EUROPE/SPAIN - March 25: International Day for Life

Madrid (Agenzia Fides) – Following a survey conducted worldwide, during the first International Pro-Life Congress, held in Madrid in 2003 which involved over 20,000 groups and associations in over 20 countries across Europe and America, it was decided that March 25 of each year would be the International Day of Life, or Day of the Unborn Child. The pro-life association in Spain is a non-profit organization that protects the dignity of life from conception until natural death. The first country to celebrate the Day of Life in an institutional way was El Salvador in 1993, followed by Argentina in 1999. At the request of the Church and various NGOs, Guatemala, Chile, and Costa Rica also celebrated the Day. In Nicaragua, the President of the Republic, with the support of the Church, in 2000 approved a decree declaring March 25 "Day of the Unborn Child." It was also established in 2001 in the Dominican Republic and now there are now in Venezuela, Uruguay, and Panama groups for the protection of life who are promoting campaigns to collect signatures for the recognition of this holiday by civil authorities. Even in the Philippines and Cuba, where this year the Archdiocese of Havana will celebrate "Life Day" with a living Rosary, the Day is celebrated on March 25. For its part, the Catholic Church in Mexico on March 25 will celebrate the "Day of Life In the Womb" for the seventh consecutive year. Peru is the country that most recently established a law for the celebration of life, in 2002. The “Day of the Unborn Child" is the name dedicated to the celebration in Austria, while in Spain, in 1993, the Bishops' Conference decided that the Day be celebrated on March 25. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 22/3/2010)