The true story of the International Day of the Unborn Child and the role of St. John Paul II

ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 25, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

On March 25, the solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, the International Day of the Unborn Child is celebrated in more than a dozen countries. The event originated in Argentina, and St. John Paul II played a fundamental role in its establishment.

The story has its beginnings on Nov. 13, 1998, when the pilgrim pope received the then-president of Argentina, Carlos Saúl Menem, in Rome. During the private audience, the president proposed establishing the celebration.

Menem — who died on Feb. 14, 2021, at the age of 90 — discussed the topic with the then-Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, and attended the Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II in the Argentine National Church in Rome.

In his homily, the Holy Father emphasized the importance of the Virgin Mary for Argentina in her title of Our Lady of Luján, the country’s patroness.

“Our Lady of Luján, help the people of Argentina, support them in their defense of life, console them in their suffering, accompany them in their joys, and always help them to raise their eyes to heaven, where the colors of their flag blend with the colors of your immaculate mantle,” the pilgrim pope prayed.

Less than a month later, Menem and his foreign minister, Guido di Tella, signed Decree 1406/98, which established March 25 as the Day of the Unborn Child. The celebration was first held in 1999.

The decree was signed on Dec. 8, 1998, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, and states, among other things, that “the most celebrated birth in the world by Christians and non-Christians is that of the child Jesus.”

According to the Argentine newspaper La Nación in December 1998, “Menem had expressed his intention to create this special date during his meeting with Pope John Paul II last November.”

The decree establishing the Day of the Unborn Child also “reaffirms this government’s commitment to the causes of humanity, as it has done in international forums in Cairo in 1994, Copenhagen and Beijing in 1995, and Istanbul in 1996.”

“Taking into account that a day is customarily designated on the calendar to commemorate the most significant events of the human race, it is considered appropriate and necessary to dedicate a day at the national level to the unborn child,” the document adds.

The decree also highlights that the Day of the Unborn Child seeks to “invite reflection on the important role that pregnant women play in the destiny of humanity and the value of the human life they carry within them.”

Shortly before establishing the celebration, Menem wrote a letter to all the presidents of Latin America, as well as those of Spain, Portugal, and the Philippines, asking them to join the initiative.

Currently, Guatemala, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Peru, El Salvador, Uruguay, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Austria, Slovakia, Ecuador, Cuba, Chile, and the Philippines celebrate the International Day of the Unborn Child.

The celebration highlights the importance of the right to life of the unborn and expresses repudiation of the crime of abortion, which was legalized in Argentina in December 2020 under the leadership of then-President Alberto Fernández.

St. John Paul II’s encyclical Evangelium Vitae

Another reason for declaring March 25 the Day of the Unborn Child is that on that day in 1995, St. John Paul II published the encyclical Evangelium Vitae (“The Gospel of Life”), in which he clearly defended the right to life and rejected threats to it, such as abortion and euthanasia.

“The moral gravity of procured abortion is apparent in all its truth if we recognize that we are dealing with murder and, in particular, when we consider the specific elements involved,” the pope stated.

“The one eliminated is a human being at the very beginning of life. No one more absolutely innocent could be imagined. In no way could this human being ever be considered an aggressor, much less an unjust aggressor!” the Holy Father proclaimed in the encyclical.

Originally published in 2021. Updated for republication.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/262925/the-true-story-of-the-international-day-of-the-unborn-child-and-the-role-of-st-john-paul-ii