Edi Gregory, the 8-month-old infant who was forced to stop child support by a UK court, was baptized before her death, even though her family was not initially religious.
Dean Gregory, Edie’s father, said before her death that he was inspired to baptize his daughter by Christian legal volunteers who fought to keep her alive. Dean said he was convinced of the devil’s existence by his family’s treatment in the courtroom.
“I’m not religious and I’m not baptized. But when I was in court, I felt like I was being dragged into hell,” Dean Gregory said in a Nov. 6 interview with the New Daily Compass. “I thought, if there’s a hell, then there must be a heaven. It was like the devil was there. I thought if there’s a devil, then there must be a God.”
British INFANT INDI GREGORY DIES Amid LEGAL BATTLE WITH UK GOVERNMENT OVER TREATMENT OPTIONS
This photo shows Indi Gregory, an infant in the UK who was forced to take her own life by the Court of Appeal despite offers of continued care and legal protection from the Italian government and Vatican leadership. (Family Leaflet/PA via AP)
Edie Gregory, who died on Monday after being forced to go on life support by the British government, was defended in court by legal adviser Christian Concern.
She had been offered Italian citizenship by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government and funds for continued care at a Catholic children’s hospital in Rome from the Vatican. However, Judge Robert Peel ruled on November 8 that the infant was to be she was taken off her life-support ventilator against the wishes of the parents. An appeal in the case was dismissed.
Dean Gregory said his legal counsel’s compassion for his daughter — in contrast to the “hell” she experienced in court — convinced him to seek baptism.
“A Christian volunteer visited the intensive care unit every day and told me that baptism protects you and opens the door to heaven. I was also really impressed by my lawyers from the Christian Legal Centre, Louis Browne KC, Bruno Quintavalle and Pavel Stroilov. They supported me and their dedication. It was as if christening Indi was also a way of recognizing their work.”
JUDGES DOUBLE ORDER TO END INFANT LIFE SUPPORT, DENIES PARENTS’ CALL TO TAKE BABY TO ITALY
Pope Francis visits hospitalized children. (Vatican Media/Pool/GG/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)
The father clarified that Indi’s baptism was not just an expression of gratitude to the Christian volunteers who had fought to save his child, saying he would like to seek baptism for himself and his surviving daughter as well.
“I’ve seen what hell is like and I want Indi to go to heaven,” Dean Gregory said. In fact, I have decided that I and my daughter will be baptized. We want to be protected in this life and go to heaven.”
The UK government has refused to allow Indi Gregory to continue living on life support despite the Vatican’s offer to transfer the infant to the Bambino Gesù hospital with Italian cooperation.
The UK’s most senior judges, Lord Justice Peter Jackson, Lady Justice Eleanor King and Lord Justice Andrew Moylan were the judges who dismissed the Gregorys’ appeal, ruling that the Italian government and the Vatican were “totally wrong” in trying to move the sick infant in their custody. .
Indi’s father Dean Gregory described his failed attempts in British courts to save his daughter’s life as “crawling through hell”. He baptized his daughter in the previous months, despite not being religious, because he felt he had met “the devil” in his legal battles. (Family Leaflet/PA via AP)
Pope Francis expressed his prayer intentions for the Gregory family, with the Vatican announcing that the pontiff “embraces the family of little Indi Gregory, her father and mother, prays for them and for her and turns his thoughts to all children around the world. these same hours that they live with pain or risk their lives because of disease and war”.
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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been a public supporter of the Gregorys, aggressively lobbying the UK government to release Indi into her country’s custody.
“They say there is not much hope for little Indi, but until the end, I will do everything I can to defend her life and defend the right of her mom and dad to do everything they can for her. Meloni wrote on social media in the days leading up to Indy’s death.
“Indi’s life ended at 01.45am. Claire and I are angry, heartbroken and ashamed. Not only did the NHS and the courts take away her chance to live a longer life, they took away Indi’s dignity to die at home of the family where she belonged,” Dean Gregory said Monday after his daughter’s death. “They were able to take Indi’s body and dignity, but they can never take her soul. They tried to get rid of Indi without anyone knowing, but we made sure to remember her forever. I knew she was special from the day he was born.
