I drove back to Brooklyn that Friday night, since Bishop Thomas Daily was offering the 7:15 AM Helpers’ Vigil Mass in Our Lady of Cenacle Church on Saturday, August 25th. After praying outside of the building in Jamaica Hospital where the abortions are performed, we returned to church for a closing Benediction.
         On Saturday September 15th, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio offered the Helpers Vigil Mass in St. Joan of Arc. Then, Bishop DiMarzio joined by the new Pastor, Msgr. Garcia, the parish priests, Msgr. Ogle, the Vicar and Father Sweeney, the Diocesan Vocation Director, led the Helpers in Prayer outside of two abortion mills in Jackson Heights. The local Helpers were joined in this Vigil by Wolfgang Hering , the President of the Helpers in Germany, and Helpers from Rochester, in upstate New York.

       On Oct. 20th Bishop Frank Caggiano offered the Helpers Mass at St. Patrick’s Church in Long Island City and led the Helpers in a prayerful rosary procession to Choices abortion mill. We were joined by a wonderful group of college students from Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. who spent the weekend at the Monastery of the Precious Blood taking part in a Helpers Retreat Training Program. On Saturday Nov. 17th, Bishop Daily led the Helpers Prayerful Rosary Procession to All Women’s Abortion Mill on Austin Street in Forest Hills, Queens after offering the 7:30 A.M. at Queen of Martyrs Church. For many years Dotty Doyle, Mary Murray, and Maryann Mazzella faithfully counseled at this site, supported by faithful prayers as Dennis O’Shea, Chuck Haunns, John Gorman and Bishop Daily.
         

     On Monday afternoon, Nov. 26th I set out, again accompanied by the very helpful and talented volunteer assistant, Elizabeth Hickson, on a Pro-Life Mission trip to Africa and Europe. The ever generous volunteer Helper, Mike Reddy, drove us to JFK Airport in New York City. At 5:30 PM on a Delta jet we left JFK and arrived at 8:30 AM,. Tuesday morning in the City of Accra, the Capital of the Republic of Ghana in West Africa. Ghana has more than 20 million people and although many dialects exist, the official language is English, and the main religions are Muslim (30%) and Christian (25%). The City of Accra has almost 2 million inhabitants and its coastal location on the Atlantic Ocean was formerly known as the Gold Coast because of the precious metal that drew so many Europeans to its shores. The temperature in each of the African countries on this trip remained about 100 degrees since we were not far from the middle of the Earth, the Equator, dividing the Earth’s surface into the northern and southern hemispheres.

      An intelligent, prayerful, young priest, Father Michael Mensah, born in the City of Accra and currently the Chancellor of the Diocese and Secretary to the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, met us at the airport Father Michael gave us a mini-tour of Accra including government buildings and civil and supreme court buildings. I warned Father Michael that the threat to their culture would come more likely through court decisions than any vote of the people. In 1957, under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana gained its independence from Britain, becoming the first autonomous country in Africa with Kwame as the first president. At the place where Nkrumah and his wife Fathia are entombed, we prayed for them and that the people of Ghana would not become enslaved by the culture of death.

     While I was in Cape Town, South Africa, I led the Helpers Prayer Vigil outside a Marie Stopes abortion clinic. Although abortion is not yet legal in Ghana, nevertheless, the situation is critical since a Marie Stopes clinic has just opened in Accra, and Togo, the country immediately to the east of Ghana recently legalized abortion. Father Michael brought us to the Millenium House on the grounds of Archbishop Charles’, office and workplace. I offered Mass and preached at the evening Mass in Christ the King parish. Following Mass, I spoke to the people about the threat of the culture of death in Ghana and how the Helpers in other countries try to maintain or reestablish a culture of life. On Wednesday, I celebrated and preached at the 6:15 AM and the 12 PM masses at Holy Spirit Cathedral Church. At both Masses, I urged the people to reject any false values from America and Western Europe undermining their love of Family, Life and Faith. I told them that presently, in America and Western Europe, millions of people are trying to restore these values into our Culture.

       After Mass, we met with the Archbishop in his office and later shared dinner with him in his residence. The Archbishop is an articulate, intelligent, zealous, humble priest hoping to implement the Helpers Apostolate through members of the International Organization, Couples for Christ, in his Diocese. He requested all materials to be sent to him and will work directly with the couples. He arranged for me to meet with the man in charge of the Couples for Christ, and I spent a few hours explaining the workings of the Helpers Apostolate. Later that day, after sharing a meal with the Archbishop in his residence, he presented me with a beautiful Mass stole commemorating the Golden Jubilee of the Holy Spirit Cathedral of Accra. With great generosity the Archbishop told his personal driver, with Father Michael, to take the Archbishop’s personal car and drive Elizabeth and me early the next morning to the border of Togo, a neighboring country.

      Tragically, abortion became legal in Togo in January of 2007. The new abortion law allows abortion in the case of rape or incest, when the mother’s life and health are in danger, or if the unborn baby will likely have serious birth defects. .In America, we know from experience that the language contained in that law will quickly lead to abortion on demand followed by euthanasia. The law legalizing abortion has already destroyed and removed from the law in Togo the Judaic, Christian ethical principles, namely, that without exception every innocent human life has an absolute value as a precious gift of God, and so must never be deliberately destroyed, because others judge that the quality of that human life in its beginnings, is, or in the end, is no longer acceptable, dictating abortion or euthanasia.

