Vatican and Several Cathedrals Virtually „Occupied“ in App

Country: International

Date of incident: September 29, 2012


In the augmented reality app „Junaio“, several of the world’s large cathedrals are decorated with a banner displaying the text “Abortion Pills, A Gift From God” and instructions how to do an abortion yourself with a medicine called misoprostol.

When looking at Saint Peter’s Cathedral through the smartphone or tablet using the app, the big billboard hanging from the sky pops up in front of Saint Peter's Cathedral. 
Not only the Vatican, but other religious and governmental buildings all over the world have been virtually occupied. The action is an initiative of „Women on Waves“ in collaboration with „Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights“. The action is marking September 28th, the International Day of Action for the Decriminalization of Abortion.  With the action women on Waves wants to ensure that women all over the world have access to information how to do a safe abortion with a medicine called Misoprostol, which is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Visitors to one of the virtually „occupied“ churches or buildings can see the banner after downloading the application on their smart phones or tablets, click on the magnifying glass in the right corner, search for “abortion”, click on the "Women on Waves "log and turn till the small yellow dot in the right upper corner falls in the highlighted beam. The churches affected in Europe are: Hungary (Matthias Church, Budapest), Ireland (St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin), Vatican City (St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome), Malta (St. John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta), Northern Ireland (Saint Anne's Cathedral, Belfast; St. Peter’s Cathedral, Belfast; St. Columb’s Cathedral, Derry), Russia (The Cathedral of Christ the Savior), Spain (Cathedral, Barcelona; Puerta de Alcala, Madrid; Catedral, Granada; Iglesia de Santo Domingo, Granada; Ministerio de Justicia y Congreso de los Diputados, Madrid).