VOLUME 3, ISSUE 12  •  MAY 20, 2017

Table of Contents

Copyright Notice

VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis’ schedule for Fatima visit released

Pilgrimage of His Holiness Francis to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima on the occasion of the centenary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Cova da Iria (12-13 May 2017) - Program

Visionaries’ canonization would ‘complete’ the Fatima centenary

Consistory announced to approve Fatima children’s canonization

It’s official: Pope Francis to canonize Fatima visionaries during May visit

How the upcoming canonizations affirm the Fatima apparitions

Papal visit completes anniversary celebrations, Fatima bishop says

100 years later, Fatima still offers a potent message

Video Message of the Holy Father Francis on the occasion of his imminent Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima in Portugal (12-13 May 2017)

We still need to heed Our Lady of Fatima’s advice, priest says

Cardinal Bertone talks about the third secret of Fatima

Pilgrimage of the Holy Father Francis to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima – Welcome ceremony at the Monte Real Air Base, private meeting with the President of the Republic of Portugal, and Visit to the Air Base Chapel

Let’s be guided by Mary’s Immaculate Heart, Pope says in Fatima

Pilgrimage of the Holy Father Francis to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima on the occasion of the centenary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Cova da Iria (12-13 May 2017) – Visit to the Chapel of the Apparitions of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima

Mary points to Christ’s mercy, Pope Francis tells Fatima pilgrims

Pilgrimage of the Holy Father Francis to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima on the occasion of the centenary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Cova da Iria (12-13 May 2017) – Blessing of the candles in the Chapel of the Apparitions of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima

Want to join Mary in battle? Pray the rosary, cardinal says at Fatima

Pilgrimage of the Holy Father Francis to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima on the occasion of the centenary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Cova da Iria (12-13 May 2017) – Holy Mass at the Marian Vigil, presided at by the Cardinal Secretary of State

Francisco and Jacinta have officially been declared saints!

Pilgrimage of the Holy Father to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima (12-13 May 2017) – Holy Mass and Canonization of the Blesseds Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto

Like the Fatima children, offer your lives to God, Pope urges

Pilgrimage of the Holy Father to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima (12-13 May 2017) – Greeting to the sick

Pilgrimage of the Holy Father to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima (12-13 May 2017) – Departure from Portugal and telegrams to Heads of State

Pope Francis: I am suspicious of ongoing Medjugorje apparitions

Pope says he hopes to find common ground with Trump

Full text of May 13 in-flight interview with Pope Francis

The Pope’s words at the Regina Coeli prayer

Annual report shows progress in Vatican financial transparency

Pope urges Macron to strengthen France’s Christian roots

Be champions of virtue, Pope Francis tells Coppa Italia finalists

Pope Francis: True peace comes through the Cross

General Audience: Mary Magdalen, Apostle of hope

Pope to ambassadors: Work for peace amid ‘complex’ global conflicts

Audience dedicated to sufferers of Huntington’s Chorea

WORLD NEWS

Our Lady of Fatima is coming to the United Nations

Pilgrimages to Fatima are on the uptick

This is the miracle that led to the Fatima children’s canonization

Sydney archbishop applauds rejection of abortion bill

North Korean defector: Despite horrific persecution, Christianity is growing

Sign of hope in Syria – Aleppo consecrated to Our Lady of Fatima

U.S. NEWS

What Cardinal O’Malley thinks we can all learn from Fatima

Trump administration expands pro-life Mexico City Policy

Free speech protects printer from promoting gay pride fest, Kentucky court rules

Who is Callista Gingrich? The woman set to be the new Vatican ambassador

Venerable Stanley Rother’s remains re-interred ahead of beatification

FEATURES

Niece of Fatima visionaries reflects on her remarkable family

Everything you need to know about Fatima (Part 1)

Everything you need to know about Fatima (Part 2)

A personal look at Fatima’s saintly Sister Lucia

What was Sr. Lucia’s advice after Fatima visions? Pray everyday

The ‘silence’ of Fatima offers important message for world today

‘Miracle of the sun’ broke darkness of Portugal’s atheist regimes

Our Lady of Fatima and a theological reading of history

What the littlest children can teach us about suffering

Menorah exhibit in Rome underlines positive Catholic-Jewish relations

Double review: ‘Alien: Covenant’ and ‘Everything, Everything’

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Sunday • May 21, 2017

Monday • May 22, 2017

Tuesday • May 23, 2017

Wednesday • May 24, 2017

Thursday • May 25, 2017

Friday • May 26, 2017

Saturday • May 27, 2017

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Volume 3, Issue 12 • May 20, 2017

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis’ schedule for Fatima visit released

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • March 20, 2017

Pope Francis with Our Lady of Fatima at the General Audience on Wednesday May 13, 2015. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — On Monday, the Vatican released the official program for Pope Francis’ two-day visit to Portugal in May, where he’ll celebrate the centenary of the Fatima Marian apparitions and make a brief stop at an air base to meet the country’s president.

Francis will likely make a stop at his favorite Roman basilica, Saint Mary Major, sometime before leaving Rome at 2 p.m. May 12.

He’ll land at the air base in Monte Real around 4:20 p.m. local time, where he’ll be greeted by an official welcoming ceremony and meet with the president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, before making his way to Fatima.

After his meeting with the president, the Pope is scheduled to stop by the chapel of the air base for a moment of prayer before boarding a helicopter that will take him to the Fatima’s multi-use stadium.

From there, he’ll hop inside an open car and drive to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. Once he arrives around 5:30 p.m., Pope Francis will head to the Chapel of the Apparitions inside the sanctuary, where he’ll recite a prayer.

He’ll then bless the candles in the chapel and offer a special greeting, marking his first public speech of the trip, before praying the rosary with faithful.

The next day, May 13, which marks the first apparition of Mary to the three shepherd children Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta, Francis will meet with Portugal’s Prime Minister António Costa at the city’s Casa “N.S. do Carmo” hotel-convent.

Francis will then head to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Fatima, which sits next to the official Shrine, to say Mass. After the celebration, he’ll greet sick and disabled persons who are present.

Lunch will then be served with the Portuguese bishops at the Casa “N.S. do Carmo” before the Pope heads back to the Monte Real air base for his official farewell ceremony.

He’s scheduled to leave around 3 p.m. local time, arriving to Rome’s Ciampino airport around 7 p.m. local time. As usual, he’ll likely pay another visit to the basilica of St. Mary Major to pray and leave flowers before heading back to the Vatican.

Of all Marian apparitions, those relating to Our Lady of Fatima are among the most famous. On May 13, 1917, siblings Francisco and Jacinta Marto – age 9 and 7 – and their cousin, 10-year-old Lucia dos Santos, took their sheep to graze near the Portuguese town of Fatima when they saw a figure of a woman dressed in white and holding a rosary.

After this first appearance, the Virgin Mary then appeared to the children on the 13th of every month from May until October. The message of the Fatima apparitions can be summarized primarily as a call to repentance and prayer.

In 1930, the Catholic Church proclaimed the supernatural character of the apparitions and a shrine was erected at Fatima. It was visited by Pope Paul VI May 13, 1967, and later by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

St. John Paul II had a particularly strong devotion to Our Lady of Fatima. After a harrowing assassination attempt in 1981, he credited his survival to her miraculous intervention. As a sign of his gratitude, he placed the bullet from the failed assassination in her crown.

“Pray for the brother who shot me, whom I have sincerely forgiven. United to Christ, as a priest and victim, I offer my sufferings for the Church and the world,” Pope John Paul II said on that occasion.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pilgrimage of His Holiness Francis to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima on the occasion of the centenary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Cova da Iria (12-13 May 2017) - Program

The Holy See Press Office • March 20, 2017

Vatican City — The following is the complete program of the Pilgrimage of His Holiness Pope Francis to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima on the occasion of the centenary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Cova da Iria on May 12-13, 2017:

Friday 12 May 2017

Departure by air from Rome Fiumicino airport for Monte Real (14:00)

Arrival at the air base of Monte Real (16:20)

Welcome ceremony

Private meeting with the President of the Republic in the Monte Real air base (16:35)

Visit to the air base chapel (16:55)

Transfer by helicopter to the stadium of Fatima (17:15)

Arrival at the Fatima stadium and transfer by open vehicle to the Shrine (17:35)

Visit to the Chapel of the Apparitions (18:15)

Prayer of the Holy Father

Blessing of the Candles from the Chapel of the Apparitions (21:30)

Greetings from the Holy Father

Recital of the Holy Rosary

Saturday 13 May 2017

Meeting with the Prime Minister at the “Nossa Senhora do Carmo” House (09:10)

Visit to the Basilica of “Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Fatima” (09:40)

Holy Mass at the churchyard of the Shrine (10:00)

Holy Father’s homily

Holy Father’s greetings to the sick

Lunch with bishops of Portugal at the “Nossa Senhora do Carmo” House (12:30)

Farewell ceremony in the Monte Real air base (14:45)

Departure by air from the Monte Real air base, destined for Rome (15:00)

Arrival at Rome Ciampino airport (19:05)

Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana (vatican.va)

VATICAN NEWS

Visionaries’ canonization would ‘complete’ the Fatima centenary

CNA/EWTN News • March 28, 2017

Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto. (Public domain)

Fatima, Portugal — Fatima’s bishop has said the centenary of the locale’s Marian apparition would not be complete without the announcement of the canonization of Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the children who witnessed the apparition.

“I would consider the centenary to be incomplete without the canonization. I have had this hope. We are in time for it to be May 13, but everything depends on the exclusive competency of the Pope,” Bishop Antonio dos Santos Marto of Leiria-Fatima said at a recent press conference.

The bishop also spoke about the news that Pope Francis approved March 23 the decree recognizing a second miracle attributed to the intercession of both siblings. This opens the way for their canonization.

Together with their cousin Lucia Santo, the brother and sister witnessed the 1917 apparitions of Mary.

Francisco and Jacinta died soon after, in 1919 and 1920, respectively. Lucia became a Carmelite nun, and died in 2005.

Bishop dos Santos Marto said he received with “enormous satisfaction the news of the approval of the miracle.”

He acknowledged that the announcement was not a surprise because “I had confident hope.” However, he said, “I must confess I was caught by surprise by the date; I didn’t expect it to be so soon.”

“After this there’s just one remaining decisive step, which belongs to the Holy Father: choosing the date and location of the canonization.”

He indicated that information will not be available until the April 20 consistory.

Also present at the press conference was the postulator for the cause of canonization of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, Sister Angela Coelho. The religious is also the vice-postulator of the cause for the beatification of Sister Lucia.

Sister Coehlo pointed out that “the little shepherds, who died at the age of 10, will be the youngest saints in the history of the Church, with the exception of child martyrs.”

She said the miracle attributed to the intercession of the blessed involves the cure of a child in Brazil. The healing began to be studied in 2013, but “more details on the case are not allowed to be revealed” because it concerns a child and the need to protect the child’s identity.

Sister Coelho also spoke about the speed with which the theological approval came about after the medical validation of the miracle. “The theological argumentation was already prepared previously and all the documentation for Rome was immediately sent,” she said.

The postulator clarified that no announcement is expected concerning the process of beatification for Sister Lucia. “That’s a separate cause,” she explained.

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VATICAN NEWS

Consistory announced to approve Fatima children’s canonization

CNA/EWTN News • April 11, 2017

Pope Francis with Our Lady of Fatima at the General Audience on Wednesday May 13, 2015. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis will hold an ordinary public consistory on April 20, where the cardinals of the Church are expected to pave the way for the canonization of the Fatima visionaries.

There are five causes of canonization waiting for approval by the cardinals. Most prominent is the cause of Francesco and Jacinto Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the 1917 Marian apparitions at Fatima.

The cardinals’ approval at the consistory is the final step in the process leading up to canonization. Pope Francis has already given approval for the causes to move forward. Following the consistory, canonization dates will be set.

It has been widely speculated that Pope Francis will canonize the Fatima visionaries during his trip to Fatima for the 100th anniversary of the Marian apparitions there. That trip will take place May 12-13.

Francisco, 11, and Jacinta, 10, were the youngest non-martyrs to be beatified in the history of the Church.

The brother and sister, who tended to their family’s sheep with their cousin Lucia Santo in the fields of Fatima, Portugal, witnessed the apparitions of Mary, now commonly known as Our Lady of Fatima.

During the first apparition, which took place May 13, 1917, Our Lady asked the three children to say the Rosary and to make sacrifices, offering them for the conversion of sinners. The children did, praying often, giving their lunch to beggars and going without food themselves. They offered up their daily crosses and even refrained from drinking water on hot days.

In October 1918, Francisco and Jacinta became seriously ill with the Spanish flu. Our Lady appeared to them and said she would to take them to heaven soon.

Francisco died April 4, 1919. Jacinta died the following year, Feb. 20, 1920.

Pope John Paul II beatified Francisco and Jacinta May 13, 2000, on the 83rd anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady at Fatima.

The canonization cause for Sister Lucia Santo – the third Fatima visionary – is currently underway. Sr. Lucia lived to the age of 97, much longer than the other two visionaries, and the Vatican is currently examining information about her life that has been collected over the past eight years since her cause was officially opened.

In addition to the Fatima children, other causes of canonization set for approval at next week’s consistory are Cristóbal, Antonio, and Juan, young martyrs of Mexico in 1529; Fr. Faustino Míguez, the Spanish priest who founded the Calasanzian Institute of the Daughters of the Divine Shepherdess; Fr. Angelo da Acri, an Italian Capuchin priest who died in October 1739; and Fr. Andrea de Soveral, Fr. Ambrogio Francesco Ferro, Matteo Moreira, and their 27 companions, martyrs of Natal, Brazil in 1645.

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VATICAN NEWS

It’s official: Pope Francis to canonize Fatima visionaries during May visit

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • April 20, 2017

Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto. (Public domain)

Vatican City — During his trip to Portugal for the centenary of the Fatima Marian apparitions next month, Pope Francis will canonize visionaries Francisco and Jacinta Marto, making them the youngest non-martyrs to ever be declared saints.

The children will be canonized during Pope Francis’ May 13 Mass in Fatima. The decision for the date was made during a April 20 consistory of cardinals, which also voted on the dates of four other canonizations, in addition to that of Francisco and Jacinta, that will take place this year.

Some martyrs who will soon be saints are diocesan priests Andrea de Soveral and Ambrogio Francesco Ferro, and layman Matteo Moreira, killed in hatred of the faith in Brazil in 1645; and three teenagers – Cristóbal, Antonio, and Juan – killed in hatred of the faith in Mexico in 1529, who will be canonized October 15.

Bl. Angelo da Acri, a Capuchin priest who died in October 1739, and Faustino Míguez, a Piarist priest who founded the Calasanziano Institute of the Daughters of the Divine Shepherd, will also be canonized October 15.

Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, the Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, is the man who was largely responsible for advancing the visionaries’ cause, paving the way for them to become the first canonized children who were not martyred.

Previously, the Portuguese cardinal told CNA, children were not beatified, due to the belief “that children didn’t yet have the ability to practice Christian heroic virtue like adults.”

But that all changed when the cause for Francisco and Jacinta Marto arrived on his desk.

Francisco, 11, and Jacinta, 10, became the youngest non-martyr children in the history of the Church to be beatified when on May 13, 2000, the 83rd anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady at Fatima, Pope John Paul II proclaimed them “Blessed,” officially showing that young children can become Saints.

The brother and sister, who tended to their family’s sheep with their cousin Lucia Santo in the fields of Fatima, Portugal, witnessed the apparitions of Mary now commonly known as Our Lady of Fatima.

During the first apparition, which took place May 13, 1917, Our Lady asked the three children to pray the Rosary and make sacrifices for the conversion of sinners. The children did this and were known to pray often, giving their lunch to beggars and going without food themselves. They offered up their sacrifices and even refrained from drinking water on hot days.

When Francisco and Jacinta became seriously ill with the Spanish flu in October 1918, Mary appeared to them and said she would to take them to heaven soon.

Bed-ridden, Francisco requested and received his first Communion. The following day, Francisco died, April 4, 1919. Jacinta suffered a long illness and was eventually transferred to a Lisbon hospital, where she underwent an operation for an abscess in her chest. However, her health did not improve and she died Feb. 20, 1920.

Francisco and Jacinta “practiced Christian virtue in a heroic way,” Cardinal Martins said, explaining that among other things, one of the most obvious moments in which this virtue was apparent for him was when the three shepherd children were arrested and intimidated by their mayor on August 13, 1917.

Government stability in Portugal was rocky following the revolution and coup d’état that led to the overthrow of the monarchy and subsequent establishment of the First Portuguese Republic in 1910.

A new liberal constitution separating Church and state was drafted under the influence of Freemasonry, which sought to omit the faith – which for many was the backbone of Portuguese culture and society – from public life.

It was in this context that, after catching wind of the Virgin Mary’s appearance to Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia, district Mayor Artur de Oliveira Santos had the children arrested on the day Mary was to appear to them, and threatened to boil them in hot oil unless they would confess to inventing the apparitions.

At one point in the conversation at the jailhouse, Jacinta was taken out of the room, leaving Francisco and Lucia alone. The two were told that Jacinta had been burned with hot oil, and that if they didn’t lie, the same would happen to them.

However, instead of caving to the pressure, the children said: “you can do whatever you want, but we cannot tell a lie. Do whatever you want to us, burn us with oil, but we cannot tell a lie.”

“This was the virtue of these children,” Cardinal Martins said, noting that to accept death rather than tell a lie is “more heroic than many adults.”

“There’s a lot to say on the heroicness of children,” he said, adding that “because of this I brought their cause forward.”

Cardinal Martins was also the one to bring Lucia’s cause to the Vatican following her death in 2005. The visionary had spent the remainder of her life after the apparitions as a Carmelite nun.

Typically the must be a five-year waiting period after a person dies before their cause can be brought forward. However, after only three years Martins ask that the remaining two be dismissed, and his request was granted.

Although the diocesan phase of the cause has already been finished, Cardinal Martins – who knew the visionary personally – said Lucia’s process will take much longer than that of Francisco and Jacinta not only due to her long life, but also because of the vast number of letters and other material from her writings and correspondence that needs to be examined.

The cardinal, who will be present in Fatima with the Pope during his May 12-13 visit for the centenary of the apparitions, said he views the occasion as the conclusion of a process that began with him changing a norm regarding the view of children “and their heroic virtue.”

This process is important, he said, because it means there could be other children who practiced heroic virtue that can now be canonized, so “it’s certainly something important.”

“It needs to be seen that (children) are truly capable of practicing heroic virtue,” not only in Fatima, but “in the Christian life,” he said.

Although canonizations, apart from a few exceptions, are typically held in Rome, it was only recently that beatifications began to be held outside of Rome, in the local Church which promoted the new Blessed’s cause.

This change was made by Cardinal Martins in September 2005, after receiving the approval of Benedict XVI.

In the past, a beatification Mass in Rome would be presided over by the Cardinal-Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints during the morning, with the Pope coming down to the basilica to pray to the new Blessed in the afternoon. Cardinal Martins said he decided to change this because the beatification and the canonization “are two different realities.”

“While the canonizations had a more universal dimension of the Church, the beatifications have a more local dimension, where they (the Blessed) came from,” he said, noting that this is reflected even in the words spoken during the rites for each Mass.

“Because of this, I made a distinction: the beatification in their (the Blessed’s) own church, in their diocese, and the canonizations in Rome.”

The result was “a fantastic revolution,” he said, explaining that while maybe 2-3,000 people would participate in the beatification ceremonies in Rome, hundreds of thousands started to come for the local beatification Masses of new Blessed in their home dioceses.

The cardinal said that “it’s beautiful” to see people – many times including friends and family members of new Blessed – join in honoring their countryman, asking for their intercession, and seeking to follow their example.

He believes the custom will remain like this, adding that it is beautiful particularly from the standpoint of evangelization.

“The new Blessed says to their brothers, many of whom they knew, ‘I am one of you, one like you, so you must follow my path and live the Gospel in depth,’” the cardinal said, explaining that this is “a formidable act of evangelization, and with everyone happy about the new Blessed, they’ll immediately do what they say!”

Cardinal Martins said the decision was also prompted by the emphasis placed on local Churches during the Second Vatican Council.

“I thought, one of the most effective ways to highlight the importance of local Churches is to conduct in the local diocese the beatification of one of their sons,” he said.

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VATICAN NEWS

How the upcoming canonizations affirm the Fatima apparitions

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • April 21, 2017

(GoneWithTheWind via Shutterstock)

Fatima, Portugal — The canonization of Fatima visionaries Francisco and Jacinta Marto has been hailed as an exciting moment for the Church, but the rector of the Marian shrine has said that it bears an even greater significance in terms of putting a spotlight on Our Lady’s message.

“I think the canonization in a certain way helps to give credibility to the apparitions and to the message of Fatima,” Fr. Carlos Cabecinhas told CNA.

This is an “indirect credibility,” he said, but one which nonetheless “makes us look to the protagonists of the events of Fatima and to see their holiness, the holiness with which they challenge us to live this message.”

Mary appeared to Francisco, Jacinta and their cousin Lucia May 13, 1917, for the first time, asking them to pray the rosary and make sacrifices for the conversion of sinners, which they did with decisive commitment.

Our Lady continued to appear to them on the 13th of each month until October of that year, making constant appeals for an increase in faith, hope, conversion and prayers for peace. In addition, she also revealed to the children three “secrets,” which are now known to be a vision of hell interpreted as scenes from World War II, the rise and fall of Soviet Communism, and what was a foreshadowing of the 1981 assassination attempt on St. John Paul II.

After the apparitions, Francisco and Jacinta Marto died in 1918 after a serious bout of the Spanish flu at 9 and 11, but were known to pray often and offered up daily sacrifices for the conversion of sinners and an increase in love for God.

In this context, Fr. Cabecinhas said he believes the canonization of siblings Francisco and Jacinta “has this value: not only two Saints in the Church, but two Saints who challenge us to look to the message of Fatima and to understand that Fatima is also a school of holiness for each one of us.”

Fr. Cabecinhas has been the rector of the Fatima Marian Shrine since 2011, and is in charge of the bulk of preparations for the Pope’s May 12-13 visit.

He said the centenary of the apparitions, the canonization and the growing anticipation of Pope Francis’ visit “is a moment of great joy” for the people of Portugal, but also for him personally.

“For me it has been a great gift of God to be able to live this moment before the shrine and to have in my hands the decisions of the Shrine. It’s a gift of God, but also a great responsibility,” he said, explaining that they are in the midst of making final preparations.

In general, preparations are going “very well,” he said, noting that all of the big decisions have been made and things are falling into place, so it’s down to the final, last-minute work of getting ready to host an estimated 500,000-800,000 pilgrims during the May celebrations.

Speaking of the reason why pilgrims choose to visit Fatima in particular, the priest said it’s “without a doubt” because “they seek a strong experience of God, a strong encounter with God.”

“This is specific to Fatima,” he said, noting that while other shrines and holy sites are associated with physical healings or other fruits, the people who come to Fatima “come to have a strong experience with God, they come to change their lives, and many times this is the experience they transmit.”

“We say that at Fatima there are no physical healings – there are some, but (what is) specific to Fatima is the change of heart, the change of life, orienting one’s life toward God,” he said, saying that another characteristic unique to Fatima is “silence.”

Cabecinhas said that when pilgrims speak to him about their experience visiting the shrine, many of them comment on how silent and prayerful the environment is, which is something he hopes each person who comes is able to experience.

The shrine has also been a popular place for Popes to visit, with Bl. Paul VI being the first pontiff to do so in 1967. St. John Paul II followed suit in 1982, making a trip that was largely intended to pay homage to Our Lady of Fatima, whom he credited with saving his life when he was shot May 13, 1981.

Benedict XVI also visited the Fatima shrine in 2010, continuing the papal tradition of traveling to the holy site, and cementing even further it’s link to the Pope.

Fr. Cabecinhas said he believes Popes come to Fatima so often is because it has “a universal message, a message for the entire Church,” which is something each one of them have understood.

“They have seen that Fatima has something to say to the entire Church on the place of God in the life of the believer, and it’s because of this they have come, to highlight this message,” he said, adding that he has no doubt that the presence of Popes at the shrine “has helped to then diffuse the message in the entire world.”

With an entire year of celebrations extending beyond just the May celebrations, Cabecinhas said he hopes those who come even after Pope Francis’ visit get to experience and understand Our Lady’s message on a deeper level.

The priest said he wants pilgrims to have “a joyful experience of being at Fatima” and to have “an experience of encounter with God through the Madonna.”

“She is presented here as a path toward God and a refuge in our hardship,” he said, so “what we want is that each pilgrim who visits this year can have this experience and can say, ‘yes, I went to Fatima, and the Madonna for me was a refuge in difficult moments, but a path that guided me to God.’”

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VATICAN NEWS

Papal visit completes anniversary celebrations, Fatima bishop says

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • May 3, 2017

Pope Francis with a statue of Our Lady of Fatima at the Wednesday General Audience in St. Peter’s Square on May 13, 2015. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — After a whirlwind trip to Egypt last week, Pope Francis in just 10 days will head to Portugal for the centenary celebration of the Marian apparitions of Fatima, where anticipation is building for the visit of the “bishop in white.”

“The centenary is a memorable, unforgettable date to give thanks to God for all the gifts that the message of Fatima has scattered throughout Portugal, but also in the whole world,” Bishop Antonio dos Santos Marto of Leiria-Fatima told CNA in an interview.

And the centenary celebrations “wouldn’t be complete without the presence of the Pope,” he said, explaining that the Pope “is part of the message of Fatima.”

Pointing to the third “secret” of Our Lady of Fatima, which presents a pilgrim Church that is persecuted and led by a “bishop in white,” Marto said this figure can be understood to be the Pope, who is present in Our Lady’s message.

In her apparitions, Mary also asked for people to pray for the Pope, “so the Pope is part of the message of Fatima,” he said, adding that the fact that several Popes have visited Fatima shows the “catholicity,” or “universality” of Our Lady’s message.

“It’s not only for Portugal, it’s not only for the Church in Portugal, it’s for the entire Church and, I would say, the entire world,” he said. “So people who work here preparing for the Pope’s visit are working with a lot of commitment and a lot of enthusiasm.”

Bishop Marto has overseen the diocese of Leiria-Fatima since 2006, and is in charge of preparing not only for the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, but also for the May 12-13 visit of Pope Francis to Fatima for the celebrations.

On May 13, 1917, three shepherd children named Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco saw a vision of Our Lady of Fatima who was dressed in white and holding a rosary. These apparitions lasted through October of the same year, and brought messages of prayer, repentance, and reparation.

The apparitions were declared of “supernatural character” by the Catholic Church in 1930, and a shrine was erected near the original apparition site in Fatima. Since then, thousands of pilgrims have made their prayerful journeys to Fatima, including three popes: Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI.

The bishop said that the diocese has been preparing for the centenary for almost 10 years, since the visit of Pope Benedict XVI in 2010.

Since that visit, the diocese has dedicated each year to one of Our Lady’s apparitions as a lead-in to the centenary, beginning with one year dedicated the message of the angel who appeared to Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta before Mary herself appeared to them.

An angel appeared to the shepherd children three times the year before the Marian apparitions, at one point giving them the Eucharist.

“So it was the theme of the mystery of the trinitarian love of God for the first year,” Bishop Marto said, explaining that each year after that had its own theme based on Mary’s apparitions, complete with a theological points developed through congresses, catechetical studies and a different pilgrim itinerary for each year.

In addition to this, the Fatima shrine has also offered special catechetical themes for parishes focused on the visit of Pope Francis.

The staff of the diocese is currently divided into different working groups that focus on practical preparations such as protocol and logistics, including the details of the papal delegation and the swath of journalists who will travel with the Pope.

Ultimately, the Pope’s visit to Fatima for the centenary of the apparitions will help “to rediscover the richness and beauty of this message for our time,” the bishop said.

The message of Fatima, he said, refers to “the greatest, most tragic events of the 20th century.” Namely, the two World Wars, “with their genocides, millions of innocent victims,” and the persecution at the hands of atheist and totalitarian regimes, which threatened to destroy the Church from view.

“So it was a message of grace, to say that God is with us, he doesn’t abandon us, the mercy of God has a higher limit than the power of evil, and a message of peace,” Marto said. “These three words are the gift Our Lady brings: grace, mercy and peace.”

Our Lady’s appeals for conversion, prayer and reparation are also very timely, he said, noting that even in contemporary society, at times we forget “to make reparation for what was spoiled.”

Using new technologies as an example, he said that today if something we own breaks, we toss it and get a new one, “but you can’t repair the heart like this, throwing it out of the chest.”

“The heart, relationships with others and among people, need reparation, need renewal in the sense of rebuilding, renewing; of re-making even the relationships with God and others,” he said, warning that “sometimes in front of evil, we feel powerless, and there’s a sense of resignation.”

Mary, the bishop said, came “to look for collaborators in the merciful design of God before the power of evil,” which makes her message extremely relevant today, because while there might not be as much persecution from atheist regimes, “there’s the danger of something, in my view, that’s worse: religious indifference.”

“To live as if God didn’t exist. To live with your back to God. The sense of God is lost, and when one loses the sense of God, they also lose the sense of humanity,” he said, explaining that because of this, “the message (of Fatima) is always relevant.”

Bishop Marto also spoke on the coming canonization of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, who will be canonized May 13 during Pope Francis’ Mass at the Fatima shrine, marking the first time in the history of the Church that a child who is not a martyr has been declared a Saint.

“The canonization of the shepherds is a gift,” the bishop said, explaining that the holiness of children is “one of the most beautiful fruits of the apparitions.”

With her initial invitation to the children to “offer yourselves to God in reparation for the sins of the world” and her promise later to Lucia, who became a nun, that “I will never leave you, my Immaculate Heart will be your refuge,” Mary accompanied the children on their entire path to holiness, he said.

“The Madonna guided the children, the shepherds, on this path of holiness. So I think it will be very beautiful for the people to be able to pray to these two saints.”

When asked what Francisco and Jacinta can teach the world today, Bishop Marto said their witness is one of “everyday holiness. … They are an example of the holiness of the people, accessible to everyone, to all ages; children, adults, men, women, teenagers, etc.”

They also show us how this holiness is lived with different personalities, he said, noting that while Francisco was more contemplative and united to the suffering experienced by Jesus due to sin, Jacinta was more compassionate and concerned with the salvation of others.

“Francisco was fascinated with the mystery of God, the beauty of the mystery of God, the beauty of the goodness of the love of God that remained inside of him,” the bishop said, explaining that during his time in adoration, Francisco saw the sadness of God due to the sins of the world and chose to accompany him “for hours of praying, meditating, contemplating.”

“He put into action a very urgent dimension of the faith, which is mystic of the faith,” he said, adding that “if we don’t have a loving experience of God, we won’t have a faith that sustains us in the world today.”

“Faith today no longer goes through traditions, it no longer has the support of the traditions of the family, of school, of the culture,” he said, so “it has to be a personal conviction, a personal experience of the presence of God in us.”

Jacinta, on the other hand, was “full of compassion for those who suffered, (and) the poor, whom she prayed for. She had a strong tenderness.”

This tenderness was shown to all who came to her, whether it was by recommending prayers, giving food to those who didn’t have any, or sharing what she had with others, the bishop said.

“Today compassion is very important in the culture of indifference. Each day it’s stronger. What does that one matter to me? Each one makes do (for themselves),” he said. “So this compassion, this ability to suffer with others, to share in the suffering of the other and also to suffer for others,” is crucial.

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100 years later, Fatima still offers a potent message

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • May 9, 2017

Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, speaks to CNA on March 16, 2017. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — Although the Fatima apparitions happened 100 years ago, the Vatican’s resident Fatima-expert, has said they contain a message that’s both relevant and needed in the world today.

“The apparitions of Fatima are a historical event with an extraordinary significance, and they have a meaning that’s not only religious, but also socio-political,” Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins told CNA in an interview.

What Our Lady offered during her apparitions is a message “that deals with mankind as mankind, not only Christians or believers,” and because of this, it “has an extraordinary authority” in the world today.

Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Martins is himself from Portugal, and has written extensively on the apparitions.

On May 13, 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children – Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta – in a field while they were tending their family’s sheep.

In her message to the children, Mary brought with her requests for conversion, prayer (particularly the recitation of the rosary), sacrifices on behalf of sinners, and a three-part secret regarding the fate of the world.

Although there are many different elements to the requests made by Our Lady, Cardinal Martins said her appeals can be summed up in four key themes.

“I always say there are four key chapters, four points of extreme authority,” he said. “So what are these four points?”

Faith

“The first point, the first appeal of the Madonna, is an appeal to faith,” Cardinal Martins said.

Her appeal in this regard “is very current because, unfortunately, we live in a world in which the faith is falling. Unbelief is growing, and the Catholic faith, the faith of the Gospels, is increasingly decreasing.”

“We are walking toward a pagan world,” the cardinal continued, explaining that in many ways man no longer believes in the Gospel. People have an “abstract faith,” he said, but the Gospel is not a part of their concrete lives.

Thus Mary’s call to faith, even after 100 years, “has an extraordinary authority,” he said.

“Man today needs faith, to believe in something; to believe in God, who is our common father, to believe in our brothers, we are all children of the same Father, we are all brothers.”

Understanding the link between these two aspects is fundamental for the world today, not just for Christians, but for all mankind, he said, adding that man needs to recognize that “one’s origin is from God, it is not autonomous.”

