The fourth International Pro-life Congress will take place from November 6-8 in Zaragoza, Spain featuring speakers from 14 different countries including the U.S., Canada, Uganda, Cuba and France.  Organizers expect 1,000 participants to attend from Spain and around the world.

According to organizers, the Congress aims at both raising social awareness in support of women with unexpected pregnancies and defending the life of the unborn.  Speakers hail from various countries including the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Uganda, Chile, Cuba, Argentina, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Sweden, Italy, France and Spain.

The opening address will be delivered by Professor Jutta Burggraf from the University of Navarre, and  closing remarks will be given by John Smeaton, director of the U.K.-based, pro-life Society for the Protection of Unborn Children.

The Congress will also feature a presentation by Martin Ssempa, an active promoter of abstinence in the fight against AIDs. 

Scheduled events

On the evening of November 7, Dr. Juan Luis Alcazar Zambrano from the University Clinic of Navarre will give a presentation titled, “Life in Real Time,” which will focus on the three-dimensional ultrasound technology and will allow attendees to get a glimpse of life in the womb.

A forum will also be held featuring an address by psychiatrist Dr. Jose Maria Semelas on post-abortion stress syndrome.  Following Dr. Semelas, presentations will be given on new pro-life books and audiovisual materials. Special guests will also share their testimonies of coping with the pain of abortion.

Later that night, one million candles will be lit along a two and a half mile stretch of downtown Zaragoza to represent the 1.5 million babies who have died in Spain because of abortion.  The first candle will be lit by one of the organizers of Madrid's October 17 March for Life.

More information on the Congress can be found at: www.zaragoza2009.org