On Friday, May 16, at The Church of St. Catherine of Siena on the Upper East Side in Manhattan, Bishop Edmund J. Whalen, vicar for clergy, presided over the special annual Mass co-sponsored by the Archdiocese of New York, the Dominican Friars Healthcare Ministry, and the Gianna Center for Women’s Health & Fertility.

The Mass focuses on prayer for couples suffering from infertility and miscarriage and usually takes place during the time of the anniversary of the canonization of Saint Gianna. Saint Gianna was an Italian pediatrician who refused an abortion, despite being aware of the potentially fatal consequences, to preserve her child’s life.