“There is no world war, (but) there are small wars, as the Pope says, and they are worse than a world war, because a world war has a beginning and an end and then it finishes.”

“These small wars, on the other hand, are worse than the world wars because they don’t end.”

Conversion

Cardinal Martins said there is a second key appeal made by Mary “which is very important, and that is conversion.”

“The Madonna spoke many times to the shepherds about the need for man to convert … to increasingly draw nearer to God, and so to always draw nearer to our brothers and sisters,” he said, explaining that “the second appeal depends on the first.”

Throughout her six appearances Mary encouraged them to pray the rosary daily and to offer sacrifices in reparation for sins.

In her third appearance to the shepherds, Mary told them: “Sacrifice yourself for sinners, and say many times, especially whenever you make some sacrifice: O my Jesus, it is for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

Conversion is something still missing from in the world, Cardinal Martins said, noting that in all of her apparitions Mary consistently insisted “on the need for man, especially today, to increasingly draw nearer to his origin, to God.”

Peace

The third “chapter” of Our Lady of Fatima’s message is an appeal for peace, Cardinal Martins said.

Mary spoke to the children about peace often and urged them to pray for peace, he said, noting that her request came as the global armies were embroiled in World War I.

Our Lady’s message was to “do penance, ask for peace, because otherwise man will disappear,” he said, as is evidenced in the vision the children had of hell and the souls who anguishing there.

Perhaps one of the most impressionable aspects of the apparitions, he said, is Mary’s insistence “on the absolute, urgent need to have peace, to fight for peace, to ask God for peace.”

He stressed the need to continue to pray for peace today, because “man today needs many things, but especially peace, with himself and others.”

He referenced the many conflicts raging throughout the world, saying “one of the most painful wounds today is this fighting one with the other; the lack of peace between Muslims and Christians, the inhabitants of this country and the inhabitants of that country, etc.”

Hope

“Many people today lack many things, but lack one above all: hope.”

Hope is the fourth and final chapter of Mary’s message, Cardinal Martins said, explaining that “man today doesn’t have hope, he lives a life without a future, without the hope of a future.”

And if a person doesn’t have hope in the future – whether in his own life or in his relationships with others – “then what life is this?” the cardinal asked, noting that sadly, “it’s a life that many times, unfortunately, many times ends in suicide.”

Pointing to the high suicide rate among teens, he said many youth end up killing themselves “because they live a life that has no meaning for them. They lack hope, they lack a vision for the future.”

Hope, he said, “is fundamental for man,” so it’s natural for those who lose hope to turn to suicide in their despair, because they feel that “there is no sense to my life if it doesn’t have a destination that it must reach.”

So what Mary asks for from the men of today, and “what God demands of men today, (is) a deep faith, a hope, brotherhood among us – which is greatly lacking – so we will have peace, which we need to live a dignified life,” he said.

Cardinal Martins said this synthesis of the message of Fatima is not only relevant for the world today, but “it’s an obligation for the Church.”

The message of Fatima ought to be lived not just individually, but “as a human community,” he said, explaining that the three children were able to respond to Our Lady’s appeals with “an extraordinarily unique, unrepeatable mission.”

Even though they were young children, they were able to communicate and spread Mary’s message to the entire world with their sacrifices and prayers, he said, adding that the centenary of the apparitions, coupled with the canonization of Francisco and Jacinta, “does nothing but underline this importance.”

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Video Message of the Holy Father Francis on the occasion of his imminent Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima in Portugal (12-13 May 2017)

The Holy See Press Office • May 10, 2017

Vatican City — The following is the full text of the video message of the Holy Father Francis, transmitted to the Portuguese people this evening at 18:00 (local time) on the occasion of the imminent pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima, to commemorate the centenary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Cova da Iria, Portugal.

Video Message of the Holy Father

Dear People of Portugal,

Only a few days remain before our pilgrimage, mine and yours, to the feet of Our Lady of Fatima. These are days of joy in expectation of our encounter in the home of Mary our Mother. I know that you wanted me to come to your homes and communities, your towns and cities. I received all your invitations! Needless to say, I would have liked to accept every one of them, but I cannot. So I am grateful even now for the understanding with which the various Authorities accepted my decision to restrict my Visit to the usual events associated with a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Fatima. I want to meet everyone at the feet of the Virgin Mother.

It is as the universal pastor of the Church that I would like to come before the Madonna and to offer her a bouquet of the most beautiful “blossoms” that Jesus has entrusted to my care (cf. Jn 21:15-17). By this I mean all of our brothers and sisters throughout the world who have been redeemed by Christ’s blood, none excluded. That is why I need to have all of you join me there. I need to feel your closeness, whether physical or spiritual; the important thing is that it come from the heart. In this way, I can arrange my bouquet of flowers, my “golden rose.” With all of us forming “one heart and soul” (cf. Acts 4:32), I will then entrust you to Our Lady, asking her to whisper to each one of you: “My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the path that leads you to God” (Apparition of June, 1917).

“With Mary, a pilgrim in hope and in peace.” That is the motto of our pilgrimage. It contains an entire program of conversion. I am happy to know that in anticipation of that blessed moment, the culmination of a century of blessed moments, you have been preparing yourselves by intense prayer. Prayer enlarges our hearts and makes them ready to receive God’s gifts. I thank you for all the prayers and sacrifices that you offer daily for me. I need them, because I am a sinner among sinners, “a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips (Is 6:5). Prayer gives light to my eyes and enables me to see others as God sees them, and to love others as he loves them.

In his name, I will come among you and have the joy of sharing with everyone the Gospel of hope and peace. May the Lord bless you, and the Virgin Mother protect you!

Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana (vatican.va)

VATICAN NEWS

We still need to heed Our Lady of Fatima’s advice, priest says

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • May 12, 2017

Pilgrims pray before a statue of Our Lady of Fatima in Lisbon on May 9, 2017. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — While a lot has changed since Mary’s appearances at Fatima 100 years ago, we can’t stop heeding Our Lady’s request to pray and offer sacrifices for the world, an expert on Marian theology has said.

“Fatima is a stepping-stone. But we shouldn’t be complacent. We have a very, very long way to go – in God’s time – and we do need to consecrate ourselves daily to this goal,” Fr. Paul Haffner told CNA May 8.

“This 100th anniversary of the apparitions teaches us that there has been a victory of Christ over sin and death, there has been a victory of his Mother within the Church, but we still have a very long way to go.”

A theology professor and author of more than 30 books, Fr. Haffner has also been a member of the Pontifical Academy of Mary since 2012.

One hundred years ago on May 13, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children in a field in Fatima, Portugal. She brought with her requests for the recitation of the rosary, for sacrifices on behalf of sinners, and a secret regarding the fate of the world.

Every local bishop since has approved the apparitions and deemed them worthy of belief, the highest recognition a Marian apparition can receive from the Church.

In her third apparition, Mary revealed to the shepherd children what came to be known as The Great Secret of Fatima. The first secret was a vision of hell which Mary allowed the children to see.

The second was a statement that World War I would end, and a prediction of another war that would start during the reign of Pius XI, if people continued to offend God and if Russia were not consecrated to her Immaculate Heart.

According to Sr. Lucia, one of the visionaries who lived until 2005, the consecration was completed during the pontificate of St. John Paul II, who several times attempted to fulfill the requirements of the Russia consecration.

It was finally considered fully complete after the consecration he made on March 25, 1984, as confirmed by Sr. Lucia.

“It’s true, the world has been consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Church has made this consecration,” Fr. Haffner said.

“However, this must not be a static thing, it must be an ongoing process.” The consecration must continue, he explained, because the world we live in is still filled with many false ideologies and many false gods, all “which tempt women and men away from their true goal.”

“Whether these false ideologies are in the political sphere, the social sphere, the family sphere, the personal sphere, or in the educational sphere, they’re there,” he said, and we must fight against them.

At the time of Mary’s appearance in Portugal, the country was at war, like most of the rest of the world. In addition to the hardships of war, Catholics in the country were also facing a strong wave of anti-clericalism.

Catholic churches and schools were seized by the government, and the wearing of clerics in public, the ringing of church bells, and the celebration of popular religious festivals were banned. From 1911-1916, nearly 2,000 priests, monks and nuns were killed by anti-Christian groups.

In one way, Mary’s appearance in 1917, Fr. Haffner noted, was “a remedy for these terrible evils.”

“So in that sense, Our Lady remains, as it says in the Book of Revelation or the Apocolypse, the woman who is fighting against the powers of evil, against the dragon, against Satan.”

And we get to be a part of that fight, he said. “She gives her sons and daughters a chance, also, to win that battle through Christ her Son. But they have to be dedicated to her, to the Church, and to Christ. And the way of dedication is the way of prayer and sacrifice.”

Throughout salvation history, Mary’s role is often “unfolded” in the history of mankind, Fr. Haffner pointed out.

“In the history of mankind her role is unfolded in the various quiet little miracles and in the big revelations, like Lourdes, Fatima and La Salette, Our Lady of Walsingham,” he said, naming several other Marian apparitions affirmed as worthy of belief by the Church.

“All these different revelations and apparitions teach us of her maternal presence. Mary is a mother to us, she cares for us very tenderly, especially when things seem to go wrong.”

“Now things seem often to not go very well for humanity, so Mary is there to pick us up. As Pope Francis often says, ‘you know when you fall, try to get up immediately,’ but sometimes you can’t get up! You have to have a motherly hand, a motherly arm, to help you up.”

“And so often in history that hand is found in Mary, he explained. “And that is the link between the apparitions of Our Lady: Mary’s motherly hand helping us along the way – a pilgrim way.”

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Cardinal Bertone talks about the third secret of Fatima

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • May 12, 2017

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, former Vatican secretary of state, speaks with EWTN on May 4, 2017. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — The third secret of Fatima deals with past events, but at the same time its call to conversion is always current, always up to date, said Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State emeritus.

In an interview with CNA, Cardinal Bertone spoke about the third secret of Fatima, how the decision to release the secret was made, and his memories of his three meetings with Sr. Lucia, the longest-living of the three shepherd children who had been the custodian of the secret until it was released by the Vatican at the request of Pope John Paul II.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima’s appearance to three shepherd children in 1917. Pope Francis is making a two-day pilgrimage to Fatima May 12-13 to celebrate the centenary and to canonize two of the children, Francisco and Jacinta Marta.

The “third secret of Fatima” refers to a message during the apparitions predicting suffering and persecution of the Pope and the Church. Unlike the first two secrets – a vision of hell and a prediction of World War II – the third secret was not initially revealed by Sr. Lucia. At first, she said that Mary had not yet permitted her to reveal it to the world. Later, the Vatican chose to keep it secret until 2000, when it was finally revealed.

The Fatima apparitions “confirm some encouraging news,” Cardinal Bertone said, “that the Mother of the Son of God Incarnated and Our Mother does not abandon humanity in the course of history. She is present, and watches over humanity as the spokesperson and guarantor of God’s Mercy. She is the mediator of salvation.”

On his way to Portugal for his 2010 apostolic trip, the cardinal noted, Pope Benedict XVI stressed that in addition to referencing the suffering of Pope John Paul II, the third secret points to realities involving the future of the Church, “which are gradually taking shape and becoming evident.”

That means, he added, that “the vision implies the need for a passion of the Church, which naturally is reflected in the person of the Pope, yet the Pope stands for the Church and thus it is sufferings of the Church that are announced. The Lord told us that the Church would constantly be suffering, in different ways, until the end of the world.”

Cardinal Bertone pointed to the theological commentary released by Cardinal Ratzinger at the time of the third secret’s release. Cardinal Ratzinger said: “In the vision we can recognize the last century as a century of martyrs, a century of suffering and persecution for the Church, a century of World Wars and the many local wars which filled the last fifty years and have inflicted unprecedented forms of cruelty.”

“In the ‘mirror’ of this vision we see passing before us the witnesses of the faith decade by decade,” he added.

“In one sense he (Cardinal Ratzinger) says that the events described in the third secret are now past,” Cardinal Bertone said. “At the same time, the heart of Fatima’s appeal deals with conversion. That is, the conversion of the faithful and the path of the Church towards fidelity. Sr. Lucia really cared about accomplishing what she calls the ‘mandamiento de Maria,’ the commandment of Mary. Just as there is the Lord Jesus’ commandment, ‘Love one another as I loved you,’ there is also Mary’s commandment, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’”

Cardinal Bertone said that the decision to release the third secret of Fatima was made in order to avoid the “apocalyptic interpretation” that was spreading more and more at the end of the millennium.

He said that the decision was made directly by St. John Paul II, after a meeting that gathered Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Secretary of State; Carinal Bertone, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; Msgr. Giovanni Battista Re, deputy to the Secretariat of State; and Msgr. Stanislaw Dziwisz, personal secretary of the Pope.

St. John Paul II then assigned Cardinal Bertone, in his capacity of Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to go and meet Sr. Lucia and ask whether the text of the secret secured in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was authentic.

During his time as secretary, he met her three times: Apr. 27, 2000, Nov. 17, 2001 and Dec. 9, 2003.

Cardinal Bertone shared with CNA that Sr. Lucia was “a bright, very nice, serene, peaceful and calm person. She was a confident person who had to keep a great secret and was called to communicate important messages to humanity.”

The cardinal also shared details about his last meeting with Sr. Lucia. He said that one of the main topics of their last conversation was about the meeting Sr. Lucia had on July 11, 1977 with Cardinal Albino Luciani, then Patriarch of Venice.

Cardinal Luciani would be elected Pope John Paul I on Aug. 26, 1978, and his papacy would last only 33 days. Many reports said that Cardinal Luciani was shocked by the meeting he had with Sr. Lucia, since she would allegedly predict both his election as a pontiff and his very short pontificate.

In fact, Cardinal Luciani had drafted a report of his meeting, and Cardinal Bertone had brought this report with him, in a translation in Portuguese that Sr. Lucia had requested.

Cardinal Bertone recounted: “She carefully read the report, and then confirmed every word and signed it at the very end. I then asked a precise question: ‘Did you predict Cardinal Luciani’s election as Pope?’ She answered, with these very words: ‘I do not remember if I told him he was going to be elected Pope. I told my religious community that I had met a good cardinal, a holy cardinal, and that if he was elected Pope, he was going to be a good Pope.’”

Cardinal Bertone added that the discussion between Cardinal Luciani and Sr. Lucia dealt with the decline of faith in the Church and other general problems of the Church.

The cardinal also recalled that Sr. Lucia said the Virgin was satisfied by the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

During the apparitions, Our Lady of Fatima asked that the Pope consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, with a special mention of Russia, in union with the bishops of the whole world.

Both Pius XII and St. John Paul II consecrated Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, although there was not an explicit mention to Russia itself – a detail that brought many to suggest that in fact the consecration had not fulfilled Our Lady’s request.

Cardinal Bertone underscored that the choice not to mention Russia directly was made “for ecumenical reasons” and out of “respect for the Russian Orthodox Church,” but he also stressed that the references to it are very clear. In particular, he recalled Pope Pius XII’s 1952 Apostolic Letter Sacro Vergente Anno, which clearly speaks about the “consecration of the people of Russia.”

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Pilgrimage of the Holy Father Francis to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima – Welcome ceremony at the Monte Real Air Base, private meeting with the President of the Republic of Portugal, and Visit to the Air Base Chapel

The Holy See Press Office • May 12, 2017

Fatima, Portugal — The aircraft carrying the Holy Father Francis left Rome at 14:00 this afternoon, and landed at 16:10 (local time) at the Monte Real Air Base.

Welcome ceremony at the Monte Real Air Base and private meeting with the President of the Republic of Portugal

Upon arrival, the Holy Father was welcomed by the President of the Republic of Portugal, Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa. Political and civil leaders, several Portuguese bishops and a group of around one thousand faithful were also present. After the performance of the national anthems and the presentation of military honors, the presentation of the respective delegations took place. The President of the Republic accompanied the Pope to a room in the building of the Air Base control tower where, at 16:35, the private meeting took place.

At the end of the meeting, gifts were exchanged. President Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa then presented to Pope Francis the President of the Parliament and the Prime Minister with their respective wives. The Holy Father then transferred by car to the Air Base chapel where he was awaited by a group of military personnel with health problems, with their families.

Visit to the Chapel of the Monte Real Air Base

At 16:55 this afternoon, the Holy Father Francis visited the Chapel of the Monte Real Air Base, accompanied by the Military Ordinary for Portugal.

Upon arrival he was welcomed by the two chaplains. Then, after receiving a floral tribute from two children in traditional costume, the Pope paused in silent adoration of the Most Holy Eucharist.

After presenting a gift and signing the Book of Honor, Pope Francis left the Monte Real Air Base by helicopter, destined for the Stadium of Fátima.

Inscription in the Book of Honor

The following is the text of the Pope’s inscription in the Book of Honor:

“I entrust the personnel of the Air Base and their families to Our Lady of Fátima, and pray that she watch over their safety and keep them as faithful servants of the common good and of peace. Francis.”

Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana (vatican.va)

VATICAN NEWS

Let’s be guided by Mary’s Immaculate Heart, Pope says in Fatima

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • May 12, 2017

Francis arrives at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima on May 12, 2017. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Fatima, Portugal — During his first day in Fatima, Pope Francis led pilgrims in prayer, asking that the Immaculate Heart of Mary would watch over the joys and sorrows of all mankind as they make their earthly pilgrimage.

“In the depths of your being, in your Immaculate Heart, you keep the joys of men and women as they journey to the Heavenly Homeland. In the depths of your being, in your Immaculate Heart, you keep the sorrows of the human family, as they mourn and weep in this valley of tears.”

“In the depths of your being, in your Immaculate Heart, adorn us with the radiance of the jewels of your crown and make us pilgrims, even as you were a pilgrim,” he said May 12 at the Chapel of the Apparitions.

Pope Francis led the prayer to Mary at the beginning of his two-day pilgrimage to Fatima in Portugal May 12-13 to celebrate the centenary of Mary’s appearance to three shepherd children in 1917.

During the visit, the Pope will also lead the recitation of the rosary at the prayer vigil. In the morning on May 13 he will celebrate Mass, presiding over the canonization of two of the Fatima visionaries, Francisco and Jacinta Marto.

The prayer was prayed in five verses, while in between the assembly sang the refrain, in Latin: “Ave O Clemens, Ave O pia! Salve Regina Rosarii Fatimae. Ave O clemens, Ave O pia! Ave O dulcis Virgo Maria!”

The Pope prayed the first four verses himself and for the last was joined by those present. The beginning of each verse was addressed to Mary by a different title, including “Mother of Mercy” and “Hail, life and sweetness, hail, our hope, O Pilgrim Virgin, O Universal Queen!”

“With your virginal smile, enliven the joy of Christ’s Church. With your gaze of sweetness, strengthen the hope of God’s children. With your hands lifted in prayer to the Lord, draw all people together into one human family,” he prayed.

The Pope’s prayer frequently recalled the traditional Marian prayer called ‘Hail, Holy Queen.’

“Hail Holy Queen, Blessed Virgin of Fatima, Lady of Immaculate Heart, our refuge and our way to God!” he said. “O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary, Queen of the Rosary of Fatima!”

He asked for the grace to follow the example of Bl. Francisco and Jacinta, and everyone who has devoted themselves to proclaiming the Gospel.

“Thus we will follow all paths and everywhere make our pilgrim way; we will tear down all walls and cross every frontier, as we go out to every periphery, to make known God’s justice and peace.”

Praying for the intercession of the “Lady robed in white,” he recalled all those who are robed in the “splendor of their baptism” and who desire to live in Christ.

“And so we will be, like you, an image of the column of light that illumines the ways of the world,” he prayed, “making God known to all, making known to all that God exists, that God dwells in the midst of his people, yesterday, today and for all eternity.”

“Show us the strength of your protective mantle. In your Immaculate Heart, be the refuge of sinners and the way that leads to God,” he said.

“In union with my brothers and sisters, in faith, in hope and in love, I entrust myself to you. In union with my brothers and sisters, through you, I consecrate myself to God, O Virgin of the Rosary of Fatima,” he concluded.

“And at last, enveloped in the Light that comes from your hands, I will give glory to the Lord for ever and ever. Amen.”

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Pilgrimage of the Holy Father Francis to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima on the occasion of the centenary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Cova da Iria (12-13 May 2017) – Visit to the Chapel of the Apparitions of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima

The Holy See Press Office • May 12, 2017

Fatima, Portugal — At 17:35 this afternoon, the Holy Father Francis arrived by helicopter at the Stadium of Fátima. Upon arrival he was welcomed by the bishop of Leiria-Fátima, His Excellency Msgr. António Augusto dos Santos Marto, and by the mayor of the city. He then transferred by car to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima where, at 18:15, he visited the Chapel of the Apparitions where around one thousand children were gathered. Upon arrival he was received by the Rector of the Shrine. After silent contemplation before the image of Our Lady, he pronounced the prayer given below.

At the end of the moment of prayer, the Holy Father Francis presented the gift of a gold rose to the Virgin of Fátima, and after the final blessing, travelled by car to the Nossa Senhora do Carmo House, his residence during his stay.

Holy Father’s Prayer

The Holy Father:

Hail Holy Queen,

Blessed Virgin of Fátima,

Lady of Immaculate Heart,

our refuge and our way to God!

As a pilgrim of the Light that comes to us from your hands,

I give thanks to God the Father, who in every time and place is at work in human history;

As a pilgrim of the Peace that, in this place, you proclaim,

I give praise to Christ, our peace, and I implore for the world concord among all peoples;

As a pilgrim of the Hope that the Spirit awakens,

I come as a prophet and messenger to wash the feet of all, at the same table that unites us.

Refrain (sung by the assembly):

Ave O Clemens, Ave O pia!

Salve Regina Rosarii Fatimae.

Ave O clemens, Ave O pia!

Ave O dulcis Virgo Maria!

The Holy Father:

Hail, Mother of Mercy,

Lady robed in white!

In this place where, a hundred years ago

you made known to all the purposes of God’s mercy,

I gaze at your robe of light

and, as a bishop robed in white,

I call to mind all those who,

robed in the splendor of their baptism,

desire to live in God

and tell the mysteries of Christ in order to obtain peace.

Refrain …

The Holy Father:

Hail, life and sweetness,

Hail, our hope,

O Pilgrim Virgin, O Universal Queen!

In the depths of your being,

in your Immaculate Heart,

you keep the joys of men and women

as they journey to the Heavenly Homeland.

In the depths of your being,

in your Immaculate Heart,

you keep the sorrows of the human family,

as they mourn and weep in this valley of tears.

In the depths of your being,

in your Immaculate Heart,

adorn us with the radiance of the jewels of your crown

and make us pilgrims, even as you were a pilgrim.

With your virginal smile,

enliven the joy of Christ’s Church.

With your gaze of sweetness,

strengthen the hope of God’s children.

With your hands lifted in prayer to the Lord,

draw all people together into one human family.

Refrain …

The Holy Father:

O clement, O loving,

O sweet Virgin Mary,

Queen of the Rosary of Fátima!

Grant that we may follow the example of Blessed Francisco and Blessed Jacinta,

and of all who devote themselves to proclaiming the Gospel.

Thus we will follow all paths

and everywhere make our pilgrim way;

we will tear down all walls

and cross every frontier,

as we go out to every periphery,

to make known God’s justice and peace.

In the joy of the Gospel, we will be the Church robed in white,

the whiteness washed in the blood of the Lamb,

blood that today too is shed in the wars tearing our world apart.

And so we will be, like you, an image of the column of light

that illumines the ways of the world,

making God known to all,

making known to all that God exists,

that God dwells in the midst of his people,

yesterday, today and for all eternity.

Refrain …

The Holy Father, with all the faithful:

Hail, Mother of the Lord,

Virgin Mary, Queen of the Rosary of Fátima!

Blessed among all women,

you are the image of the Church robed in paschal light,

you are the honor of our people,

you are the victory over every assault of evil.

Prophecy of the merciful love of the Father,

Teacher of the Message of Good News of the Son,

Sign of the burning Fire of the Holy Spirit,

teach us, in this valley of joys and sorrows,

the eternal truths that the Father reveals to the little ones.

Show us the strength of your protective mantle.

In your Immaculate Heart,

be the refuge of sinners

and the way that leads to God.

In union with my brothers and sisters,

in faith, in hope and in love,

I entrust myself to you.

In union with my brothers and sisters, through you, I consecrate myself to God,

O Virgin of the Rosary of Fátima.

And at last, enveloped in the Light that comes from your hands,

I will give glory to the Lord for ever and ever. Amen.

Refrain …

Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana (vatican.va)

VATICAN NEWS

Mary points to Christ’s mercy, Pope Francis tells Fatima pilgrims

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • May 12, 2017

Francis greets pilgrims at the Chapel of the Apparitions in Fatima, Portugal on May 12, 2017. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Fatima, Portugal — Pope Francis asked pilgrims in Fatima on Friday evening to think about the qualities the Virgin Mary possesses, being careful not to make her into something she is not – especially elevating her mercifulness above that of her Son.

“Pilgrims with Mary … but which Mary? A teacher of the spiritual life, the first to follow Jesus on the ‘narrow way’ of the cross by giving us an example, or a Lady ‘unapproachable’ and impossible to imitate?”

“The Virgin Mary of the Gospel, venerated by the Church at prayer, or a Mary of our own making: one who restrains the arm of a vengeful God; one sweeter than Jesus the ruthless judge; one more merciful than the Lamb slain for us?” Pope Francis asked May 12.

It is through Mary’s cooperation and participation in salvation that she also became a channel of God’s mercy, he explained, praying that with Mary, we might “each of us become a sign and sacrament of the mercy of God, who pardons always and pardons everything.”

“No other creature ever basked in the light of God’s face as did Mary,” he continued, and “she in turn gave a human face to the Son of the eternal Father.”

Pope Francis greeted pilgrims before leading the rosary at the Chapel of the Apparitions on the first night of his two-day pilgrimage to Fatima May 12-13 to celebrate the centenary of Mary’s appearance to three shepherd children in 1917.

During the visit to Fatima, the Pope will also say Mass, presiding over the canonization of two of the Fatima visionaries, Francisco and Jacinta Marto.

In his greeting, Francis said that we do a great injustice to God and his grace if we speak of his justice without speaking also of his mercy. “Obviously, God’s mercy does not deny justice, for Jesus took upon himself the consequences of our sin, together with its due punishment,” he said.

Because Christ redeemed our sin upon the cross, “we put aside all fear and dread, as unbefitting those who are loved,” he explained.

Speaking of the rosary he would pray shortly, he said that in the recitation of the prayer’s mysteries we can contemplate the moments of Mary’s life: the joyful, the luminous, the sorrowful, and the glorious, as they happen, the Pope said.

“Each time we recite the rosary, in this holy place or anywhere else, the Gospel enters anew into the life of individuals, families, peoples and the entire world.”

Quoting from his 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium, Pope Francis said that in looking at Mary we are able to believe again “in the revolutionary nature of love and tenderness.”

“In her, we see that humility and tenderness are not virtues of the weak but of the strong, who need not treat others poorly in order to feel important themselves.”

“Thank you for your welcome and for joining me on this pilgrimage of hope and peace,” he said, assuring those united with him, either physically or spiritually, that they have a special place in his heart.

He said that he felt Christ had entrusted them all to him, especially those most in need, as Our Lady of Fatima taught in one of her apparitions to the shepherd children.

“May she, the loving and solicitous Mother of the needy, obtain for them the Lord’s blessing!”

Ending his message with a prayer, Francis prayed that “under the watchful gaze” of the Virgin Mary they may all come to sing about the mercy of God with joy and gladness, crying out that the God would show to him and to each of them the mercy he has shown his saints.

“Out of the pride of my heart, I went astray, following my own ambitions and interests, without gaining any crown of glory!” he prayed. “My one hope of glory, Lord, is this: that your Mother will take me in her arms, shelter me beneath her mantle, and set me close to your heart. Amen.”

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Pilgrimage of the Holy Father Francis to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima on the occasion of the centenary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Cova da Iria (12-13 May 2017) – Blessing of the candles in the Chapel of the Apparitions of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima

The Holy See Press Office • May 12, 2017

Fatima, Portugal — This evening, the Holy Father Francis transferred by car to the Chapel of the Apparitions of the Shrine of “Our Lady of Fátima” where, at 21:30, the blessing of the candles took place.

After a moment of silent reflection and contemplation, the Pope blessed the candles. He then pronounced a greeting to the pilgrims and introduced the recital of the Holy Rosary.

The following is the Holy Father’s greeting to those present:

Holy Father’s Greeting

Dear Pilgrims to Mary and with Mary!

Thank you for your welcome and for joining me on this pilgrimage of hope and peace. Even now, I want to assure all of you who are united with me, here or elsewhere, that you have a special place in my heart. I feel that Jesus has entrusted you to me (cf. Jn 21:15-17), and I embrace all of you and commend you to Jesus, “especially those most in need” – as Our Lady taught us to pray (Apparition of July, 1917). May she, the loving and solicitous Mother of the needy, obtain for them the Lord’s blessing! On each of the destitute and outcast robbed of the present, on each of the excluded and abandoned denied a future, on each of the orphans and victims of injustice refused a past, may there descend the blessing of God, incarnate in Jesus Christ. “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace” (Num 6:24-26).

This blessing was fulfilled in the Virgin Mary. No other creature ever basked in the light of God’s face as did Mary; she in turn gave a human face to the Son of the eternal Father. Now we can contemplate her in the succession of joyful, luminous, sorrowful and glorious moments of her life, which we revisit in our recitation of the rosary. With Christ and Mary, we abide in God. Indeed, “if we want to be Christian, we must be Marian; in a word, we have to acknowledge the essential, vital and providential relationship uniting Our Lady to Jesus, a relationship that opens before us the way leading to him” (PAUL VI, Address at the Shine of Our Lady of Bonaria, Cagliari, 24 April 1970). Each time we recite the rosary, in this holy place or anywhere else, the Gospel enters anew into the life of individuals, families, peoples and the entire world.

Pilgrims with Mary … But which Mary? A teacher of the spiritual life, the first to follow Jesus on the “narrow way” of the cross by giving us an example, or a Lady “unapproachable” and impossible to imitate? A woman “blessed because she believed” always and everywhere in God’s words (cf. Lk 1:42.45), or a “plaster statue” from whom we beg favors at little cost? The Virgin Mary of the Gospel, venerated by the Church at prayer, or a Mary of our own making: one who restrains the arm of a vengeful God; one sweeter than Jesus the ruthless judge; one more merciful than the Lamb slain for us?

Great injustice is done to God’s grace whenever we say that sins are punished by his judgment, without first saying – as the Gospel clearly does – that they are forgiven by his mercy! Mercy has to be put before judgment and, in any case, God’s judgment will always be rendered in the light of his mercy. Obviously, God’s mercy does not deny justice, for Jesus took upon himself the consequences of our sin, together with its due punishment. He did not deny sin, but redeemed it on the cross. Hence, in the faith that unites us to the cross of Christ, we are freed of our sins; we put aside all fear and dread, as unbefitting those who are loved (cf. 1 Jn 4:18). “Whenever we look to Mary, we come to believe once again in the revolutionary nature of love and tenderness. In her, we see that humility and tenderness are not virtues of the weak but of the strong, who need not treat others poorly in order to feel important themselves … This interplay of justice and tenderness, of contemplation and concern for others, is what makes the ecclesial community look to Mary as a model of evangelization” (Ap. Exhort. Evangelii Gaudium, 288). With Mary, may each of us become a sign and sacrament of the mercy of God, who pardons always and pardons everything.

Hand in hand with the Virgin Mother, and under her watchful gaze, may we come to sing with joy the mercies of the Lord, and cry out: “My soul sings to you, Lord!” The mercy you have shown to all your saints and all your faithful people, you have also shown to me. Out of the pride of my heart, I went astray, following my own ambitions and interests, without gaining any crown of glory! My one hope of glory, Lord, is this: that your Mother will take me in her arms, shelter me beneath her mantle, and set me close to your heart. Amen.

Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana (vatican.va)

VATICAN NEWS

Want to join Mary in battle? Pray the rosary, cardinal says at Fatima

CNA/EWTN News • May 12, 2017

The statue of Our Lady of Fatima. (Elise Harris/CNA)

Fatima, Portugal — At a vigil Mass with tens of thousands gathered in the Portugal town of Fatima, Cardinal Pietro Parolin delivered a homily stressing the Virgin Mary’s desire to console all humanity and to have humanity join her in prayer against evil.

“In the midst of great concern and uncertainty about the future, what does Fatima ask of us? Perseverance in the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, shown daily by the recitation of the Rosary.”

If wars continue in spite of our prayers, he said, we should persevere in prayer.

“Prayer is never useless,” he stressed. “Sooner or later, it will bear fruit. Prayer is capital in the hands of God, he turns it to good account in his times and ways, which are very different from our own.”

Cardinal Parolin, who is the Vatican Secretary of State, spoke ahead of the May 13 centenary of the beginning of the Marian apparitions at Fatima. Pope Francis is visiting the Portugal town for the occasion.

“As a Mother concerned for the trials of her children, Mary appeared here with a message of consolation and hope for a world at war and for the Church in travail,” the cardinal continued. He cited the apparition’s July 1917 words: “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

The cardinal said this is a call to trust that in the end, love and peace will win out “because God’s mercy is stronger than the power of evil.”

