It is with great joy that we announce that the Archdiocese of Madrid has given its approval to the newly founded association of the faithful, the Evangelium Vitae Association. The approval was given by His Eminence Antonio Maria Cardinal Rouco Varela on 13 March 2000.

The Evangelium Vitae Association originated as a response to Pope John Paul's call in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae. He said: "...[It] is urgent that we all pray a great prayer for life, a prayer that encompasses the whole world. That from each Christian community, from each group or association, from each family and from the heart of each faithful, with extraordinary initiatives and with regular prayer, we raise an impassioned supplication to God, the Creator and Lover of life. Jesus himself has shown to us with his example that prayer and fasting are the main and most effective weapons against the forces of evil ( cf. Mt 4: 1-11), and taught his disciples that some evil spirits can only be expelled by these means ( cf. Mk 9:29). Therefore, let us have the humility and courage to pray and fast that the strength that comes from above, may crumble the walls of deceptions and lies, that hide from the eyes of so many of our brothers and sisters the perverse nature of forms of behavior and laws hostile to life, and open their hearts to purposes and intentions inspired in the civilization of life and love."

The Evangelium Vitae Association wants to be a channel for the evangelization of our society on pro-life/ family issues in union with the Magisterium of the Church. For this purpose the Association wants to open up a path of prayer and reparation for the sins against God's plan for humanity. With this end in mind, we celebrate a prayer vigil for life and family on the 24th of every month, at 8:00 p.m, at San Martin Catholic Church in Madrid. We have also celebrated a solemn prayer vigil in the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid, during the Journey for Life, a pro-life event convoked by the Spanish Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In the articles of incorporation of the Association we include different types of memberships :ordinary, contemplatives and collaborators. We ask for the collaboration in prayers and sacrifices of all the contemplative convents of Spain and we also invite all those persons who suffer from some kind of illness, to offer their sufferings in union with the Cross of Christ for the goals of the Association.

The fight for life and and family will be, unless God intervenes, long and hard. "For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).

There are so many ways in modern society in which. the dignity of the human person, created in the image and likeness of God, is attacked. Only the power of the Holy Spirit implored with humility in unceasing prayer, can inspire us to do the necessary work to defend God's plan for ourselves and for our brothers and sisters.

At the present time we also have an opportunity to defend life that I believe comes from Heaven. Recently the Partido Popular ( Popular Party) won the elections in our country. Below I reproduce the letter of congratulations that I sent to D. Jose Maria Aznar, president of our government and of the Partido Popular. I believe this letter summarizes the aspirations of the pro-life movement in Spain:

"I would like to express my joy for the great triumph obtained by the Partido Popular, over which you preside, in the past elections. Great is the joy and great the opportunity to search for a common good, as well as the responsability that this implies.

"We are 40 million Spaniards who desire and hope for the best: to live in peace. Spain needs life and peace, you know that very well.

"We expect public actions on behalf of education in values, that show to our children and youth a happy and responsible lifestyle that frees them from the temptation of promiscuity, which has been presented to them in the past years, as something natural and unavoidable. It is precisely this incorrect presentation of the affective relationship between young people, that facilitates alcohol and drug abuse, because ( as society falsely claims) , young people need to ‘live on top of the world.' And the promiscuity encouraged by means of campaigns organized by official public entities, even to the point of using images of mothers, is the cause of the increase in AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies among adolescents.

"We need laws that guarantee respect for life from the moment of conception til natural death, courageous laws that do not protect the silent terrorism of abortion and euthanasia, crimes from which humanity will soon have to repent. As Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Teresa of Calcutta used to say: 'Abortion is the greatest enemy of peace in the world, because if the law allows a mother to kill her child, what law will keep a man from killing another man?'

"We need public policies that clearly spell out the protection of the family, founded on a stable marriage between a man and a woman, the basic cell of a well structured society. If the Spanish youth are corrupted and families are destroyed, of what value will be all the economic success?

"Many of us have voted for life and family. For this and much more, we ask God to enlighten you and your government. We trust we will not be disappointed."