First Changes: A Historical Look at Legalized Abortion in Europe

1. HLI EUROPA PRESENTATION FOR FATIMA CONFERENCE

2. FIRST CHANGES First in the world to legalize abortion - Lenin in Soviet Russia in 1920 during the Bolshevik Revolution The Nazis were the first to legalize abortion in Poland

3. FIRST CHANGES After World War II, abortion was legalized in all the nations of the so-called socialist bloc, following the example of the Soviet Union in Poland under pressure - 27 April 1956 At present, the 50th anniversary - Prayer of Expiation at the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Krakw-agiewniki

4. Jasna Gra Vows of the Polish Nation Written in prison by Stefan Cardinal Wyszyski , Primate of Poland, during the worst persecution of the Church in Poland Solemn vows made by about 1 million pilgrims at the Shrine of Our Lady of Czstochowa on 26 August 1956

5. Jasna Gra Vows of the Polish Nation Portion of the text of the vows which refers to the defense of life: Holy Mother of God and Mother of Good Counsel! We promise you, with our eyes fixed on the manger of Bethlehem, that from this time forward we will stand guard over the beginnings of life We will fight to defend every child and every cradle as valiantly as our fathers fought for the existence and freedom of the Nation, paying with their own blood. We are prepared to suffer death rather than inflict death on the defenseless We will consider the gift of life as the greatest grace of the Father of all life and the most valuable treasure of the nation Mother of Christ and House of Gold! We promise you to stand guard over the indissolubility of marriage, to defend the dignity of women, keep vigil at the threshold of the domestic hearth so that the lives of Poles will be safe there The people respond: Queen of Poland, We promise!

6. Jasna Gra Vows of the Polish Nation 26 August 2006 - 50th Anniversary - Cardinal Jzef Glemp , Primate of Poland renewed the Jasna Gra Vows, which were repeated at each Mass in every parish in Poland

7. FIRST CHANGES Drama of breaking the vows - almost 300,000 abortions annually during the 1970s 16 October 1978 - election of a Pole, Cardinal Karol Wojtya , to the papacy June 1979 - First pilgrimage of Pope John Paul II to Poland - Mass in Plac Zwycistwa (Victory Square) in Warsaw on the Feast of Pentecost Prayer of the Pope - May your Spirit descend and renew the face of the land, this land Solidarity Uprising - the first breath of freedom and exhortation of the dignity of the person and defense of conceived life Testimony of prayer of Pope John Paul II: I constantly wish and pray that the Polish family would give life, that it would be faithful to the holy right to life

8. Prayer Crusade in defense of the unborn Prayer Crusade in defense of the unborn With trust in the power of prayer and in response to the summons of the Holy Father, John Paul II, a group of lay Catholics from Krakw initiated a systematic nation-wide prayer in defense of the unborn The prayer was initiated on 12 October 1980 on the World-wide Day of Prayer for the Family Goals of the Crusade: Awaken and sensitize consciences Pray for the intention of abolishing abortion laws Recognize the unconditional right to life of every unborn child Commitments for a period of 1 year: Daily prayer One weekday Mass and Holy Communion per month Shut-ins - offer one day of suffering Several hundred thousand persons joined the Crusade. Each month another intention for joint prayer is published

9. Spiritual Adoption of an Unborn Child Prayer to save an unborn child in danger of being aborted and its parents The idea of spiritual adoption arose in England and France shortly after the appearances of Our Lady in Fatima, in response to her summons to pray the Rosary and to make reparation for the greatest sins 2 February 1987 - the first act of spiritual adoption in Poland at the Church of the Pauline Fathers in Warsaw Spiritual Adoption consists in: Making a public promise of prayer (to the extent possible) during a solemn Mass after personal preparation at a 3-day retreat Daily prayer for 9 months for a single child known only to God - 1 mystery of the Rosary and special prayers Additional voluntary obligations

