A Virginia court convicted two priests Monday of trespassing at an abortion clinic for blocking entrances to an abortion clinic during a pro-life activist operation.
The General District Court in Alexandria convicted Fr. Fidelis Moscinski of the Community of Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and Fr. Stephen Imbarratto of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico, of trespassing at the Alexandria Women’s Health Clinic for blocking entrances to the facility on Sept. 15 as part of a mission called Red Rose Rescue, according to Aleteia.
The priests, along with several others convicted of trespassing at the clinic Monday, were praying and handing out roses to women entering the clinic to convince them not to go through with abortions, as per current practices of the mission. The defendants, however, allegedly began using tactics that the mission employed in the 1980s and 1990s, which included blocking entrances and making it difficult for authorities to remove or arrest demonstrators.
“I, and the other defendants in this case, were justified in our attempts to save the lives of pre-born children who were in imminent danger of death through abortion,” Moscinski said in a statement Monday, according to Aleteia. “A unique human individual begins to exist at the moment of conception.”
The two priests and four women demonstrators resisted arrest, forcing police to drag the priests out of the clinic and to roll the women out in wheelchairs, according to Lifesite News.
The presiding judge will dismiss the charges against the defendants if they demonstrate a year “of good behavior.”
“In finding me guilty this Court has refused to recognize the humanity and value of pre-born children,” Moscinski added in his statement before the court.
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