BUCHAREST, March 27, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Over 20 cities in Romania celebrated a March for Life on Saturday, March 24, an event organizers say is spreading a pro-life message across the country.
“It is becoming one of the most important events in Romania, where ideas for life are reflected in the street. This year’s event expanded nationwide,” Larisa Iftime, president of Pro-Vita Media, told LifeSiteNews.
Iftime explained that the first Romanian March for Life was organized by the Darul Vieţii (Gift of Life) Association in Timisoara five years ago, and last year was organized and held for the first time in the capital Bucharest by the Pro-Vita Bucharest Association.
“Many other non-governmental, Christian and pro-life organizations came together this year to support the March for Life,” Iftime said.
In Bucharest, organizers said about 1000 people, “mainly young people,” marched from Revolution Square to Izvor Park (Spring Park), in front of the Parliament Palace, where youth handed out flyers with information about the beginning of life and the tragic consequences of abortion.
At Izvor Park, Bogdan Stanciu, president of the Pro-Vita Bucharest Association, told the crowd that Romania has lost more children to abortion in the past fifty years than the current total population of the country. He said the timing of the event around the 25th of March, the day Catholics and Orthodox celebrate as the feast of the Annunciation, is intentional.
“The Mother of God was overjoyed at the news of being pregnant with Jesus Christ. The news that a family will have children should be a joy for us too,” Stanciu said. “We are against contraception, which is a form of slaughter also. In the past 50 years 22,178,906 children have been killed through abortion, far more than the present population of Romania.”
“The dramatic situation of abortion in Romania is a legacy of communism, when people forget about God, and have been brainwashed by atheistic ideas,” said Dr. Daniela Păun, president of the Bucharest branch of the Gift of Life Association, in her address to the participants.
“At present, the phenomenon of abortion in Romania is determined largely by the abortion industry that make huge amounts of money from abortions,” said Dr. Păun.
An important aspect to this year’s March, the organizers said, was the launch of the “Manifest for Life,” presented to politicians and the media in Bucharest, in which pro-life organizations are demanding legislation for the protection of life and the family in Romania.
In the city of Cluj the March for Life was organized by representatives of the Greek Catholic Diocese of Cluj-Gherla and other Christian associations, and was attended by over 500 people, the organizers reported.
In Oradea, hundreds gathered in the city centre to hear Florica Chereches, deputy mayor and mother of four children. “Statistics show that in Romania, on average, a woman has four abortions, but we have absolute records of women with 35 abortions or more each,” said Chereches. “These figures are frightening. We have every year 47,000 teenagers who have abortions and kill their babies in their wombs. That is why I support this March. We have to cry for those who cannot cry.”
In Arad, the March was organized by organizations “Drept” (Right) and “Alege Viaţa” (Choose Life). The participants stopped at Children’s Hospital to commemorate the children aborted there, then marched to Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral, where a cross of candles in memory of children killed by abortion was created.
“With this March, we want to warn people about the tragedy of abortion in Romania. We affirm the right to life of unborn children from conception, respect for life in all its phases and the need for family support,” said Ana-Maria Jitea, coordinator of the “Choose Life” campaign promoted in Arad schools.
Organizers said Marches in other cities were each attended by several hundred pro-life participants.
“A novelty is the way the March was perceived by the media this year,” Iftime told LifeSiteNews, “unlike last year.”
Organizers said the event was reported in almost all the national press, by newspapers and news agencies.
“The news was rich, interspersed with many positive comments on life, and in some cases, the event was particularly mentioned among the important issues of the day,” Iftime observed.
“The most important is that there were more than twice as many participants as last year,” Iftime said. “The vast majority of participants were young and very young people. We are pleased that the press was very much present. Little by little, the society starts to be interested in this topic. Our goal, as the organizers of this march, was to bring the issue of abortion on the public agenda. We are glad that we succeeded to do this.”
A video of the 2012 Romanian March for Life events has been produced by Pro-Vita Media and is available here.
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