Unborn Innocence Memorial: One Man's Vision To Help Our Youngest Neighbors

All inalienable rights of the individual are founded upon the right to life

The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds the faithful that everyone should look upon their neighbor, without exception, as 'another self' (1931). "As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me" (Matt. 25:40).

GRAND JUNCTION, CO (Catholic Online) -- While a great many Catholics and other Christians agree on the need to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and shelter the homeless, they also recognize the unborn's place of significance in the preferential option for the poor. That is, as Mother Teresa has said, the unborn are "the poorest of the poor." Therefore it is a mistake to imagine we are properly exercising our duty of social justice and our obligation to contribute to the common good of society if we ignore the plight of our youngest neighbors.

Pope John Paul II noted in his encyclical Evangelium vitae (The Gospel of Life): "It is impossible to further the common good without acknowledging and defending the right to life, upon which all the other inalienable rights of individuals are founded and from which they develop" (101).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches the faithful that "the common good presupposes respect for the person as such. In the name of the common good, public authorities are bound to respect the fundamental and inalienable rights of the human person" (1907).

However, in the case of unborn children in our nation, basic human rights are not only ignored and disrespected, but are even actively opposed through legalized abortion. It is easy to see, then, that the legalized intentional killing of unborn children is an affront to human dignity of the greatest magnitude. Our young and innocent neighbors, those among us who are voiceless and defenseless, often suffer the sentence of death for having but lived.

Blessed John Paul II warned: "To claim the right to abortion, infanticide and euthanasia, and to recognize that right in law, means to attribute to human freedom a perverse and evil significance: that of an absolute power over others and against others. This is the death of true freedom . . ." (EV 20).

Jim Yankovich, member of the Knights of Columbus and resident of Grand Junction, Colorado, is exercising his own personal freedom in order to combat the death of true freedom. Jim, in his own special way, is answering the call to aid unborn children through his charism and love for sacred artwork, by establishing "Unborn Innocence" as a memorial to our youngest neighbors everywhere in the world.

Catholic Online interviewed Jim in order to pass on this wonderful story of the power of Christ's grace working in our lives, a grace that moves the community of the faithful to devote their individual talents and energy to the cause of the common good: a cause which is based on human dignity and the inviolable right to life:

COL: Jim, tell us about "Unborn Innocence." How did this memorial, as you call it, begin?

"'Unborn Innocence' is the result of a vision I had during adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, about a year ago.

COL: Tell us more about this vision you had.

"This artwork, 'Unborn Innocence,' is a very accurate depiction of what I saw. There was a partially crucified Jesus, looking at something He is holding in his right hand (the one not nailed to the cross). The 'something' is three aborted babies in various stages of development. One of the babies is actually very near term, the victim of a partial birth abortion. The shocking thing, is that the babies are but three He has 'scooped' from a dumpster that is below the cross, a dumpster full of trash and aborted babies."

COL: Then you were inspired to develop "Unborn Innocence" through a vision you experienced of our Lord?

"I wouldn't say that I was 'inspired.' I think 'directed' is a better word. Let me explain. That Wednesday, at Adoration, I was sitting in my usual pew. The monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament was displayed on the altar, but I was drawn to move to a seat in front of the tabernacle. I opened my Bible to a bookmarked place, Tobit I think -- doesn't matter -- anyway, the bookmark was a pro-life one, and that got me to meditating on this terrible thing called abortion.

"I remember asking, 'What can I do that could possibly make any difference?' I mean, I profess to be pro-life, I buy my ticket to the annual Right to Life Banquet every year, even when I know my wife and I won't be going. I help my Knights council host the annual Right to Life Chili Dinner; shoot, wasn't it my wife and I that got our Council going on the Bottles for Babies project to benefit our local Pregnancy Center? Just what else was there that I could possibly do that would make any difference against abortion in the world?

"Then, the answer was instantaneous.

"In a voice as clear as can be, I was simply told: 'Build a memorial to the unborn. And you know what it should look like. It would be of great help if this were to be erected everywhere.' And then I saw what you see here in this memorial.

"There was Jesus, arm extended towards me, looking at what was in His hand. He was in agony, but not from the pain of the crucifixion. The tears running down His cheeks, the pain in His eyes and agony in His face was from what He was looking at. I strained to see too, and then He looked right at them and said 'before you were formed in your Mothers womb I called you by name,' and at that moment I knew what it was He was holding: aborted babies.

"Then, His gaze lifted from them, to me, and, looking into my eyes, He spoke right into my soul: 'Therefore, whatsoever you do to the least of these, that you've done unto me.' With that, He went away, the vision ended.

"I remember sitting there, and then asking, 'How do I do this? Show me how to do this!' But there wasn't any answer. The unspoken answer, from the beginning, the unspoken answer has been 'just do it.'"

COL: How long did it take to build "Unborn Innocence"?

"This memorial is over a year in the making. Oh, I built a cross right off, but I knew nothing about carving, so the first corpus was abstract, something I was able to do. But I wasn't satisfied with it since it didn't show the details. It was several months later, when I met Mary Catherine Unrein, and described to her what I had seen, that the memorial started to become a reality. Mary Catherine is an amazing artist and is very pro-life. She readily accepted the commission to build me a prototype, and the corpus she made was perfect."

COL: Now that the "Unborn Innocence" memorial is a reality, what is the next step?

"The directive I received in the vision was to place 'Unborn Innocence' memorials  'everywhere,' because Jesus said, 'it would be of great help if this were to be erected everywhere.' So, that's what we're trying to do. There are a lot of churches that already have a memorial to the unborn, but there are many, many more that do not.

"We are building 'Unborn Innocence' memorials in three sizes, in both indoor and outdoor versions, to fit about any church or individuals budget. We have also added a plaque and a Rosary to the 'Unborn Innocence' offering.

"The plaques will serve two purposes: 1) they can be used as a fundraising vehicle to help parishes raise the money to place a memorial on their church grounds; and 2) they are affordable enough ($50 each) to find a place in every Christian home in the world!"

COL: Thank you Jim. And thank you for your diligent service to the common good and to the dignity of the human person through the recognition of the serious need of our unborn neighbors.

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F. K. Bartels is a Catholic writer who knows his Catholic Faith is one of the greatest gifts a man could ever receive. He is a contributing writer for Catholic Online. Visit him also at catholicpathways.com

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