Sarah Pulliam Bailey writes at Religion News Service:
After Gosnell's arrest in 2011, then-archbishop cardinal Justin Rigali asked the district attorney's office for the bodies of the aborted fetuses. The bodies were being retained for the trial, but after it ended and Gosnell was sentenced to life in prison, Rigali's successor, Archbishop Charles Chaput, has renewed the request to bury the bodies.
Frank Pavone, a Catholic priest who heads New York-based Priests for Life, was also among those requesting the bodies. In May, Pavone performed a service to give proper names to the dead babies.
He said he would like to perform a Catholic Mass for the babies and then hold a separate interdenominational burial service.
"I think there's good hope to think that these children are with God using the general principle of God's mercy," [Liam] Goligher said. "Either way, some respect has to be shown to the babies."
Gosnell disposed of most of his victims like trash. Perhaps, these few will get the final respects they deserve.
