John Arena Anti-Abortion Hero

John Arena

Anti-Abortion Hero

John Arena, voice for unborn children, spent three years behind bars for Butyric acid attacks on babykilling abortion clinics.

From: Rev. Michael Bray

John Arena, RIP

Indeed, may the peace of the Lord be his who ministered to the weakest in the name of mercy and justice. At 89, John died on October 27, 2010, when he was hit by a car while riding his bicycle near his home in Rome, New York. His beloved wife and fellow Christian and anti-abortionist, Anne, had died in 2008.

John Arena was an anti-abortion associate whose friendship goes back at least to the time of his imprisonment in Madison County Jail in 1995. I have several “jail letters” from him. In one from September of 1995 he inveighs against the local Catholic Sun for its preferential treatment of (religiously apostate and Irish Catholic) prosecutor, William Fitzpatrick, for cozying up the Planned Parenthood, and for calling John an “urban terrorist.” He wrote me both as a fellow convict, a pastor, and as an editor of Capitol Area Christian News in which we reported quarterly on anti-abortion activism. The publication’s uniqueness was in reporting upon and refusing to condemn any action (forceful or otherwise) directed against abortion facilities for the rescue of the innocents. Such defensive action could not be condemned without surrendering the doctrine of the imago Dei – and the particular humanity - of the pre-born child.
In addition to an interest in protecting the innocent, John and I also had a prison in common. Ray Brook F.C.I is located in a small town with the same name near Lake Placid, New York. The Ray Brook prison had been built first to house the Olympian athletes securely for the 1980 Winter Games. (The feds generally like to house their prisoners in a comfortable environment. Greater amounts a “time” are generally meted out by the feds to convicts, but the prisons are relatively clean.)

I entered the “joint” in 1985 and did four years there. John had acquired a federal conviction for violating the FACE Act which had been encoded at about the same time as John’s were being performed in 1995. The feds viewed the administration of butyric acid into an abortion facility as not only an effective way to close down a federally protected facility but a particular violation of their new law which prohibited any interference of a woman’s sacred right to butcher her baby at will. So they handed John a five year sentence for stinking the place up bad.

There was no rehabilitation. John denounced child slaughter and those who supported and protected it to the very end. He joined other rabble at the White Rose Banquet upon release in 1999. The Banquet was held in the D.C. area for five years consecutively starting in 1996 and was sponsored by Reformation Lutheran Church of which I was a co-pastor along with Michael Colvin (Ph.D University of Indiana, classical studies).

My association with John was primarily my mail, as indicated. I am sorry I did not have the opportunity to spend more time with him. But I am expecting to spend eternity with him and many others who have been saved by and lived in the service of our Lord.

With fond remembrances,

Michael Bray
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Obituary from the Rome Sentinel

John Arena

John Arena Oct. 27, 2010

John Arena, beloved father, passed away on Wednesday, October 27, 2010. He was born on February 23, 1921 to the late Vincent Arena and Theresa Gedione in Brooklyn, NY.

He is predeceased by the late Anne Arena, his wife of 57 years. He is survived by his nine children, William Arena, of Concord, CA, Paul Arena and wife Denise, of Rome, NY, Timothy Arena, of New York, NY, Daniel Arena and wife Darlene, of Baldwinsville, NY, Laura and Karim Salama, of Frisco, TX, Edward Arena and wife Maria, of Rome, NY, Chris Arena, of Sapulpa, OK, Celine and husband Joe Sopata, of Springfield, VA, and Ellen Nicole Arena, of Dallas, TX. He is also survived by 21 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.

John served in the U.S. Navy and moved to Rome in 1953 where he was employed at Griffiss Air Force Base until his retirement. A former chairman of the Central New York Right to Life Federation, he was named as that group’s "Pro-Life Person of the Year" in 1978. His involvement in the cause continued for more than three decades. He will be remembered for his boundless energy, love of travel and faith in God.

His Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Tuesday in Our Lady of Good Council Church, Verona, NY. Interment in St. Peter’s Cemetery, Rome. Friends may call at Strong and Burns Funeral Home, 401 N. George St., on Monday from 4 to 6 p.m.

Contributions may be made to the Arena Family, c/o Celine Sopata, 6703 Harwood Place, Springfield, VA 22152.