WEST CHESTER, Pennsylvania (LifeSiteNews) — A Pennsylvania court has handed down a split verdict for a Franciscan priest and devoted pro-life activist after he entered an abortion clinic to counsel women to choose life for their preborn children.
On Tuesday afternoon, Father Christopher “Fidelis” Moscinski was found guilty of two misdemeanor charges, but not guilty of a felony trespass and a misdemeanor resist, after he had entered a Planned Parenthood on August 27, 2021, with red roses and pro-life literature ready to hand out to women to help persuade them to choose life for their children.
The priest was prepared to engage in a “Red Rose Rescue,” a strategy inspired by Canadian pro-life hero Mary Wagner, who for years has entered abortion facilities with roses in hand, which she gives to the mothers in the waiting room, along with offers of help and alternatives to abortion.
Before he had a chance to distribute the roses and literature, police carried out Fr. Fidelis after clinic staff accused him of trespassing, as pro-life activist Laura Gies shared with LifeSiteNews on Tuesday.
Immediately following Tuesday’s verdict, pro-life activist Will Goodman – who has carried out red rose rescues alongside Fr. Fidelis – explained to LifeSiteNews correspondent Jim Hale that Fr. Fidelis had also previously been charged with a felony conspiracy, but that this charge was thrown out before the trial.
Goodman celebrated as a “big victory” the tossing of the first felony and the “not guilty” verdict for the second felony, which he collectively called “the biggest hammer” of the prosecution.
Board-certified family physician and general surgeon Sister Deidre “Dede” Byrne told Hale she was able to testify as an expert witness in defense of Fr. Fidelis during his trial.
With great joy, I was able to say as a medical doctor that life begins at the moment of conception… And I said, it’s not my opinion, it’s what I learned in medical school. And that is a scientific fact, that life begins at the moment of conception.
“They asked me, ‘What is abortion?’ continued Byrne. “And I said abortion is killing babies. And I just kept mentioning that this is a child, this is life, this is a baby… I was able to stress that with the hope that the judge [would] realize that what Father’s doing is literally just trying to save lives.”
Fr. Fidelis, a member of the Fransican Friars of the Renewal who frequently engages in Red Rose Rescues, added, “the most important thing is that we do this all with love. Not out of frustration or anger, or judgment. We just realize, we’re instruments of the Lord in all of this.”
He urged people to “continue keeping all pro-lifers anywhere who are facing charges, especially federal charges, in your prayers, and that God can bring some good out of this unjust persecution.”
Fr. Fidelis is no stranger to arrest or imprisonment for his efforts to save the unborn. He was among those recently targeted by the FBI for Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) violation charges, later released on his own recognizance. Just prior to that, he served part of a 90-day jail sentence for another Red Rose Rescue effort.
He was also previously arrested in Ohio in June 2021 and in New Jersey in January 2020, for abortion facility rescues.
Fr. Fidelis has recently championed Red Rose Rescue efforts as a necessary means to help save unborn children, despite the arrests which follow them.
“The fundamental challenge of the pro-life movement has always been to convince our society of the intrinsic value and dignity of our unborn brothers and sisters,” said Fr. Fidelis in a letter circulated on August 31.
“But words alone cannot convince,” he continued. “Only loving, sacrificial, Christ-like actions will convince those who are trapped in the mindset of the Culture of Death. Only when we are freely and generously ready to give up our possessions, money, careers, freedom and even life itself will we fully show the true value of the lives of these children.”