“Our Lady also asks us to join in this battle of her divine Son, particularly by the daily recitation of the rosary for peace in the world,” the cardinal said, encouraging the faithful to ask the Virgin Mary that individuals, families’ homes, the history of nations and all humanity are “consecrated to her and placed under her protection and guidance.”

“She wants people who entrust themselves to her,” he added, citing the July apparition’s words that if the people did what she told the seers, “may souls will be saved and have peace.”

“In the end, what will win the war is a heart: the Heart of the Mother will obtain the victory at the head of millions of her sons and daughters,” he said.

Cardinal Parolin reflected on the widespread devotion to Mary inspired by Our Lady of Fatima.

“From East to West, the love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary has won a place in the heart of peoples as a source of hope and consolation,” he said. “The faithful, the bishops, the Pope did not fail to heed the requests of the Mother of God and of man: the whole world was consecrated to her. Everywhere groups and communities of believers continue to grow. Awakening from yesterday’s apathy, they now work to show the world the true face of Christianity.”

The cardinal cited Pope Francis’ observation that many people today take for granted the blessing of peace, but for many others it remains “merely a distant dream.”

“Millions of people still live in the midst of senseless conflicts,” the Pope said to the Vatican Diplomatic Corps on Jan. 9. “We are frequently overwhelmed by images of death, by the pain of innocent men, women and children who plead for help and consolation, by the grief of those mourning the loss of a dear one due to hatred and violence, and by the drama of refugees fleeing war and migrants meeting tragic deaths.”

Cardinal Parolin reflected that Mary’s Magnificat prayer shows a sharp contrast between the great and powerful and the “little” history of the poor, the humble and the powerless.

“The latter are called to work for peace with another force, with other seemingly useless or ineffective means, such as conversion, reparation and trust,” he said. “They are asked to halt the advance of evil by plunging into the ocean of divine Love as resistance, not surrender, to the banality and the inevitability of evil.”

How a Christian should respond to evil was a focus of the cardinal’s homily.

He noted the “perverse logic” of someone who realizes he has received a counterfeit bill and is tempted to pass it on to someone else. This temptation, if acted upon, would turn oneself, an innocent victim, into someone who victimizes others.

“The alternative is to halt the advance of evil, but that happens only by paying a price, by keeping the counterfeit banknote and thus freeing others from the advance of evil,” he said. “This is the only reaction that can stop evil and prevail over it. Human beings are capable of a sacrifice that becomes reparation.”

For the cardinal, this sacrifice is like that of the Crucifixion.

“Christ carries it out, showing that his way of loving is mercy,” Cardinal Parolin said. “This excess of love can be seen in the cross of Jesus. He takes on the full weight of the hatred and the violence that rain down on him, without responding to the insults or threatening revenge. Instead, he forgives, and thus shows that there is a greater love.”

“Christ’s death was a victory over the evil unleashed by his tormentors, which all of us are,” he added. “Jesus, crucified and risen, is our peace and salvation.”

He pointed to the Virgin Mary’s response to God as a model for every Christian.

“The Fathers of the Church tell us that Mary conceived Jesus first in faith and then in the flesh, when she said ‘Yes’ to God’s call to her through the angel,” he said. “But what took place in a singular way in the Virgin Mother takes place spiritually in us whenever we hear the word of God and put it into practice.”

The cardinal encouraged the faithful to imitate Mary’s “generosity and courage” and present themselves to Jesus “so that he can continue to dwell in our midst.”

“In this way, may the Virgin Mother shape us, pressing us to her Immaculate Heart, as she did with Lucia, Bl. Francisco and Bl. Jacinta,” he said.

“On this centenary of the apparitions, with gratitude for the gift, the event, the message and the shrine of Fatima … throughout the past century, let us join our voices to that of the Virgin Mary: ‘My soul magnifies the Lord … for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. … His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.’”

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Pilgrimage of the Holy Father Francis to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima on the occasion of the centenary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Cova da Iria (12-13 May 2017) – Holy Mass at the Marian Vigil, presided at by the Cardinal Secretary of State

The Holy See Press Office • May 12, 2017

Fatima, Portugal — Following the blessing of the candles at the Chapel of the Apparitions of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima and after the recital of the Rosary led by the Holy Father, at around 10:00, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin presided at the Holy Mass of the Marian Vigil for the solemnity of 13 May.

The following is the homily that the Cardinal Secretary of State pronounced during the celebration.

Homily of the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin

Dear Pilgrims to Fatima,

With joy and gratitude, we have gathered at this Shrine that commemorates the apparitions of Our Lady to the three shepherd children. We join the throngs of pilgrims who in these hundred years have come here to show their trust in the Mother of Heaven. We are celebrating this Eucharist in honor of her Immaculate Heart. In the first reading, we heard the people exclaim: “You averted our ruin, walking in the straight path before our God” (Jdt 13:20). These words of praise and gratitude were addressed by the city of Bethulia to Judith, their champion, whom “the Lord God, who created the heavens and the earth … guided to cut off the head of the leader of our enemies” (Jdt 13:18). But they take on their full meaning in the Immaculate Virgin Mary. Thanks to her offspring – Christ the Lord – she was able to “crush the head” (cf. Gen 3:15) of the “ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.” He, in turn, “was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus” (Rev 12:9.17).

As a Mother concerned for the trials of her children, Mary appeared here with a message of consolation and hope for a world at war and for the Church in travail: “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph” (Apparition of July, 1917). In other words: “Trust! In the end, love and peace will triumph, because God’s mercy is stronger than the power of evil. What seems impossible to men is possible to God.” Our Lady also asks us to join in this battle of her divine Son, particularly by the daily recitation of the Rosary for peace in the world. Even though everything depends on God and his grace, we still need to act as if everything depended on us, by asking the Virgin Mary that the hearts of individuals, the homes of families, the history of peoples and the fraternal soul of all humanity be consecrated to her and placed under her protection and guidance. She wants people who entrust themselves to her! “If they do what I tell you, many souls will be saved and have peace” (Apparition of July, 1917). In the end, what will win the war is a heart: the Heart of the Mother will obtain the victory, at the head of millions of her sons and daughters.

This evening, we offer thanks and praise to the Most Holy Trinity for the commitment of so many men and women to this mission of peace entrusted to the Virgin Mother. From East to West, the love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary has won a place in the heart of peoples as a source of hope and consolation. The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council met in order to renew the face of the Church, and presented itself essentially as the Council of love. The faithful, the bishops, the Pope did not fail to heed the requests of the Mother of God and of man: the whole world was consecrated to her. Everywhere groups and communities of believers continue to grow. Awakening from yesterday’s apathy, they now work to show to the world the true face of Christianity.

“If they do what I tell you, they will have peace.” A hundred years after the apparitions, it is true that, as Pope Francis has observed, “for many people today, peace appears as a blessing to be taken for granted, for all intents an acquired right to which not much thought is given, yet for all too many others, peace remains merely a distant dream. Millions of people still live in the midst of senseless conflicts. Even in places once considered safe, a general sense of fear is felt. We are frequently overwhelmed by images of death, by the pain of innocent men, women and children who plead for help and consolation, by the grief of those mourning the loss of a dear one due to hatred and violence, and by the drama of refugees fleeing war and migrants meeting tragic deaths” (Address to the Diplomatic Corps, 9 January 2017). In the midst of great concern and uncertainty about the future, what does Fatima ask of us? Perseverance in the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, shown daily by the recitation of the Rosary. And what if, despite our prayers, wars continue? Even though immediate results may not be evident, let us persevere in prayer. Prayer is never useless. Sooner or later, it will bear fruit. Prayer is capital in the hands of God; he turns it to good account in his own times and ways, which are very different from our own.

Our responsorial psalm was the Canticle of the Magnificat, with its sharp contrast between the “great” story of the nations and their conflicts, the story of the great and powerful with its own chronology and geography of power, and the “little” history of the poor, the humble and the powerless. The latter are called to work for peace with another force, with other seemingly useless or ineffective means, such as conversion, reparation, and trust. They are asked to halt the advance of evil by plunging into the ocean of divine Love as resistance – not surrender – to the banality and the inevitability of evil.

What must we do? Let me explain with an example (cf. Eloy Bueno de la Fuente, A Mensagem de Fátima. A misericórdia de Deus: o triunfo do amor nos dramas da história, 2014, 235-237). If someone passes us a counterfeit banknote, a spontaneous and even logical reaction could be to pass it on to somebody else. This shows us how ready we are to fall into a perverse logic that takes over and makes us spread evil. If I act according to this logic, my situation changes. I was an innocent victim when I received the counterfeit banknote, a victim of the evil of others. But once I decide to pass the counterfeit notes to someone else, I am innocent no longer. I have been won over by the seductive power of evil, creating a new victim. I have become an agent of evil, now responsible and guilty. The alternative is to halt the advance of evil, but that happens only by paying a price, by keeping the counterfeit banknote and thus freeing others from the advance of evil.

This is the only reaction that can stop evil and prevail over it. Human beings win this victory when they are capable of a sacrifice that becomes reparation. Christ carries it out, thus showing that his way of loving is mercy. This excess of love can be seen in the cross of Jesus. He takes on the full weight of the hatred and violence that rain down on him, without responding with insults or threatening revenge. Instead, he forgives, and thus shows that there is a greater love. Only he can do this, taking on – as it were – the “counterfeit banknote.” His death was a victory over the evil unleashed by his tormentors, which all of us are. Jesus, crucified and risen, is our peace and reconciliation (cf. Eph 2:14; 2 Cor 5:18).

“You averted our ruin, walking in the straight path before our God.” Let us pray at this evening vigil as a great pilgrim people, following in the footsteps of the risen Jesus, enlightening one another and helping one another to advance, based on our faith in Christ Jesus. The Fathers of the Church tell us that Mary conceived Jesus first in faith and then in the flesh, when she said “Yes” to God’s call to her through the angel. But what took place in a singular way in the Virgin Mother takes place spiritually in us whenever we hear the word of God and put it into practice, as the Gospel says (cf. Lk 11:28). Imitating Mary’s generosity and courage, let us present our bodies to Jesus so that he can continue to dwell in our midst. Let us offer him our hands to caress the little ones and the poor, our feet to draw near to our brothers and sisters, our arms to shore up the weak and to work in the Lord’s vineyard, our minds to think and plan in the light of the Gospel, and above all, our hearts to love and make decisions in accordance with God’s will.

In this way, may the Virgin Mother shape us, pressing us to her Immaculate Heart, as she did with Lucia, Blessed Francisco and Blessed Jacinta. On this centenary of the apparitions, with gratitude for the gift which the event, the message and the shrine of Fatima have been throughout the past century, let us join our voices to that of the Virgin Mary: “My soul magnifies the Lord … for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant … his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation” (Lk 1:46-50).

Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana (vatican.va)

VATICAN NEWS

Francisco and Jacinta have officially been declared saints!

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • May 13, 2017

Official portrait of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, designed by Silvia Patricio. (Fatima Shrine)

Fatima, Portugal — Pope Francis on Saturday officially declared Francisco and Jacinta Marto saints of the Catholic Church in front of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims at Fatima, Portugal – teaching us that even young children can become saints.

“For the honor of the Blessed Trinity, the exaltation of the Catholic faith and the increase of the Christian life, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and our own, after due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance, and having sought the counsel of many of our brother Bishops, we declare and define Blessed Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto to be saints,” Pope Francis exclaimed May 13 as the crowd roared with applause.

“We enroll them among the Saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole Church. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Pope Francis presided over their canonization Mass during his two-day pilgrimage to Fatima, Portugal May 12-13 to take part in celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the appearance of Our Lady of Fatima.

The brother and sister, Francisco and Jacinta, who tended to their families’ sheep with their cousin Lucia Santo in the fields of Fatima, witnessed the apparitions of Mary, now commonly known as Our Lady of Fatima.

In her message to the children, Mary brought with her requests for conversion, prayer (particularly the recitation of the rosary), sacrifices on behalf of sinners, and a three-part secret regarding the fate of the world.

The children followed Mary’s requests, praying often, giving their lunch to beggars and going without food themselves. They offered up their daily crosses and even refrained from drinking water on hot days.

With anti-Catholic sentiment very prevalent in the country, the mayor in the district of Fatima had grown suspicious of the growingly popular apparitions, and had unsuccessfully tried to get the children to renounce their story.

Wanting to stop the children from seeing the fourth apparition, Artur Santos, an apostate Catholic and high Mason who was the local mayor, devised a ruse to kidnap the children before the scheduled day of her appearance.

Despite bribes, threats of death by burning oil, and threatening to lock them in a cell with criminals, the children never recanted their story.

Convicted by Mary’s requests and the vision of hell, both children lived lives of prayer and penance after the apparitions, offering themselves for sinners as Mary had asked. Francisco was known for his devotion to the Eucharist and his strict physical mortifications, while Jacinta was especially known for having a heart for the poor and the suffering.

Both children fell victim to the influenza epidemic of 1918 that swept through Europe. In October 1918, Mary again appeared to the sick siblings and promised to take them to heaven soon. On April 3, 1919, Francisco declined hospital treatment for influenza and died the next day.

Jacinta was given hospital treatment in hopes of prolonging her life, but she knew that she would soon join Francisco in heaven. On February 19, 1920, Jacinta asked the hospital chaplain who heard her confession to bring her Holy Communion and administer the last rites, because she was going to die “the next night.” But the priest said that her condition was not that serious and that he would return the next day. The next day Jacinta was found dead – she had died in her sleep.

Pope John Paul II beatified Francisco and Jacinta May 13, 2000, on the 83rd anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady at Fatima. Both under 12 years old, they were the youngest non-martyrs to be beatified in the history of the Church.

Sister Lucia, the third visionary, lived much longer, dying in 2005 at the age of 97. The Church is currently examining documents and collecting testimonies for her beatification cause.

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Pilgrimage of the Holy Father to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima (12-13 May 2017) – Holy Mass and Canonization of the Blesseds Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto

The Holy See Press Office • May 13, 2017

Vatican City — At 10:00 this morning, Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Fátima, on the plaza of the Shrine, the Holy Father Francis celebrated Holy Mass on the occasion of the centenary of the apparitions, during which the Blesseds Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto were canonized. The Eucharistic Celebration was attended by the Presidents of the Republic of Portugal, of Paraguay and of São Tomé e Príncipe, whom the Pope greeted at the end of the rite.

During the Holy Mass, after the rite of canonization and the proclamation of the Gospel, the Holy Father pronounced the following homily:

Holy Father’s Homily

“[There] appeared in heaven a woman clothed with the sun.” So the seer of Patmos tells us in the Book of Revelation (12:1), adding that she was about to give birth to a son. Then, in the Gospel, we hear Jesus say to His disciple, “Here is your mother” (Jn 19:27). We have a Mother! “So beautiful a Lady,” as the seers of Fatima said to one another as they returned home on that blessed day of 13 May a hundred years ago. That evening, Jacinta could not restrain herself and told the secret to her mother: “Today I saw Our Lady.” They had seen the Mother of Heaven. Many others sought to share that vision, but … they did not see her. The Virgin Mother did not come here so that we could see her. We will have all eternity for that, provided, of course, that we go to heaven.

Our Lady foretold, and warned us about, a way of life that is godless and indeed profanes God in His creatures. Such a life – frequently proposed and imposed – risks leading to hell. Mary came to remind us that God’s light dwells within us and protects us, for, as we heard in the first reading, “the child [of the woman] was snatched away and taken to God” (Rev 12:5). In Lucia’s account, the three chosen children found themselves surrounded by God’s light as it radiated from Our Lady. She enveloped them in the mantle of Light that God had given her. According to the belief and experience of many pilgrims, if not of all, Fatima is more than anything this mantle of Light that protects us, here as in almost no other place on earth. We need but take refuge under the protection of the Virgin Mary and to ask her, as the Salve Regina teaches: “show unto us … Jesus.”

Dear pilgrims, we have a Mother. we have a Mother! Clinging to her like children, we live in the hope that rests on Jesus. As we heard in the second reading, “those who receive the abundance of the grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:17). When Jesus ascended to heaven, He brought to the Heavenly Father our humanity, which He assumed in the womb of the Virgin Mary and will never forsake. Like an anchor, let us fix our hope on that humanity, seated in heaven at the right hand of the Father (cf. Eph 2:6). May this hope guide our lives! It is a hope that sustains us always, to our dying breath.

Confirmed in this hope, we have gathered here to give thanks for the countless graces bestowed over these past hundred years. All of them passed beneath the mantle of light that Our Lady has spread over the four corners of the earth, beginning with this land of Portugal, so rich in hope. We can take as our examples Saint Francisco and Saint Jacinta, whom the Virgin Mary introduced into the immense ocean of God’s light and taught to adore him. That was the source of their strength in overcoming opposition and suffering. God’s presence became constant in their lives, as is evident from their insistent prayers for sinners and their desire to remain ever near “the hidden Jesus” in the tabernacle.

In her Memoirs (III, 6), Sister Lucia quotes Jacinta who had just been granted a vision: “Do you not see all those streets, all those paths and fields full of people crying out for food, yet have nothing to eat? And the Holy Father in a church, praying before the Immaculate Heart of Mary? And all those people praying with him?” Thank you, brothers and sisters, for being here with me! I could not fail to come here to venerate the Virgin Mary and to entrust to her all her sons and daughters. Under her mantle they are not lost; from her embrace will come the hope and the peace that they require, and that I implore for all my brothers and sisters in baptism and in our human family, especially the sick and the disabled, prisoners and the unemployed, the poor and the abandoned. Dear brothers and sisters, let us pray to God with the hope that others will hear us; and let us speak to others with the certainty that God will help us.

Indeed, God created us to be a source of hope for others, a true and attainable hope, in accordance with each person’s state of life. In “asking” and “demanding” of each of us the fulfilment of the duties of our proper state (Letters of Sister Lucia, 28 February 1943), God effects a general mobilization against the indifference that chills the heart and worsens our myopia. We do not want to be a stillborn hope! Life can survive only because of the generosity of other lives. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn 12:24). The Lord, Who always goes before us, said this and did this. Whenever we experience the cross, he has already experienced it before us. We do not mount the cross to find Jesus. Instead it was He who, in His self-abasement, descended even to the cross, in order to find us, to dispel the darkness of evil within us, and to bring us back to the light.

With Mary’s protection, may we be for our world sentinels of the dawn, contemplating the true face of Jesus the Savior, resplendent at Easter. Thus may we rediscover the young and beautiful face of the Church, which shines forth when she is missionary, welcoming, free, faithful, poor in means and rich in love.

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Like the Fatima children, offer your lives to God, Pope urges

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • May 13, 2017

Pope Francis delivers the homily at the canonization Mass of Francisco and Jacinta Marto in Fatima on May 13, 2017. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Fatima, Portugal — On Saturday, Pope Francis told those gathered at Fatima, in particular the sick and suffering, to follow the example of the newly canonized saints Francisco and Jacinta, offering their lives – both the joy and suffering – as a gift for God.

“Today the Virgin Mary asks all of us the same question that, a hundred years ago, she asked the shepherd children: ‘Do you want to offer yourselves to God?’ Their answer – ‘Yes, we do!’ – makes us able to understand and imitate their lives.”

“They lived life, with its share of joy and suffering, as an offering to the Lord. I invite those of you who are sick to live your lives as a gift. Like the shepherd children, tell Our Lady that you want to offer yourselves to God with all your heart,” Pope Francis said May 13.

The Pope’s words were said during a special greeting to the sick during Eucharistic adoration immediately following the canonization Mass of Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal.

Francis presided over the Mass with around 500,000 pilgrims during his two-day pilgrimage May 12-13 for the 100th anniversary of her appearance to the two shepherd children along with their cousin, Lucia.

Speaking to all of the sick and suffering present, he said they should not think of themselves just as recipients of charitable solidarity, but know that they are full participants in the Church’s life and mission.

“Your silent presence, which is more eloquent than a flood of words, your prayers, the daily offering of your sufferings in union with those of Jesus crucified for the salvation of the world, the patient and even joyful acceptance of your condition – all these are a spiritual resource, an asset to every Christian community,” he said.

“Do not be ashamed of being a precious treasure of the Church.”

Entrust your sorrows, sufferings and weariness to Jesus, he went on, who is hidden but still present in the Eucharist, just as he is also hidden in the wounds of the sick and suffering. “On the altar, we worship the flesh of Jesus; in these our brothers and sisters, we encounter the wounds of Jesus.”

“Jesus will pass close to you in the Blessed Sacrament as a sign of his closeness and love for you,” he continued. “Count on the prayers of the Church, which from every corner of the world rises up to heaven for you and with you. God is our Father, and he will never forget you.”

Jesus knows the meaning of sorrow and pain, he said, because in his passion and death, Christ took all of our suffering upon himself. He will comfort us and give us strength, just like he did for St. Francisco and St. Jacinta and for every saint, he said.

“That is the Church’s ministry: the Church asks the Lord to comfort the afflicted like yourselves, and he comforts you, even in ways you cannot see.”

Before giving his message to the sick, the Pope said in his homily for the canonization Mass that we don’t climb the cross to find Jesus, Jesus comes down to us “to dispel the darkness of evil within us, and to bring us back to the light.”

In Lucia’s account of the apparitions, he noted, the three children found themselves “surrounded by God’s light as it radiated from Our Lady. She enveloped them in the mantle of Light that God had given her.”

“According to the belief and experience of many pilgrims, if not of all,” he continued, “Fatima is more than anything this mantle of Light that protects us, here as in almost no other place on earth.”

All we need to do, he explained, is to “take refuge” in the protection of the Virgin Mary, asking her, as it says in the Salve Regina prayer, to ‘show unto us … Jesus.’”

The Pope thanked everyone for being with him in Fatima, saying that he “could not fail” to come and venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary and entrust them all to her. Under her mantle, we are not lost, he said, and “from her embrace will come the hope and the peace” that we require.

“Confirmed in this hope, we have gathered here to give thanks for the countless graces bestowed over these past hundred years,” he said.

Newly canonized, we take St. Francisco and St. Jacinta as our examples. They were taught by Mary to adore Jesus and this became their strength in suffering. “God’s presence became constant in their lives, as is evident from their insistent prayers for sinners and their desire to remain ever near ‘the hidden Jesus’ in the tabernacle.”

Therefore, “with Mary’s protection,” he concluded, “may we be for our world sentinels of the dawn, contemplating the true face of Jesus the Savior, resplendent at Easter.”

“Thus may we rediscover the young and beautiful face of the Church, which shines forth when she is missionary, welcoming, free, faithful, poor in means and rich in love.”

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Pilgrimage of the Holy Father to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima (12-13 May 2017) – Greeting to the sick

The Holy See Press Office • May 13, 2017

Vatican City — At the end of the Holy Mass for the Canonization of the Blesseds Francisco and Jacinta Marto, the Holy Father Francis blessed the sick people present. After the final blessing, the greeting of the bishop of Leiria-Fátima, His Excellency Msgr. António Augusto dos Santos Marto and the presentation of a gift, the Pope returned to the “Nossa Senhora do Carmo” House where he lunched with the bishops of Portugal and the papal entourage.

The following is the Holy Father’s greeting to the sick:

Words of the Holy Father

Dear brothers and sisters who are sick,

As I said in the homily, the Lord always goes before us. Whenever we experience a cross, He has already been there ahead of us. In His passion, He took upon Himself all our suffering. Jesus knows the meaning of sorrow and pain. He understands us, He comforts us and He gives us strength, as He did to Saint Francisco Marto and Saint Jacinta, and to the saints of every time and place. I think of the Apostle Peter, in chains in the prison of Jerusalem, as the whole Church prayed for him. The Lord comforted Peter. That is the Church’s ministry: the Church asks the Lord to comfort the afflicted like yourselves, and He comforts you, even in ways you cannot see. He comforts you in the depths of your hearts and He comforts you with the gift of strength.

Dear pilgrims, we have before us Jesus hidden yet present in the Eucharist, just as we have Jesus hidden yet present in the wounds of our brothers and sisters who are sick and suffering. On the altar, we worship the flesh of Jesus; in these our brothers and sisters, we encounter the wounds of Jesus. The Christian adores Jesus, the Christian seeks Jesus, the Christian can recognize the wounds of Jesus. Today the Virgin Mary asks all of us the same question that, a hundred years ago, she asked the shepherd children: “Do you want to offer yourselves to God?” Their answer - “Yes, we do!” – makes us able to understand and imitate their lives. They lived life, with its share of joy and suffering, as an offering to the Lord.

I invite those of you who are sick to live your lives as a gift. Like the shepherd children, tell Our Lady that you want to offer yourselves to God with all your heart. Don’t think of yourselves simply as the recipients of charitable solidarity, but feel that you share fully in the Church’s life and mission. Your silent presence, which is more eloquent than a flood of words, your prayers, the daily offering of your sufferings in union with those of Jesus crucified for the salvation of the world, the patient and even joyful acceptance of your condition – all these are a spiritual resource, an asset to every Christian community. Do not be ashamed of being a precious treasure of the Church.

Jesus will pass close to you in the Blessed Sacrament as a sign of His closeness and love for you. Entrust to Him your sorrows, your sufferings, all your weariness. Count on the prayer of the Church, which from every corner of the world rises up to heaven for you and with you. God is our Father, and He will never forget you.

Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana (vatican.va)

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Pilgrimage of the Holy Father to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima (12-13 May 2017) – Departure from Portugal and telegrams to Heads of State

The Holy See Press Office • May 13, 2017

Vatican City — Early this afternoon, after leaving the “Nossa Senhora do Carmo” House in Fátima, the Holy Father Francis transferred by car to the Monte Real Air Base where the farewell ceremony took place.

Upon arrival the Holy Father was received by the President of the Republic of Portugal, Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa, in the control tower building. Around seven hundred faithful were present at the farewell ceremony.

The Holy Father boarded an A320/TAP which left at around 15:00, expected to arrive at Rome’s Ciampino airport around three hours later.

Telegram to the President of the Republic of Portugal

Immediately after departure from Monte Real, the Pope sent the following telegram to the President of the Republic of Portugal:

HIS EXCELLENCY MARCELO REBELO DE SOUSA

PRESIDENT OF THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC

LISBON

AS I LEAVE PORTUGAL, I WISH TO EXPRESS MY DEEP GRATITUDE TO YOUR EXCELLENCY AND TO ALL THE BELOVED PORTUGUESE PEOPLE FOR YOUR WARM WELCOME AND HOSPITALITY. WITH THE ASSURANCE OF MY PRAYERS, I INVOKE UPON THE NATION THE DIVINE BLESSINGS OF PEACE AND JOY.

FRANCISCUS PP.

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Pope Francis: I am suspicious of ongoing Medjugorje apparitions

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • May 13, 2017

Francis speaks to journalists aboard his flight from Philadelphia to Rome on Sept. 27, 2015. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Vatican City — Asked by journalists about the alleged appearance of the Virgin Mary at Medjugorje, Pope Francis said the original apparitions more than three decades ago deserve further study, but voiced doubt in the supposed ongoing visions.

He stressed the need to distinguish between the two sets of apparitions, referencing a report submitted to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by a commission set up to study the apparitions by Benedict XVI in 2010.

“The first apparitions, which were to children, the report more or less says that these need to continue being studied,” he said, but as for “presumed current apparitions, the report has its doubts.”

“I personally am more suspicious, I prefer the Madonna as Mother, our Mother, and not a woman who’s the head of an office, who every day sends a message at a certain hour. This is not the Mother of Jesus. And these presumed apparitions don’t have a lot of value.”

He clarified that this is his “personal opinion,” but added that the Madonna does not function by saying, “Come tomorrow at this time, and I will give a message to those people.”

Differentiating between these and the first apparitions, he said, is key.

Pope Francis spoke to the 70 journalists on board with him during his May 13 flight from Fatima back to Rome. The presser followed a two-day trip to mark the centenary of the Marian apparitions that occurred in Fatima in 1917. During the visit, he also canonized two of the young visionaries, Francisco and Jacinta Marto.

While the Fatima apparitions have long been approved by the Vatican and local bishops, debate continues to cloud discussion over the authenticity of the alleged appearances in Medjugorje.

The apparitions allegedly started June 24, 1981, when six children in Medjugorje, a town in what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina, claimed to have witnessed apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

According to the alleged visionaries, the apparitions conveyed a message of peace for the world, a call to conversion, prayer and fasting, as well as certain secrets surrounding events to be fulfilled in the future.

These apparitions are said to have continued almost daily since their first occurrence, with three of the original six visionaries claiming to have received apparitions every afternoon because not all of the “secrets” intended for them have been revealed.

In April 1991, the bishops of the former Yugoslavia determined that “on the basis of the research that has been done, it is not possible to state that there were apparitions or supernatural revelations.”

On the basis of those findings, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith directed in October 2013 that clerics and the faithful “are not permitted to participate in meetings, conferences or public celebrations during which the credibility of such ‘apparitions’ would be taken for granted.”

However, Benedict XVI established a commission, headed by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, to study the topic in further detail.

In January 2014, the commission completed their study on supposed apparitions’ doctrinal and disciplinary aspects, and was to have submitted its findings to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The congregation has yet to submit its final document to the Pope for a final decision.

Pope Francis told journalists that Cardinal Ruini’s report was “very well done,” and that there are three main takeaways that must be kept in mind when thinking of the report.

First, he stressed the importance of studying the first apparitions of 1981 as their own entity, and attached to this was the second point on the need to be wary of the alleged ongoing appearances, always distinguishing between the two.

Third, he emphasized the need to also look at the pastoral and spiritual dimensions of Medjugorje, because “people go there and convert. People encounter God, change their lives.”

This isn’t a result of “magic,” he said, but is a valid spiritual and pastoral fact that “can’t be ignored.”

On this point, he made reference to the appointment in February of Archbishop Henryk Hoser of Warszawa-Praga as a delegate of the Holy See to look into the pastoral situation at Medjugorje. The Polish archbishop is to “suggest possible pastoral initiatives for the future” after acquiring a deeper knowledge of the local pastoral situation.

Francis said Archbishop Hoser was named for the post because “he has experience” for it, and while he has already spoken on both the fruits and challenges of Medjugorje, will provide his full insights in due time.

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Pope says he hopes to find common ground with Trump

CNA/EWTN News • May 13, 2017

U.S. President Donald Trump (l) and Pope Francis (r). (Addie Mena/CNA and Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — In a press conference on Saturday, Pope Francis voiced hope that he will find “open doors” in his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump later this month, saying he never judges another person’s views until he hears them for himself.

Pope Francis and President Trump will meet at the Vatican on May 24. The two have been at odds on some issues in recent months.

During the in-flight press conference returning from Fatima to Rome on May 13, a reporter asked Pope Francis his opinion about President Trump’s policies on issues such as immigration and climate change.

The Pope responded, “I never make a judgment of a person without listening to them. I believe that I should not do this. In our talk things will come out, I will say what I think, he will say what he thinks, but I never, ever, wanted to make a judgment without hearing the person.”

Further questioned on what he expects from a meeting with a head of state who hold public opinions very different from his own, the Pope responded, “Always there are doors that are not closed. Look for the doors that are at least a little bit open, enter and talk about common things and go on. Step by step.”

“Respect the other, say what you think, but with respect, walk together,” he added.

“Do you hope to soften his decisions after the meeting?” the reporter asked. “This is a political calculation that I do not permit myself to make,” the Pope replied.

The pontiff also answered a question about the resignation of clerical abuse survivor Marie Collins, who in March stepped down from her post on the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, citing frustrations with “a lack of cooperation” by the Curia as leading factor.

A laywoman from Ireland, Collins had been one of two clerical abuse survivors tapped to join the commission when it was established in March 2014.

Pope Francis said that he had spoken to Collins, and that she had some justification for her frustration.

“Because there are so many late cases, then in this period of lateness, because they accumulate there, you have to make legislation for this. … What should the diocesan bishops do?”

The fact that nearly all dioceses have a protocol to follow for abuse allegations is “a great improvement,” he said. Still, the process is lengthy and can get delayed or even sent back if proper protocol has not been followed.

The addition of more capable people to process accusations is an important step in fixing these delays, the Pope said.

He also pointed to his creation of a new tribunal, led by Archbishop Charles Jude Scicluna of Malta, who has a strong record of fighting clerical sex abuse.

In the interview, Pope Francis also reiterated his openness to a personal prelature for the SSPX and voiced skepticism over the alleged continuing apparitions at Medjugorje, although he clarified that the original apparitions deserve further study.

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Full text of May 13 in-flight interview with Pope Francis

CNA/EWTN News • May 13, 2017

Pope Francis speaks to journalists on the papal plane on his way to Strasbourg, France on Nov. 25, 2014. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Vatican City — The following is an unofficial transcript of the in-flight press conference on the papal plane returning from Fatima to Rome on May 13, 2017.

Greg Burke: Thank you Holiness, they were twenty-four very intense hours, as you said, for the Lord, twenty-four hours for Our Lady. It’s apparent that the Portuguese felt very touched when you said, “We have a Mother,” that they feel this in a special way. One hundred years ago, Our Lady didn’t appear to three important journalists, she appeared to three shepherds, but we’ve seen how they with their simplicity and sanctity were able to make this message reach the entire world. The journalists make the message arrive - it is seen from the number of nations from which they come - and they’re very curious about this trip of yours. If you’d like to say something first, great …

Pope Francis: First of all, good evening. Thanks. And, I’d like to respond to the first of the possible questions, so we can do things a bit more quickly. I’m sorry when we’re at the halfway point and they come to tell me that it’s snack time … let’s do them all together. Thanks.

