Fr. Pavone Mourns Passing of Former Abortion Leader Turned Pro-Life Hero, Dr. Bernard Nathanson

Priests for Life


Monday, February 21, 2011

Rome – Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, said in a statement today that the life of Dr. Bernard Nathanson is one of the most remarkable stories of God’s mercy and power.

“My own life has intersected with his since the mid-80’s, and our last time together was just last week” Fr. Pavone explained. “Years ago, Dr. Nathanson said, ‘I uncaged the abortion monster in the United States,’ and then he told us priests that he and his former colleagues ‘would never have gotten away with what we did if you had been united, purposeful and strong.’ That assertion is at the core of our ministry of Priests for Life.”

Fr. Pavone continued, “I will never forget the workshop at which I introduced him at the 1994 Human Life International Conference in Irvine, CA. He was supposed to talk about chemical abortion, but at the last minute decided instead to speak of his spiritual journey. At the end of the talk, he said that he was standing on the brink of conversion to the Catholic Church. The room exploded. People were leaping into the air. He said that he hoped God could forgive him, and I said, ‘Dr. Nathanson, he already has.’ And I reminded him of that exchange just last week.”

Dr. Nathanson appears in the introductory video of Priests for Life. “He called Priests for Life the ‘Paul Revere’ of the pro-life movement, and said that he was always immensely grateful for our work, because though he caught the Church asleep on the abortion issue in the late 60’s, he believed the Church could be re-activated to build the Culture of Life. In memory of Dr. Nathanson, we will redouble our efforts to do just that,” Fr. Pavone concluded.

Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit http://www.priestsforlife.org/.





http://www.priestsforlife.org/articles/3501-fr-pavone-mourns-passing-of-former-abortion-leader-turned-pro-life-hero-dr-bernard-nathanson-