Arch of Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and International Shrine of the Holy Innocents

Arch of Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and International Shrine of the Holy Innocents is a proposed monument to honor the Virgin Mary and unborn fetuses and embryos that were terminated through abortion. The association of the same name was founded in January of 2001 in order to raise funds for the project and to organize its construction.

The proposed arch is 700 feet tall which would make it the tallest monument in the world. Like the similar Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri people would be access the inside of the monument. The height of 700 feet was chosen because in Catholic tradition 7 is a mystical number representing perfection. The proposed arch would be located in the Outer Harbor of Buffalo, New York on the shores of Lake Erie. The originator of the idea of the arch, Laurence D. Behr, a Buffalonian, reports the inspiration for the project came to him in a dream after reading an article entitled The Pastoral Importance of Shrines.

The reception of the initial proposal was mixed. The Buffalo News while praising the ideals of the project suggested that the money used for construction could be better spent, and cautioned that such an attraction might be divisive within the community and a magnet for outside actors to sow division.

In 2002, the Buffalo Common Council unanimously passed a resolution in favor of the arch. In the resolution, the Council cited its potential economic impact on the ailing region, the fact that most Buffalonians are Catholic, and that it would be an attractive addition to the city sky-line.

Design

The planned arch would be 700 feet tall, a height which includes a giant gold-colored crucifix on the top. There would be three chapels within the arch- one on the bottom of each leg and one at the apex. An artist's conception of the planned arch shows it to be more angular in its general shape than the Gateway Arch. 1

The estimated cost of the project is $100,000,000. The initial fund raising goal was for 1 million donors to each give $100. Such donors would have their names inscribed on the arch.

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