Greg Burke: Good, let’s begin with the Portuguese group, with Fatima Ferreira of the Portuguese TV Radio

Fatima Campos Ferreira (RTP): I don’t know what I think about sitting in front of the Holy Father. Well, first, many thanks for this trip. Holy Father, you came to Fatima as a pilgrim, to canonize Francisco and Jacinta in the year that the apparitions mark their 100th year. From this historical point of view, what is left now for the Church, for the entire world? Also, Fatima has a message of peace. Holy Father, you are going to receive in the Vatican in the coming days, the 24th of May, the American president Donald Trump. What can the world expect and what does the Holy Father expect from this encounter? Many thanks.

Pope Francis: Thanks. Fatima certainly has a message of peace. It’s brought to humanity by three great communicators that were less than 13 years old, which is interesting. Yes, I came as a pilgrim. The canonization was something that wasn’t planned from the beginning, because the process of the miracles was in progress but the all of a sudden the export reports were all positive, and it was done - that’s how the story was told - for me was a very great joy. What can the world expect? Peace. And what am I talking about from now on with whomever? Peace.

Ferreira: And what remains now of this historic moment for the Church?

Pope Francis: A message of peace. And I’d like to say one thing … before disembarking I received scientists from all religions who were doing studies in the Vatican Observatory at Castel Gandolfo, including agnostics and atheists. And an atheist said to me, “I’m an atheist.” I won’t tell you from what ethnicity or place of origin he was - he spoke in English. And at the end, he asked me, ‘I ask you a favor: tell the Christians that they should love their message of peace more.”

Aura Miguel (Radio Renascença): Your Holiness, in Fatima you presented yourself as the “bishop dressed in white.” Up to now, this expression applied rather to the vision of the third part of the secret, St. John Paul II, the martyrs of the twentieth century. What does it mean now, your identification with this expression?

Pope Francis: The prayer, that, I did not write it … the sanctuary wrote it … but also I have tried because they said this, and there is a connection with the white. The bishop of white, Our Lady of white, the white glow of the innocence of children after Baptism and innocence … there is a connection to the color white in that prayer. I believe - because I did not write it - but I believe that literally they have tried to express with white that desire for innocence, for peace … innocence: to not hurt the other … to not create conflict, the same.

Miguel: Is it a revision of the interpretation …

Pope Francis: No, but that vision … I believe that then Cardinal Ratzinger, at that time prefect of the Doctrine of the Faith, explained everything clearly. Thank you.

Claudio Lavanga (NBC News): Thank you. Holy Father, yesterday you asked the faithful to break down all the walls, yet on May 24 you meet a head of State who is threatening to build walls. It is a bit contradictory to your word, but he also has - it seems - opinions and decisions different from you in other topics, such as the need to act to confront global warming or the welcoming of migrants. … Thus, in light of this meeting: what is your opinion of the politics that President Trump has adopted so far on these topics and what do you expect from a meeting with a Head of State who seems to think and act contrary to you?

Pope Francis: The first question … I can respond to both. … I never make a judgment of a person without listening to them. I believe that I should not do this. In our talk things will come out, I will say what I think, he will say what he thinks, but I never, ever, wanted to make a judgment without hearing the person. The second …

Lavanga: What do you think about the reception of migrants?

Pope Francis: But this you all know well …

Lavanga: The second instead is what you expect from a meeting with a head of state who thinks contradictory to you?

Pope Francis: Always there are doors that are not closed. Look for the doors that are at least a little bit open, enter and talk about common things and go on. Step by step. Peace is handcrafted. It is made every day. Also friendship among people, mutual knowledge, esteem, is handcrafted. It’s made every day. Respect the other, say that which one thinks, but with respect, but walk together … someone thinks of one way or the other, but say that. … . Be very sincere with what everyone thinks, no?

Lavanga: Do you hope to soften his decisions after the meeting?

Pope Francis: This is a political calculation that I do not permit myself to make.

Greg Burke: Thank you Holiness, now there is a change of places, Elisabetta Piqué is coming.

Elisabetta Piqué (La Nacion): Thanks first of all for this brief and very intense trip. We wanted to ask you, today is the centenary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, but is is also the important anniversary of a fact of your life that took place 25 years ago, when the Nuncio (Archbishop) Calabresi told you that you would become the Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires, something that meant the end of your exile in Cordoba and a great change in your life. Have you every connected this fact that changed your life with Our Lady of Fatima? And in these days that you’ve prayed before her have you thought about this and what did you think about? Can you tell us about that? Thanks.

Pope Francis: Women know everything, eh! No, I didn’t think about the coincidence, only yesterday while I was praying before Our Lady I realized that one May 13th I received the phone call from the nuncio 25 years ago. I don’t know … I said, well look at that. I spoke with Our Lady a little about this. I asked her forgiveness for all of my mistakes, also of a bit of bad taste for choosing people … but yesterday I realized this.

Greg Burke: Nicolas Seneze of La Croix is coming.

Nicolas Seneze (La Croix): Thanks, Holy Father. We’re returning from Fatima for which the Fraternity of St. Pius X has a great devotion and much is said about an agreement that would give an official statute to the Fraternity in the Church. Some even imagined that there would be an announcement today … Holiness, do you think that this agreement is possible in a short timeframe? And, what are the obstacles still? And what is the sense of this reconciliation for you? And, will it be the triumphant return for faithful who have shown what it means to be truly Catholic or what?

Pope Francis: I would toss out any form of triumphalism. None. Some days ago, the Feria Quarta of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, their meeting - they call it the Feria Quarta, because it’s the fourth Wednesday - studied a document and the document still hasn’t reached me, the study of the document. This is the first. Secondly, the current relations are fraternal. Last year, I gave a license for confession to all of them, also a form of jurisdiction for marriages, but even before the problems, the cases they had, for example, had to be resolved by the Doctrine of the Faith. The Doctrine of the Faith carries them forward. For example, abuses. The cases of abuse, they brought them to us, also to the Penitentiary. Also the reduction to the lay state of a priest, they bring to us. The relations are fraternal. With Msgr. Fellay I have a good rapport. I’ve spoken many times … I don’t like to hurry things. Walk. Walk. Walk. And then we’ll see. For me, it’s not an issue of winners and losers, it’s an issue of brothers who must walk together, looking for a formula to make steps forward.

Tassilo Forcheimer (ARD): Holy Father, on the occasion of the anniversary of the Reformation, Evangelical Christians and Catholics are able to walk another stretch of road together. Will there be the possibility to participate in the same Eucharistic Mass? Some months ago, Cardinal Kasper said: A step forward could take place already this year.

Pope Francis: There have been great steps forward, eh … we think of the first statement on justification, from that moment the journey has not stopped … the trip to Sweden was very significant because it was just the beginning and also a commemoration with Sweden … also there is significance for the ecumenism of the journey … that is, to walk together, with prayer, with martyrdom, with works of charity, with works of mercy. And there, Lutheran Caritas and Catholic Caritas have made an agreement to work together. This is a great step. But steps are always awaited. You know that God is the God of surprises. But we must never stop. Always go on. To pray together, to give testimony together and to do works of mercy together, that announce the charity of Jesus Christ, to announce that Jesus Christ is Lord, is the only Savior, and that grace only comes from Him. And on this path the theologians they will continue to study, but the path must proceed. And (with) hearts opened to surprises.

Mimmo Muolo (Avvenire): Good evening Holiness. I’m asking you a question in the name of the Italian group. Yesterday and today at Fatima, we saw a great witness of popular faith together with you. The same that is found, for example, also in other Marian shrines like Medjugorje. What do you think of those apparitions, if they were apparition, and of the religious fervor they have aroused seeing that you have decided to appoint a bishop delegate for the pastoral aspects? And if I can permit myself a second question I know is very close to your heart besides that of us Italians … I would like to know, the NGOs were accused of collusion with the boat traffickers of men. What do you think of this? Thanks.

Pope Francis: I’ll start with the first. I read in the papers that I peruse in the morning that there was this problem, but I still don’t know how the details are and because of this I can’t give an opinion. I know there is an issue and the investigations are moving ahead. I hope that they continue ahead and that the whole truth comes out. Medjugorje, all the apparitions, or the presumed apparitions, belong to the private sphere, they aren’t part of the public, ordinary magisterium of the Church. Medjugorje. Medjugorje. A commission was formed, headed by Cardinal Ruini. Benedict XVI made it. I, at the end of 2013 the beginning of 2014, I received the result from Cardinal Ruini. It was commission good theologians, bishops, cardinals, but good. Very good. And the commission. The Ruini report was very, very good. Then there were some doubts in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the Congregation judged it opportune to send each one of the members of this Feria quarta (Editor’s note: “Feria Quarta” is a once-a-month meeting in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith during which current cases are examined) all the documentation, even those that seemed to be against the Ruini report. I received a notification - I remember it was a Saturday evening, late evening … and it didn’t seem right. It was like putting up for auction - excuse me the word - the Ruini report which was very well done. And Sunday morning the prefect received a letter from me that said that instead of sending them to the Feria Quarta, they they would send the opinions to me personally.

These opinions were studied and all of them underscore the density of the Ruini report. Principally, three things must be distinguished: the first apparitions, that they were kids. The report more or less says that it must continue being studied. The apparitions, the presumed current apparitions: the report has its doubts. I personally am more nasty, I prefer the Madonna as Mother, our Mother, and not a woman who’s the head of a telegraphic office, who everyday sends a message at such hour. This is not the Mother of Jesus. And these presumed apparitions don’t have a lot of value. This I say as a personal opinion. But, it’s clear. Who thinks that the Madonna says, ‘come tomorrow at this time, and at such time I will say a message to that seer?’ No. The two apparitions are distinguished. The third, the core of the Ruini report, the spiritual fact, the pastoral fact. People go there and convert. People who encounter God, change their lives … but this … there is no magic wand there. And this spiritual and pastoral fact can’t be ignored. Now, to see things with all this information, with the answers that the theologians sent me, this good, good bishop was appointed because he has experience, to see the pastoral part, how it’s going. And at the end he’ll say some words.

Muolo: Holiness, thank you, also for the blessing of my fellow citizens who thank you, they saw it and are very happy …

Greg Burke: Holiness, now if I can be the nasty one, we have done all of the language groups and …

Pope Francis: Time is up already?

Greg Burke: There’s a question, they tell me.

Pope Francis: One or two more.

Joshua McElwee (National Catholic Reporter): Thank you, Holy Father. The last member of the Commission for the Protection of Minors, who was abused by a priest, resigned in March. She, Ms. Marie Collins, said that she had to resign because the officials in the Vatican did not implement the recommendations of the commission that you, the Holy Father, approved. I have two questions: who is responsible, and what are you doing, Holy Father, to ensure that the priests and bishops in the Vatican implement the recommendations suggested by your commission?

Pope Francis: Marie Collins explained the matter to me well, I spoke with her, she is a good woman, but she continues to work in the formation of priests on this point. … She is a good woman who wants to work … but she made this accusation, and she has a bit of reason … why? Because there are so many late cases, then in this period of lateness, because they accumulate there, you have to make legislation for this. … What should the diocesan bishops do? Today in almost all the dioceses there is the protocol to follow in these cases: it is a great improvement. This way the dossiers are done well. Then there are the accusations … this is a step. Another step: there are few people, there needs to be more people capable in this area, and the Secretary of State is looking for, even Monsignor Mueller (Editor’s Note: Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith), to present new people. The other day two or three more were approved … the director of the disciplinary office changed, who was good, eh, he was very good but he was a bit tired … he returned to his home country to do the same with his episcopate. And the new one is an Irishman, Msgr. (John) Kennedy, he is a very good person, very efficient, prompt, and this helps a lot.

Then there is another thing: Sometimes the bishops send - if the protocol is okay, it goes right away to the Feria Quarta and the Feria Quarta studies and decides. If the protocol is not okay, it must go back to be redone. That’s why you think of continental help or in a continent or two … in Latin America, one in Colombia, another in Brazil, as pre-tribunals or continental tribunals … this is in the planning … but then it’s fine, they study it at feria quarta and they take away his clerical status. This goes back to the diocese, and the priest makes recourse. First, the application was studied by the same Feria Quarta that had given the sentence, and this is unfair. I created another tribunal and I put an indisputable person as the head, the Archbishop of Malta, Msgr. (Charles Jude) Scicluna, who is one of the strongest against abuses, and this second - because we must be just - the one who makes recourse is entitled to have a defender. If he (the defender) approves the first sentence, the case is over. His only option is a letter asking the Pope for pardon. I have never signed a pardon. I believe, I do not know, another question. This is how things are. We’re going forward. If Marie Collins was right on that point, we were also on the way. But there are 2000 cases piled up.

Greg Burke: Your Holiness, now we have to go …

Pope Francis: But who was that, who was waiting?

Greg Burke: A Portuguese journalist …

Joana Haderer, Agência Lusa: I’m going to ask a question about the case Portugal, but I think that it can be applied to many of the Western societies. In Portugal, almost all of the Portuguese say they identify themselves as Catholics. But the way the society is organized, the decisions that we make, often are contrary to the indications of the Church. I refer to marriage between homosexuals, the legalization of abortion, now we’re going to begin discussing euthanasia. How do you see this?

Pope Francis: I think it’s a political problem. And that also the Catholic conscience isn’t a catholic one of total belonging to the Church and that behind that there isn’t a nuanced catechesis, a human catechesis. That is, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is an example of what is a serious and nuanced thing. I think that there is a lack of formation and also of culture. Because it’s curious, in some other regions, I think of the south of Italy, some in Latin America, they are very Catholic but they are anti-clerical and ‘priest-eaters,’ that … there is a phenomenon that exists.

Haderer: Does this worry you?

Pope Francis: It concerns me. That’s why I tell priests, you will have read it, to flee from clericalism because clericalism distances people. May they flee from clericalism and I add: it’s a plague in the Church. But here there is a work also of catechesis, of raising awareness, of dialogue, also of human values. Thank you. Thank you very much for your work and for the acuity of your questions. Thank you.

Greg Burke: Thank you, Your Holiness.

Pope Francis: And pray for me, do not forget.

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The Pope’s words at the Regina Coeli prayer

The Holy See Press Office • May 14, 2017

Vatican City — At midday today, Fifth Sunday of Easter, the Holy Father Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to pray the Regina Coeli with the faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

The following is the Pope’s introduction to the Marian prayer:

Before the Regina Coeli

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Yesterday evening I returned from my pilgrimage to Fátima – let us greet Our Lady of Fátima! – and our Marian prayer today assumes a particular meaning, full of memories and prophecy for those who look at history with the eyes of faith. In Fátima I immersed myself in the prayer of the holy faithful People, prayer that has flowed there for a hundred years like a river, to implore Mary’s maternal protection for the whole world. I thank the Lord Who granted me the opportunity to go to the feet of the Virgin Mother as a pilgrim of hope and of peace. And I offer heartfelt thanks to the bishops, the bishop of Leiria-Fátima, the State authorities, the President of the Republic and all those who offered their collaboration.

From the beginning, when in the Chapel of the Apparitions I stayed a long time in silence, accompanied by the prayerful silence of all the pilgrims, a close and contemplative atmosphere was created, in which the various moments of prayer took place. And at the center of it all there was the Risen Lord, present in the midst of His People in the Word and in the Eucharist. Present amid the many sick people, who are protagonists of the liturgical and pastoral life of Fátima, as in every Marian shrine.

In Fátima the Virgin chose the innocent heart and the simplicity of little Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia as the depository of her message. These children received it worthily, so as to be recognized as trustworthy witnesses of the apparitions, and to become models of Christian life. With the canonization of Francisco and Jacinta, I wished to offer to all the Church their example of following Christ and of evangelical witness, and I also wished to propose to the Church to care for children. Their holiness is not a consequence of the apparitions, but of the fidelity and ardor with which they responded to the privilege of being able to see the Virgin Mary. After their encounter with the “beautiful Lady,” as they called her, they frequently prayed the Rosary, made penance and offered sacrifices to obtain an end to war, and for those souls most in need of divine mercy.

And today, too, there is a great need for prayer and penance to implore the grace of conversion, to implore an end to so many wars that are everywhere in the world, and that are increasingly spreading, as well as an end to the absurd conflicts, large and small, that disfigure the face of humanity.

Let us allow ourselves to be guided by the light that comes from Fátima. May the Immaculate Heart of Mary always be our refuge, our consolation and the way that leads us to Christ.

After the Regina Coeli

Dear brothers and sisters,

I entrust to Mary, Queen of Peace, the fate of the peoples afflicted by wars and conflicts, especially in the Middle East. Many innocent people suffer harsh trials – Christians, Muslims and those belonging to minorities, such as the Yazidi, who endure tragic violence and discrimination. My solidarity is accompanied by remembrance in prayer, while I thank those who make efforts to meet their humanitarian needs. I encourage the different communities to follow the path of dialogue and social friendship, to build a future of respect, security and peace, far from any type of war.

Yesterday, in Dublin, the Jesuit priest John Sullivan was proclaimed Blessed. He lived in Ireland between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and devoted his life to teaching and the spiritual formation of the young, and was greatly loved and sought after as a father to the poor and the suffering. Let us thank God for his witness.

I greet you all, faithful of Rome and pilgrims from Italy and various countries. In particular, the faithful of Ivrea, Salerno, Valmontone and Rimini; students from Potenza and di Mozzo, Bergamo. I greet the participants in the “Passeggini vuoti” (“Empty strollers”) initiative and the group of mothers from Bordighera: the future of our societies demands of everyone, especially institutions, concrete attention to life and motherhood. And this appeal is especially meaningful today, as we celebrate Mothers’ Day in many countries. Let us remember all mothers with affection and gratitude, including our mothers in heaven, entrusting them to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. And now I would like to make a suggestion: let us remain a few moments in silence, each one of us praying for his or her mother.

I wish you all a good Sunday. Please, do not forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch, and goodbye.

Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana (vatican.va)

VATICAN NEWS

Annual report shows progress in Vatican financial transparency

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • May 16, 2017

A view of the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica from the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. (Lauren Cater/CNA)

Vatican City — The Vatican’s 2016 AIF financial report shows the trend toward transparency of previous years has continued, with a drop in suspicious activity and a growing number of international collaborators.

In May 16 comments to journalists, Rene Brülhart that so far “there has been a steady process in building a functional system, and hopefully a sustainable system” of financial transparency in the Vatican.

“If you look into the facts, into the figures, that’s what has been achieved in the last years, and 2016 has been a key moment in getting there,” he said.

Brülhart, a Swiss lawyer, is president of the Vatican’s Financial Intelligence Authority (AIF). Established by Benedict XVI in 2010 and strengthened under Francis, the AIF is the Vatican’s watchdog when it comes to financial supervision and preventing and countering money laundering.

The AIF works alongside other financial entities in the Vatican, including the Secretariat for the Economy and the Council for the Economy, both of which were established by Pope Francis as part of his ongoing reform of the Roman Curia.

Brülhart was present alongside AIF director Tommaso Di Ruzza at a May 16 press briefing on the AIF’s fifth annual report, which covered 2016 and summed up their continued efforts to crack down on suspicious financial activity in the Vatican and strengthen international ties.

In 2016, the only entity supervised by the AIF was the Institute of Religious Works (IOR), more colloquially referred to as “the Vatican bank.”

In a press release on the report, Brülhart said “a significant fostering of international cooperation of the Vatican competent authority with its foreign counterparts to fight illicit financial activities, a consolidation of the reporting system as well as a further strengthening of the regulatory framework” were key achievements in 2016.

In comments to journalists, he noted that, in continuity with previous years, there had been a “significant increase of international cooperation” in 2016. This is key, he said, given the Holy See’s position as a global institution, which makes bilateral collaboration in the supervisory level “very important.”

According to the 2016 report, the year “was characterized by a continuous increase in supervisory and regulatory activities, especially in the field of prudential supervision.” In this regard, the majority of efforts were spent monitoring relationships among the IOR and foreign financial institutions.

“The unique geographical situation of Vatican City State and the activities carried out by the supervised entity (IOR) implies the necessity to establish relations with foreign financial intermediaries,” the report read.

In 2016, the AIF signed a “Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with the supervisory authorities of Brazil, Italy and Poland. In addition, they also have formal ties with authorities in German, Luxembourg, and the United States.

Through their membership in the Egmont Group, the AIF is also allowed to interact with the financial intelligence units of 152 countries and jurisdictions.

Showing the efficiency of these relationships, AIF in 2016 had 837 international information exchanges, 720 of which were requested by AIF itself, while 116 were requests made by its foreign counterparts – an increase on both fronts from previous years

Part of this increase, according to the AIF report, is due to the increase in foreign counterparts and the AIF’s “preventive and proactive approach” at the international level. On the other hand, it’s also due to the “sophisticated feature of cases under strategic and operational analysis,” which involve various subjects and foreign jurisdictions.

In addition to an increase in international collaboration, 2016 saw a dip in the number of suspicious activity reports (SARs) filed compared to 2015.

For Brülhart, the decrease is “no surprise, but a logical follow-up to the path we have been taking these years.”

However, the report insisted that the number was still higher than in previous years, showing “an ever-increasing and effective implementation of reporting requirements by supervised entities,” Di Ruzza said in the press release.

The report also showed an improvement in the quality of SARs reports, with a positive impact in terms of their dissemination to the Vatican Promoter of Justice, “which are leading to domestic prosecution.”

If a transaction is flagged and found to be problematic, it is sent to the office of the Promoter of Justice, currently Gian Piero Milano. In 2016, 22 reports were sent to the office, 5 of which had action taken against them: 4 of the transactions were suspended, totally over $2 million, while the account was frozen for the remaining 1, worth over $1.5 million.

Asked about the fact that to date there has been no known public prosecution of persons found guilty of wrongdoing in the Vatican, Brülhart said he “cannot speak for the Promoter of Justice,” but, without getting into detail, acknowledged that “there have been relevant developments in recent times.”

He did explain, however, that the delay is likely due to several factors, including the fact that the system they put into place is still new, and lacks sufficient IT resources and qualified people who can develop the cases flagged by AIF before sending them to Milano’s office.

Bureaucracy is also part of the equation, he said, explaining that after receiving a case, Milano must request information from international agencies, which frequently slows down the process.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope urges Macron to strengthen France’s Christian roots

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • May 16, 2017

Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square for a Jubilee of Mercy audience on June 18, 2016. (Alexey Gotovskiy/CNA)

Vatican City — Tuesday Pope Francis sent a telegram to the new President of France, Emmanuel Macron, offering his prayers and wishes that in his new role, he will support the rich moral and spiritual traditions of the country, including that of Christianity.

“I pray that God support you so that your country, faithful to the rich diversity of its moral traditions and its spiritual heritage marked also by the Christian tradition, may always endeavor to build a more just and fraternal society,” Pope Francis said in the May 16 message.

“With respect for difference and attention to those in situations of vulnerability and exclusion, may it contribute to the cooperation and solidarity between nations,” Francis continued.

On the occasion of the investiture of the new president, which took place on May 14, the Pope sent his good wishes for the exercise of the office, that it be “at the service” of all the people of France.

“May France continue to foster, in Europe and throughout the world, the search for peace and the common good, respect for life and the defense of the dignity of every person and of all peoples.

Pope Francis also urged the country of France to continue to nurture an appreciation and defense of the dignity of every person, including “respect for life” and a search for peace and the common good in Europe and around the world.

He concluded his brief telegram by invoking the Lord’s blessing on President Macron and on all the inhabitants of France.

In France’s presidential election on May 7, 39-year-old centrist Macron beat Marine Le Pen, the far right candidate of the National Front party with 66 percent of the vote. He is the youngest president to ever be elected in France.

President Macron took office May 14 and will now have to deal with a slate of difficulties for the country, such as unemployment, terrorist threats and political division.

Having never been elected to any other political office, he ran as the head of a new movement, En March!, instead of an established political party. His politics have been described as liberal and progressive, though he has said he hopes to transcend the divides of the left and right political parties.

He was not the only candidate who appealed to the latent Catholics of France during the election season. François Fillon, former prime minister of France and a practicing Catholic, shocked pundits and political commentators throughout the country when he pulled ahead in the Republican party and beat out the moderate former Prime Minister Alain Juppé (himself a self-described “agnostic Catholic”) by a wide margin.

His Catholicism was such a strong part of his political identity that a headline in the newspaper Libération proclaimed: “Help, Jesus has returned!”

President Macron has said that he supports the French principle of secularism (laïcité). He has also said that “we have a duty to let everybody practice their religion with dignity,” though he believes that “when one enters the public realm, the laws of the Republic must prevail over religious law.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Be champions of virtue, Pope Francis tells Coppa Italia finalists

CNA/EWTN News • May 16, 2017

Pope Francis is presented with an S.S. Lazio jersey at his meeting with the Coppa Italia finalists at the Vatican on May 16, 2017. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — Two opposing Italian football teams came together on Tuesday to meet in a private audience with Pope Francis, where he encouraged the Coppa Italia finalists to be upstanding role models of virtue, especially to the youth.

“I would like to reflect, briefly, on the importance of sport and consider the fascination it exerts and the impact of professional football on people, especially young people, towards whom you have a responsibility,” Pope Francis told the Italian football teams May 16. The staff, coaches, and players of both teams were present during the papal audience.

“Those who are considered ‘champions’ easily become role models. Therefore, every match is a test of balance, of self-mastery, of respect for the rules.”

“He, who through his behavior, puts all of this into practice, provides a good example for his followers, and this is what I wish for each of you: to be witnesses of loyalty, honesty, harmony and humanity,” the Holy Father continued.

The two Serie A teams, Juventus (from Turin) and Lazio (from Rome), are the finalists in the upcoming Coppa Italia tournament which will take place Wednesday at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Juventus is the defending champion of the tournament, and has won the title 11 times, to Lazio’s six.

During their meeting, Pope Francis lamented the occasions of violence that sometimes occur during the football games, saying, “sadly, there are episodes of violence which affect the serenity of matches and the healthy enjoyment for the fans.”

However, the Holy Father encouraged the players to remain good sports and be “promoters of harmony,” even when tensions rise during the game.

The two teams presented Pope Francis with honorary football jerseys during their audience, along with a replica of the tournament’s trophy, the Coppa Italia. The Holy Father also wished both sides a good game.

“I thank you for your visit with all of my heart,” Pope Francis stated, “and I hope you play out a great match.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis: True peace comes through the Cross

CNA/EWTN News • May 16, 2017

Pope Francis and the Cross at the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion at St. Peter’s Basilica on April 3, 2015. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — Only God can give true peace amid tribulations, Pope Francis said in his May 16 homily at his Casa Santa Marta residence in the Vatican.

“A peace without a cross is not the peace of Jesus,” the Pope said. “The world teaches us the way to anesthetized peace: it anesthetizes us from seeing another reality of life: the Cross.”

“This is why Paul says that one must enter into the Kingdom of Heaven on the road with many tribulations,” he added. “The peace that the world offers us is a peace without tribulations.”

The world offers an artificial peace that is reduced to mere tranquility, he said. This kind of peace is “only concerned about one’s affairs and one’s security” – but it is ultimately ineffective, because “tribulations are there, whether pain, illness or death.”

“But the peace that Jesus gives is a gift: it is a gift of the Holy Spirit; and this peace lasts through tribulations and beyond.”

According to Vatican Radio, Pope Francis in his homily focused on Jesus’ words at the Last Supper, as recounted in the Gospel of John: “I leave you peace, my peace I give you.”

The Pope said it is not possible to obtain peace amid tribulation though human effort.

Instead, God’s peace is “a gift that keeps us going.”

“God’s peace is real peace, that enters the reality of life, that does not deny life; that is life. There is suffering, there are the sick people, there are many bad things, there are wars … but that peace within, which is a gift, is not lost, but goes ahead bearing the Cross and suffering,” he continued. “Peace without the Cross is not the peace of Jesus: it is a peace that can be bought. But it does not last; it comes to an end.”

Pope Francis said that when he gets angry, he loses peace. When his heart is troubled, “it is because I am not open to the peace of Jesus,” because he is unable to “bear life as it comes, with its crosses and sorrows that accompany it.”

Concluding his homily, the pontiff cited St. Augustine’s words: “The life of the Christian is a journey between the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God.”

The Pope prayed: “May the Lord make us understand well what this peace is which He gives us with the Holy Spirit.”

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General Audience: Mary Magdalen, Apostle of hope

The Holy See Press Office • May 17, 2017

Vatican City — This morning’s General Audience took place at 9:25 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square, where the Holy Father Francis met with groups of pilgrims and faithful from Italy and all over the world.

In his address in Italian the Pope focused on the theme “Mary Magdalen, Apostle of hope” (cf. Jn 20:15-18).

After summarizing his catechesis in several languages, the Holy Father addressed special greetings to the groups of faithful present.

The General Audience concluded with the recital of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing.

Catechesis of the Holy Father

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

In these weeks our reflection moves, so to speak, in the orbit of the Paschal Mystery. Today we encounter she who, according to the Gospels, first saw Jesus risen: Mary Magdalen. She had just come to the end of her Sabbath rest. On the day of the passion there had been no time to perform the funerary rites; therefore, in that dawn full of sadness, the women go to the tomb of Jesus with perfumed oils. The first to arrive is she: Mary of Magdala, one of the disciples who had accompanied Jesus from Galilee, serving the nascent Church. Her journey to the tomb reflects the loyalty of so many women who have devoted themselves for years on the paths of cemeteries, in memory of someone who is no more. The most authentic ties are not even broken by death: there are those who continue to love, even if the loved one has gone forever.

The Gospel (cf. Jn 20:1-2-11-18) describes the Magdalen by immediately showing that she was not an easily enthused woman. Indeed, after her first visit to the tomb, she returns disappointed to the place where the disciples were in hiding, informing them that the stone had been moved from the entrance to the tomb, and her first hypothesis was the simplest that could have been formulated: someone must have taken away Jesus’ body. Therefore, the first announcement that Mary brings is not that of the Resurrection, but rather of a theft perpetrated by persons unknown, while all Jerusalem was sleeping.

Then the Gospels recount the Magdalen’s second journey to Jesus’ tomb. She was headstrong! She went, then she returned … because she was not convinced! This time, her steps are slow and heavy. Mary suffers twofold: firstly for the death of Jesus, and then for the inexplicable disappearance of His body.

It is while she is bowed near the tomb, her eyes full of tears, that God surprises her in the most unexpected way. The evangelist John stresses the persistence of her blindness: she is not aware of the presence of two angels who question her, and does not even suspect when she sees the man behind her, thinking he is the custodian of the garden. And instead, she discovers the most disconcerting event of human history, when finally she is called by name: “Mary!” (v. 16).

How beautiful it is to think that the first apparition of the Risen Christ – according to the Gospels – happened in such a personal way! That there is someone who knows us, who sees our suffering and disillusionment, is moved for us, and calls us by name. It is a law we find inscribed in many pages of the Gospel. Around Jesus there are many people who seek God; but the most prodigious reality is that, long beforehand, there is first God Who is concerned about out life, who wants to lift it up, and to do this He calls us by name, recognizing the personal face of each person. Every man is a love story that God writes on this earth. Each one of us is a story of love with God. God calls each one of us by name: He knows us by name, He looks at us, He awaits us, He forgives us, He is patient with us. Is this true, or is it not? Each one of us has this experience.

And Jesus calls to her: “Mary!” – the revolution of her life, the revolution destined to transform the existence of every man and woman, beginning with a name that echoes in the garden of the empty tomb. The Gospels describe Mary’s joy: the resurrection of Jesus is not a joy measured drop by drop, but rather it is a wave that overwhelms everything. Try to think, you too, in this moment, with the baggage of disappointment and defeat that each one of us carries in our heart, that there is a God close to us Who calls us by name and says to us: “Rise up again, stop crying, because I have come to free you!” This is beautiful.

Jesus is not one who adapts to the world, tolerating that in which there persist death, sadness, hatred, and the moral destruction of people. … Our God is not inert, but our God – if I may permit myself to use the word – is a dreamer: He dreams of the transformation of the world, and achieved this in the mystery of the Resurrection.

Mary wishes to embrace her Lord, but He is now destined for the heavenly Father, while she is sent to take the news to her brothers. And so that woman, who before encountering Jesus was at the mercy of the evil one (cf. Lk 8:2), has now become the apostle of the new and greatest hope. May her intercession help us too to live this experience: at the time of sorrow, and at the hour of desperation, to listen to the Risen Jesus Who calls us by name, and with a heart full of joy, to go and announce: “I have seen the Lord!” (v. 18). I have changed my life because I have seen the Lord! Now I am different to before, I am another person. I have changed, because I have seen the Lord. This is our strength and this is our hope. Thank you.”

Greetings in various languages: English

I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s audience, particularly the groups from England, Ireland, Swaziland, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Canada and the United States of America. In the joy of the Risen Christ, I invoke upon you and your families the loving mercy of God our Father. May the Lord bless you all!

Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana (vatican.va)

VATICAN NEWS

Pope to ambassadors: Work for peace amid ‘complex’ global conflicts

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • May 18, 2017

Pope Francis speaks to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See on Jan. 11, 2015. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — On Thursday Pope Francis received the credentials of six new ambassadors to the Holy See, telling them to work for the common good and support peace efforts that lessen tensions given the complexity of the global climate.

