EAST PROVIDENCE – Following the discovery on Monday of a fetus by a staff member at the Bucklin Wastewater Treatment Facility, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence has extended an offer to the East Providence police, who are investigating the case, to provide a proper burial in one of the diocese’s Catholic cemeteries.
Bishop Thomas J. Tobin said he was heartbroken to hear the news, and attributes the discovery of the discarded, unborn, unnamed child of God to the culture of today’s world.
“Pope Francis has often spoken about the throwaway culture which we live in that affects so many poor people and so many individuals, including unborn children, and that’s what we’re dealing with today,” the bishop said Wednesday.
“So, the diocese has come forward to offer a decent and dignified funeral and burial for this unborn child. It’s certainly a decency and dignity this child deserves.”
The bishop also expressed his concern for the mother of the unborn baby, who he believes may have had a very difficult personal situation to deal with, prompting the fetus to be discarded in the anonymous manner that it was.
“We want to offer her our prayers and personal support too, and we hope she is doing well,” Bishop Tobin added.
The fetus, determined by the State Medical Examiner’s Office to be a male about 19-20 weeks old, according to police, was found at about 3 p.m. Monday at the plant, located at 102 Campbell Ave., near the Pawtucket line.
Maj. William Nebus, of the East Providence Police Department, told Rhode Island Catholic that according to the police report of the incident the staff member at the Bucklin Wastewater Treatment Facility initially thought that what he saw in a collection area of the plant’s Screen and Grit Building was a toy that flowed in from a sewer.
Upon closer inspection the staff member realized it was an unborn baby and notified his supervisor, who immediately contacted the police.
Maj. Nebus said on Thursday that he did not yet have confirmation from the Medical Examiner’s Office that an autopsy had been performed on the fetus to determine the cause of death.
Msgr. Albert A. Kenney, diocesan vicar general and moderator of the curia, has been in contact with the East Providence Police, State Medical Examiner’s Office and the state Office of Public Assistance to help facilitate the burial in conjunction with the diocese.
Msgr. Kenney said Thursday that he was told that it could be as long as one month before the body can be released for burial, as the case is still under investigation.
Major Nebus said that the diocese’s offer to facilitate a proper burial for the fetus would give the unborn child the dignity it deserves.
“That would be a nice way of doing that, much nicer than could have been expected,” he said.
For any expectant mother feeling overwhelmed or unprepared for their situation, the diocese wants them to know that resources are available to help.
Carol Owens, coordinator for the diocesan Office of Life and Family, said that expectant mothers can always turn to the church for help in a difficult situation and need not feel alone, as the office’s St. Gabriel’s Call ministry offers counseling, supplies and infant nutrition services to those in need.
She said these vital outreach programs can help women and families during pregnancy, providing material, as well as emotional and spiritual assistance.
Bishop Tobin described the fact that the unborn child was found in a sewage treatment plant, which also handles runoff from collection drains from several cities and towns in the area, as “profoundly disturbing.”
“Every child is born in the image and likeness of God,” Bishop Tobin said. “To find a child in this situation is just heartbreaking and incomprehensible. We, as a society, can and should do better.”