10. Spiritual Adoption of an Unborn Child Daily Prayer: Lord Jesus, through the intercession of Mary your Mother, who gave birth to you out of love, and through the intercession of St. Joseph, a man of faith, who cared for you after your birth, I pray to you for the intention of this unborn child who is threatened by extermination, whom I have adopted spiritually. Please give his parents the love and courage to keep their child in the life that you yourself ordained for him. Amen. Each year thousands of people join Spiritual adoption, aware that there are more of them than there are abortions in Poland The Largest Centers: The Main Center of Spiritual Adoption at Jasna Gra in Czstochowa; The Movement for Propagating Spiritual Adoption in Gdask; The Center of Spiritual Adoption at the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Krakw-agiewniki

11. Rosary for the Defense of Life and Family Rosary for the Defense of Life and Family Our Lady, in her appearances, asks us to pray the Rosary and promises through it we can ask her for anything Our Lady, in her appearances, asks us to pray the Rosary and promises through it we can ask her for anything We often pray the Rosary as individuals for the intention of defense of life We often pray the Rosary as individuals for the intention of defense of life During numerous church services for the defense of life During numerous church services for the defense of life HLI Europa conducts a Rosary for the Defense of Life and Family developed by the famous gynecologist and defender of life Prof. Wodzimierz Fijakowski HLI Europa conducts a Rosary for the Defense of Life and Family developed by the famous gynecologist and defender of life Prof. Wodzimierz Fijakowski

12. Pilgrimages of Defenders of Life to Jasna Gra Pilgrimages of Defenders of Life to Jasna Gra Annually on the Saturday before Sanctity of Life Day (25 March) a National Pilgrimage of Defenders of Life to the Shrine of Our Lady of Czstochowa takes place. Its initiator is the Prayer Crusade movement. Currently all join in. This is a time of prayer, contemplation, praying the Rosary, promising spiritual adoption and community Mass before the Icon of Our Lady of Czstochowa.

13. Stations of the Cross for the Unborn Child Stations of the Cross for the Unborn Child The Prayer Crusade initiated the practice of saying the Stations of the Cross for the Unborn Child during Lent - contemplation on the suffering of Christ in the context of the sin of abortion The most famous texts of the Stations of the Cross for the Unborn Child were prepared by Fr. Stanisaw Malanka, ecclesiastical assistant of the Prayer Crusade, were contemplated during the Pilgrimages to Czestochowa and subsequently published

14. Prayer for the conversion of enemies of life The constant appearances of attacks and provocations aimed at legalizing abortion became the cause for beginning the Prayer for the Conversion of Enemies of Life Human Life International Europa has been conducting this program for 2 years More than 2,000 persons have joined the prayer to date. The Prayer for the enemies of life is difficult and demands conquering negative emotions, but is very necessary We invite all to join in: personal prayer and sacrifice for this important intention New pressures, initiatives, and provocations to legalize killing unborn children in Poland are constantly appearing. Various persons from the world of politics, media, feminists, and others promote them. They oppose God, the creator of life. They harm people and society. However, they often do not know what they are doing. We pray with love for their conversion! We earnestly pray that activities undertaken with evil intentions may not do harm and that each unborn child may have the right to life. This is true Christian prayer! We wish to offer it to God at the hands of the Holy Father

15. Prayer for the conversion of enemies of life PRAYER: Lord Jesus, you prayed on the cross with love for your persecutors. Open my heart so that I will be able to pray for enemies of life, for those who want to kill defenseless children in their mothers wombs, to harm women and inflict great pain on them. Lord, I beg you for the conversion of enemies of life! I also pray, Lord Jesus, that their evil intentions may not be realized, and that each child conceived could happily be born. For this I request the special intercession of Mary the Mother of God and our Mother, as well as St. Gianna Berenta Molla, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, St. Maximilian Kolbe, Servant of God Jerzy Popieluszko, St. Faustina Kowalska