“The international scene is at present marked by great complexity, nor is it free of dark clouds,” the Pope said May 18. This situation, he added, requires “a greater awareness of the approaches and actions needed to pursue the path of peace and to lessen tensions.”

Francis spoke to ambassadors Ms. Zhanar Aitzhan of Kazakhstan; Ms. Aichetou Mint M’Haiham of Mauritania; Mr. Ramesh Prasad Khanal of Nepal; Mr. Boubacar Boureima of Niger; Mr. Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman of Sudan and Mr. Colin Michael Connelly of Trinidad and Tobago.

He asked them to convey his respect to their respective heads of State, and offered a special greeting to M’Haiham, who is Mauritania’s first ambassador to the Holy See.

In his brief speech, the Pope said there are several factors that aggravate the problems that exist on the global stage, the first of which is “an economic and financial system that, rather than being at the service of people, is set up principally to serve itself and to evade oversight by public authorities.”

These authorities are responsible for the common good, “yet they lack the means necessary to moderate the disproportionate appetites of the few,” he said, noting that there seems to be an increasing impulse toward violence.

In many ways, there is “a greater readiness to have recourse to force,” he said, “not as a last resort but practically as one means among many, ready to be used without a full consideration of its consequences.”

Another factor exacerbating current conflicts is “fundamentalism,” the Pope said, pointing specifically to “the abuse of religion to justify a thirst for power” and the “manipulation of God’s holy name to advance by any means possible one’s own plans to gain power.”

Turning to the task the ambassadors themselves will face, Francis said the response to these “distortions” and the risks they pose to promoting peace must be the creation of “a responsible economic and financial system” that is responsive to the needs of both individuals and their communities.

“Men and women, not money, must once more become the goal of the economy!” he said, urging the diplomats to face differences with “the courageous patience of dialogue and diplomacy, with initiatives of encounter and peace, and not with shows of force and its hasty and ill-advised use.”

Likewise, Pope Francis also stressed the importance of isolating those “who seek to turn a religious affiliation or identity into a motive of hate for all others.”

“Those who befoul the image of God in this way need to be confronted by a concerted commitment to demonstrating that those who honor God’s name save lives, not take them,” he said.

If we move more decisively in the direction of peace, mercy and compassion rather than division, war and indifference, then “the cause of peace and justice – the conditions of a balanced development for all – will make tangible progress,” he said.

Francis then offered his personal greetings to the Catholic population in each of the six countries represented by the ambassadors, and assured the diplomats of the constant support of the Roman Curia in fulfilling their duties.

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VATICAN NEWS

Audience dedicated to sufferers of Huntington’s Chorea

The Holy See Press Office • May 18, 2017

Vatican City — At 11:30 this morning, in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father Francis received in audience people affected by Huntington’s chorea, accompanied by family members.

The encounter, dedicated to Huntington’s disease, in solidarity with South America where it is more widespread, took as its theme: Hidden No More (Oculta Nunca Más, Mai Più Nascosta).

The following is the full text of the Pope’s address to those present.

Address of the Holy Father

Dear brothers and sisters,

I welcome you with joy, and I greet each one of you present at this opportunity for meeting and reflection dedicated to Huntington’s Disease. I wholeheartedly thank all those who worked to make this day possible. I am grateful to Dr. Cattaneo and to Mr. Sabine for their introductory words. I would like to extend my greeting to all people who, in their body and in their life, carry signs of this disease, as well as those who suffer from other so-called rare diseases.

I know that some of you have had to brave a very long and difficult journey in order to be here today. I thank you and I am happy you are here. I have listened to your accounts and the difficulties you must face each day; I understand how much tenacity and dedication your families, doctors, health care workers and volunteers have as they support you in a journey that poses many uphill climbs, some of which are extremely difficult.

For far too long. the fears and difficulties that characterize the life of people affected by Huntington’s Disease have surrounded them with misunderstandings and barriers, veritably excluding them. In many cases the sick and their families have experienced the tragedy of shame, isolation and abandonment. Today, however, we are here because we want to say to ourselves and all the world: “HIDDEN NO MORE!,” “OCULTA NUNCA MAS!,” “MAI PIU’ NASCOSTA!.” It is not simply a slogan, so much as a commitment that we all must foster. The strength and conviction with which we pronounce these words derive precisely from what Jesus himself taught us. Throughout his ministry, he met many sick people; he took on their suffering; he tore down the walls of stigma and of marginalization that prevented so many of them from feeling respected and loved. For Jesus, disease is never an obstacle to encountering people, but rather, the contrary. He taught us that the human person is always precious, always endowed with a dignity that nothing and no one can erase, not even disease. Fragility is not an ill. And disease, which is an expression of fragility, cannot and must not make us forget that in the eyes of God our value is always priceless.

Disease can also be an opportunity for encounter, for sharing, for solidarity. The sick people who encountered Jesus were restored above all by this awareness. They felt they were listened to, respected, loved. May none of you ever feel you are alone; may none of you feel you are a burden; may no one feel the need to run away. You are precious in the eyes of God; you are precious in the eyes of the Church!

I now turn to the families. Those who experience Huntington’s Disease know that no one can really overcome loneliness and despair if they do not have people at their side who, with self-sacrifice and steadfastness, make themselves ‘travel companions.’ You are all this: fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, children, brothers and sisters who, on a daily basis, silently but effectively, accompany your family members on this difficult path. For you, too, at times, the path is an uphill climb. For this reason, I encourage you, too, not to feel you are alone; not to give in to the temptation of the sense of shame or guilt. The family is the privileged place of life and of dignity, and you can cooperate to build that network of solidarity and of help that the family alone can guarantee, and which the family is first called to live.

I speak to you, physicians, health care workers, volunteers of the associations that are involved with Huntington’s Disease and with those who suffer from it. Among you there are also workers from the Ospedale Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, who, both with assistance and with research, express the contribution of a work of the Holy See in this most important field. The service that you all provide is valuable, because it is surely your dedication and your initiative that give tangible shape to the hope and motivation of the families who trust in you. The disease poses many challenges related to diagnostics, therapy and assistance. May the Lord bless your work: may you be a point of reference for patients and their families who, in various circumstances, find themselves having to face the already difficult trials that the disease entails, in a social-health care context which often is not oriented to the dignity of the human person. In this way, however, difficulties multiply. Often adding to the disease are poverty, forced separations and a general sense of dismay and mistrust. For this reason, national and international associations and institutions are vital. You are like hands that God uses to sow hope. You are the voices that these people have so as to claim their rights!

Lastly, geneticists and scientists are present here, who, for some time, sparing no energy, have dedicated themselves to studying and researching a treatment for Huntington’s Disease. Clearly, there is a great deal of expectation surrounding your work: resting on your efforts are the hopes of finding the way to a definitive cure for the disease, but also of improving the living conditions of these brothers and sisters, and of accompaniment, especially in the delicate phases of diagnosis, at the onset of the first symptoms.

May the Lord bless your task! I encourage you to always pursue it with means that do not contribute to fueling that “throw-away culture” that at times infiltrates even the world of scientific research. Some branches of research, in fact, utilize human embryos, inevitably causing their destruction. But we know that no ends, even noble in themselves, such as a predicted utility for science, for other human beings or for society, can justify the destruction of human embryos.

Brothers and sisters, as you see, you are a large and motivated community. May the life of each of you — both of those who are directly affected by Huntington’s Disease and those who work hard every day to support the sick in their pain and difficulty — be a living witness to the hope that Christ has given us. Even through suffering there passes a path of abundant good, which we can travel together.

I thank all of you! Please, do not forget to pray for me, as I will pray for you.

Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana (vatican.va)

WORLD NEWS

Our Lady of Fatima is coming to the United Nations

by Maggie Maslak (CNA/EWTN News) • May 1, 2017

Our Lady of Fatima. (Ricardo Perna via Shutterstock)

New York City, N.Y. — One day before the May 13 celebration marking the 100th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions, a statue of Our Lady of Fatima will be visiting the United Nations.

May 12 will mark the second time this particular statue has been to the United Nations, the first being in 1952.

Among the presenters at the May 12 United Nations event is Johnnette Benkovic, founder and president of EWTN’s Women of Grace.

“As she [Our Lady] came to the world through her apparitions to the shepherd children, the 100th anniversary of which will be celebrated the following day, she ‘comes again’ to remind the people of the world that the message is the same – that peace and hope and solidarity are possible through Heaven’s plan,” Benkovic told CNA.

On May 13, 1917, three shepherd children named Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco saw a vision of Our Lady of Fatima who was dressed in white and holding a rosary. These apparitions lasted through October of the same year, and brought messages of prayer, repentance, and reparation.

The apparitions were declared of “supernatural character” by the Catholic Church in 1930, and a shrine was erected near the original apparition site in Fatima. Since then, thousands of pilgrims have made their prayerful journeys to Fatima, including three popes: Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI.

During Pope Francis’ upcoming anniversary pilgrimage to Fatima, he will canonize two of the Fatima visionaries, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, on May 13.

The May 12 United Nations event is titled, “The Centenary of Fatima and the Enduring Relevance of Its Message of Peace,” and will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Speakers at the event will include Ambassador Alvaro Mendonca e Moura, permanent representative of Portugal to the UN, and Archbishop Bernardito Auza, apostolic nuncio and permanent observer of the Holy See to the UN.

“The event will be focused in a very special way on the enduring relevance of Fatima’s message of peace,” stated Fr. Roger Landry, a priest serving for the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission at the UN, according to a press release.

Benkovic highlighted the significance of the statue traveling to the UN. “Its purpose is to promote a message of peacemaking and peace building in light of Our Lady of Fatima and her messages to the children in 1917,” she said.

“We are in tenuous times and the Blessed Mother’s message to the world through the Fatima shepherd children is more relevant and important than ever. I am both honored and abundantly humbled to participate in this unprecedented moment at the UN.”

Benkovic will be presenting at the UN on the topic of “Mary, the Dignity of Woman and Women’s Role in the Promotion of a Culture of Dialogue, Mediation, Peacemaking, and Peace Building.”

As a presenter, Benkovic noted the cultural and unitive significance of Our Lady of Fatima, particularly among three major religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, saying that Our Lady of Fatima “is a Jewish woman, acclaimed and revered by Christians, and acknowledged and respected by Muslims.”

As Our Lady of Fatima is in the spotlight during May 12-13 around the world, Benkovic is hopeful that her messages of peace and repentance will touch individuals around the world in an unprecedented way.

“My prayer is that the hearts of the attendees and those who will watch via social media will be receptive to the message and the name United Nations will attain its full significance in accordance with the will of God through the maternal beatitude of Our Lady of Fatima,” she said.

Benkovic also hopes that the Fatima event at the UN will cultivate peace and an attitude of love across all cultures around the world, inspiring individuals to utilize their time and talents for the good of mankind.

“I believe it is God’s will that every nation in the world, in a way unique to its people and culture, would seek to establish a civilization of love by infusing family life, communities, institutions, organizations and governmental agencies with moral truth according to the commandments of God and the teachings of the Church,” she said.

“If this even, through the grace of God, helps us to focus our energies and hopes and gifts and talents, individually as well as collectively, in this direction, much good will be accomplished.”

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WORLD NEWS

Pilgrimages to Fatima are on the uptick

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • May 6, 2017

The Sanctuary of Fatima. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Fatima, Portugal — Over the past 10 years the Fatima shrine has seen an uptick in the number of pilgrims who visit from all over the world, particularly from Asia.

The increase is credited to the relevance of Our Lady’s message as the centenary of her apparitions approaches.

“The last few years the number of pilgrims has increased,” Dr. Pedro Valinho Gomes, director of pilgrim services at the Fatima shrine, told CNA in an interview.

While there has been an additional spike in the past 3-4 years as preparations have been underway for the celebration of the centenary of the Fatima apparitions, the number of visitors to the shrine was already steadily increasing for some time, he said.

Valinho said they have hosted “some 5-6 million pilgrims” a year – an estimate that comes from the number of people who participate in the different activities the shrine offers, although there are many who pass through without registering or attending any formal celebrations.

Although the reasons for the increase are many, he said it can be seen as a response to not only the centenary anniversary, but also the relevance of Our Lady’s message in light of the various crises the world is facing.

While the majority of pilgrims come from Portugal and neighboring Spain, Valinho said a large number come from Europe, particularly Poland and Italy.

“We believe there is a strong connection with Poland to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima through the presence of John Paul II,” he said, while adding that a large number also come from the Americas, especially the United States and Brazil.

However, he noted the number of groups and pilgrims from Asia has been climbing noticeably amid the general increase in pilgrimages, “which is something rather new that has started in the past 10 years.”

“They have really increased the number to the point of being in our top ten groups,” he said, explaining that the number of pilgrims from South Korea is among the highest, with at least one group coming on almost a weekly basis.

One group of South Korean pilgrims, after visiting the Fatima shrine, decided to build their own shine to Our Lady of Fatima along the border with North Korea in a bid to end the division between the two countries.

The gesture is particularly meaningful given the warning Our Lady gave in one of her “secrets” about the loss of faith and the resulting rise of Soviet Communism, as well as the fact that the Fatima shrine is home to a piece of the Berlin Wall.

But in addition to South Korea, pilgrims from the Philippines and India have also increased, and there are even groups coming from China, Valinho said, noting that these are “different destinations that were not so usual 10 years ago, (but) have started to be a significant presence in Fatima.”

“We have the whole world present here.”

Pope Francis has himself paid special attention to Asia, particularly in regard to the rapid growth of Christianity on the continent.

Although his wish be a missionary in Japan as a young Jesuit was never fulfilled, Francis visited Asia twice in less than two years after his election, traveling to South Korea in August 2014, and to Sri Lanka and the Philippines in January 2015.

In terms of numbers for the Pope’s May 12-13 visit to Fatima, Valinho said they haven’t made any official predictions, though other sources at the shrine have said they expect some 800,000 pilgrims for the Pope’s Mass and vigil the night before.

Many groups have already signed up, he said, adding that “we have felt from the first months of 2017 an exponential increment of groups registered in the Shrine in January, February and continuing, so we do expect that May will be a wonderful day with many pilgrims in Fatima.”

While in Fatima, Pope Francis will preside over the official celebrations for the centenary of the Fatima apparitions, and will canonize visionaries Francisco and Jacinta Marto.

Francisco, 11, and Jacinta, 10, became the youngest non-martyr children in the history of the Church to be beatified, on May 13, 2000, the 83rd anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady at Fatima.

The brother and sister, who tended to their family’s sheep with their cousin Lucia Santo, witnessed the apparitions of Mary now commonly known as Our Lady of Fatima.

During the first apparition, which took place May 13, 1917, Our Lady asked the three children to pray the Rosary and make sacrifices for the conversion of sinners. The children did this and were known to pray often and care for others, giving their lunch to beggars and going without food themselves.

In addition to the regular opportunities available to pilgrims to go to Mass, to pray the rosary and the Liturgy of Hours, and to go to Confession, a special service will be offered to pilgrims who arrive on foot.

The ministry, called the “service of the washing of the feet,” is carried out entirely by volunteers throughout the year.

When the tired and often haggard pilgrims arrive after having walked long distances, they will be welcomed by volunteers who will wash their feet and give them whatever treatment they might need after their journey.

There are many volunteers that have already signed up to “offer some time of their lives to do this service to the pilgrims, the washing of the feet, in the likeness of Jesus who had this gesture in the middle of the Last Supper,” Valinho said.

“So it’s a gesture that actually says a lot about the life of the Shrine and what the Shrine is all about: in the sequence of the message of Fatima, proposing a life that is a life of service to others, a life of selflessness and dedication to the needs of others.”

Each year roughly 3-4,000 pilgrims have their feet washed, he said, explaining that there are typically some 40-50 volunteers who dedicate themselves entirely to this ministry. Combined with those who work in other areas, some 4-5,000 volunteers serve at the shrine in the annually.

In addition to the Pope’s visit and activities surrounding the May 12-13 centenary celebrations, there are several other events scheduled to take place throughout the year, Valinho said.

These activities will include “cultural events, musical theater or dancing; different arts that will express something of the message of Fatima,” he said, noting that “this has already been done and it will still be done.”

As a wrap-up of the centenary celebrations, a large concert with James MacMillan will take place at the shrine in October to mark the final apparition of Our Lady to the shepherd children.

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WORLD NEWS

This is the miracle that led to the Fatima children’s canonization

by Alvaro de Juana (CNA/EWTN News) • May 12, 2017

Statue of the shepherd children of Fatima. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Fatima, Portugal — Tomorrow, on the 100th anniversary of Mary’s first appearance at Fatima, Pope Francis will canonize Jacinta and Francisco Marto, two of the three shepherd children who witnessed the Marian apparitions.

A press conference preceding the Pope’s arrival highlighted the miracle that paved the way for their canonization. The miracle involved a Brazilian boy named Lucas, who was miraculously healed through the intercession of the shepherd children.

Jacinta and Francisco both died before age 10 and will become the youngest non-martyrs to be canonized. Sister Lucia, the third visionary, lived much longer, dying in 2005 at the age of 97. The Church is currently examining documents and collecting testimonies for her beautification cause.

In recounting the story of their son’s healing in the face of almost certain death, João Batista and his wife Lucila Yurie could not hold back tears.

“On March 3, 2013, before 8:00 pm, our son Lucas, who was playing with his little sister Eduarda, fell out of a window from a height of 20 feet. He was five years old,” related the boy’s father.

“His head hit the ground and he sustained a very serious injury, which caused a loss of brain tissue,” Batista said during the press conference at the Fatima Shrine.

Teetering between life and death, “he was given medical care in our city, Juranda, and given the severity of his condition, he was transferred to the hospital in Campo Mourao, Parana.”

“When we got there, Lucas was in a deep coma. His heart stopped twice, and they performed an emergency operation.”

It was at that moment that “we began to pray to Jesus and Our Lady of Fatima, to whom we have a great devotion,” Batista said.

“The next day we called the Carmelite convent of Campo Mouro to ask the sisters to pray for the boy,” he said. But the community was observing a period of silence, and so the message did not get to them.

As the days went by, Lucas became worse, his father recounted. On March 6, the doctors considered transferring him to another hospital, since their facility did not have the necessary care for a boy of his age.

“They told us that the chance of the boy surviving was low, and if he did survive, his recovery would be very slow,” likely dealing with “severe cognitive disabilities or even remaining in a vegetative state.”

On March 7, Batista said, “we called the convent again.” That time, they were able to get their prayer request to the sisters.

“One of them ran to the relics of Blessed Francisco and Jacinta, which were next to the tabernacle, and felt the impulse to pray the following prayer: ‘Shepherds, save this child, who is a child like you’ … she also persuaded the other sisters to pray to the little shepherds to intercede for him.”

“And so they did,” Batista said. “In the same way, all of us, the family, began to pray to the little shepherds, and two days later, on March 9, Lucas woke up and began to speak, even asking for his little sister.” On the 11th, he left the ICU and was discharged from the hospital a few days later.

Since that time, Lucas “has been completely well and has no symptoms or after effects,” the child’s father said. “He has the same intelligence (as he did before the accident), the same character, everything is the same.”

“The doctors, some of them non-believers, said that his recovery had no explanation.”

Batista and his wife are grateful to the doctors who cared for their son, and to the postulator of the canonization cause of the little shepherds, “for all the care given throughout this process.”

But they are especially grateful to God. “We thank God for the cure of Lucas and we know with all the faith we have in our hearts, that this miracle was obtained through the intercession of the little shepherds Francisco and Jacinta.”

“We feel a great joy because this is the miracle that leads to their canonization, but especially we feel the blessing of the friendship of these two children who helped our child and who now help our family,” Batista said.

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WORLD NEWS

Sydney archbishop applauds rejection of abortion bill

CNA/EWTN News • May 13, 2017

(578foot via Shutterstock)

Sydney, Australia — Catholics in the Australian state of New South Wales applauded the rejection of bills in the upper house of the parliament that would have legalized abortion.

Archbishop Anthony Fisher, O.P. of Sydney called the defeat of “extreme” bills legalizing abortion in the state “great news” in a Facebook post on Thursday.

The proposed laws were voted down 25-14 in the New South Wales legislative council on Thursday.

Abortions had been listed as criminal acts, although previous court rulings determined that doctors could perform them in certain cases where the physical or emotional health of women were deemed to be at stake. Currently, there are between 25,000 and 35,000 abortions performed per year in the state, according to the group Right to Life NSW.

The bills, however, would have gone farther than decriminalizing abortion, the Archdiocese of Sydney explained.

They would also have forced objecting doctors to refer a patient seeking an abortion to an abortion provider, and would have prevented sidewalk counselors from coming within 150 meters of an abortion clinic, according to Archbishop Fisher.

That last mandate would have made “prayerful vigils like the popular 40 Days for Life punishable with fines and imprisonment,” he wrote. Archbishop Fisher issued a petition to Catholics to oppose the proposed law.

The bills “limit freedom of speech and freedom of assembly,” the petition said, and lack vital “safeguards” that protect the health of women. They discard “restrictions against unqualified persons performing an abortion including self-administered abortions.”

“Furthermore, (the legislation) fails to include safeguards to ensure women give fully informed consent and overrides any professional or conscientious objection that medical practitioners may have to abortion,” the petition said.

“This Bill disregards the reality that many women have abortions as a result of pressure, coercion, lack of support and/or domestic violence from others, particularly their male partners, and it removes protections for the health of women.”

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WORLD NEWS

North Korean defector: Despite horrific persecution, Christianity is growing

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • May 14, 2017

North Korean flag. (Katherine Welles via Shutterstock)

Washington, D.C. — Although the North Korean government is doing everything it can to suppress Christianity, the faith continues to spread, said a defector and missionary who called for prayers and action to increase religious freedom in the country.

“It is my prayer that all the international Christian communities will pray for those North Korean Christians to really help and engage them to spread the Gospel, not only through the works of the underground Church network, but also through the government and request for this religious freedom that they are earnestly praying for,” Kim Chung-seong, a North Korean defector, told reporters through a translator on Friday.

Kim is a Christian missionary, and spoke at the first annual World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians in Washington, D.C. The summit was held on May 11-12 and featured Christian religious leaders from Protestant denominations, Orthodox churches, and the Roman Catholic Church. Persecuted Christians themselves were also present to give their testimonies.

Overall, Christians from around 130 countries and territories were represented at the summit, as well as representatives of Christian advocacy groups like Open Doors USA and Voice of the Martyrs. The summit was hosted by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Vice President Mike Pence delivered the keynote address on Thursday, and pledged that “protecting and promoting religious freedom is a foreign policy priority of the Trump administration.” He promised his prayers and support for persecuted Christians everywhere, as well as support for members of other faiths persecuted for their beliefs. Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C. gave a keynote address on Friday.

Kim, who also spoke at the summit, is now part of a daily Christian radio program in South Korea, broadcasting Christian material into parts of North Korea. Kim came to South Korea in 2004, according to Reuters.

Along with his radio program, part of the Far East Broadcasting Company, he also helps send Gospel messages, Christian music, and world news smuggled into North Korea through USB drives and SD memory cards, he said.

“However, the most important work is to fill the North Korean peoples’ minds with Jesus Christ, because the truth will set you free,” he said on Friday. “It’s my earnest prayer that the truth will set each of my North Korean brothers and sisters free.”

The Communist dictatorship of North Korea is regarded as among the worst human rights violators in the world. “Freedom of religion or belief does not exist and is, in fact, profoundly suppressed,” the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom stated in its 2017 annual report.

“The North Korean government relentlessly persecutes and punishes religious believers through arrest, torture, imprisonment, and sometimes execution,” USCIRF stated. “Once imprisoned, religious believers typically are sent to political prison camps where they are treated with extraordinary cruelty.”

The group Open Doors UK in a recent report said North Korea is the “worst place on earth for Christians” because the totalitarian state does not tolerate dissenters, forcing everyone to worship the country’s leader, currently Kim Jong-un.

There are an estimated 300,000 Christians amidst a population of 25.4 million there, and an estimated 50-75,000 Christians are in the country’s labor camps, Open Doors claimed.

After Christian missionaries entered the country and began to spread the Gospel, “they were all blacklisted and red-flagged” by the government, Kim Chung-seong said, and “more than half of them are in hard labor prison camps throughout the country.”

Yet despite poor conditions and the threat of imprisonment, the number of Christian believers in North Korea is growing, Kim said, and their faith is strengthened through persecution.

“The one thing that the North Korean regime fears the most, and is afraid of, is the spreading of the Gospel,” he said. “Because the Bible and the Gospel speaks the truth. Once the light shines in the dark room, there is light in the room.”

When Christians gather for prayer or worship, “it’s on a family level” to avoid detection by authorities, Kim said. Christians leave their houses and “we retreat either to the riverside, the mountainside, somewhere remote.”

“We cannot go into any building,” he added.

The government uses a “façade” network – the Korea Christian Association – to discover who Christians are in the country, and many “are taught to believe that this Korean Christian Association is real,” he said. The association also delivers “falsified information” to the international community to pretend like there is religious freedom and religious pluralism in North Korea.

“They [the government] will do anything to prevent the spread of the Gospel in North Korea. [But] as you can see, we cannot block the sunlight with our hand,” Kim said.

He asked for prayers for the Christians in North Korea, especially for “this freedom that we can find in Jesus Christ.”

“And please pray for the two nations to be unified,” he implored.

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WORLD NEWS

Sign of hope in Syria – Aleppo consecrated to Our Lady of Fatima

CNA/EWTN News • May 17, 2017

Our Lady of Fatima statue in Lisbon, Portugal on May 9, 2017. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Aleppo, Syria — Still reeling from the Syrian civil war, the city of Aleppo saw a ray of hope this weekend with a consecration to Our Lady of Fatima on May 13.

The Mass of Consecration took place in Saint Francis of Assisi Roman Rite Cathedral, which is also known as the Latin Church of the Franciscans. It was presided over by the pastor, Fr. Ibrahim Alsabagh, and concelebrated by the bishops and priests of the city.

The consecration of Aleppo took place on the 100th anniversary of the first Marian apparition at Fatima, the same day that Pope Francis celebrated the Mass of canonization of the shepherd children Francisco and Jacinta Marto at the Fatima Shrine in Portugal.

Present at the Mass of Consecration, according to the Facebook page for the Cathedral of Saint Francis of Assisi, was a statue of Our Lady of Fatima that was sent directly from the shrine in Portugal.

After the Eucharist, the statue was carried in procession through the Christian al-Azizieh neighborhood, which has suffered numerous attacks in recent years.

On their Facebook account, SOS Christians in Syria said that the church was full of the faithful and that a number of them were joyful and were moved to tears because for many years, a procession with the statue of Our Lady of Fatima had not been held.

“Let us give thanks to God for this heavenly day that was ours to experience, and let us entrust the Christians of Aleppo to our Blessed Mother. May she, the Queen of Peace, since she gave to the world the Prince of Peace, grant to us the much longed for peace in the Middle East and the entire world,” they said.

The consecration of Aleppo was part of a program of activities organized by the Latin Cathedral of Saint Francis of Assisi on the occasion of the centenary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima.

The cathedral stated on its Facebook page that the celebrations began on May 11 with a community prayer and a procession with the statue of the Virgin sent from Fatima.

“Many of us cried because after six years we’re able to again organize the procession through the streets of Aleppo without the fear of missiles. With emotion we welcome the Virgin of Fatima to Aleppo and with the hope that the Virgin Mary will pray for peace for all of Syria,” they said.

On October 13, 2016, at the close of the last international pilgrimage of the year at the Fatima Shrine, the Bishop of Leiria-Fatima, Antonio Marto, blessed a statue that would be sent to the “martyr diocese” of Aleppo.

Currently living conditions in the city are still very hard because there is a shortage of food, medicine, and other supplies, and because electric and water services have not yet been restored.

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U.S. NEWS

What Cardinal O’Malley thinks we can all learn from Fatima

CNA/EWTN News • May 15, 2017

Archbishop Sean O’Malley at the Tauron Arena in Krakow during World Youth Day 2016. (Jeff Bruno/CNA)

Fatima, Portugal — Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston said that this weekend’s celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima can teach us all about the universal call to holiness and conversion.

“I’ve always had a great devotion to Our Lady of Fatima,” he told CNA, adding that he’s been involved in Portuguese ministry for many years.

“I had a Portuguese parish for 20 years and was bishop of Fall River for 10 years, where half the Catholics are Azorean, and in Boston we have so many Cape Verdians and Brazilians – Portuguese speaking.”

The cardinal was the only U.S. bishop to attend the Feb. 13 festivities surrounding the 100th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions in Portugal.

He said that the shrine at Fatima is among his favorite, and said that “it’s very moving to be here but especially be here with the Holy Father, for the hundredth anniversary and the canonization of Francisco and Jacinta. It’s just an unbelievable occasion.”

Particularly touching for him was the offertory at the canonization Mass, when the gifts were brought up by the family of the young boy whose miraculous healing was attributed to the intercession of two of the Fatima shepherd children, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, paving the way for their canonization.

The young Brazilian boy, named Lucas, was just five years old when he fell out of a window from a height of 20 feet. His head hit the ground, and he sustained serious injuries and a loss of brain tissue.

Doctors told the family that the boy’s chance of surviving was low, and if he did survive, he would have severe cognitive disabilities or even remain in a vegetative state. However, after the family and a nearby religious community prayed to the young shepherd children, Lucas suddenly made a full recovery, with no lasting effects of the injury.

“I had heard the interview on the television, and he was given up for dead and the cure was so obviously miraculous,” Cardinal O’Malley reflected, “and to see that child come up and give the Pope a hug. It was … very moving and it reminded us that the canonization is about the holiness and the goodness of little children.”

Francisco and Jacinta are the youngest non-martyrs to be canonized, a fact which Cardinal O’Malley saw as significant.

“I think the lesson is that children are called to holiness … when they were beatified, Cardinal José Saraiva Martins who was the Prefect of the Congregation of Saints talked about how modern families entrust their children to professional teachers in schools for 15-20 years of formal academic formation but sometimes they’re not really prepared for life.”

“And these children, their parents were probably illiterate peasants but they taught them how to lead a good life, how to have a deep faith in God, how to love, how to serve, how to work,” he continued. “And in such a short life, they achieved great sanctity and holiness and the fact that the Blessed Mother chose them is very significant.”

Cardinal O’Malley said that the canonization is a reminder “a reminder of how precious children are and that they too are called to sanctity and parents have a great responsibility to transmit the faith to their children and prepare them for life – this life and eternal life.”

And beyond parents and children, the message of Fatima is a call to conversion for all people, he said.

“Jesus is calling us to conversion, calling us to discipleship, calling us to follow him to a life of holiness, to mission, to announce the kingdom by our lives,” the cardinal said, adding that “this is the message of Fatima and it’s very, very relevant and very important.”

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U.S. NEWS

Trump administration expands pro-life Mexico City Policy

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • May 15, 2017

Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio on July 18-21, 2016. (Addie Mena/CNA)

Washington, D.C. — The Trump administration on Monday announced that it would begin implementing an expanded Mexico City Policy, which pro-life leaders hailed as a key step to curtailing abortion funding.

The expansion means that more forms of foreign funding will be directed to go to organizations that do not perform or support abortions overseas.

“With the implementation of Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance, we have officially ceased exporting abortion to foreign nations,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, praised the announcement on Monday.

Back in January, President Donald Trump reinstated the “Mexico City Policy” which prohibits U.S. funding of non-government organizations that perform or promote abortions, through family planning funds.

The repeal or reinstatement of that policy is typically one of the first actions a new president takes once in office, and is usually a sign of their support for abortion or for the pro-life cause during their presidential term.

The policy was begun by Ronald Reagan in 1984, repealed by Bill Clinton in 1993, reinstated by George W. Bush in 2001, repealed by Barack Obama in 2009, and again reinstated by President Trump in January, on the same week that Vice President Mike Pence addressed the March for Life in person.

However, Trump also instructed the Secretary of State to expand the Mexico City Policy. Now, Secretary Rex Tillerson has released the plan to put this expansion into action. Entitled “Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance,” the plan extends the ban on funding of abortion supporters to other forms of foreign aid like global health assistance.

In a press release, the State Department explained that this ban on funding of abortion supporters would apply to “international health programs, such as those for HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, malaria, global health security, and family planning and reproductive health.”

All in all, $8.8 billion in foreign aid would be covered under the expanded policy, the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List said.

However, some funding would not be affected by the stipulations, the State Department said.

Funding not affected by the policy change would include “global health assistance to national or local governments, public international organizations, and other similar multilateral entities,” along with “humanitarian assistance, including State Department migration and refugee-assistance activities, USAID disaster and humanitarian-relief activities, and U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) disaster and humanitarian relief.”

The overall amount of foreign aid would not be cut under the policy, the State Department insisted, and “funding previously obligated will not be affected as a result of this policy.”

“The United States remains deeply committed to supporting health programs around the world,” the agency stated.

Pro-life leaders applauded the Trump administration for expanding the Mexico City Policy.

“This humane policy seeks to respect and protect the precious lives of unborn girls and boys from the violence of abortion,” Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) said.

The policy change “simply ensures our hard-earned tax dollars are used by other health care entities that act consistently to save lives, rather than promoting and performing abortion,” Dannenfelser said. “Abortion is not health care.”

