Pro-Life Day was celebrated in Austria on 1st June, with a series of initiatives at the local and national level. Masses dedicated to the theme of life were celebrated in the individual dioceses. That’s what happened in the diocese of Linz, where the diocesan bishop Ludwig Schwarz expressed himself in favour of “patient and stubborn work” in support of a “culture of life”. The bishop deplored the current “minimization of abortion”, adding: “The unjust character of abortion has been forgotten in Austria. There’s a tendency to consider the killing of an unborn child as the expression of individual liberty”. The bishop thanked the parish communities for the assistance given to women and families in difficulty, recalling at the same time that “it is the task of Christians to help women who suffer the consequences of an abortion”, since, he explained, “it not for us to condemn, but to help”. Apart from the celebrations in the individual dioceses, the association “Aktion Leben” (www.aktionleben.at) is holding an exhibition in Vienna dedicated to the “miracle of the birth of human life”. The exhibition, which takes the form of a kind of sensorial journey, is open to the public in the convent of the Franciscans from 6 to 29 June. It is subdivided into six parts and enriched with audiovisual installations. “We wish to describe the miracle of the birth of human life and prenatal development to as many people as possible of every age”, declared Paul Aiginger, President of “Aktion-Leben” Austria. “Today, scientists are trying with every possible means to produce stockpiles of human embryos”, added Martina Kronthaler of the association. “That’s why it’s so important to show that an embryo is from the moment of conception a sensible and communicating being with fascinating capabilities”. The exhibition, which comprises among other things a display of how a pregnancy develops and a “uterine tent” aimed at reawakening prenatal memories in visitors, hopes to encourage “visitors to participate actively and with all their senses”, stressed Kronthaler.
