Rochelle Rodricks
MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 8, 2008: On September 8th the Church 
celebrates the birth of a Girl Child - Mary, Mother of Jesus. On this day, the Church in India invites everyone to celebrate the “Girl Child Day”. The purpose of this celebration is to focus attention on the declining sex ratio and the increase in violence against the girl child. The 2001 Census of India shows a dismal sex ratio of 927 girls per 1000 boys. It is estimated that prenatal sex selection and infanticide have resulted in approximately half a million missing girls per year since the past two decades. Female foeticide is one of the extreme manifestations of violence against women. Female foetuses are selectively aborted after prenatal sex determination, thus avoiding the birth of girls. The birth of a girl child is often taken as a curse as she is perceived to be an economic and social liability. Pope John Paul II in his 'Letter to Women' wrote, “The Church desires to give thanks to the Most Holy Trinity for the ‘mystery of woman’ and for every woman for that which constitutes the eternal measure of her feminine dignity, for the ‘great works of God’ which throughout history have been accomplished in and through her that the greatest event in human history - the incarnation of God himself - was accomplished.” (CBCI News)
celebrates the birth of a Girl Child - Mary, Mother of Jesus. On this day, the Church in India invites everyone to celebrate the “Girl Child Day”. The purpose of this celebration is to focus attention on the declining sex ratio and the increase in violence against the girl child. The 2001 Census of India shows a dismal sex ratio of 927 girls per 1000 boys. It is estimated that prenatal sex selection and infanticide have resulted in approximately half a million missing girls per year since the past two decades. Female foeticide is one of the extreme manifestations of violence against women. Female foetuses are selectively aborted after prenatal sex determination, thus avoiding the birth of girls. The birth of a girl child is often taken as a curse as she is perceived to be an economic and social liability. Pope John Paul II in his 'Letter to Women' wrote, “The Church desires to give thanks to the Most Holy Trinity for the ‘mystery of woman’ and for every woman for that which constitutes the eternal measure of her feminine dignity, for the ‘great works of God’ which throughout history have been accomplished in and through her that the greatest event in human history - the incarnation of God himself - was accomplished.” (CBCI News)