New York, February 3, 2026
On Saturday, January 31, His Grace Bishop Clement, an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of the USA, Canada, and Australia of the Bulgarian Patriarchate, led a trilingual prayer service outside the Advanced OB-GYN clinic in Brooklyn, New York.
Bp. Clement and dedicated members of the St. John the Forerunner Orthodox Pro-Life Society came out to pray despite the freezing temperatures.
The abortuary is located in Midwood, an area of Brooklyn with a significant population of Russian-speaking residents from various Eastern European and Asian countries and actively advertises its services in local Russian-language newspapers.
Thus, Vladyka Clement served parts of the moleben in Church Slavonic in order to reach this specific audience, while the majority of the service was conducted in English. Additionally, since some participants were raised in the Greek Orthodox tradition, the hierarch also offered several prayers in Greek.
The Orthodox Pro-Life Society has held prayer services in New York City at least once a month since January 2021. The founding meeting took place on January 12, 2021, which unintentionally coincided with the birthday of Hieromartyr Daniel Sysoev, whose call for an immediate, unconditional, and complete legal ban on abortion continues to inspire the Orthodox Christian pro-life movement in the United States.
A significant milestone was celebrated when the Planned Parenthood facility in Manhattan permanently closed in January 2025.
Those interested in participating in upcoming prayer services may contact the St. John the Forerunner Orthodox Pro-Life Society at:
Tel.: 917-428-3560
Email: info@OrthodoxChristiansProLife.org
Social media: Instagram, Facebook, Telegram, Twitter, YouTube, Threads
Individuals outside New York are also encouraged to fill out a form to begin a similar initiative in their own city. The organization’s goal is to establish a nationwide Orthodox Christian pro-life movement—a confederation of independent local pro-life societies.
To support the work of the St. John the Forerunner Orthodox Pro-Life Society donations can be mailed to:
33 Hewitt Avenue, Bronxville, NY 10708.
Online donations are also accepted through GiveSendGo, PayPal.
Venmo and Cash App: OCProLife.
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