Q: The Church recognizes the unborn baby as a person made in the image of God, with an immortal soul like you and me. So why then do we never pray at Mass for the over 73 million innocent human beings that are killed by abortion each year in the world? We pray for victims of natural disasters and wars, why do the unborn not get our prayers? Even on Respect Live Sunday our priest talked about respecting the lives of the immigrants (rightly so) but not a word for the unborn. Why is the Church silent on the subject? Is it because it is an unpopular position to take? — Tom

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC:

A: You are right to be concerned about the horrific number of abortions in the world.

But you are overstating the point about the Church: Catholics do pray for the unborn. Almost daily, for instance, Ask a Priest hears a public rosary at a church that includes petitions for the unborn.

The Church, in fact, has long defended the unborn. See this U.S. bishops’ conference post.

Your basic point, however, has some validity. Perhaps more parishes need to make the appeal for the unborn more pronounced. Discussion about the pro-life cause seems to have faded a bit in the wake of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

You might consider reaching out to the priest in your parish and let him know you’d appreciate more mention of the unborn.

Better yet, see if you can organize pro-life efforts at your parish, such as prayers for the unborn and material support for crisis pregnancy centers.

I hope some of this helps. Count on my prayers.