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U.S. NEWS

Free speech protects printer from promoting gay pride fest, Kentucky court rules

CNA/EWTN News • May 16, 2017

(Kim Davies via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Lexington, KY — Backers of a print shop owner who declined to print gay pride T-shirts because of his religious beliefs praised a Kentucky court’s decision that his free speech rights protect him from a discrimination complaint.

“Americans should always have the freedom to believe, the freedom to express those beliefs, and the freedom to not express ideas that would violate their conscience,” said Jim Campbell, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom. “Today’s decision is a victory for printers and other creative professionals who serve all people but cannot promote all messages.”

The case concerned Blaine Adamson, owner of Hands On Originals, a small print shop in Lexington, Kentucky.

“I want God to find joy in what we do and how we work, how we treat our employees, and the messages we print,” said Adamson. “So if someone walks in and says, ‘Hey, I want you to help promote something,’ I can’t promote something that I know goes against what pleases Him.”

Adamson has declined to create T-shirts that promote strip clubs, violence, and sexually explicit videos. He has served other clients regardless of sexual orientation.

In 2012 the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization asked him to print shirts for the local gay pride festival. He said he could not support the event and referred the organization to other printers.

The group filed a complaint with the Lexington-Fayette Urban Country Human Rights Commission. The commission ruled that Blaine had violated a local anti-discrimination ordinance and ordered him to attend diversity training.

Blaine’s legal challenge to the commission won a favorable decision in Fayette Circuit Court, a ruling which was upheld by the Kentucky Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision May 12.

“The right of free speech does not guarantee to any person the right to use someone else’s property,” said appellate court’s Chief Judge Joy Kramer, UPI reports.

The judge said the shop offers the service of promoting messages but its decision not to promote certain conduct was “pure speech.”

Judge Jeff Taylor, writing in a dissent, said the ruling would make the anti-discrimination ordinance meaningless.

Other backers of Blaine included the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which filed an amicus brief in the case.

“It doesn’t matter what the speech is – pro-gay, anti-gay, pro-immigration, anti-immigration – the government can’t force you to print it,” Luke Goodrich, deputy general counsel at the Becket Fund, said May 12.

“Free speech is most important on the most divisive issues,” he said. “That is the last place the government should ever be allowed to demand conformity.”

Some anti-discrimination laws have placed heavy fines on some businesses involved in weddings, including florists and cake bakers, if they declined to aid in same-sex ceremonies.

Such laws have also shut down Catholic adoption agencies.

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U.S. NEWS

Who is Callista Gingrich? The woman set to be the new Vatican ambassador

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • May 16, 2017

Callista Gingrich. (Christopher Halloran via Shutterstock)

Washington D.C. — President Donald Trump has chosen Callista Gingrich, wife of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, to be the next U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, according to reports.

Callista Gingrich is the president of both Gingrich Productions in Arlington, Va. and the charitable non-profit Gingrich Foundation, and is a former Congressional aide.

She is also a long-time member of the choir at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

Newt and Callista married in 2000. Newt converted to Catholicism in 2009 and explained, in an interview that year with Deal Hudson at InsideCatholic.com, how Callista’s witness as a Catholic brought him towards the faith.

He noted that he had attended Masses at the National Shrine where Callista sang in the choir, and she “created an environment where I could gradually think and evolve on the issue of faith.”

At the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in 2011, he also cited Pope Benedict XVI’s 2008 visit to the U.S. as a “moment of confirmation” for him. At vespers with the Pope, where Callista sang in the Shrine choir, Newt recalled thinking that “here is where I belong.”

The couple worked on a documentary together that was released in 2010, “Nine Days That Changed the World,” that focused on Pope St. John Paul II’s 1979 pilgrimage to Poland when the former Soviet bloc country was under a communist government.

The documentary explained how the Pope invigorated the faith of the Polish people in Jesus Christ during his pilgrimage there, and how the visit precipitated the fall of Communism.

In an Easter message posted on the website of Gingrich Productions, the couple noted that “we should remember the many threats facing Christians today,” including “a growing secularism, which seeks to place human desires ahead of God and His will,” and “radical Islamism” that “seeks to destroy Christianity across the globe.”

“But in the face of this evil, we remember the words of Saint John Paul II, who throughout his papacy urged us to, ‘Be not afraid,’” the statement continued.

As ambassador, Gingrich would follow Ken Hackett, the former head of Catholic Relief Services who served during President Obama’s second term as president.

In a January interview with CNA, Hackett opined that there would be areas of difference and of collaboration between the U.S. and the Holy See under the Trump administration.

One of the possible areas of tension might be on immigration and refugees, as Trump criticized Pope Francis on the campaign trail in 2016 after the Pope said a Mass at the U.S.-Mexico border and urged everyone to pray for conversion of hearts over the suffering of forced migration.

Trump, who repeatedly promised to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and make the Mexican government pay for it, said last February that the Pope was a “pawn” of the Mexican government and “is a very political person, I think he doesn’t understand the problems our country has.”

He also issued an executive order shutting down refugee admissions for four months at a time when Pope Francis has taken in refugees and U.S. bishops have called for the country to continue accepting refugees fleeing violence.

Meanwhile, there are other possible areas of collaboration between the U.S. and the Holy See, Hackett said in January, including on human trafficking, peace in the Middle East, a solution to the worsening crisis in Venezuela, and efforts to alleviate global poverty.

President Trump and Pope Francis will meet at the Vatican on May 24.

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U.S. NEWS

Venerable Stanley Rother’s remains re-interred ahead of beatification

CNA/EWTN News • May 18, 2017

Venerable Stanley Rother, who will be beatified on Sept. 23, 2017. (Archdiocese of Oklahoma City)

Oklahoma City, OK — The remains of Venerable Stanley Rother were exhumed last week and moved to a chapel in Oklahoma City in preparation for the beatification Mass of the first US-born martyr.

“The witness of Father Rother’s life and death has been a source of encouragement and inspiration to me as a seminarian, priest and now as a bishop. I consider it a great gift to be entrusted with overseeing the continuation of his cause for beatification and canonization begun by Archbishop Beltran,” Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City said after the May 10 service.

“His beatification is an unexpected blessing for Oklahoma and for the United States as we celebrate this ordinary man from humble beginnings who answered the call to serve an extraordinary life. His witness will continue to inspire us for generations.”

The body of Fr. Rother, who served as a priest in Guatemala, was taken from Holy Trinity Cemetery in his home town of Okarche, Okla., to the chapel at Resurrection Cemetery in Oklahoma City.

Before his body was exhumed, his family led a prayerful procession to the gravesite. Fr. Rother’s remains were later removed form the vault, and examined by medical professionals and verified, as required by the process of beatification.

The martyred priest’s body was then placed in a new casket with golden vestments, along with a document signed by those in attendance. A ribbon was wrapped around the casket, sealed with the archdiocese’s seal in wax.

The Salve Regina was sung as the casket was re-interred, and a prayer service followed.

“It was a holy day. Father Rother’s presence was felt by many, and we are blessed as the Catholic Church in Oklahoma to present Father Rother’s life to the world,” Archbishop Coakley commented.

A temporary sign now marks Fr. Rother’s original gravesite in Okarche, located about 40 miles northwest of Oklahoma City, where the original vault and casket have been re-buried, and a permanent memorial marker is planned.

Fr. Rother’s Mass of Beatification will take place Sept. 23 at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City. It will be said by Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and concelebrated by Archbishop Coakley.

Fr. Rother was born March 27, 1935 in Okarche and entered seminary soon after graduating from Holy Trinity High School.

Despite a strong calling, Rother would struggle in the seminary, failing several classes and even out of one seminary before graduating from Mount St. Mary’s in Maryland. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Oklahoma City and Tulsa in 1963.

He served for five years in Oklahoma before joining the Oklahoma diocese’s mission in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, a poor rural community of mostly indigenous persons where he would spend the next 13 years of his life.

The work ethic Fr. Rother learned on his family’s farm would serve him well in this new place. As a mission priest, he was called on not just to say Mass, but to fix the broken truck or work the fields. He built a farmers’ co-op, a school, a hospital, and the first Catholic radio station.

Over the years, the violence of the Guatemalan civil war inched closer to the once-peaceful village. Disappearances, killings, and danger soon became a part of daily life, but Fr. Rother remained steadfast and supportive of his people.

In 1980-1981, the violence escalated to an almost unbearable point; Fr. Rother was constantly seeing friends and parishioners abducted or killed.

In January 1981, in immediate danger and his name on a death list, Fr. Rother did return to Oklahoma for a few months. But as Easter approached, he wanted to spend Holy Week with his people in Guatemala.

The morning of July 28, 1981, three Ladinos, the non-indigenous men who had been fighting the native people and rural poor of Guatemala since the 1960s, broke into Fr. Rother’s rectory. They wished to disappear him, but he refused.

Not wanting to endanger the others at the parish mission, he struggled but did not call for help. Fifteen minutes and two gunshots later, Father Stanley was dead and the men fled the mission grounds.

Though his body was buried in Okarche, Fr. Rother’s heart was enshrined in the church of Santiago Atitlan where he served.

Fr. Rother’s cause for beatification was opened in 2007, and his martyrdom was recognized by the Vatican in December 2016, which cleared the way for his beatification.

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FEATURES

Niece of Fatima visionaries reflects on her remarkable family

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • April 20, 2017

Jacinta Pereiro Marto, niece of Francisco and Jacinta, in Aljustrel-Fatima, Portugal. (Daniel Ibañez/EWTN)

Fatima, Portugal — The niece of Blessed Franciso and Jacinta Marto has voiced excitement for the coming canonization of her relatives, sharing stories of the time of the Fatima apparitions and personal memories of what it was like growing up in a family that had saints among its members.

“My family, my grandparents, my parents, all of us always accepted it as a gift from God,” Jacinta Pereiro Marto told CNA in an interview.

“God chose my uncle and aunt because this is what he wanted, so much that my grandfather used to say that the Virgin wanted to come to Fatima and she chose his children, but that we didn’t deserve anything,” she said.

Because of this attitude instilled in the family by her grandfather – father to Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto – “we always lived very simply because God chose, and he chooses who he wants. We don’t deserve anything.”

Marto, 74, is the daughter of Joao Marto, the brother of Fatima visionaries Bl. Francisco and Jacinta, and she shares the exact same name as her saintly aunt.

Just two years older than Francisco, Joao was the closest in age to the two out of the many Marto siblings.

Bl. Francisco and Jacinta this year will become the youngest non-martyrs in the history of the Church to be canonized after witnessing apparitions of Mary, now commonly known as the Our Lady of Fatima, alongside their elder cousin Lucia dos Santos in 1917.

In her interview with CNA, Marto said that she had “the joy” of being born in the same family home as Francisco and Jacinta, and to grow up there, since her father Joao continued to live in the house with his elderly parents.

“They always instilled in me a great love for God and for the Virgin, a life of simplicity, of belief and of religiosity,” she said, speaking of her grandparents.

Their home remains the property of the family, but is now open for visitors and pilgrims to see where the visionaries grew up. Across the street, Marto runs a souvenir shop and a small museum-of-sorts containing original photos and artifacts belonging to the family, including shawls used by Jacinta, the rosary Francisco prayed with before dying, and the bed he passed away in.

Marto said that it is thanks to her grandmother Olimpia Marto, mother of Franciso and Jacinta, that she received the same name as her aunt. Olimpia had wanted a grandchild that shared the exact same name as her saintly daughter, and was told by Joao’s wife that the next girl they had would get the name.

So when Marto was born, her grandmother, who was also asked to be her godmother, chose to call her Jacinta.

“I feel very happy to be Jacinta,” Marto said, explaining that “I feel a very strong presence and a great protection from my uncle and aunt. I think that Jacinta and my uncle are protecting me.”

“I am no one, I sin like the whole world,” she said, “but I believe they are protecting me, I feel that they and Our Lady protect me.”

Recalling memories shared by her father, Marto said Joao had been present with Francisco and Jacinta at the apparition of Mary in Valinhos, which took place in August, “but he didn’t see anything.”

“It was only Francisco, Jacinta, Lucia and my father, but he said that even though he opened his eyes and looked, he saw nothing,” she said.

Around the time Mary was to appear, Jacinta wasn’t there at first, she said, explaining that when Lucia asked him to go find her, Joao “didn’t want to, because he wanted to see.” He eventually went to find Jacinta, and when she arrived Mary appeared, but even though he waited with them, Joao couldn’t see anything.

Two months later when the “miracle of the sun” took place Oct. 13, 1917, Marto said her father, who was only 11 at the time, stayed behind that day because rumors were spreading, likely from other children, that “if the miracle of the sun didn’t happen the whole family would die.”

In order to help the people believe in the authenticity of the apparitions, Lucia had asked Our Lady during the apparition of July 13, 1917, to perform a miracle so people would see that they were true.

However, on that occasion Mary responded by saying that should the children continue to come each month until October, the miracle would occur. So on Oct. 13, the last apparition of Mary to the children, 30-100,000 people gathered to witness the miracle.

News reports and witnesses from the time said the miracle took place when the formerly cloudy sky parted and the sun appeared as an opaque, spinning disk in the sky. Multicolored lights flashed across the landscape and those present before the sun then spun toward earth and then zig-zagged back to its normal position in the sky. Additionally, clothes and mud previously wet from the rain had dried.

But while many members of their family were present for the miracle, Marto said her father “stayed at home (because) he was afraid to die” if the miracle didn’t happen, as the rumors had stated.

At just 11 years old, Marto said her father didn’t understand everything that was going on, but that after Francisco and Jacinta died, “my father said that he cried a lot, a lot. Because he saw that everything they said was happening.”

Speaking of her grandparents, Marto said her grandfather Manuel, father of Francisco and Jacinta, didn’t initially understand some of what was happening either, but had always believed his children were telling the truth.

Jacinta was the first one to tell her parents about seeing Mary after coming home from the first apparition, Marto said, explaining that when people began to say the children had made everything up, her grandfather would respond saying: “My children are not liars. I taught them, so if they say they saw, I think they saw.”

After the first appearance Manuel accompanied his children to the following apparitions, and although he didn’t see anything, “he said that he heard a sound, like a bee inside a jar.”

He was also present for the miracle of the sun, Marto said, explaining that “if he believed before, he continued to believe” after.

Marto said that for her, this belief was extraordinary, because “my grandparents weren’t at the beatification, none of it. When their children died they were known, but not with the fame of sanctity.”

“So they thought their children were a little different from the others, but they didn’t know how it was going to be. It was a question every day,” she said, but noted that her grandfather in particular “always believed.”

Referring to news of the acceptance of a second miracle allowing for the canonization of her uncle and aunt, Marto said she feels “a big joy” knowing they will be proclaimed saints. The two will be canonized May 13, during Pope Francis’ two-day visit to Portugal.

However, she stressed that the news “is not only for the family, it’s for Portugal and the whole world. Because Our Lady came for the world, and they were a message for the world.”

“I sometimes ask myself how two children that were seven and nine years old managed to capture and respond to the message of God. They had a message and assumed this message,” she said, noting that Francisco was all about “praising God, adoring God, worshiping God.”

Jacinta, however, was primarily concerned with conversion, and wanted that “everyone return to God, that everyone convert, that everyone went to heaven.”

“She lived this in anguish,” Marto said, explaining that she often asked herself: “we who have all these means of communication, we know what is happening in the world, all the suffering in the world, we see it on television … and what do we do?”

At just 7-years-old Jacinta had visions of wars, famines and persecutions, and as a result she “assumed the responsibility” of offering and making sacrifices so that everyone could be saved.

“And us? What are we doing?” she said, stressing that with television and social media it’s not necessary to have a vision of the suffering and tragedy in the world, but “we are part of this humanity and we are a bit responsible for everyone. Sometimes we don’t think well about this.”

Marto said that for her, she believes the core of the Our Lady of Fatima’s message is that she came “that we might return to God. That we don’t forget that God loves us, but that we have to praise him and must give thanks to him.”

In addition to this, “we must pray for each other,” she said, explaining that in her instructions to the children, Mary “didn’t ask many things that we can’t do.”

Pointing to the rosary, she said that according to Lucia, Mary asked that people pray it because “it’s an easy prayer,” and can be recited at church, in the car or while walking.

If someone isn’t able to pray the rosary, Marto suggested at least trying to pray one Hail Mary and Our Father a day, to honor Mary and give thanks to God “for being our friend.”

“God loves us very much and at times sends us his mother to refresh us a bit in order continue,” she said, explaining that “God wants us to be a bit better every day. Because we are always sinners, we are not perfect, but try to be a bit better every day.”

Marto said that she hopes to be present for Pope Francis’ visit to Fatima for the centenary of the apparitions in May. Having attended the beatification of her uncle and aunt in 2000, she said she also hopes to be present for the May 13 canonization of the visionaries.

She received communion from Bl. Pope Paul VI when he became the first Pope to visit Fatima in 1967, and was also present for the visit of St. John Paul II in 1982, but was farther away.

Although she wasn’t able to attend Mass when Benedict XVI came in 2010, she hopes to have a good seat at Mass with Francis, and “to be close to him.”

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FEATURES

Everything you need to know about Fatima (Part 1)

by Mary Rezac (CNA/EWTN News) • May 8, 2017

Our Lady of Fatima. (Ricardo Perna via Shutterstock)

Fatima, Portugal — It’s the most popular and well-known Marian apparition in the recent history of the Church.

One hundred years ago, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children in a field in Fatima, Portugal. She brought with her requests for the recitation of the rosary, for sacrifices on behalf of sinners, and a secret regarding the fate of the world.

Every local bishop since has approved the apparitions and deemed them worthy of belief, the highest recognition a Marian apparition can receive from the Church.

Miracle researcher Michael O’Neill told CNA that the Fatima apparitions could be considered the “gold standard of Marian apparitions.”

“It has everything you’ve ever wanted to look for in a Marian apparition. It’s got these secrets, the prophecies, visionaries that will be canonized. … You also have a feast day in the general Roman calendar, the approval of the local bishop, and of every pope afterwards, you have the canonization of the visionaries and the basilica that was built, so all the hallmarks of a Marian apparition are there,” he said. O’Neill records the details of Fatima, other Marian apparitions and all things miraculous on his site, miraclehunter.com.

This year, Pope Francis is scheduled to visit the apparition site on May 12-13, the 100th anniversary of the first Fatima apparition. The visit will include the canonizations of two of the child visionaries, who died just a few years after the visions.

But even though it’s been 100 years, “the messages of Fatima are as relevant today as they were in 1917,” O’Neill said.

“The essence of the message is a call to conversion, and that’s something that’s as important in our life in modern times as it was when Mary appeared in 1917. I think this 100 year anniversary is a great opportunity for us to revisit the devotion and to re-incorporate it into our lives today.”

Historical context

In 1917, the country of Portugal, like most of the rest of the world, was at war.

As World War I raged throughout Europe, Portugal found itself unable to maintain its initial neutrality and joined forces with the Allies, in order to protect colonies in Africa and to defend their trade with Britain. About 220,000 Portuguese civilians died during the war; thousands due to food shortages, thousands more from the Spanish flu.

Besides the hardships of war, Catholics in the country were also facing a strong wave of anti-clericalism.

Begun in the 18th century during the term of statesman Marquês de Pombal, anti-Catholicism reared its head again after the establishment of the Portuguese First Republic in 1910.

Catholic churches and schools were seized by the government, and the wearing of clerics in public, the ringing of church bells, and the celebrating of popular religious festivals were banned. Between 1911-1916, nearly 2,000 priests, monks and nuns were killed by anti-Christian groups.

This was the Portugal the Blessed Virgin Mary entered into when she appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima in 1917, delivering messages about war, peace, suffering, and conversion.

An angel announces Mary’s coming

In the summer of 1916, Lucia dos Santos, the youngest of a family of seven children, began shepherding her family’s flock along with three of her friends, Teresa Matias and her sister Maria Rosa, and Maria Justino. During this time, an angelic figure appeared before the girls three different times as they were praying the rosary in the fields, but did not speak to them. Lucia’s mother dismissed the incident as “childish nonsense.”

Some time later, Lucia was shepherding with her two cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto. One day, eager to play, the children sped through their lunchtime rosary by saying only the titles of the prayers on each bead.

Shortly after they began to play a game, an angelic figure appeared, this time speaking to the children. Over three different appearances, he asked the children to pray and sacrifice. He told them he was the “Guardian Angel of Portugal,” and informed them that Jesus and Mary had “plans of mercy” for them. On the last visit, he gave the children Holy Communion.

“That is pretty unique,” O’Neill said. “There have been thousands of accounts of angels appearing on their own; it’s a rare thing when they come to trumpet the coming of Mary.”

The first appearance of Mary

The next year, on May 5, 1917, Pope Benedict XV wrote a pastoral letter to the world, asking the faithful to petition Mary to bring an end to the war, “that her most tender and benign solicitude may be moved and the peace we ask for be obtained for our agitated world.”

Eight days later, Mary appeared for the first time, on May 13, to three shepherd children - Lucia, 10 years old, and her two cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, 9 and 7 years old, respectively.

She appeared as “a lady dressed all in white, more brilliant than the sun” on top of a small tree in an open field called the Cova de Iria (The Cove of Irene) in the countryside of the small but faithful town of Fatima, and she asked that the children come back to that same spot on the 13th day of the next month.

While she did not reveal her full name right away, the lady did tell the children: “I am of Heaven.” When asked, she promised that all three of the children would go to heaven, though Francisco would have to say “many rosaries” in order to get there.

Aside from the three children, no one was present during the first apparition; but as word spread, the crowds would grow.

The second apparition: The children’s fate

For the second apparition on June 13, dozens of onlookers testified that they were able to see a cloud above the tree where the children saw Mary. This time, she showed the children her Immaculate Heart, pierced with thorns representing the sins of mankind.

Lucia asked Mary for the healing of a sick person, which Mary said would be granted with his conversion. Lucia again asked Mary to take the children to heaven, and while Mary promised to take Jacinta and Francisco soon, she told Lucia that she must stay on earth “some time longer.”

“Jesus wishes to make use of you to make me known and loved,” Mary told her. “He wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. I promise salvation to those who embrace it, and those souls will be loved by God like flowers placed by me to adorn His throne.”

The children kept the revelation of the image of the Immaculate Heart secret for some time, until Lucia became a nun. Mary again asked the children to return on the 13th day of the next month.

The third apparition: The Great Secret is given

On July 13, Mary revealed what has been come to be known as the “Great Secret” of Fatima, a secret that Lucia divided into three parts and slowly revealed to the public over time. Two parts of the secret were revealed in 1941, when Lucia was asked to record her memoirs by the local bishop. The rest was not revealed until the year 2000, per Mary’s instructions, initially, and then later instructions of the Holy See.

Mary also told the children to continue praying the rosary daily, and to come back to the same spot on the same day of the next month. When Lucia asked the lady to reveal her identity, she again promised the children that she would reveal herself fully in October, and perform a miracle on that day “for all to see and believe.”

She also asked the children to help sinners: “Sacrifice yourself for sinners, and say many times, especially whenever you make some sacrifice: O my Jesus, it is for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

The growing crowds who came with the children to see the apparition witnessed several things during this apparition. Many were able to hear a faint, indescribable sound, believed to be Mary’s voice. Witnesses also recounted a change in atmosphere - when the Lady appeared the sky darkened, and the humid, hot summer air of Portugal suddenly became cool and pleasant.

The crowd also heard a large clap of thunder that shook the ground at the time of Mary’s departure.

The fourth apparition: The kidnapping

With anti-Catholic sentiment still prevalent in the country, the mayor in the district of Fatima had grown suspicious of the growingly popular apparitions, and had unsuccessfully tried to get the children to renounce their story.

Wanting to stop the children from seeing the fourth apparition, Artur Santos, an apostate Catholic and high Mason who was the local mayor, offered the children and their parents a ride in his car to the Cova on August 13. However, he devised a ruse to abandon the parents and to take the children alone to the district headquarters in Vila Nova de Ourem, about 9 miles away. Despite bribes, threats of death by burning oil, and threatening to lock them in a cell with criminals, the children never recanted their story.

Frustrated, and fearing retaliation from the faithful who had grown to love the apparitions, the mayor had the children taken back to Fatima after two days, much to the relief of their parents.

Mary then appeared briefly to the children privately a few days later, repeating her request to pray the rosary daily for the reparation of sins, and asking them to come back on the 13th of the next month.

The fifth apparition - a pillar of clouds and a shower of flowers

Rather than discourage onlookers, the kidnapping incident in August led to an even greater crowd for the September apparition. This time, the visible signs of Mary’s presence became even more pronounced to the crowd. Several witnesses said they were able to see a globe of light, and then a pillar of cloud about 16 feet high by the tree where Mary always appeared.

Many onlookers also described a shower of small white objects - thought to be snowflakes or rose petals - that fell from the sky but disappeared before they touched the ground.

Mary again repeated her promise to the children that she would come again next month and tell the children who she was and what she wanted, and that she would perform a miracle “so that all may see and believe.”

The final apparition: The Miracle of the Sun

On October 13, 1917, the crowds of witnesses had grown to 70,000 - faithful and skeptics alike gathered for what would be the last Marian apparition to the children in the Cova, eager to see the sign from heaven that Mary had promised.

The crowds started to gather at 11:30, not realizing that Mary would appear at solar noon, rather than at noon according to local time. The children, however, knew when to expect Mary, and arrived at 1:00 p.m., shortly before 1:30 (solar noon) when Mary would appear.

As many witnesses described, a steady rain fell on the night of October 12 through the morning of the 13th. The freshly-plowed ground of the field of the Cova was transformed into a muddy wet mess, through which the crowds plodded and waited in waning hope for something miraculous to occur.

Dr. Joseph Almeida Garrett, Professor of Natural Sciences at Coimbra University, was present for the miracle of the sun and wrote down his eyewitness account, included in the book “Fatima in Lucia’s own Words: The Memoirs of Sister Lucia.”

Because he had arrived too early to the scene, expecting the miracle at noon by the clock instead of by the sun, he waited in the shelter of his car, “looking rather disdainfully towards the place where they said the apparition would be seen, not daring to step on the sodden and muddy earth of the freshly-ploughed field.”

Finally, at about half-past one, a pillar of smoke rose up and disappeared repeatedly at the spot where the children were. The clouds indicated Mary’s arrival, and once she came, Lucia asked the lady what she wanted.

Mary again repeated her request for daily rosaries, and asked that a chapel be built at the apparition site honoring the Lady of the Rosary, which she revealed to the children as her identity. She also promised that the war would soon end and the soldiers would return home. She said she would heal some of the people the children had recommended, but said that people must “amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins.”

The Lady of the Rosary then departed, Lucia recounted, and reappeared to the children, first with Joseph and the child Jesus, and then dressed as Mary under different titles – namely, Our Lady of Sorrows, and then Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

Then, Mary “cast her own light upon the sun.” The rain stopped, the clouds dispersed and the sky cleared, catching the attention of onlookers.

What happened next has been described as the “miracle of the sun” or “the time the sun danced.”

“We looked easily at the sun, which did not blind us. It seemed to flicker on and off, first one way and then another. It shot rays in different directions and painted everything in different colors. … What was most extraordinary is that the sun did not hurt our eyes at all. Everything was still and quiet; everyone was looking upwards …” recalled Ti Marto, the father of visionaries Jacinta and Francisco Marto.

O Dia, the newspaper in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, reported that “at midday by the sun, the rain stopped. The sky, pearly grey in color, illuminated the vast arid landscape with a strange light. The sun had a transparent gauzy veil so that the eye could easily be fixed on it. The grey mother-of-pearl tone turned into a sheet of silver which broke up as the clouds were parted and the silver sun, enveloped in the same gauzy grey light, was seen to whirl and turn in the circle of broken clouds. A cry went up from every mouth and people fell on their knees in the muddy ground …”

Even O Seculo, an anti-Catholic, Masonic newspaper in Lisbon, reported the miracle of the sun from the perspective of the paper’s editor-in-chief, Avelino de Almedia, who witnessed the miracle for himself.

“… one could see the immense multitude turn toward the sun, which appeared at its zenith, coming out of the clouds,” he wrote.

“Before their dazzled eyes the sun trembled, the sun made unusual and brusque movements, defying all the laws of the cosmos, and according to the typical expression of the peasants, ‘the sun danced.’”

Dr. Garrett added that the sun seemed “to be a living body. … It looked like a glazed wheel made of mother-of-pearl.” He also recalled a moment when the sun whirled “wildly, seemed to loosen itself from the firmament and advance threateningly upon the earth, as if to crush us with its huge and fiery weight. The sensation during those moments was terrible.”

Numerous witnesses corroborated the phenomenon of the whirling, dancing colorful sun which at one moment seemed to be terrifyingly plunging toward earth, with the crowds “expecting the end of the world to come at any moment” one witness reported. After that moment, the once-soggy and muddy crowd discovered that they were completely dry.

This is part one of a two-part series. Part two will cover the secrets of Fatima, Vatican recognition of the apparitions, and the deaths of the visionaries.

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Everything you need to know about Fatima (Part 2)

by Mary Rezac (CNA/EWTN News) • May 9, 2017

Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. (GoneWithTheWind via Shutterstock)

Fatima, Portugal — This is part two of a two-part series. Part one covered the historical context, contents of the apparitions, and Miracle of the Sun.

The secrets of Fatima

While Mary revealed what came to be known as The Great Secret of Fatima during her third apparition to the shepherd children, it was kept from the public for quite some time, according to instructions from Mary. Sr. Lucia revealed the first two secrets in a memoir in 1941, which had been written at the request of the local bishop at the time. Lucia wrote six memoirs during her lifetime – the first four were written between 1935 and 1941; the English translation was published under the name Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words.

The first secret was the vision of hell that Mary had allowed the children to see.

As Sr. Lucia wrote in her memoir: “Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repulsive likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent. This vision lasted but an instant. How can we ever be grateful enough to our kind heavenly Mother, who had already prepared us by promising, in the first Apparition, to take us to heaven. Otherwise, I think we would have died of fear and terror.”

The second secret was a statement that World War I would end, and a prediction of another war that would start during the reign of Pius XI, if people continued to offend God and if Russia were not consecrated to her Immaculate Heart.

As Sr. Lucia recalled in her memoirs, Our Lady said: “You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end: but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the Pontificate of Pope Pius XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that he is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father. To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the Consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.”

Sr. Lucia believed that an aurora borealis, which appeared in the sky on January 25, 1938, was the “unknown light” to which Mary had referred. The celestial phenomenon could be seen throughout Europe and as far south as Australia, and across the Atlantic to Bermuda and parts of the United States.

Shortly thereafter, Germany annexed Austria, and Japan had already invaded China in 1937. While the European portion of World War II is generally held by Western scholars to have officially started on September 1, 1939, under the reign of Venerable Pius XII, in many ways it was already begun under the reign of Pius XI, as Mary predicted.

Sr. Lucia did not record the third part of the secret in her 1941 memoirs, because she said that Mary had not yet permitted her to reveal it to the world.

However, Sr. Lucia fell seriously ill in 1943. Fearing her death before the third part of the secret was ever revealed, the local bishop asked that she write it down, which she did out of obedience. Sr. Lucia wrote the secret in January 1944, put it in an envelope and sealed it, asking that it not be opened until 1960, at which time she believed the meaning of the message would be clearer, or until she died, whichever came first.

The envelope remained at the bishop’s office until 1957, at which time it was delivered to the Vatican, despite Lucia’s requests that it remain with the bishop.

The secret was not revealed until the year 2000 – 40 years after Sr. Lucia thought it might be released – under the direction of the Holy See.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, then the Vatican Secretary of State, announced that on May 13, 2000, 83 years after the first apparition, the Third Secret would finally be published. He said the secret referred to the 20th century persecution of Christians and the failed assassination attempt on St. John Paul II on May 13, 1981, the 64th anniversary of the first apparition.

The text of the third secret was published by the Vatican on June 26, 2000:

“After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!.’ And we saw in an immense light that is God: ‘something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it’ a Bishop dressed in White ‘we had the impression that it was the Holy Father.’ Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God.”

The controversial third secret

A century after the Fatima apparitions, controversies remain. The two biggest involve whether or not the full and authentic text of the third secret has been revealed, and whether or not Russia has been adequately consecrated to Mary.

In 1960, the year Sr. Lucia intended the third secret to be published, the Vatican issued a press release stating that it was “most probable the Secret would remain, forever, under absolute seal.” Widespread speculation ensued about what this meant for the content of the secret, ranging from “worldwide nuclear annihilation to deep rifts in the Roman Catholic Church that lead to rival papacies,” according to the New York Times.

St. John XXIII and Bl. Paul VI both reportedly read the secret, but decided not to release it to the public.

During the papacy of St. John Paul II, the questions regarding the third Fatima secret intensified. In an interview with German magazine Stimme des Glaubens, published in October 1981, John Paul II was pressed explicitly about the third secret.

He said: “Because of the seriousness of its contents, in order not to encourage the world wide power of Communism to carry out certain coups, my predecessors in the chair of Peter have diplomatically preferred to withhold its publication.”

He added that it would be unhelpful to publish the secret if it led Christians to believe that there were a predicted catastrophe against which they were helpless.

Holding up his rosary, the Pope declared: “Here is the remedy against this evil. Pray, pray and ask for nothing else. Put everything in the hands of the Mother of God.”

