Angelus News | February 9, 2024 | Vol. 9 No

Bonaduce sings at St. Bernardine of Siena
School in Woodland Hills’ weekly school
Mass. | PETER LOBATO
His return to the Church took three
years. He wrote “Requiem for the
Unborn” with support and input from
his wife, Eileen.
Some of the musical settings came to
him almost instantly, while others took
years to compose. It debuted in 1995.
The heart of the Mass — which was
offered this year on Jan. 20 — is a
candle-lighting ritual. Parishioners in
the darkened cathedral carry forward
large votive candles, each representing
a child who died in an abortion that
day in greater Los Angeles.
Two decades ago, there were more
than 450 candles. This year there were
120, though part of the reduction
is due to increased use of abortion
pills that aren’t registered in surgical
statistics.
Bonaduce considers those candles the
heart of the “Requiem.”
“That is the power of this piece. It is
not the music,” he said.
He wants others like himself, people
who bear responsibility for an abortion,
to share with him in mourning and
repentance — as well as forgiveness
and renewal.
“I want them to embrace what we’ve
done,” he said. “We’ve sinned on a
magnificent scale.”
He believes that music can reach people
who have tried to close off communication
on this difficult subject.
The use of music for the Requiem
Mass means that “I don’t have to
explain my opposition to abortion in
political or theological terms,” he said.
Katy Kruska, who has sung the
“Requiem” since its debut, has seen its
impact.
“People love that music and they
come year after year because it is so
touching,” said Kruska, the principal
at St. Bernardine of Siena School in
Woodland Hills, where Bonaduce
directs a renowned Sunday evening
parish choir.
“It is preaching pro-life and it is
against abortion, but in a very quiet,
tactful, meaningful prayerful way,”
Kruska said. “You’re not just out there
with picket signs, but you’re bringing
up a candle that symbolizes a loss to
abortion that very day. You’re watching
that one baby’s life come down the
aisle.”
Alicia Laski, who sings and plays
bass guitar in Bonaduce’s choir at St.
Bernardine, has sung the “Requiem for
the Unborn” since 1996 — as has her
mother — and her two adult children
have participated as well.
The “Requiem” carried a special
meaning for Laski, who gave up a child
for adoption when she was in her midteens.
She had fallen away from church
after confirmation. As a 21-year-old
newlywed, she resolved to return and
joined the choir at St. Bernadine’s to
help her keep that commitment.
“The music of the ‘Requiem’ really
brought out something inside of me,”
she said. “It makes people feel like it’s
a relatable subject and they can come
forward and get the support or help
that they need, whether it’s something
happening now or some past trauma.
It opens conversations that people are
afraid to have.”
That’s because singing “gets the faith
inside you,” Bonaduce said. “You don’t
have to think about it. You are it.”
Although he is best known for his
“Requiem for the Unborn,” the word
he uses to describe his work is “joy.”
“That’s my job description,” he said.
“You show kids that you can be an
adult man, who’s still alive after seven
decades, and you find life joyful. I don’t
need much of a mission statement, and
that will do it.”
Ann Rodgers is a longtime religion reporter
and freelance writer whose awards
include the William A. Reed Lifetime
Achievement Award from the Religion
News Association.
Bonaduce being interviewed
for an LA Catholics story by
the Archdiocese of LA’s Digital
Team. To watch the video story,
visit AngelusNews.com/video.
February 9, 2024 • ANGELUS • 21