by Hilary White

March 28, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An international movement is afoot to establish March 25 as the Day for the Unborn Child. Beginning in 1993 in El Salvador as “Day for the Right to be Born,” the movement has grown to include other Latin American countries and is being imported to countries around the world.

The celebration in 1999 in Buenos Aires was noted by Pope John Paul II and joined by representatives of the Muslim, Orthodox and Jewish communities in Brazil. Pope John Paul said he hoped the day would be adopted internationally as “a positive option in favour of life and the spread of a culture for life to guarantee respect for human dignity in every situation.”

Now, Argentina, Paraguay, Guatemala, Peru, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Dominican Republic, Mexico, the Philippines, Costa Rica, Australia and even Cuba, make some annual observance of the right of the child to be born. Events have included peaceful protests out side abortion facilities, Rosary processions and Catholic Masses.

The president of Nicaragua summarized the intention, declaring in January 2000 that,”the right to life is the first of human rights and deserves total attention on the part of the state, its institutions and the whole of society.”

This year, in the Philippines, President Arroyo, declared an annual Day for the Unborn Child after a Mass on 25 March, the Catholic feast of the Annunciation commemorating Mary’s acceptance to the Angel Gabriel of the virgin conception Christ within her.

Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney Julian Porteous led a procession through the city’s streets starting with a Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral. The president of Malta, His Excellency Dr. Edward Fenech Adami, unveiled a pro-life monument to the unborn child on March 25.

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Malta President to Unveil National Pro-Life Monument
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/mar/06032301.html