On May 2, 1981, an Australian named Laurence James Downey, who claimed to be a defrocked French Trappist monk, hijacked an airplane and demanded that St. John Paul II reveal the Third Secret of Fatima. The man was believed to be armed with a bomb, but the incident was resolved without any injuries to passengers onboard.

In 1984, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said that “if [the Third Secret] is not published … it is to avoid confusing religious prophecy with sensationalism. But the things contained in the Third Secret correspond to what has been announced in Scripture and are confirmed by many other Marian apparitions.”

Widespread speculation and concern led to the secret’s publishing in 2000 by the Vatican. The late release angered many who read the secret and didn’t understand what was so controversial about it that delayed publication by decades.

Conspirators questioned whether the authentic secret, or the secret in full, had actually been revealed. The Vatican version, which is claimed to be a photocopy of the original handwritten note from Sr. Lucia, took up four pages, while some allege that Sr. Lucia had actually written the third secret on just one page.

Some skeptics are also suspicious about the third secret because it does not contain any words directly from Mary, unlike the other secrets.

Some also question the content of the secret, because it does not directly speak of the apocalypse, as was expected from interviews of Sr. Lucia.

Others are also suspicious of Sr. Lucia’s transfer from the Dorothean Sisters, where she initially entered, to a cloistered Carmelite convent, the order she transferred to with permission in 1948. The move to the Carmelite order, which has strict rules about communication with the outside world, is seen by some as part of a larger conspiracy effort to censor her visions and the third secret.

On the other hand, Sr. Lucia herself confirmed several times that the third secret as published by the Vatican is in full and correct. Specifically in a November 17, 2001 statement to the secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, she confirmed that the Fatima secret has been totally revealed by the Vatican, and Russia has already been consecrated as Mary requested.

Those who affirm that the secret has been fully revealed say that to question the secret’s authenticity is to question the original visionary’s credibility.

The authenticity of the third secret has also been confirmed by the Popes and other Vatican officials.

When the secret was published, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said that “The events to which the third part of the ‘secret’ of Fatima refers now seem part of the past. [ … ] Those who expected exciting apocalyptic revelations about the end of the world or the future course of history are bound to be disappointed.”

In 2016, an article on Catholic blog One Peter Five included an interview with a German priest who claimed to recall a conversation in which Pope Benedict XVI told him that the third secret had not been fully revealed. In a response on May 21, 2016, the Vatican released a statement from Pope Benedict XVI declaring that any claims that the third secret had not been fully revealed were “pure inventions, absolutely untrue.”

The other controversy: The consecration of Russia

As Mary promised in the second secret, she came back to ask for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart. On June 13, 1929, Mary reappeared to Sr. Lucia, who was with the Sisters of St. Dorothy at the time, asking for the consecration of Russia, “promising its conversion through this means the hindering of the propagation of its errors.”

There were three “conditions” of the consecration, explained by Mary in the second part of the secret: The Pope must consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, with a special mention of Russia, in union with the bishops of the whole world.

At an unknown date after this apparition, Sr. Lucia made the request for consecration known to Pius XI. In 1938, the Portuguese bishops asked Pius XI to make the consecration, but no action was taken. Upon the election of Venerable Pius XII in 1939, several clergy repeated the request to the Pope.

In December 1940, with World War II well underway in Europe, Sr. Lucia wrote a letter to Pius XII, requesting the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary “with a special mention for Russia, and order that all the bishops of the world do the same in union with Your Holiness.”

More than a year later, on October 31, 1942, Venerable Pius XII consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, though without the involvement of the bishops of the world. War made communications difficult, and many bishops had been imprisoned or even killed. Sr. Lucia said that though this consecration was imperfect, Jesus revealed to her that it was enough to bring a quicker end to World War II, sparing many lives.

In July 1952, Venerable Pius XII consecrated the people of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, but again, because it was done privately and not in conjunction with the bishops of the world, the consecration was incomplete. At least once during his papacy, Blessed Paul VI renewed the Russia consecration, although it did not fulfill the requirements of being in union with the bishops of the world.

Ongoing, dedication political relations with Russia made a consecration that specifically called out the country difficult.

“It’s not that the Church forgot about what the Madonna said about Russia, it’s not that Russia was forgotten, absolutely no,” said Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

“For what regards the consecration of Russia to the heart of Mary, the Church did this, but with an extraordinarily unique diplomatic skill. But she did it.”

According to Sr. Lucia, the consecration was complete during the pontificate of St. John Paul II, who several times attempted to fulfill the requirements of the Russia consecration.

It was finally considered fully complete after the consecration he made on March 25, 1984, as confirmed by Sr. Lucia.

St. John Paul II, “united with all the pastors of the Church in a particular bond whereby we constitute a body and a college,” consecrates “the whole world, especially the peoples for which by reason of their situation you have particular love and solicitude,” he said in the consecration.

“Because the Church … if she would have consecrated Russia to the heart of Mary and nothing else, it would have provoked a terrible reaction on the part of Russia,” Cardinal Martins explained.

“The Pope realized this. It was something, from the standpoint of Russia, completely unacceptable. … It certainly would have had extraordinary consequences. … But the Church fulfilled what the Madonna asked by consecrating not Russia in particular, but the world; I underline the world, and Russia is part of the world. So was Russia also consecrated to Our Lady’s heart or not? Russia was consecrated. If I consecrate the world to Russia, I also consecrate Italy, the United States, to the heart of Mary. They are part of the world consecrated to the heart of Mary.”

Both St. John Paul II and Sr. Lucia initially seemed uncertain that the consecration has been fulfilled in 1984, but shortly thereafter Sr. Lucia told the papal nuncio to Portugal that the Consecration had been fulfilled. She also confirmed this in a letter to one of her sisters in 1989, and again in a letter to a priest in 1990, as well as in her statement to the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith in 2001.

A warning against “sensationalism”

Despite Vatican attempts to quell rumors and hearsay, the Fatima conspiracy theories still persist.

But Benedict XVI several times warned against this “sensationalism” that he says Mary would not have intended as the fruit of her apparitions.

Four years before the third secret’s release, in a 1996 interview with Portugal’s main Catholic radio station, Cardinal Ratzinger, who had already read the secret, issued this warning: “To all curious people, I would say I am certain that the Virgin does not engage in sensationalism; she does not act in order to instigate fear. She does not present apocalyptic visions, but guides people to her Son. And this is what is essential.”

Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, and visited the apparition site as Pope in 2010.

During a press conference for the visit, he reminded the faithful that the message of Fatima is not about conspiracy theories regarding the end of the world, but about the faithful’s response in “ongoing conversion, penance, prayer, and the three theological virtues: faith, hope and charity.”

“This is our response, we are realists in expecting that evil always attacks, attacks from within and without, yet that the forces of good are also ever present and that, in the end, the Lord is more powerful than evil and Our Lady is for us the visible, motherly guarantee of God’s goodness, which is always the last word in history,” he said.

Vatican recognition and papal trips to Fatima

In 1930, Bishop Dom Jose Aleves Correia da Silva of the Diocese of Leiria (now Leiria-Fatima) declared that, based on the results of the investigative commission, the apparitions at Fatima were “worthy of belief.”

Since then, the Fatima apparitions have received significant recognition on the part of the Vatican, and Pius XI granted a special indulgence to those who visited the newly-built Fatima shrine.

Venerable Pius XII encouraged devotion to Our Lady of Fatima so much so that he became known as “the Pope of Fatima.”

He is reported to have said: “The time for doubting Fatima has passed, the time for action is now.” He was the first Pope to consecrate the world, and then Russia, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Moreover, it was during his papacy, in 1944, that the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was extended to the entire Roman rite, to be celebrated on Aug. 22, the octave day of the Assumption.

Bl. Paul VI visited the shrine of Fatima, on May 13, 1967, as did Cardinal Albino Luciani, Patriarch of Venice – who was elected Pope in 1978.

St. John Paul II visited the Fatima shrine three times – in 1982, 1991 and 2000. During his 2000 visit, he beatified the two deceased visionaries, Jacinta and Francisco. He also added the feast of Our Lady of Fatima to the General Roman Calendar, to be celebrated May 13.

The Polish Pope had a particularly strong devotion to Our Lady of Fatima. After a close shave with death during an assassination attempt on his life on the 64th anniversary of the first apparitions – May 13, 1981 – the Pope credited his survival to Our Lady of Fatima’s miraculous intervention. As a sign of his gratitude, he placed the bullet from the failed assassination in her crown.

As a cardinal, Benedict XVI had a devotion to Our Lady of Fatima which extended to his papacy, when he visited the Fatima shrine from May 11-14, 2010. In 2008, he waived the typical five-year waiting period in order to open Sr. Lucia’s cause for canonization. The local Church in February 2017 finished collecting documents to examine her heroic virtue.

Pope Francis as well has a strong devotion to Our Lady of Fatima, and consecrated his papacy to her on May 13, 2013.

What happened to the visionaries after the apparitions?

As foretold in the apparitions, the sibling pair of Francisco and Jacinta would only live a short while after the apparitions were completed.

Convicted by Mary’s requests and the vision of hell, both children lived lives of prayer and penance after the apparitions, offering themselves for sinners as Mary had asked. Francisco was known for his devotion to the Eucharist and his strict physical mortifications, while Jacinta was especially known for having a heart for the poor and the suffering.

Both children fell victim to the influenza epidemic of 1918 that swept through Europe. In October 1918, Mary again appeared to the sick siblings and promised to take them to heaven soon. On April 3, 1919, Francisco declined hospital treatment for influenza and died the next day, at the age of 11.

Jacinta was given hospital treatment in hopes of prolonging her life, but she knew that she would soon join Francisco in heaven. On February 19, 1920, Jacinta asked the hospital chaplain who heard her confession to bring her Holy Communion and administer the last rites, because she was going to die “the next night.” But the priest said that her condition was not that serious and that he would return the next day. The next day Jacinta was found dead – she had died in her sleep at 10 years old.

As for Lucia, she outlived her cousins by many years, as Mary had predicted. Shortly after the deaths of her cousins, at 14 years old, she was sent to the Dorothean Sisters of Villar for school, and in 1928 became a sister of St. Dorothy. In 1946, she transferred to the convent of the Carmelite Sisters of Coimbra, Portugal and took the name Sister Maria Lucia of the Immaculate Heart.

She received visions and messages from Mary and Jesus on several more occasions throughout her life, including the visions in 1925 that led to the Five First Saturday devotions, which include saying the rosary, receiving communion and confession, and meditation during the first Saturday of five consecutive months.

Besides the four memoirs she wrote between 1935 and 1941, Sr. Lucia had an additional book published in 2001, known as Calls from the Message of Fatima or Appeals of the Fatima Message. She visited the Fatima shrine during Bl. Paul VI’s visit in 1967, and during all three of St. John Paul II’s visits.

Aside from her memoirs and letters to clergy regarding Fatima, she had limited communication with the outside world, per her Carmelite vows.

Sr. Lucia died in 2005 at the age of 97, at the Carmelite convent of Santa Teresa in Coimbra, where she had lived since 1948.

The canonization of Francisco and Jacinta

Popularity of the Fatima apparitions spread, and the cause for canonization of Francisco and Jacinta was opened in 1946. Much of what is known about their life and holiness is known through Lucia’s memoirs.

“People may ask: ‘These children died so young, what do we know about them and their lives of faith?’ But a lot was related by Sr. Lucia and the witnesses of the apparitions. Francisco had a devotion to the Eucharist, and Jacinta wanted to help those who were suffering, that was her charism or focus after the apparition. Those are details most of us don’t really know about,” O’Neill said.

Francisco and Jacinta became the youngest non-martyr children to be beatified, on May 13, 2000, the 83rd anniversary of the first apparition. St. John Paul II presided over the Mass.

Pope Francis will canonize Francisco and Jacinta during his trip to Fatima on May 13, 2017 during a Mass at the shrine.

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A personal look at Fatima’s saintly Sister Lucia

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • May 10, 2017

Lucia dos Santos. (Public domain)

Fatima, Portugal — Fatima visionary Lucia dos Santos was saintly woman – not because she saw visions of Mary, but because of her raw humanity, simplicity, and even her sense of humor, says the cardinal who opened her cause for canonization.

When asked about the most “saintly” quality Lucia had, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins said it was “her humanity. She was a person that was human.”

“The saints are all human, they are like any other person. Very intelligent, very concrete, very pleasant and welcoming,” he said.

As for Sister Lucia, “she was a very smart, concrete woman.” This can be seen in the way she documented what she saw during the Fatima apparitions, he said, noting that since her cousins had passed away, all of it was done by her alone.

“If Lucia weren’t a concrete, intelligent person, not all of the documentation that’s there would have been done, through which we know the whole story of Fatima,” he said.

But despite to her intelligence and her humanity, the cardinal said the visionary was “very simple,” but was also “a jokester” with a healthy sense of humor.

Cardinal Martins, 85 and the Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, knew Lucia personally during the last few years of her life. He spoke to CNA about his relationship with visionary, sharing memories of Lucia and some of the light-hearted jokes the two of them exchanged.

Who was Lucia?

Lucia dos Santos was the youngest in a family of seven. However, at 10-years-old, she was the oldest of the three shepherd children who witnessed apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary from May-October 1917. The other two were her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, who were just 9 and 7, respectively.

While the Marto siblings died shortly after the apparitions, as Mary had predicted, Lucia outlived her cousins by many years, and was the one to write down accounts of everything they had seen.

Shortly after the deaths of her cousins, at age 14 Lucia was sent to attend school with the Dorothean Sisters of Villar, and in 1928 became a sister of St. Dorothy. In 1946, she transferred to the convent of the Carmelite Sisters of Coimbra, Portugal and took the name Sister Maria Lucia of the Immaculate Heart.

She received visions and messages from both Mary and Jesus on several more occasions throughout her life, including the visions in 1925 that led to the Five First Saturday devotions, which include saying the rosary, receiving communion and confession, and meditation during the first Saturday of five consecutive months.

Sr. Lucia died in 2005 at the age of 97, at the Carmelite convent of Santa Teresa in Coimbra, where she had lived since 1948.

Memories

Cardinal Martins, who himself is Portuguese, said he had “many interactions” with Sr. Lucia, particularly during his tenure at the Congregation for Saints. He headed the dicastery from 1998-2008, during which he brought forward some 1,320 blesseds, though many were part of large groups done together.

Having lived in Rome for at least three decades, serving in various capacities, the cardinal said he, like the rest of the city, typically takes his vacation in mid-August.

It was during one of these vacations that he accepted an invitation to go to Coimbra and celebrate Mass for the Carmelite sisters on the Aug. 15 Feast of the Assumption. After Mass, the cardinal sat with the community and talked with them for a while, even answering some questions.

“We spoke about everything, they asked whatever questions they wanted, without limits, and I responded,” he said, noting Sr. Lucia was also present, and he was also able to speak with her for the first time.

Lucia “was a very humble person, simple, very intelligent, and very confident,” he said, explaining during another visit, he was again sitting with the community after celebrating Mass for them.

He recalled that there was an empty seat by him, so he motioned for Lucia to come sit next to him.

Martins recalled that once she sat down, she leaned over and told him, “Eminence, you’ve made me your secretary, eh?” After a laugh, the cardinal jested, saying in return, “Sister Lucia, please, don’t say this, I am not worthy of having you as a secretary!”

Martins said Lucia was always full of little quips, and at one point jokingly threatened to stop sending rosaries to the Pope if he didn’t allow the beatification of her cousins – Francisco and Jacinta Marto – to take place in Fatima, rather than in Rome.

At the time, as a rule of thumb both canonization and beatification Masses were held Rome. However, it was Cardinal Martins who later changed this, requesting that beatifications take place in the local diocese instead. His request was approved by Benedict XVI, and the change was made in September 2005.

The cause of Francisco and Jacinta was officially opened in 1946, and although the change hadn’t officially been made yet, they were beatified by St. John Paul II May 13, 2000, the 83rd anniversary of the first apparition, during his third visit to the Fatima shrine.

But a year before the beatification, while plans were still in the works, Lucia had jokingly told Martins to relay to the Pope “if the beatification is not done in Fatima, but in Rome, I, Lucia, won’t send him rosaries anymore.”

The jest was in reference to the fact that in her final years Lucia made rosaries and sent large numbers of them to the Pope, who would distribute them to pilgrims and people he met.

“Clearly, I didn’t say it,” the cardinal said, recalling that on the day of the beatification, both he and Lucia had a brief conversation in the sacristy before the celebration began.

He told Lucia she could be now grateful to the Pope for having approved celebrating the beatification Mass in Fatima. However, Lucia again jested, saying “I’m not grateful to the Pope, absolutely no. I am grateful to God who inspired the Pope for the beatification.”

“This is how it was. With Lucia, we were like siblings,” the cardinal said, adding that Lucia’s humor wasn’t the only thing that stood out about her.

“She was also very intelligent,” he said. People often perceived her as someone “in another world,” who was perhaps a bit disconnected, but in reality, the opposite was true: “she was very concrete, and very intelligent.”

As an example, he recalled that at one point the Carmelite sisters had to build another convent when they exceeded the maximum number of sisters who can live in one of their monasteries.

When it came time to start construction on the convent after plans had been laid, Lucia was the one sent to oversee the project, making sure the architect built new monastery according to the specifics of how Carmelite convents are organized.

“Lucia went in car to tell the architects concretely how they had to do the cloister. This is a very concrete person, no?” the cardinal said. “She wasn’t an abstract person like many thought, no.”

Cause for Canonization

After Lucia passed away in 2005, the diocese had to wait five years before opening the beatification cause, as is custom in any potential saint.

However, after just two years, Cardinal Martins asked Benedict XVI to grant a dispensation for the three remaining years, allowing them to open the cause immediately.

I began the process of beatification. Certainly she knows, that to begin the beatification process for a person, five years need to pass after their death. Five years. To research the person, talk to people, etc.

Martins said he asked for the dispensation because “it’s a very big grace for the Church in Portugal and for the universal Church.” In response, Benedict granted it, saying “you know the situation better than me, so let’s do whatever you say.”

A few days later, the cardinal traveled to Coimbra with the official decree in hand. However, since the news hadn’t yet been made official, he was not allowed to say anything, not even to the sisters in Lucia’s convent.

“Everything was secret,” he said, explaining that he simply told the sisters he was passing through and requested to say Mass. “The sisters thought I was passing through Coimbra for another reason, they didn’t know anything about the reason I was there.”

“It was my duty to keep it a secret,” Martins said, recounting how at the end of Mass, before giving the final blessing, he read aloud the decree, signed by himself and the Pope, stating that the beatification process for Lucia would officially begin early.

Immediately “the sisters began to cry,” he said, and were amazed that he hadn’t let on anything of his real intention for coming beforehand.

The local Church in February 2017 finished collecting documents to examine Lucia’s heroic virtue, concluding the diocesan phase of the investigation.

“Now it’s up to the congregation for the Roman phase. They must study the documents gathered on Lucia,” he said, noting that this will be a hefty task given the fact that there are some 300-400,000 letters written by Lucia during her lifetime, including letters written by her and her responses to letters she received from other people.

Although many have speculated that the speed with which Lucia’s cause moves forward could go into turbo-mode with the aim of having a beatification during the centenary year of the apparitions, Cardinal Martins said that given the vast amount of content to study, it will likely still be a while.

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What was Sr. Lucia’s advice after Fatima visions? Pray everyday

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • May 11, 2017

Lucia dos Santos. (Public domain)

Fatima, Portugal — The niece of Fatima visionary Sr. Lucia dos Santos said her aunt was a normal person like everyone else, but shared some personal advice that her saintly relative used to give: to pray at least something every day.

“She always asked me to pray the rosary every day, because there were many who did not pray,” Maria dos Anjos, niece of Fatima visionary Lucia dos Santos, told CNA in an interview.

“This was what Our Lady asked: that we pray the rosary every day. Because there were many who didn’t pray and because of this many souls went to hell because there was no one to pray for them,” she said.

Anjos, who only saw her aunt when they went to visit her in the convent, said the advice Lucia always gave her was to pray daily, and “that I not forget.”

She recalled that in a few of the conversations she had with her aunt, she confessed to not finishing the rosary because she was tired, having worked hard in the fields all day.

In response, Lucia didn’t reproach, but instead told her to “always start it, and if you don’t finish, Our Lady will finish it.”

Anjos, 97, is the daughter of one of Lucia’s older sisters. She grew up in the house directly across the street from where Lucia and her family used to live, and continues to live there with one of her sons today. Every evening she can be seen sitting on the front porch area with a rosary in hand.

While now there are paved streets and cars driving past the houses and tourist shops set up near Lucia’s house, which is now preserved as a museum and is open to the public for visits, Anjos said that when she was growing up, “there wasn’t anything here … just a mountain and some sheep and donkeys.”

Although she was only one year old at the time Lucia entered the convent, Anjos said her family would go to visit whenever they could.

Lucia, she said, “was a sister like the others. There was no difference. She was just like the other sisters who were in the convent,” and was always “joyful” – both as a child and as a religious sister.

Recalling memories that her mother had shared of her and Lucia’s childhood, Anjos said Lucia was a normal child like everyone else, and never lacked playmates.

“Many children came to play with her because their parents went to the wine estates and left their children here, because there was always someone at the house of Lucia’s mother who looked after the kids,” Anjos said.

Her grandmother and mother to Lucia, Maria Rosa Farreira, was catechist, and would also teach the children who came to the house while their parents were away.

Faith was always a big part of their family, even before the apparitions, Anjos said, explaining that “we always prayed the rosary, we went to Mass every Sunday, we did what we saw that could be done.”

After the apparitions of Mary, “we continued, doing more, and remembering that Our Lady asked us to pray more and to make more sacrifices,” she said, jesting that “we do our homework well.”

She recalled being able to attend Mass with Pope John Paul II during one of his three visits to Fatima, saying she was able to receive communion from him alongside her aunt, Sister Lucia.

“When communion came, I received communion from his hands, from the hands of the Holy Father. I liked it a lot,” she said, adding “you always like good things, do you not?”

Though she wasn’t able to speak with John Paul, Anjos said she was still “very happy,” and is equally content to welcome Pope Francis during his May 12-13 visit for the centenary of the Fatima apparitions.

During the visit, Francis will also canonized the two other Fatima visionaries – Francisco and Jacinta Marto – who were Lucia’s younger cousins, but died shortly after the apparitions took place.

“I am very glad they will be canonized,” she said, explaining that in her and her family’s mind, the siblings were already saints. Though it will now become official, she said she believes devotion to them will be “the same,” since people had already viewed them as holy.

While she’s sad she won’t be able to attend this Mass personally, Anjos said she’ll be watching it on TV, which she said is enough to make her happy.

Noting an uptick in visits to the shrine, Anjos said that many people, her family included would pray the rosary and visit the shrine after the apparitions, but “it seems that we have more devotion.”

“I think that faith has increased here and in the whole world,” she said. “At least I think it has, because many people come here, and that’s why we have to (pray) more and more. I think it did a lot of good for people to have Our Lady appear here.”

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The ‘silence’ of Fatima offers important message for world today

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • May 11, 2017

A vigil held outside the Sanctuary of Fatima on May 10, 2017. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Fatima, Portugal — While Fatima is famous for the mystifying candlelight procession and vigil that take place annually the night between May 12 and 13, there is an essential element that can easily be overlooked, but which bears special significance: silence.

“Silence is important, because only in silence can we listen to the Word of God, only in silence can we listen to the whispers of God in our hearts,” Fr. Francisco Pereira, chaplain of the Fatima Shrine, told CNA in an interview.

It’s been this way in Fatima since the very beginning, he said, noting that the bishop who arrived on site after the diocese was established in 1918 immediately wrote a letter to all parish priests in Fatima saying the shrine “is a place of silence, of prayer and of sacrifice.”

Because of this, it’s forbidden to set off fireworks, play music or sell alcohol on the property, Fr. Pereira said, stressing that that the shrine wants to preserve Fatima as much as possible as a place “of silence to pray and make sacrifices.”

Fr. Pereira, who oversees all of the shrine’s liturgies, said the presence of silence in Fatima is especially seen and felt during the annual vigil marking Mary’s first apparition at the site.

On May 13, 1917, Mary appeared to three shepherd children – Lucia dos Santos, 10, and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, 9 and 7 – in a field in Fatima, Portugal, bringing requests for the recitation of the rosary, for sacrifices on behalf of sinners, and a three-part secret regarding the fate of the world.

After her initial appearance May 13, she requested that the children return on the 13th of each month until October, making similar requests in each conversation with the shepherds.

In 1930, Bishop Dom Jose Aleves Correia da Silva of the Diocese of Leiria declared that based on the results of the investigative commission, the apparitions at Fatima were “worthy of belief,” the highest recognition a Marian apparition can receive from the Church.

To mark the day of the first apparition, each year on the night of May 12 the Fatima shrine holds a large-scale version of their nightly candlelight vigil and rosary, followed by Mass. This year, Pope Francis will preside over the vigil to mark the 100th anniversary of Our Lady’s first appearance.

The night begins with a blessing of the candles and a procession in which the shrine’s resident statue of Our Lady of Fatima is carried up to the main altar, often with hymns being sung in the background. The rosary is then prayed and Mass offered before the statue is returned to its place in the Chapel of the Apparitions at the center of the shrine’s large square, marking the place where Mary appeared.

However, rather than being accompanied by music and hymns, this return procession is done completely in silence, Fr. Pereira said, adding that “it’s amazing that even when the shrine is full of people, all the people make absolute silence because it’s a sign that we want to listen to the presence of God.”

“We always have a night of vigil in silence,” he said, explaining that they try to maintain this silence for as long as possible.

While the rest of the vigil, which ends at 7 a.m., is filled with different prayers including Masses, the Stations of the Cross and the Liturgy of the Hours, to start this vigil in silence is key to placing oneself in the presence of God.

It’s an opportunity, the priest said, “to stop a moment in our life, in our agitated lives, to stop a moment,” and focus on what’s essential.

To be able to sit in front of Our Lady and pray in silence, even when surrounded by other people, is “very impressive,” he said, but noted that it’s not always easy to keep this silence with the buzz of people and pilgrims constantly coming through.

However, he said the shrine always tries to help pilgrims see the place as “a big church, even in the open … so that we can see this place as a place of silence, so that we can pray and meditate on this message of Our Lady.”

“Seeing the image of Our Lady in silence is impressive because after five or ten minutes in silence, we can see something that is born in our heart,” he said. “We can feel something very profound: this connection with God, with Our Lady.”

This silence is also a key time to reflect on how to live “after our conversion,” because after going on pilgrimage to any holy place, “when we return to our homes we always return changed, as changed persons in our hearts, in our souls, in our minds, in our spirits.”

“And this silence,” he said, “is an important condition so that we can change ourselves.”

Pope Francis will preside over the vigil after a meeting with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and a brief visit to the chapel at the Monte Real airbase where he lands.

He’ll open the night with a prayer before going to dinner, and then return to bless the candles used during the vigil and to lead pilgrims in the rosary.

The Pope is expected to leave around 10 p.m., but Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin will then offer Mass for the pilgrims gathered.

According to official estimates from the shrine itself, some between 500,000 and 800,000 pilgrims are expected to participate in the vigil and Mass with Pope Francis the next morning, during which he will canonize Fatima visionaries Francisco and Jacinta Marto.

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‘Miracle of the sun’ broke darkness of Portugal’s atheist regimes

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • May 12, 2017

Crowds looking at the Miracle of the Sun occurring during the Our Lady of Fatima apparitions. (Public domain)

Fatima, Portugal — On “the day the sun danced,” thousands of people bore witness to a miracle that not only proved the validity of the Fatima Marian apparitions, but is also said to have shattered the prevalent belief at the time that God was no longer relevant.

What crowds witnessed the day of the miracle was “the news that God, in the end, contrary to what was said in the philosophy books at that time, was alive and acting in the midst of men,” Dr. Marco Daniel Duarte told CNA in an interview.

If one were to open philosophy books during that period, they would likely read something akin to the concept conceived by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who died in 1900 and boldly made the assertion in his 1882 collection “The Gay Science” that “God is dead.”

Yet as this and other philosophies like it were gaining steam in the life and thought of society, the Virgin Mary appears and tells three small shepherds that “God is alive and still attentive to humanity, even though humanity is waging war with one another.”

Duarte, a theologian and director of the Fatima shrine museums, spoke about the cultural significance of the Miracle of the Sun given the atheistic thought prevalent in Portuguese society at the time.

In 1917, Portugal, like the majority of the world at the time, was embroiled in war. As World War I raged throughout Europe, Portugal found itself unable to maintain its initial neutrality and joined forces with the Allies, in order to protect colonies in Africa and to defend their trade with Britain. About 220,000 Portuguese civilians died during the war; thousands due to food shortages, thousands more from the Spanish flu.

Compounding the problem, government stability in the country had been rocky at best following the revolution and coup d’état that led to the overthrow of the monarchy and subsequent establishment of the First Portuguese Republic in 1910.

A new liberal constitution separating Church and state was drafted under the influence of Freemasonry, which sought to omit the faith – which for many was the backbone of Portuguese culture and society – from public life.

Anti-Catholicism in Portugal had initially begun in the 18th century during the term of statesman Marquês de Pombal, and flared up again after the drafting of the new constitution.

Catholic churches and schools were seized by the government, and the wearing of clerics in public, the ringing of church bells, and the celebrating of popular religious festivals were banned. Between 1911-1916, nearly 2,000 priests, monks and nuns were killed by anti-Christian groups.

This was the backdrop against which Mary, in 1917, appeared to three shepherd children – Lucia dos Santos, 10, and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, 9 and 7 – in a field in Fatima, Portugal, bringing with her requests for the recitation of the rosary, for sacrifices on behalf of sinners, and a secret regarding the fate of the world.

To prove that the apparitions were true, Mary promised the children that during the last of her six appearances she would provide a “sign” so people would believe in the apparitions and in her message.

What happened on that day – Oct. 13, 1917 – has come to be known as the “Miracle of the Sun,” or “the day the sun danced.”

According to various accounts, a crowd of some 70,000 people – believers and skeptics alike – gathered to see the miracle that Mary had promised. After appearing and speaking to the children for some time, Mary then “cast her own light upon the sun.”

The previously rainy sky cleared up, the clouds dispersed and the ground, which had been wet and muddy from the rain, was dried. A transparent veil came over the sun, making it easy to look at, and multi-colored lights were strewn across the landscape.

The sun then began to spin, twirling in the sky, and at one point appeared to veer toward earth before jumping back to its place in the sky.

Duarte said the miracle was a direct, and very convincing contradiction to the atheistic regimes at the time, which is evidenced by the fact that the first newspaper to report on the miracle was an anti-Catholic, Masonic newspaper in Lisbon called O Seculo.

The Miracle of the Sun, he said, was understood by the people to be “the seal, the guarantee that in fact those three children were telling the truth.”

Even today, “Fatima makes people change their perception of God,” he said, explaining that for him, one of the most important messages of the apparitions is that “even if man has separated God from his existence, God is present in human history and doesn’t abandon humanity.”

With World War I raging, a war the likes of which the world had never seen, Mary appeared to tell the children that “that story can have another ending, when the power of prayer is stronger than the power of bullets.”

The Miracle of the Sun is also the heart of a special exhibition called “The Colors of the Sun” the shrine is offering for the duration of the centenary year of the apparitions, which focuses on the symbolic nature of the miracle and its cultural significance.

Displayed are “various objects, some older, others more contemporary, some more modern, some made of textile, others of organic materials, paintings, sculptures,” but which are all “placed with a narrative,” he said.

Beginning with a set of black umbrellas used by people who had gathered at the Cova de Iria (Cave of Iria) where Mary appeared Oct. 13, the exhibit aims to build a narrative of what people saw that day, and is supplemented with different works that express the various elements of Mary’s message to the children.

It also shows developments of how the shrine developed over the years, showing the transformation of what used to be a small, simple chapel into what is now two basilicas: the Basilica of Nossa Senhora do Rosario (Our Lady of the Rosary) and Basilica da Santissima Trindade (Basilica of the Holy Trinity), with an open chapel in between where the statue of Our Lady of Fatima resides.

Pieces come from all over the world – some from the Fatima shrine, some from the State of Portugal, and some even hail from Germany and France.

One of the highlight pieces is a giant heart made by Joana Vasconcelos, a well-known Portuguese artist who crafted the piece entirely out of red plastic ware, such as spoons and forks.

“It’s material that isn’t important for anyone, but which after everything is united, forms the image of a heart and can be the image of reparation,” Duarte said.

The exhibit closes with white parasols, rather than umbrellas, in order to show the fruit of the miracle, Duarte said, adding that it can also signify “the presence of God, the Eucharistic Christ.”

In this sense, the parasols “can be for us a symbol that also we can be God’s tabernacles and can be the place where God dwells,” he said. “This is the true shrine that God wants. The shrine of Fatima is precisely the image of what God wants: to dwell among men.”

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Our Lady of Fatima and a theological reading of history

by Bishop Robert Barron • May 16, 2017

This past week, we celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady to a group of shepherd children near the Portuguese town of Fatima. The series of Fatima appearances — lasting from May until October of 1917 — is one of the most extraordinary in the history of the Church. It has also beguiled political and cultural commentators outside the ambit of the Church, and it is this wider implication that I would like to explore.

