Mass for the Innocents - May 3, 2008

St. Gerald Parish, Farmington

Southfield — Their deaths at the hands of an abortionist cut short their earthly lives, but the 23 aborted babies, whose remains were found in a local abortion clinic trash receptacle, are assured of eternal life with God, Auxiliary Bishop John Quinn said last Saturday.

"The life which these children received has been destroyed by death, yet Christ has taken them up," Bishop Quinn said during the graveside ceremony at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.

Msgr. Robert McClory, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Detroit, prayed, "May these little ones, one day, meet with us in the joy and love of your kingdom."

Bishop Quinn added that all those who attended the ceremony and the earlier funeral Mass at St. Gerald Church in Farmington would go forth even more convinced of the wrongness of abortion, and intent on redoubling their commitment to life.

Bishop Quinn was principal celebrant at the funeral Mass, along with Msgr. McClory; Fr. Ron Browne, the parish's pastor; Fr. Joe Lang, associate pastor of National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak; and a visiting Canadian priest. Assisting deacons included Deacons Joseph Lennon and John Liddle.

More than 300 people attended the Mass.

In his homily, Bishop Quinn prayed that the aborted infants "might be wrapped in God's mercy," and that "the love that was not shown to them in this world be shown to them by their loving Father."

He thanked God that there were those willing to pray outside abortion clinics, and – referring to the finding of the remains – "Thank God for those who care enough about human life to step into the darkness of a Dumpster."

The remains were found in February and March in trash receptacles behind the Lathrup Village abortion clinic, run by Dr. Alberto Hodari. A young couple who lived in Ann Arbor at the time were the first to examine the contents of the Dumpster at the Woman Care abortion clinic on Southfield Road.

Milissa Ackron and her fiancé, Kevin Kukla, were participating in the 40 Days for Life effort, which involved an around-the-clock vigil outside the abortion clinic, during Lent.

The couple (who have since married and moved to Texas to take jobs with the Diocese of Dallas) had heard Monica Migliorino Miller, a Madonna University professor and head of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, speak on what she and others had found in searches of Chicago-area clinic trash bins.

"I just said, 'Let's grab a couple of bags and see what we find,'" Milissa Kukla recalled.

At first, they found discarded patient records and lots of bloody medical waste, all of it just thrown out in the trash in apparent violation of Michigan law or environmental regulations.

"Each time, we would continue to find medical records, bloody gauze, medicine vials, IV (intravenous) bags with the sharps (needles) still attached, and canulas (tubes the abortion uses to suction out the body parts)," Kukla said.

Then, one night, "I opened up this muslin sack, and there was an arm in it," she recounted. After calling her fiancé's attention to what she had found, she says her next act was to say a prayer. Addressing the infant whose body part she had found, Kukla said she recalls saying, "I'm so sorry – you're mother didn't know."

Kukla contacted Miller, who picked up the remains and advised them they appeared to have found the remains of 15 aborted babies that day.

"I assumed if you went through an abortionist's trash long enough, you'd find babies, but nothing prepares you for it," Kukla continued. "I was changed forever when I first saw the photos of aborted children, but to actually hold one just convicts you all the more," she added.

Miller said she figured the improper disposal of biohazard waste meant the clinic was "probably throwing away babies, too."After more aborted babies were found in a later trash receptacle search, Miller turned contacted the Lathrup Village police. The Michigan Department of Envionmental Quality picked up the biohazard waste, and the human remains were turned over to Borek-Jennings Funeral Home in Hamburg.

Other pro-lifers said they found improperly disposed of medical records and medical waste in trash bins behind Hodari-run abortion clinics in Southgate and Sterling Heights. Altogether, he has five abortion clinics in Michigan.