16. Prayer in Marian Shrines In Poland we have about 200 Marian Shrines, many of which are very old. The cult of Mary in Poland is tied in with Polish tradition and is at the same time very much alive All the shrines conduct prayers in defense of life Many of them hold periodic all-night prayer vigils before the Most Blessed Sacrament for the defense of life Pro-life prayers take place in all cathedrals in Poland (including the royal cathedral in Krakw at Wawel)

17. Masses and processions with candles and rosary on the feast of the Holy Innocents28 December The first procession took place in 1993 from the Basilica of St. Bridget in Gdask (Solidarity church) to the Basilica of Our Lady with the participation of the Archbishop of Gdask Today, such processions take place in most cities in Poland

18. Masses and marches for life on Sanctity of Life Day At the request of defenders of life, the Polish Episcopate declared 25 March, the feast of the Annunciation as Sanctity of Life Day The following take place on that day: Masses in defense of life Spiritual adoption promises Processions with candles and praying the Rosary

19. Prayer with Radio Maria Radio Maria, which has several million Polish language listeners throughout the world, is very involved in the defense of life It conducts constant prayers for the defense of life: Daily Rosary Meetings at the Shrine of St. Joseph in Kalisz Reports on and joins with pro-life prayers which take place at various shrines and during marches and processions

20. Prayers of Consecrated Persons The following people pray constantly for the protection of life: Priests (28,546 in Poland, including religious) Women religious (23,304 religious sisters in Poland) Male religious (6,325 religious priests and 1,522 brothers) Secular institutes (1,081 persons) Seminarians for Life (about 7,000 seminarians in Poland) In times of great confrontations, the defenders of life request constant prayer support from sisters in contemplative orders

21. Our Lady promised efficacious assistance At first, faith in the possibility of change was weak After the call of the Holy Father and the beginning of the Prayer Crusade, the following began: 1. It became a positive battle - presenting the value, and not only overcoming the evil of abortion - "defeat evil with good" 2. Dramatic drop in the number of children killed, transmitting information and discussions

22. Our Lady promised efficacious assistance 3. 1993 - introduction of a law defending life, prohibiting abortion for social reasons and abortion on demand after 37 years of legality After the law was passed, there were 777 cases of abortion. That number has been held to less than 1000

23. Our Lady promised efficacious assistance 4. Public opinion research shows increasing support for the defense of life

24. Our Lady promised efficacious assistance 5. In 1997, legalized abortion was introduced, but after a year, life won again 6. In 2004, the left wing of the leadership - attempted full legalization of abortion. The proposal was defeated in the first reading - a true miracle! 7. There is a great chance for the complete defense of life

25. Great prayer for the constitutional defense of life At present, after the renewal of the Jasna Gra Vows on their 50th anniversary, the possibility exists for the introduction of an amendment to the Polish constitution - from conception to natural death. 120 representatives from various parties introduced the proposal.

26. Great prayer for the constitutional defense of life From the feast of the Triumph of the Cross (14 September 2006) to the Feast of Christ the King (26 November 2006) Poland is praying daily to the Blessed Trinity through the intercession of the Most Holy Mother, Queen of Poland as well as Servants of God John Paul II, Stefan Cardinal Wyszyski, Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko, for constitutional protection of life from conception: Chaplet of Divine Mercy Marian prayer Sub Tuum Praesidium

27. Great prayer for the constitutional defense of life As well as the following ejaculations: Jesus Christ, giver of Life and Victor over death, King of the Universe, have mercy on us (3 times) Mary, mother of the Son of God, Mother of the Church, Queen of Poland, pray for us (3 times) Servant of God John Paul II, intercede for us Servant of God Stefan Wyszyski, intercede for us Servant of God Fr. Jerzy, intercede for us We ask all of you to support this initiative by your own personal prayers

28. Proposal - World Prayer Crusade for the Defense of Life Proposal - World Prayer Crusade for the Defense of Life Establish an international committee Publish simple principles for this prayer Focus on a different country each month, which most needs prayer support in the struggle Announce subsequent countries and intentions on the internet As the fruit of the I Pro-Life Prayer Congress