This particular visitation of Mary took place at the height of the First World War, which signaled the end of Enlightenment confidence in the perfectibility of the human being, and in the year of the Bolshevik Revolution, which would exert, for most of the twentieth-century, a massively deleterious influence. To the simple children, who barely understood what she was saying, Our Lady announced that the Great War would soon end, and she also called for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart. Furthermore, she urged the children to pray for the conversion of Russia, which was a mysterious exhortation, given that, at the time of this communication, the Communist revolution in that country had not yet taken place.

And the confirmation of the veracity of the Fatima appearances is one of the most stunning and widely-attested miracles in the history of Christianity. In the afternoon of October 13, 1917, approximately 70,000 people had gathered at the apparition site in order to witness what the Lady had promised would be a marvelous sign. Among this throng were many secularists and skeptics who had come only to scoff. But before the eyes of seventy-thousand people, the sun commenced to “dance,” turning and dashing from place to place in the sky and finally appearing to plummet toward the earth. Some of the most astounding accounts of this incident were composed by journalists of an agnostic or atheist persuasion.

So what does the message of Our Lady of Fatima, considered in the widest sense, imply? It implies that the God of the Bible is a living God, by which I mean, a God who involves himself as an actor in human history. From the seventeenth century on, in the West at any rate, a casual Deism has held sway in the minds of many who profess faith in God. By this I mean the belief that God is a distant power, who established the laws of nature and set things in motion, but who remains aloof from the ordinary affairs of the world. But this view is repugnant to the Biblical conception of God. According to the Scriptures, God indeed created the universe and established its laws, but he also exercises a personal and providential care for all that he has made. Jesus expressed this idea both precisely and poetically: “Not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your heavenly Father knowing it.” Throughout the historical books of the Old Testament, we find events unfolding according to recognizable dynamics economic, political, and psychological, but through it all, under it all, God is also acting, mysteriously accomplishing his will.

This way of reading history was bequeathed from the Biblical authors to the great tradition, and thus we find theological masters from Augustine to Robert Bellarmine to John Henry Newman interpreting world affairs through the prism of God’s providence. Augustine’s City of God, written in the wake of the sack of Rome, is particularly instructive in this regard. The great saint certainly understood the political, military, and cultural dynamics that contributed to the disaster, but he was especially sensitive to the sacred dimension of the event. The fall of Rome was ingredient, he argued across more than a thousand pages, in a divine providential plan that stretches from beginning to end of history. Kings, emperors, generals, soldiers, and writers made their moves, but underneath them all, God was making his moves and accomplishing his purpose. I will readily grant that the sifting of this providential design can be a dicey business, subject to various types of distortion and wishful thinking, but I will insist that abandoning the effort altogether is to surrender to a reading of history and a theology of God that are at odds with the Bible.

In our own time, no one played the Augustinian role of theological interpreter of history more effectively than St. John Paul II. Having personally experienced the tyranny of two of the worst and most abusive dictatorships in human history, Karol Wojtyla could nevertheless, upon assuming the papal office, tell the world “to be not afraid.” If we were reading things through purely economic or political lenses, such a recommendation would appear foolish at best, delusional at worst. But because John Paul read things theologically, he knew that mercy and love finally triumph, and he understood that any proposal for human flourishing that did not include God would necessarily fall victim to its own internal contradictions. This latter conviction sustained his non-violent but massively effective assault upon Communism from 1979 to 1989.

And his theological reading of history enabled him to grasp that Our Lady of Fatima’s summons to pray for the conversion of Russia was far from a pious fantasy, that in point of fact, it provides the interpretive key for understanding perhaps the pivotal event in the history of the late twentieth century.

Bishop Robert Barron is an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries (wordonfire.org). He is the creator of two award-winning documentary series, Catholicism and Catholicism: The New Evangelization.

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What the littlest children can teach us about suffering

by Mary Rezac (CNA/EWTN News) • May 17, 2017

Brendan Kelly meets Pope John Paul II. (TANbooks)

Denver, CO —”There will be saints among the children.”

So said Pope Pius X, when he lowered the age that children could receive their First Holy Communion. Previously, children had to be 10 or 12, now they are typically in second grade, or about seven or eight years old, though exceptions are made for some who are even younger.

Last weekend, Pope Francis canonized Sts. Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the child visionaries of the Fatima Marian apparitions. Bucking tradition, these shepherd children are the first children who were not martyrs to be canonized by the Church. Both died before age 12.

Austin Ruse, Catholic author and president of C-Fam, a family research institute, believes that Pope Francis may have just “opened the floodgates” to scores of saints from the littlest among us.

Several years ago, Ruse was struck by the stories of three children he knew - either personally or peripherally - that all seemed to have a common theme: “little children who died young, suffered greatly, and brought many people to Christ and his Church through their suffering.”

“They were just profound stories and they needed to be told,” he said in an interview with CNA.

In his recent book, “Littlest Suffering Souls,” Ruse tells of the short but significant lives of six children, three of them contemporary children whose families he has met.

Suffering, with ‘countless graces’

One of those children was Brendan Kelly, whose family went to Ruse’s parish, and whose funeral Ruse attended. While he had never met Brendan, Ruse had been praying for him.

Brendan was born to a devout Catholic family in Virginia. His parents, Frank and Maura, met while working in the George H. W. Bush White House in 1990.

Brendan was born with Down syndrome, and a seemingly innate love for Jesus. By the age of two, he loved to kiss crucifixes and statues of saints.

It was also at that age that a test confirmed Brendan had leukemia. He began a series of intense and painful treatments that would become an off-and-on part of the rest of his life.

“But along with the suffering would come countless graces,” Ruse noted.

One of the biggest graces was the “mystical” friendship that Brendan would develop with the pope at the time, Pope John Paul II.

Former senator and presidential candidate Rick Santorum, a family friend, personally delivered a photo of Brendan to Pope John Paul II while on a state visit to the Vatican. Once Brendan found out the pope was praying for him personally, he started praying for the pope personally too - every night.

Some time later, Brendan was offered a wish from the Make a Wish Foundation, the group that grants wishes to very sick children - typically a visit to Disneyland, or something along those lines.

But Brendan wanted something different.

“Me meet pope!” the toddler exclaimed. The Make-a-Wish officials were not convinced that this request was coming from the little boy, and so they shooed his parents out of the room. After an hour of questioning, Brendan didn’t waiver.

And so he did meet the pope - at the age of four, Brendan was granted an audience with Pope John Paul II. Not satisfied with the standard brief meeting and shaking of hands, Brendan stood by Pope John Paul II as he greeted everyone in the audience that day. As the pope was leaving, Brendan shouted “Bye, Pope!” and was able to shake hands one last time with the spiritual giant and his personal hero.

Other incredible moments of grace and signs of God’s presence occurred throughout Brendan’s short life. On one occasion, one of Frank’s friends, Peter O’Malley, was in the midst of a terrorist attack at Taj Mahal Palace in 2008.

In his moment of crisis, O’Malley knew who to call for prayers. Brendan prayed, and O’Malley escaped unharmed that night, when 164 people were shot.

His parish priest, Father Drummond, said he was first struck by Brendan’s faith and “absolute joy” as he was preparing him for communion and confession. When Father told him he would get to wear the black and white vestments of an altar boy, “He got a faraway look in his eyes and said quietly, ‘I love those.’”

Throughout his short life, Brendan would suffer bouts of leukemia, and grueling treatments. Before each one, his parents would ask him for whom he would offer his suffering - and he always had an intention.

One of his most frequent intentions was Bella Santorum, Rick Santorum’s daughter, who was born with a rare genetic disorder, Trisomy 18. She was only supposed to live a few months, but Brendan offered his suffering for her throughout his entire life. “Bella, I love you,” he would repeat during moments of pain. She is still alive today, some nine years longer than she was expected to live.

“(Brendan) very early on grabbed onto the idea of offering up his suffering, and he always would do it cheerfully, even though it was unbelievably painful, or it made him incredibly sick, he just knew that throwing up for the tenth time, this time is going to be for somebody, and it was useful,” Frank told CNA.

At the same time, he was a normal boy. He didn’t want to be sick, he loved to play with his siblings and be the life of the party. And he could school anyone in trivia from his favorite TV show “The Office.” He could name the season and the episode of any quote from Michael Scott or Dwight Schrute that his family could lob at him.

And so, when sick from leukemia and quarantined for a bone marrow transplant as a teenager, Brendan and his family played office trivia through a small, grainy TV - the only way they could communicate during the sterile procedure. Soon a crowd of doctors and nurses joined in the fun.

But it was his profound faith and joyful personality that impacted almost everyone he met, and that drew people to him.

“He wasn’t just this always smiley, (disabled) little child,” Frank said. “He would have very profound conversations with people, and say things that would profoundly impact people.”

When he passed away in 2013, at the age of 16, the line at his wake had to be cut short after three hours of people filing past to pay their final respects to Brendan.

“We had to go outside and thank everybody because it was too long, and there was almost an equal number of people at the funeral Mass the next day,” Frank said.

Since that day, they’ve had hundreds of requests for prayer cards of Brendan.

Frank said it has been a “surreal” experience to have a child whose impact is so great that there are people asking for his prayers.

He said he hopes that people who read Brendan’s story and are experiencing suffering themselves understand that they are never alone.

“Brendan never felt alone, and he knew that people were praying for him, starting with Pope John Paul II to the builders who were working on our house, to people he never knew,” Frank said. Even people in other countries who had never met Brendan had offered their prayers.

A witness amid the ‘culture of death’

Another suffering soul, Margaret Leo, also had a dad who worked in the Washington, D.C. political scene. Leonard Leo is the executive vice president of the Federalist Society - a law organization to which several federal and Supreme Court justices belong. He also worked for President George W. Bush’s administration at one time.

Though Margaret suffered throughout her life from spina bifida and related complications, she bore everything with a cheerful smile and a simple but profound faith. Her photo now sits on the desk of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Ruse names the people impacted by these suffering souls in his book intentionally.

These were not peasant children, like Sts. Francisco and Jacinta Marto, Ruse noted, and that’s important.

“They were born into influence and affluence, into a modern day (moral) desert, and they have a message for the modern day desert - all lives are worth living, there are no useless lives, even short, painful lives have a great deal of meaning,” Ruse said.

“We live in an age that people call the culture of death, aimed largely at the defenseless: children, the elderly, the disabled, the intellectually disabled, and these children are witnesses to the fact that all lives are worth living, even ones that are judged not to be worth living.”

It’s something that Margaret’s mom, Sally, hopes that people understand as they read her daughter’s story.

“Especially because such a high percentage of children with spina bifida and other disabilities are aborted these days, and we barely even ever see them,” she told CNA.

“If that wasn’t the case, we would see these kids walking around, we would see kids with braces or crutches or Down syndrome all the time, but 80-90 percent of them are killed, they’re not even given the chance.”

But in Sally’s experience, “It was a gift.”

Margaret taught them about faith and love in the simplest of ways. She gently pestered her dad until he became a daily Mass attendee. She would ask people when they were going to baptize their new baby, or if they had been confirmed.

“Her faith would invariably come up in any discussion that was more the perfunctory, and it would have an impact on people,” her father, Leonard, told CNA.

But she wasn’t a mystic, her parents insist. She just had a strong attraction to holy and beautiful things, and an intense but simple joy that was attractive to those around her. She loved coloring, and being involved in her siblings’ antics, and holding babies.

“In other words, you wouldn’t necessarily go away thinking, ‘Oh wow, I just met a saint.’ But she would say to you, ‘Hi, how are you? How was your day? How was your birthday? When’s your confirmation?’ She wanted to know about you, which was really what touched people most about her, because you don’t necessarily find that among strangers,” Sally said.

“Charity and kindness and friendship, but at its most pure and most intense level,” Leonard added.

Margaret’s spina bifida meant that she had to have titanium rods placed in her back to straighten her spine. But instead, Margaret’s back bent the titanium rods - so much so that they ended up protruding from her neck. Despite it all, Margaret did not complain.

“It’s ok,” she would cheerfully say, even when it was clear that it was not.

Today, Leonard keeps the rods on his desk - “to remind me what a real bad day looks like.”

After Margaret passed away and her story spread, the Leos were surprised at the impact their simple but faithful little girl was having on the people around them. When Ruse published an article about Margaret, they received hundreds of requests for a prayer card of her.

What continues to draw people to Margaret is how she suffered with joy and trust in God, Leonard said.

“I think at some level that when we’re faced with adversity and suffering, we wish that we could be filled with joy, and we could be able to confront it in a way that brings us closer to God and closer to other people, and make the very best of it,” he said.

“And so when you saw her, it was impossible not to be reminded of the fact that we should be filled with joy, we should be thankful to God. As her tombstone says, we should be praying and thanking God without ceasing.”

Tears of inspiration

The third contemporary little suffering soul whose story Ruse tells is that of Audrey from France.

Although her parents were lukewarm Catholics when she was born, Audrey was “spiritually precocious” from a young age.

She practiced mortification by carrying home her school pencils in her shoe. She begged to receive Holy Communion at the age of five. Upon examining her, her priest found her ready to do so, because she understood that Holy Communion is Jesus, “And I want to receive Jesus.” She insisted that her family say grace before meals and a prayer for vocations every night.

She was also sure from a young age that she had a Carmelite vocation, “Caramel” as the little girl pronounced it.

This surprising faith scared Lillian, Audrey’s mom, who wasn’t sure where Audrey was getting her ideas.

“Follow her,” a priest told Lillian.

But she was also scared that her daughter’s spiritual maturity meant great trials were ahead - and they were. At a very young age, Audrey was diagnosed with leukemia.

When Lillian broke the news to Audrey, “She got this very wise, very gentle sort of look” and told her mother that they were “going to do what Jesus says. We’re going to be like the birds in the sky, and we’re just going to take one day at a time.”

“I can’t say that without weeping,” Ruse said.

And indeed, “Littlest Suffering Souls” is a book that will make you weep. But not in a sad way.

“We’re not crying out of sadness, we’re crying out of inspiration,” Ruse said.

“They’re neither tears of joy nor sadness, they’re some other kind of tear, that I don’t have the name for, but it’s just being moved by these inspiring stories.”

Audrey battled leukemia for several years, and, like Brendan, made it on the personal prayer list of Pope John Paul II after her dad was able to hand him a photo of her.

Audrey too offered her sufferings for specific intentions, and, like Brendan, people began flooding her with prayer requests. She had a special heart for vocations, and prayed especially for her Uncle Mick - who is now a priest today.

A bone marrow transplant for Audrey eventually proved ineffective. Knowing she was near death, her family took her to Lourdes, and then to Rome, where she was able to meet Pope John Paul II.

They spoke together for several minutes, captured by a photo of Audrey’s swollen head next to the bent-down head of the now-Saint.

While no one knows what was said between the two of them, for the rest of the day, John Paul II could be heard around the Vatican muttering her name: “Audrey, Audrey, Audrey.”

She also asked to be confirmed, and insisted that the party be an “elegant” event - one of her favorite words, but one that she meant in beautiful simplicity, rather than extravagance.

In her final weeks, which she was able to spend at home, Audrey spent hours in the family’s chapel, where the bishop had allowed them to keep the blessed sacrament. She told her grandma that she spent her days praying and waiting.

She passed away at 3 p.m., the hour of mercy, on August 22, 1991, the Feast of the Queenship of Mary. Her father Jerome had prayed she would pass away on a Marian feast day.

Audrey’s cause for canonization has been opened, and her story has spread throughout France and indeed throughout the world. Seminarians pray for her intercession for their vocations. A Carmelite convent in Spain has her First Communion dress on display, with permission of the family.

Lessons learned

The suffering of children is a difficult subject, but one that captures the attention of all, Ruse said.

“It seems to us to be profoundly unfair that children suffer, and that’s a common human reaction,” he reflected.

“Moreover, the reaction of these particular children to their suffering and maladies is confounding to those of us who cannot even handle the simple contradictions of the day very well,” he said.

“The simplest things can vex us, and yet these are kids who had bone marrow transplants and while they had them, Audrey was singing songs to Mary, and Brendan was offering his suffering for others - they’re just astounding.”

At the end of his book, Ruse offers what he believes are several lessons that can be learned from the stories of little suffering souls - forbearance, simplicity, a love for God, particularly in the Eucharist.

Moreover, he said, we learn that each life has dignity.

“Our modern man might see a child suffering from leukemia who has died young and see nothing but a misbegotten tragedy, a life with no meaning,” he wrote.

“In the simplest terms, modern man is wrong. The Littlest Suffering Souls stand as witnesses to the proposition that all human life has meaning and dignity, even and especially those lives we may not fully understand.”

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FEATURES

Menorah exhibit in Rome underlines positive Catholic-Jewish relations

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • May 18, 2017

The Magdala Stone. (Hanay via Wikimedia CC BY-SA 3.0)

Rome, Italy — At the center of the first joint exhibit between the Vatican Museums and the Jewish museum in Rome is the Magdala Stone, a large decorated stone block from a first century Galilean synagogue which has shed light on synagogue worship before the destruction of the Second Temple.

The Magdala Stone was found during the excavation of an synagogue on the site of what is believed to be Magdala, the hometown of Mary Magdalene. The 4.2 cubic feet limestone block may have been used as a bema, on which the Torah was read.

It is carved on four sides and its top with decorative symbols, most prominently the Menorah which was found in the Jewish Temple – a seven-branch menorah described in Exodus, distinct from the nine-branch menorah associated with Hannukah and the Maccabees.

The stone is the centerpiece of the exhibit “Menorah: Worship, History, and Legend,” shown simultaneously at the Jewish Museum and the Braccio di Carlo Magno Museum in the Vatican, located under the left colonnade in St. Peter’s Square.

The exhibit runs May 15-July 23 and includes roughly 130 pieces, including menorahs from various periods and depictions of them in paintings, sarcophagi, sculptures, and medieval and Renaissance drawings and manuscripts.

This is the first time the Magdala Stone has left Israel or been displayed publicly, and its presence at the Vatican is just “one more sign of the collapsing of the walls between Christianity and Judaism,” in the opinion of Fr. Juan Solana, L.C., General Director of the Magdala Project.

Fr. Solana told CNA that the stone’s presence at the exhibit marks not only an interreligious effort between the Vatican Museums and the Jewish museums in Rome, but also collaboration between Vatican City and the State of Israel.

“I know that it was a lot of work behind the scenes to make it happen,” he explained. “I think it really shows the importance of interreligious dialogue and especially dialogue and friendship between Catholics and Jews.”

Magdala “is very close to Capernaum, in the old area where Jesus preached and taught and performed many miracles,” Fr. Solana said. “So we believe that Jesus went to Magdala and eventually he went to the synagogue and preached there.”

While they can’t know for sure, it is even possible that Christ used the Magdala Stone himself to display scrolls of the Torah.

The town and synagogue were first discovered in 2009 during excavations in preparation for building a Catholic center in Israel. Stalled by the discovery of the site, the Magdala Center, as it is called, is still in the works.

“We found the whole town of Mary Magdalene,” Fr. Solana said; and the cherry on the top, so-to-speak, was the Magdala Stone.

There are seven synagogues known of from the period of Christ’s life and more or less 50 years before and after, but in no other synagogue have they found this kind of block, he said.

Archaeologists found a total of three stone blocks in Magdala: one from what was probably a school of the synagogue and one which had been reused as a chair of Moses, the place of authority from which the scribes and Pharisees interpreted the Jewish law. The Magdala Stone was at the center of the synagogue.

The stone is considered important for Judaism because Jewish scholars believe it marks a change within Judaism itself, brought about by the influence of Christianity, Fr. Solana explained.

This is because “Jesus destroyed the idea of the Temple as the center of Judaism,” he said, “and it was confirmed by the destruction of the Temple” in AD 70.

The Magdala Stone and the synagogue both pre-date the destruction of the Temple, which has been confirmed by coins found inside which range from AD 5 to 63 – the time of Christ’s life and the first generation of Christians.

Of course, this makes them very important pieces historically, Fr. Solana continued, explaining that the stone itself is a model of the destroyed Temple in Jerusalem. Covered in carvings of Jewish symbols, more even than the Temple itself, it also displays the oldest-known carving of a menorah in Israel.

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FEATURES

Double review: ‘Alien: Covenant’ and ‘Everything, Everything’

by Carl Kozlowski • May 19, 2017

With the summer movie season kicking into high gear, there’s plenty of films coming out each weekend – and this time around, you can’t ask for a bigger difference in styles than the latest epic in the “Alien” series, and the teen romance “Everything, Everything.”

“Alien: Covenant” marks the sixth official film in the “Alien” series, which means no one counts the two awful and stupid “Alien Versus Predator” movies made just over a decade ago. Director Ridley Scott exploded into the top tier of directors with the first “Alien” in 1979, and after branching out with an eclectic array of other classics including “Gladiator” and “Thelma & Louise,” he returned to the well with the “Alien” prequel “Prometheus” five years ago.

That film launched a trilogy designed to show how the vicious aliens came into being prior to the initial film’s atrocities, and this weekend he’s back to reveal more of how the aliens originated with “Covenant.” But with less memorable humans in the battle, it’s getting harder to care about their fates.

The film opens with a flashback to an unspecified time decades before when David (Michael Fassbender), the android who played a key role as part of the crew in “Prometheus,” was being trained by its creator, Dr. Weyland (Guy Pearce). As they discuss God and creation, there is a brewing air of tension between the two as David seems to bristle at the idea of being controlled.

But most of the film takes place in 2104, about a decade after “Prometheus,” and features a giant spaceship called Covenant with a 16-member crew in charge of 2,000 people and hundreds of embryos all hoping to colonize a distant planet. All are in cryogenically suspended sleep for the decades-long journey, under the care of an android named Walter (also Fassbender), and another android in the mold of David.

When the Covenant gets caught in a space storm that cuts off some of its power, the crew is forced awake. The captain (James Franco in what has to be the shortest cameo in years) dies in the havoc, leaving Oram (Billy Crudup) in charge amid tensions wrought by the fact he orders them to fix the ship with no real time to mourn the death of their former leader.

The ship suddenly receives a video signal of a woman speaking English, and Oram orders the crew to go off-course and explore the planet it came from. As they land, they are surprised to find it so similar to Earth that Oram tells them to consider it as an alternative place to simply stop and colonize instead of their original destination.

What they don’t yet realize is that the planet is where the Prometheus ship of the prior film disappeared, and everything is covered with alien pathogens. When one unfortunate crewman is infected, they soon find themselves under attack by alien creatures that start out small and morph ever further into the grisly beasts that fans have come to know and fear.

They also stumble across David, who has been living there in darkness for the past decade — leading to tension between Walter and David that could affect them all.

Director Scott continues his tradition of brewing slow-building tension and an intense sense of atmosphere, with the film taking at least 45 minutes to have its first big alien encounter. Once they start, however, the battles come fast and furious, with plenty of inventive ways for the crew to die.

While “Covenant” features a certain interest in engaging philosophical ideas about the nature of creation, the film is lacking in charismatic characters like Ripley and suffers somewhat as a result. By comparison, the victims are mostly interchangeable pieces of meat here, leaving the film to be less tasty than it might have been for all but its core fan base.

“Covenant” also has a shocking and depressing finale in which a force of evil clearly wins, and aside from the many moments of nasty blood and bodily fluids spilled out in the alien battles, it features about 40 uses of the F word and a brief shower sex scene that features the woman briefly topless and shows both participants’ derrieres before an alien interrupts in gruesome fashion. It’s definitely not for kids or teens, but adults who have handled the rest of the series or don’t mind gross scares should handle it fine, even though it’s more grim than great as entertainment.

Meanwhile, “Everything, Everything” tells the story of a teen girl who has been trapped in her house her entire life due to being allergic to everything and the new boy next door whom she falls for and risks her health.

Maddy (Amandla Stenberg) is a 17-year-old girl who has never left her suburban Los Angeles home because of having a disorder that makes her allergic to nearly everything in the outside world. She is a virtual prisoner in her home with her doctor mother Pauline, who treats Maddy herself and hasn’t allowed anyone to enter the house other than her longtime maid Carla and Carla’s daughter since her husband and other child died in a car crash 15 years before.

One day, a cute teenage boy named Olly (Nick Robinson) moves in next door, and he and Maddy start flirting via text messages almost instantly. As Maddy develops feelings for him, she reveals her condition and the two find inventive ways to communicate via text, online and the phone, with Maddy imagining some of their conversations taking place in a model she’s building of a diner.

Eventually, Carla sneaks Olly into the house on the condition the teens don’t make physical contact with each other in any way. Thus, the movie seems like it’s going to show a chaste relationship based on truly getting to know each other.

But Maddy has Olly come over for the 4th of July, when both her mom and Carla are gone, and the couple kiss. When Maddy manages to avoid getting sick, she becomes more determined to develop a real relationship with Olly, but when she runs outside in a panic to help Olly after he gets hit in a fight with his alcoholic father, Pauline forces their contact to end – leading to a plan to escape together.

“Everything, Everything” has engaging performances from its lead teen couple, with Stenberg and Robinson having a fun chemistry together. However, the story is extremely limited and rather claustrophobic since so much takes place in Maddy’s house, so it is easy to lose interest in it fairly early.

(SPOILER ALERT) When the couple run away together, the movie also strangely has a very limited portrayal of what a girl who’s basically been a prisoner her entire life would do while discovering the world for the first time. And their sweet romance is tarnished by the fact they have romantically portrayed sex together without moral consequences on their first night away, which sets a poor example for its target teen audience.

Maddy’s mother Pauline also is proven to have engaged in major deception with Maddy, though they are shown forgiving each other, with a nice portrayal of a mother-teen daughter relationship (END SPOILER).

Overall, “Everything, Everything” doesn’t have that much going for it. The teen girls in the advance screening laughed at a lot of the humor and swooned audibly in the couple’s sweeter moments, but most audiences will find that it’s too simple and limited in its plotting to truly care about them. It admirably has almost no foul language, but its casual attitude towards teen sex makes it inappropriate for teens and merits caution for all viewers.

Carl Kozlowski has been a professional film critic and essayist for the past five years at Pasadena Weekly, in addition to the Christian movie site Movieguide.org, the conservative pop culture site Breitbart.com’s Big Hollywood, the Christian pop culture magazine Relevant, and New City newspaper in Chicago. He also writes in-depth celebrity interviews for Esquire.com and The Progressive. He is owner of the podcasting site radiotitans.com, which was named one of the Frontier Fifty in 2013 as one of the 50 best talk-radio outlets in the nation by talkers.com and will be re-launching it in January 2014 after a five-month sabbatical. He lives in Los Angeles.

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SUNDAY • MAY 21, 2017

Sixth Sunday of Easter

First Reading (Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; NRSVCE)

Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them. The crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what was said by Philip, hearing and seeing the signs that he did, for unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were possessed; and many others who were paralyzed or lame were cured. So there was great joy in that city.

Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20; NRSVCE)

R: (1) Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth.

Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth;

sing the glory of his name;

give to him glorious praise.

Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!”

R: Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth.

“All the earth worships you;

they sing praises to you,

sing praises to your name.”

Come and see what God has done:

he is awesome in his deeds among mortals.

R: Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth.

He turned the sea into dry land;

they passed through the river on foot.

There we rejoiced in him,

who rules by his might forever.

R: Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth.

Come and hear, all you who fear God,

and I will tell what he has done for me.

Blessed be God,

because he has not rejected my prayer

or removed his steadfast love from me.

R: Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth.

Second Reading (1 Pt 3:15-18; NRSVCE)

In your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.

Gospel Reading (Jn 14:15-21; NRSVCE)

Jesus said to his disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

MONDAY • MAY 22, 2017

Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter

First Reading (Acts 16:11-15; NRSVCE)

We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 149:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b; NRSVCE)

R: (see 4a) The Lord takes pleasure in his people.

Sing to the Lord a new song,

his praise in the assembly of the faithful.

Let Israel be glad in its Maker;

let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.

R: The Lord takes pleasure in his people.

Let them praise his name with dancing,

making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.

For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;

he adorns the humble with victory.

R: The Lord takes pleasure in his people.

Let the faithful exult in glory;

let them sing for joy on their couches.

Let the high praises of God be in their throats.

This is glory for all his faithful ones.

Praise the Lord!

R: The Lord takes pleasure in his people.

Gospel Reading (Jn 15:26 — 16:4a; NRSVCE)

Jesus said to his disciples, “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.

“I have said these things to you to keep you from stumbling. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God. And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me. But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them.”

TUESDAY • MAY 23, 2017

Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

First Reading (Acts 16:22-34; NRSVCE)

The crowd in Philippi joined in attacking Paul and Silas, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8; NRSVCE)

R: (7c) Your right hand delivers me, O Lord.

I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;

before the gods I sing your praise;

I bow down toward your holy temple

and give thanks to your name.

R: Your right hand delivers me, O Lord.

For your steadfast love and your faithfulness;

for you have exalted your name and your word

above everything.

On the day I called, you answered me,

you increased my strength of soul.

R: Your right hand delivers me, O Lord.

Your right hand delivers me.

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;

your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

Do not forsake the work of your hands.

R: Your right hand delivers me, O Lord.

Gospel Reading (Jn 16:5-11; NRSVCE)

Jesus said to his disciples, “But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.”

WEDNESDAY • MAY 24, 2017

Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

First Reading (Acts 17:15, 22 — 18:1; NRSVCE)

Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left him.

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him — though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’

Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; but others said, “We will hear you again about this.” At that point Paul left them. But some of them joined him and became believers, including Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 148:1-2, 11-12, 13, 14; NRSVCE)

R: Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Praise the Lord from the heavens;

praise him in the heights!

Praise him, all his angels;

praise him, all his host!

R: Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Kings of the earth and all peoples,

princes and all rulers of the earth!

Young men and women alike,

old and young together!

R: Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for his name alone is exalted;

his glory is above earth and heaven.

R: Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

He has raised up a horn for his people,

praise for all his faithful,

for the people of Israel who are close to him.

Praise the Lord!

R: Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Gospel Reading (Jn 16:12-15; NRSVCE)

Jesus said to his disciples, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

THURSDAY • MAY 25, 2017

Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter

First Reading (Acts 18:1-8; NRSVCE)

Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together — by trade they were tentmakers. Every sabbath he would argue in the synagogue and would try to convince Jews and Greeks.

When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with proclaiming the word, testifying to the Jews that the Messiah was Jesus. When they opposed and reviled him, in protest he shook the dust from his clothes and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” Then he left the synagogue and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the official of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul became believers and were baptized.

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4; NRSVCE)

R: (see 2b) The Lord has made known his victory in the sight of the nations.

O sing to the Lord a new song,

for he has done marvelous things.

His right hand and his holy arm

have gotten him victory.

R: The Lord has made known his victory in the sight of the nations.

The Lord has made known his victory;

he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.

He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness

to the house of Israel.

R: The Lord has made known his victory in the sight of the nations.

All the ends of the earth have seen

the victory of our God.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;

break forth into joyous song and sing praises.

R: The Lord has made known his victory in the sight of the nations.

Gospel Reading (Jn 16:16-20; NRSVCE)

Jesus said to his disciples, “A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.” Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying to us, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and ‘Because I am going to the Father?’” They said, “What does he mean by this ‘a little while?’ We do not know what he is talking about.” Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me?’ Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy.”

FRIDAY • MAY 26, 2017

Memorial of Saint Philip Neri

First Reading (Acts 18:9-18; NRSVCE)

One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.” He stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal. They said, “This man is persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to the law.” Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of crime or serious villainy, I would be justified in accepting the complaint of you Jews; but since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I do not wish to be a judge of these matters.” And he dismissed them from the tribunal. Then all of them seized Sosthenes, the official of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of these things.

After staying there for a considerable time, Paul said farewell to the believers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, for he was under a vow.

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 47:2-3, 4-5, 6-7; NRSVCE)

R: (8a) God is king over the nations.

Clap your hands, all you peoples;

shout to God with loud songs of joy.

For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,

a great king over all the earth.

R: God is king over the nations.

He subdued peoples under us,

and nations under our feet.

He chose our heritage for us,

the pride of Jacob whom he loves.

R: God is king over the nations.

God has gone up with a shout,

the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

Sing praises to God, sing praises;

sing praises to our King, sing praises.

R: God is king over the nations.

Gospel Reading (Jn 16:20-23; NRSVCE)

Jesus said to his disciples, “Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. When a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.”

SATURDAY • MAY 27, 2017

Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter

First Reading (Acts 18:23-28; NRSVCE)

After spending some time in Antioch, Paul departed and went from place to place through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

Now there came to Ephesus a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria. He was an eloquent man, well-versed in the scriptures. He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord; and he spoke with burning enthusiasm and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately. And when he wished to cross over to Achaia, the believers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. On his arrival he greatly helped those who through grace had become believers, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Messiah is Jesus.

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 47:2-3, 8-9, 10; NRSVCE)

R: (8a) God is king over the nations.

Clap your hands, all you peoples;

shout to God with loud songs of joy.

For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,

a great king over all the earth.

R: God is king over the nations.

For God is the king of all the earth;

sing praises with a psalm.

God is king over the nations;

God sits on his holy throne.

R: God is king over the nations.

The princes of the peoples gather

as the people of the God of Abraham.

For the shields of the earth belong to God;

he is highly exalted.

R: God is king over the nations.

Gospel Reading (Jn 16:23b-28; NRSVCE)

Jesus said to his disciples, “Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but will tell you plainly of the Father. On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.”