Chicago priest helps archdiocesan pro-life efforts

Father Jim Heyd, who serves as Cardinal Francis George’s liaison for pro-life ministries in the Archdiocese of Chicago, preaches the homily during a Jan. 20 Mass at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis before he joined archdiocesan priests, high school students and chaperones on the pro-life pilgrimage to the 36th annual March for Life from Jan. 20-23 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Mary Ann Wyand)

By Mary Ann Wyand

A priest from Chicago has become a familiar pro-life voice in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

Father James Heyd, formerly associated with Priests for Life in Staten Island, N.Y., now serves as Cardinal Francis George’s liaison for pro-life ministries in the Archdiocese of Chicago.

On Sept. 21, Father Heyd was one of the keynote speakers during the archdiocesan “40 Days for Life” prayer rally at the St. Augustine Home for the Aged Chapel in Indianapolis.

He told the pro-life supporters from central and southern Indiana that prayer is crucial in ending abortion and the use of artificial contraception.

“We are going to take this culture [of death] and transform it into a culture of life,” Father Heyd said. “… Let us build, through our Christian values, a new civilization of [respect for] God and [respect for] life.”

Then he led the rosary with pro-life supporters while walking two miles along West 86th Street to the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic at 8590 N. Georgetown Road.

Outside the state’s largest abortion facility, Father Heyd prayed the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary on his knees in the grass with other pro-life supporters.

During recent pro-life speeches in Terre Haute and other cities, he shared his love for history by discussing biblical and historical events that affirmed the dignity of all people.

This year, Father Heyd participated in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis’ pro-life pilgrimage to the March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20-23 as one of the spiritual directors for the high school students along with seven priests from the archdiocese. The priests traveled to the march by bus with archdiocesan teenagers, adult chaperones and 17 seminarians.

Servants of the Gospel of Life Sister Diane Carollo, director of the archdiocesan Office for Pro-life Ministry, invited Father Heyd to join the archdiocese’s pilgrimage to the March for Life because of his 20 years of experience in pro-life work throughout the world.

“It is a spiritual pilgrimage,” Sister Diane said, “and I invited Father Heyd to participate as a pilgrim leader to help motivate and inspire the young people.”

Father Heyd was the homilist for Mass on Jan. 20 at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis before the youths boarded the buses for their overnight journey to Washington.

He had just returned to Chicago after participating in the sixth World Meeting of Families on Jan. 14-18 in Mexico City. Last year, he visited Tanzania to promote the human rights of impoverished people in Africa.

“God promised Abraham in the covenant that he would be with his people no matter what … turmoils or trials they went through,” Father Heyd told archdiocesan teenagers during his homily.

“... We are on a journey for freedom, for liberation,” he said. “… We can lose our freedom in this culture of ours today. Many [people] are doing so with the addictions that plague us and cause despair. We can lose our freedom very easily, but when we’re baptized we know we are children of God. We must always proclaim that freedom and live that freedom as a people.

“But we must also stand for freedom for others who are voiceless,” Father Heyd explained, “as the prophets did when the law doesn’t go quite far enough to protect their dignity and human rights. And so we stand for the voiceless, for the preborn, in order to build a new culture of life in this beloved land of ours, the home of the free and the brave.”

When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. marched for civil rights for African-Americans during the 1960s, Father Heyd said, he used the words of the prophets and the Christian faith to inspire and encourage others in the fight for freedom for all people.

“Symbolically, what a victory that was in a country that had shackled people and enslaved them in an oppressive system,” Father Heyd said. “... And our Catholic Church fought for civil rights. … We stand for a great legacy, a great line of believers before us, when we stand for freedom. … People fought and struggled … so that every person would be respected … as the image of God, … fought for the dream, for the common good, that everyone deserves.

“Everyone is equal before the law and everyone is a child of God,” he said. “… But each day, 3,400 unborn babies perish in abortion in our nation, a crisis of tremendous proportions, like [the terrorist attacks on] Sept. 11, 2001, every day. … It is a crisis of love.”

Each January, pro-life supporters travel to Washington for the March for Life to speak out for the rights of the unborn and rescue life, he said, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did for the civil rights of African-Americans 40 years ago.

“We stand consistently for the dignity of human life from the very beginning,” Father Heyd said. “That is what makes us special as a Catholic people. … Our Church, faithful to Abraham, faithful to that vision, faithful to the law of the prophets, faithful to our Lord, can take a culture and transform it, make it new, renew it, in vigor and strength, … with a consistent vision that respects life from the very beginning.” †