In the pro-life movement, the name of Msgr. Philip Reilly has been synonymous with perseverance.

A native New Yorker, Msgr. Reilly, who died at the age of 90 on Nov. 30 and whose wake and funeral will be held Dec. 8 and 9, passed up an academic career in order to answer God’s call to awaken people to the scourge of abortion destroying innocent human beings in the womb. 

While serving as chaplain at a Brooklyn monastery, he founded the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants in 1989. His devotion to counseling thousands of distraught women on the street and training hundreds of like-minded individuals to do the same, thereby saving an estimated 100,000 lives. 

“Msgr. Reilly was a powerful witness to the dignity of life. I only knew him in his later years while he suffered terrible physical pain. He never complained, but rather, with his great faith and cheerful disposition, was a source of inspiration to the Carmelite Sisters and the staff who cared for him at Ozanam Hall, to his family, to me for sure, and to all who visited with him,” Bishop Robert Brennan of the Diocese of Brooklyn told the Register.

The work of this “pro-life hero” spread far and wide, with Helpers of God's Precious Infants now active in 45 states and in 30 countries, including Australia, Canada, Ireland and England.

Among other founders of the new pro-life ministry was his own sister and Mother Agnes Mary Donovan of the Sisters of Life. 

Msgr. Reilly, after having been to jail six times, came up with his strategy of continuous prayer and friendly offers of assistance to women at New York City abortion centers. He organized police-protected prayer vigils, led by Catholic cardinals with up to 2,500 participants at a time.

He has been on the receiving end of pro-abortion anger — but always persevered, for the babies and their mothers. 

In 2005, Msgr. Reilly described the work of the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants to the Register.

“The importance of going to the place where the exploitation of women takes place is going there with love, in a peaceful, prayerful way,” Msgr. Reilly said. “We bring them the truth and try not to allow our presence to get in the way of that purpose.”

“We do three things,” added Msgr. Reilly. “We go to pray, we go there to inform and offer real help, and we teach them to pray.”

The group’s public witness included a monthly Mass and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at Our Lady of Sorrows in Corona, Brooklyn, followed by a Rosary procession to the local abortion center. There, prayers and the singing of hymns continued while trained sidewalk counselors approached women heading into or out of the abortion facility. Afterward, Msgr. Reilly would lead everyone back to the church for Benediction. That effort continues to this day.

One bishop who recalls this important work is Bishop Kevin Sweeney of the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey. He recalled in a past column:

“I was in high school when I first recall hearing the word ‘abortion’ and learning what it meant. I have shared before that my high school principal was a great ‘Pro-Life Champion’ … Msgr. Philip Reilly. … When Msgr. Reilly was starting the ‘Helpers’ … I was a junior in college, and he asked if I would be willing to spend some time, once a week on a Saturday morning, praying on the sidewalk outside an abortion clinic in Queens, N.Y. For the first few weeks, there would usually be a group of 10 or 15 of us praying while Msgr. and one or two women were ‘sidewalk counseling.’ A ‘sidewalk counselor’ speaks lovingly and gently to women who are entering the clinic, letting them know that if they are pregnant and considering abortion, there is loving, non­judgmental help available if they wish to keep their child. The group of ‘prayers’ grew steadily in the following weeks and months.”

Along the way, Msgr. Reilly trained hundreds of other pro-lifers, such as Joe Scheidler, founder of the Pro-Life Action League, and David Bereit, founder of 40 Days for Life, in his method of sidewalk counseling, believing the hearts of abortionists themselves could be converted.

Through the mercy of God, Msgr. Reilly impacted two such abortionists that he knew of during his endless hours on the sidewalks. One abortionist later said he was unable to concentrate in the abortion room when the Helpers were out front praying. That abortionist left the industry.

Msgr. Reilly was one of the organizers of the first March for Life in Washington, D.C., and participated many years by riding a bus there and back with other area pro-lifers. He frequently wrote articles, prayers including the Rosary for Life, talks given at conferences, retreats and prayer vigils. Many of his talks can be found here.

After 22 years of praying and offering alternatives at one Brooklyn abortion center, it finally closed. The owners said the continual presence of the peaceful group drove away patients and doctors alike. 

That didn’t end Msgr. Reilly’s work. He continued sidewalk counseling at other area abortion centers, including Planned Parenthood and Choice abortion centers in Flushing and in Queens.

Longtime friend Craig Glantz and his wife Wenqi, both converts to the faith, know well the  impact of their priest-friend’s life. 

“I went to a talk as a new convert in 2007,” Wenqi told the Register. “Msgr. Reilly’s talk was an eye-opening experience about abortion. I spoke to him after about the abortion law in China and how could anything help to change it. He suggested I come to see him at the monastery.”

That began regular visits for spiritual direction and pro-life training — and Msgr. Reilly continued guiding them through their married life, including the heartbreaking loss of their second daughter. Born with ancephaly (a portion of the brain missing), doctors had advised abortion, but the committed couple wouldn’t consider it, relying on trust in God and guidance from Msgr. Reilly through the pain. When a third daughter was born with a rare genetic disorder, “Msgr. was there for us again, guiding us like he does with so many of his spiritual children,” Craig recalled. “We feel God brought him to our lives.”

The Glantzes drove from Philadelphia to the Brooklyn monastery monthly for years, even with small children, to do whatever they could to help, from pro-life trainings to some gardening or cleaning or helping with meals. 

“Whatever we did, it was just a tremendous blessing to be around Monsignor. He had a holiness about him that I’ve never felt in any other person in my life,” recalled Craig. “We wanted to be holy because he was holy.”

And that holy aim saved lives.

As the pro-life priest also told the Register, in 1998, “Our goal, our purpose, is not only to save the physical life of the child. What we aim for ultimately is the conversion of hearts and the salvation of souls. We seek to join the Blessed Mother and St. John at the foot of the cross, the modern-day Calvary at the abortion mills, where the image of Christ among us today is being crucified.”

He added, “This is God’s work and we rely totally on his help and on the powerful intercession of the Mother of God.”