Father Norman Weslin, Champion of the Unborn
There will come a day in this country when future generations will look back on legal abortion with the same shame and abhorrence that we now look upon slavery. In that future those who stood up for the unborn will be regarded as heroines and heroes. On that day no name will be more praised than that of Father Norman Weslin.
Father Weslin followed an extremely unlikely path to the priesthood. Born 80 years ago to Oscar and Hilma Weslin, he was the 16th of 18 children, the first ten of whom died in infancy. The family lived in Iron City in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. A tough land, it often produces tough people, and Norman Weslin was no exception. Always in trouble in school, a bright spot in his life was his future wife Mary Lou who he met in the fifth grade. She was Catholic and he was Lutheran, but that made no difference to him. As they reached high school age she became the center of his life.
At 17 he joined the Army and asked Mary Lou to marry him. She flatly refused unless he made something of himself. Perhaps to the astonishment of both of them he did. He graduated from Officer’s Candidate School in October of 1951 and was commissioned a second lieutenant. He went on to artillery and missile school at Fort Bliss, Texas. While there he converted to Catholicism and he and Mary Lou were married.
He then attended Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia which began his association with the 82nd Airborne. Unfortunately, it was here that he began to drink heavily and became, in the words of Father Weslin, for the next twenty years “a hopeless alcoholic”. While stationed in Panama in 1952 he almost killed Mary Lou while driving drunk. The doctor treating her after the collision told him that she had suffered a massive brain concussion and was going to die. A nurse gave him a green scapular and told him to pin it to Mary Lou’s pajamas and pray, “Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us, now and at the hour of our death.” He did so. Against the odds Mary Lou fully recovered and left the hospital three days later.
While on assignment in Japan Mary Lou and he adopted their children, two Japanese-American kids, a 2 month old boy and an 11 month old girl. (Along with his kids, Father Weslin now has two grandchildren and a great-grandchild.) After Japan it was back to Fort Bliss, where Weslin graduated at the top of his class in nuclear missiles. High level positions followed. He served tours of duty in both Korea and Vietnam during his career in the Army.
All during this time Weslin continued to drink heavily. In 1963 he accidentally set himself on fire while trying to restart a barbecue grill and nearly burned himself to death. The drinking continued until 1968 when he retired from the Army with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Joining Alcoholics Anonymous, he turned his life completely over to God and has never drank a drop of alcohol, other than that contained in the sacramental appearance of the Blood of Christ, since that time.
Turning his life over to God was not just a phrase to Norman Weslin. He began to read some of the spiritual classics of the Faith, including the writings of Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint John of the Cross and he especially was touched by Saint Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary. He received a master’s degree in theology from the Roman Catholic School of Applied Theology at the University of Berkley, of all places, and was disgusted, in his words, at the heresy and blasphemy taught at that institution.
In 1969 he began his involvement in the pro-life cause when he led the fight in Colorado to defeat a bill legalizing abortion. Mary Lou fully shared his passion for the pro-life cause.
Mary Lou and Norman planned to spend their retirement teaching Indian kids on a reservation in Montana. These plans came to a tragic end on July 2, 1980. A car rear-ended the Weslin’s car which their daughter was driving, and Mary Lou was killed. After her loss Norman was buried in grief for some time. Ironically the driver of the car that struck his car was drunk at the time. Norman personally forgave the driver. Pulling his life back together, he transformed their home in Colorado Springs into the Mary Weslin Homes for Pregnant, Unwed Mothers. To date over 226 mothers have stayed at the home prior to giving birth to their children.
In 1982 Weslin entered the Sacred Heart Seminary in Hales, Wisconsin to begin his studies for the priesthood at age 52. This was during the misrule of Archbishop Rembert Weakland. After two years the orthodox, and outspoken, Weslin was kicked out by the academic dean after Weslin refused to attend a class he believed taught heresy. He continued his studies at Mater Dei Seminary in Spokane, Washington. After ordination he joined the Oblates of Wisdom Order.
Prior to his ordination Father Weslin had taken part in abortion blockades at abortion clinics, once with Bishop Austin Vaughan, his spiritual adviser. On retired status from his Order in 1988 he decided to take part in an abortion rescue in Atlanta. He and 260 other pro-lifers were sent to Key Roads prison. While there Father Weslin, for attempting to say Mass, spent nine days in solitary. Imprisonment can often be surprisingly productive for those willing to use the time to think, as Father Weslin did. During his time in solitary Father Weslin came up with the idea for the Lambs of Christ. This would be an organization which would engage in civil disobedience at abortion clinics and thereby buy time for women to change their minds about aborting their kids.
Father Weslin immediately began to carry out his plan. By 1992 he was successful enough that Time magazine had an article on the Lambs of Christ which may be read here. Father Weslin has been imprisoned since 1988, 70 or 80 times, he has lost count. Occasionally he has been found not guilty by juries , but usually he is convicted and goes to jail. After he gets out he goes on to the next abortion clinic.
To its ever lasting dishonor, the administration of Notre Dame had Father Weslin arrested on May 15, 2009 when he protested the granting of an honorary degree to President Obama, the most pro-abortion president in our nation’s history.