to go to prison. It was a blessing to be able to meet these (other incarcerated) men, to have an opportunity to learn from them, especially some of the J6 (January 6) guys, also Steve Bannon, and seeing the virtue of some of these other men who are trying to turn their lives around.”

READ: Imprisoned pro-lifer: I am hoping for Trump’s pardon but also preparing not to receive it

Bannon, former chief strategist for President Trump during his first term and host of The War Room podcast, had earlier served a four-month sentence at the same low-security federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut. The media executive was placed behind bars on July 1, 2024, for refusing to comply with the corrupt Democrat-led January 6 Congressional committee in 2022.

Goodman called Bannon a “great guy” who was a “strong supporter” of the rescuers, considering them “heroes,” even if the longtime activist declined the designation, saying, “we’re not heroes, but just people doing what we’re supposed to do.”

He said Bannon taught a class in civics to fellow inmates and it didn’t matter if the “guys were from the deepest, darkest holes of the inner city” or “white collar Wall Street millionaires” who were also in the low-security prison, “Steve connected with all of them,” showing “great virtue and respect for each, even when they would disagree with and challenge him.”

In order to reduce the possibility of media coverage, Goodman said the federal prison released him at around 2 a.m. last Friday after his pardon, as Bannon was released at the same time of day in late October.

How Goodman learned of his pardon; fellow inmates rejoice with him

Goodman expressed how his fellow inmates were familiar with his case “and they were angry at the federal government” on his behalf.

“They couldn’t believe that I was handing out brochures in a hallway, I got arrested and then houses were stormed by the feds. Grandmothers and grandfathers were picked up with these thugs in body armor and they were all like, ‘Yeah, we know what it’s like to get your door kicked in by FBI agents with their weapons drawn.’”

They couldn’t believe “peaceful grandmothers who prayed the rosary sitting in a waiting room had this done to them. So, these hardened criminal-type men were angry. They were mad at what happened. They couldn’t believe it.

Therefore, last Thursday afternoon, while working on a letter in the loud and noisy three-story cell block that houses 60 to 70 inmates, Goodman thought he heard the voice of a very tough fellow inmate, a big “gang guy” yelling his name, but he wasn’t certain.

“And then I hear it for sure,” he said. “‘Goodman, get up here! Trump’s going to pardon you!’”

“So I set my things down and I’m still moving slow from my accident. I get up to the third floor, come into (the room), and they all say, ‘You just missed it!’”

“All the guys are just staring at me and I ask, ‘What did I miss?’” And though Trump had moved on to sign other executive orders, the longtime activist noticed the Fox News ticker running on the bottom of the screen, “TRUMP SIGNS NEW EXECUTIVE ORDERS. ANTI-ABORTION PROTESTERS FROM DC PARDONED.”

He was quite stunned, and “the men there were all real happy for me and giving me high fives, saying things like ‘Don’t forget about us. You’ve seen what it’s like on the inside. You see the abuse the federal government has done.”

“So, I felt a sense of responsibility because, yes, I experienced how the federal government is lacking in respect for human dignity, for basic welfare for human beings who are incarcerated,” he said.

Then, with the entire cell block waiting for Goodman’s release, several hours later “someone came in from the prison and asked my name. I showed them my card and they said, ‘You’ve been pardoned by the President of the United States.’”

And though the cell block is normally very noisy, “it got real quiet,” he said. “Then I hear an inmate yell down, ‘Did you get pardoned, Will?’”

“I responded, (yelling) ‘Trump just pardoned me!’ and all 60 guys started cheering and applauding. It was just really surreal,” he recalled with joyous laughter.

Trump’s gracious pardon ‘really incredible’ even as many ‘Catholic bishops and leaders of the pro-life movement’ will not ‘acknowledge rescuers’

“There were a lot of surreal moments in the past year and a half, but that the President of the United States would pardon a rescuer? Like, we don’t even have Catholic bishops and leaders of the pro-life movement who acknowledge rescuers,” he contrasted.

“Now we’ve got a president pardoning them and who is saying in front of the whole world that this is ‘ridiculous’ what happened to us, that these are good people and that it was ‘honor’ for him to grant these pardons?” he celebrated. “It’s just really incredible.”

“But, you know, it’s certainly the fruit of many, many prayers, knowing people are sacrificing, people are praying, and the Holy Mass is being offered for our president,” Goodman pondered.

“And just to experience that rush of joy, and knowing the other guys (inmates), we’re all happy too,” was a surreal moment.

Joyful experience of leaving ‘hellish environment’ and entering ‘the vestibule of heaven,’ a beautiful Catholic Church

After his dead of night release, Goodman attended Holy Mass at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Danbury with a friend. Asked what that was like for him after being imprisoned for 17 months, he said, “It was like heaven.”

“But seriously, you have the drab colors of prison, the horrible smells of prison, the horrible sounds of prison, and the chaos with this kind of tension that’s always heavy in the air.”

And with a voice of relief, Goodman described the contrast of “the color coming through” the church’s “beautiful German-stained glass windows, the smell of incense, the palpable silence and the peace, with Jesus there in the Blessed Sacrament. The beauty just fills you with joy.”

“I’ve been telling people this and probably sound like a broken record, but it’s really like coming out of something like hell, a hellish environment — and I know it’s not hell, obviously — but you’ve got angry, frustrated people. It’s dirty, it’s smelly and it’s dangerous,” he described. “And you come out of that and people are filled with love, people are talking about the faith, just being in the church, entering into the liturgy, was like walking into the vestibule of heaven.”

Goodman went on to express how he was not really separated from being in a church for very long compared with many others, including Chinese Cardinal Ignatius Kung Pin-Mei (1901-2000), who was imprisoned for over 30 years due to his defying the Communist government from its efforts to control the Church through its Catholic Patriotic Association.

Concluding his video message to LifeSiteNews readers, Goodman said that after this glorious gift from God the urgency of the pro-life movement’s mission moves ahead. “We continue to work and to pray, ora et labora, and to try to put our faith into living action. So we pray for one another and take this action and continue to move forward.

“So, once again, thank you all so much for your prayers. Viva Cristo Rey! Que viva!

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