On May 30, at the opening session of the Theologico-pastoral Symposium held until June 1 at the Fatima Shrine, and attended by 340 people, was presented the latest cultural project of the institution: the periodical publication "Fatima XXI - Revista Cultural do Santuário de Fatima", already made known to journalists at the press conference held on May 12.
Amongst the many activities and proposals to give body to this seven year itinerary, which is already a celebration, is the visit of the Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady to all the Dioceses of Portugal and, before that, the visit of the same Statue to all the Convents and Monasteries of Contemplative Life also in Portugal. Each Female and Male Convent and Monastery, in a total of thirty-seven, will receive the Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady and keep it for a week.
The Sanctuary of Fatima rejoices and gives thanks to God for the canonization of John XXIII and John Paul II, next Sunday, the 27th April, at the Vatican. The act of proclaiming the holiness of these two Popes makes them more prominent to the eyes of today’s world, as examples and testimonies of the meaning of being a Christian.
Intending, as horizon, the celebration of the Centenary of the Apparitions, the Sanctuary of Fatima will conduct a thorough intervention of cleansing and restoration inside the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima, which will imply its closure over a long period of time.
As usual since about 30 years till today, the Shrine of Fatima will hold, next June 9 to 10, the Children’s Pilgrimage. This year, according to the Shrine’s pastoral project for the celebration of the Centennial of the Apparitions, the main event recalled shall be Our Lady’s Apparition of July 1917.
The Shrine of Fatima is proposing once again this year to its pilgrims and visitors a program of prayer and reflection materialized in a predefined course through several places of the Shrine. The Pilgrim’s Itinerary recalls the apparition and message of July 13, 1917. The course is traveled on foot, but the intention is that the walk be an occasion for meditation. Designed by Fr. Emanuel Matos Silva, this pastoral proposal begins next to the Rectory, in the direction of the Little Chapel, and then veers towards the Basilica of Most Holy Trinity, where it ends. The course can be made individually or in a group.
The pastoral year 2013-2014 is going to be dedicated to July’s apparition. The chosen theme is ‘Enveloped in the love of God for the world’ as the aspect which better allows to approach the different contents of the Message of Fatima communicated in this apparition.
The Shrine of Fatima launched, on October 12, the CD ‘Avé Fatima’, a collection of 17 hymns connected with the Shrine, sung by the Schola Cantorum Little Shepherds of Fatima. All the hymns, some of popular origin, were recorded in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima.
The Shrine of Fatima invites all interested parties to the Day of Presentation of the Pastoral Year 2013-2014, in the fourth year of celebration of the Centennial of the Apparitions. The session will be held, on the afternoon of November 30, in the amphitheater of Paul VI Pastoral Center, but it will be preceded first by the inauguration of a new exhibition in the Convivium (foyer) of St. Augustine, on the ground floor of the Complex of the Basilica of Most Holy Trinity.
On Sunday October 6, 2013, there will be held a campaign, titled ‘One of us’, to gather signatures to a petition asking the European Union to protect human life from the first moment of its existence. The Shrine of Fatima is joining this campaign and, therefore, invites all pilgrims to sign the petition in their parishes or directly in the Internet page opened for that purpose: http://www.oneofus./.
Bishop Gilberto Canavarro dos Reis, of Setúbal, Portugal, is going to preside, in Fatima, over September’s International Anniversary Pilgrimage, on days 12 and 13. The pilgrimage’s theme will be “Our hope is in the Lord” (See 2 Kings 18, 8).
In response to the desire of Holy Father Francis, the Statue of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima, venerated in the Little Chapel of Apparitions, will be brought to Rome on October 12/13 to be present at the Marian Day promoted by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization. On October 13, next to the Statue of Our Lady, Pope Francis will make the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
The exhibition “To be, the secret of the heart”, inaugurated at the Shrine of Fatima at the beginning of this pastoral year and open to the public in the underground Complex of the Basilica of Most Holy Trinity until the end of this October, gains now a new dimension by being able to be viewed through the Internet. Available in seven languages.
July’s International Anniversary Pilgrimage is to be presided over by Bishop Luis Quinteiro Fiuza, of Tuy-Vigo, Spain. The pilgrimage’s theme: “God remains faithful” (See 2Tim 2, 13). The program is the same as in the great anniversary pilgrimages throughout the year.
In the context of the new pastoral year and of the third cycle of celebrations of the Centennial of the Apparitions, the Shrine of Fatima proposes, to believers and non-believers alike, a diversified program with several activities throughout the year 2013. Amongst these stands out the 2013 Pastoral Theological Symposium titled “Be not afraid! Trust –Hope – Believer’s Attitude”, which will be held on June 21 thru 23 at Paul VI Pastoral Center, in the Good Shepherd Hall (Salão do Bom Pastor).
The Shrine of Fatima is joining the ecclesial moment of prayer proposed by Holy Father Francis, who has urged all dioceses and Christian communities throughout the world to hold, at the same time, an hour of Eucharistic adoration next Sunday June 2, Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.