      Furthermore anticipating that 90% of the doctors in Togo, as in America, will not do abortions, the authors cleverly wrote into law that abortions can be performed outside of the hospital, in other suitable settings, namely, free-standing abortion clinics, as we have in America.. This is where the doctor stops being a doctor, and becomes an abortionist, spending his whole day in killing the unborn children without any pressure from his medical peers, who will not come and work in abortion centers. Thus, if one in every ten doctors becomes a specialist in killing unborn children in abortion centers, the number sufficiently implements the law of death in Togo. I am convinced that the wording of the law passed in Togo was guided by people outside of Togo who have a clear knowledge of the American experience. It is important that the Church and people in Togo learn what the Church and the people in America are doing to reestablish a Culture of Life. On our part, it is urgent that as soon as possible we send them a French translation of materials needed to implement the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants Apostolate in Togo.

      The real challenge was getting from Lome in Togo to Abuja, Nigeria where Father Emmanuel of the Archdiocese of Jos was to meet us. Unable to get any flights from Lome to Abuja, we had to take a minibus from Lome to Lagos in Nigeria. The bus left Lome at 10:00 AM on Friday and the bus company assured us that we would be in Lagos by 2:00 PM that afternoon to catch one of the many flights from Lagos to Abuja, the Capital of Nigeria. Caveat emptor( buyer beware) proved true once more. I will not quickly forget the twelve hour bus ride from Lome to Lagos. At the end of the madness, I knew once again my time in Nigeria would be productive. Obviously by the time we arrived, the last plane had left for Abuja. Poor Father Emmanuel waited until the evening in Abuja. We finally contacted him and he referred us to his friend, Fr. Amos, the chaplain at the Nigerian Air Force Base, located next to the Lagos International Airport. Fr. Amos could not have been more kind and thoughtful in helping us to get sleeping quarters that evening at a residence run by religious sisters, and assisted us to purchase tickets for an early Saturday morning flight to Abuja. The next morning we called Fr. Emmanuel in Jos, informing him of the time of our arrival in Abuja. Only later, I fully appreciated the sacrifice of Father Emmanuel when I realized it was a three hour car ride each way from Jos to Abuja. Father Emmanuel met us at the Abuja Airport and we finally set out for the Jos Plateau, the highest point in Nigeria.

      Nigeria located in West Africa, near the Equator, is the most populous African country, with 134 million people. English is the official Language, and the main religions are Christianity and Islam. Although the country is rich in natural resources, human greed and corruption often prevent many people from sharing the benefits. We take for granted the availability of electricity and running water but in the areas in Africa that I visited, it was more like a luxury, limited to those with a generator. The majority of Nigerians currently hope for peace and prosperity with the recent election of a Muslim President, whom all feel is a good man who will try to help not only the 60 million Muslims but also the 60 million Catholics in Nigeria, approximately the same number of Catholics living in the United States. Experiencing the goodness, humility, patience and hospitality of the African people, I urged the priests to resist any beginnings of the culture of death in their countries which will destroy their greatest natural resource, which for me was clearly their people.

     After arriving at Jos, we placed our luggage into the rooms located on the grounds where the Archbishop of Jos, Ignatius A. Kaigama has his residence. We then went to Fr. Emmanuel’s parish. His rectory and church, I am sure, are similar to the home and buildings in Nazareth where Jesus grew up. Members of the Nigerian Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, including the original 15 members, were waiting for us in Father Emmanuel’s residence. After speaking with them for more than an hour and sharing food they presented me with handmade Mass vestments with a beautiful design on it of the Nigerian Helpers of Gods Precious Infants. We left to meet the Archbishop in his residence. After a very fruitful meeting with the Archbishop, he blessed and urged us to spread the Helpers Apostolate throughout all of Nigeria. Later that evening I had Mass with the Helpers and others at Father Emmanuel’s parish church.

      On Sunday morning I spoke about the beauty of a Culture of Life to 600 young women, ages 13 to 17, who came from all over Nigeria to attend the outstanding Catholic Leadership School. The attention, respect and intelligence of that audience was a joy to behold. They later presented me with a wood carving in the shape of Africa depicting the average work and home life of the people in Africa. At noon, we celebrated the Sunday Mass at Father Emmanuel’s parish. For the people, Mass was not an obligation to get over with, but a celebration and occasion to praise the Lord, that lasted two to three hours, without anyone leaving, including the people standing outside, who couldn’t fit inside the packed Church. After Mass, I blessed their new bus, purchased through five years of parish fundraising, and used for spreading the Gospel. In an outside ceremony, a group of young children did a beautiful dance of welcome, followed by a group of young men who changed into ancient dress costumes and did a special dance of welcome in spite of the temperature in excess of 100 degrees. Later that afternoon, we went to the Martyrs of Uganda parish in Kuru, to support their fundraising bazaar and to meet a Nigerian priest whom I met here in Brooklyn. Finally on Sunday evening, I spoke to 300 young men studying theology at St. Augustine Regional Major Seminary. I challenged them not to be afraid to proclaim the Church’s teaching on Life and to promote in word and deed the Culture of Life.