The Most Rev. José Manuel Garcia Cordeiro, Bishop of Bragança-Miranda, presides over the International Anniversary Pilgrimage of June 12/13. Bishop Cordeiro is the 44th bishop of the Diocese of Bragança-Miranda. In declarations to the Shrine of Fatima, he spoke of the Marian devotion in his diocese and revealed the message he is bringing to Fatima.
From the message of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for the 46th World Communications Day: "Word and silence: learning to communicate is learning to listen and contemplate as well as speak. This is especially important for those engaged in the task of evangelization: both silence and word are essential elements, integral to the Church’s work of communication for the sake of a renewed proclamation of Christ in today’s world. To Mary, whose silence “listens to the Word and causes it to blossom”, I entrust all the work of evangelization which the Church undertakes through the means of social communication".
The annual pilgrimage of Adoración Nocturna Española (Spanish Night Adoration) to the Shrine of Fatima takes place between the 17th and the 20th of May. It is the largest single foreign pilgrimage coming from one country, Spain, and it is being held since 1987. According to the organizers, Adoración Nocturna Espanõla brings this year to Fatima more than five thousand pilgrims, accompanied by three Spanish bishops, for a 4-day “intense, vibrant and participated program of reflection”.
The President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi, presides over the International of May 12/13. On his arrival in Fatima, speaking to journalists, Cardinal Ravasi said that “Fatima ought to be considered a place not only of faith but also of culture. (…) Culture is not only the artistic experience, but also the experience of a people”. And he stressed that “our culture has as its polar star, on one hand, the Bible, on the other, Christian tradition”. Bishop António Marto, of Leiria-Fatima, was also present and spoke of Fatima as “a place for the encounter, communion, not only of people but also of cultures, all united by the beauty of the celebration of that same faith”.
The Missionary Exhibition “Expand your tent” is going to be inaugurated on May 12, at the Shrine of Fatima. It is an imitative fruit of a partnership between the Missionary Institutes Ad Gentes and the Shrine of Fatima. Besides being a gesture of thanksgiving to God, another purpose of the exhibit is to promote the renewal of enthusiasm for the Mission of the Church in Portugal. Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture and presider of the International Anniversary Pilgrimage of May 12/13, and Bishop António Marto, of Leiria-Fatima, will be present at the opening session.
2012 is the second year of the thematic itinerary proposed by the Shrine of Fatima, which will have its climax in 2017, commemorative date of the Centennial of the Apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima. Its purpose is to continue to study the main themes of the Message of Fatima, in its historical density as well as in its irreducible mystery of faith, by trying to look, at the same time, for its timeliness, its pertinence and the methologies of celebration and announcement more adequate to its reception in today’s world.
This year, the national pilgrimage of the youth to Fatima – “Fatima Youth” – takes place on May 5/6 and its motto is: “Rejoice always in the Lord!” (Fl 4, 4). On the 6th, the youths take part in the official international Mass of 11h00, which will be presided over by Bishop António Marto, of Leiria-Fatima, and celebrated outdoors, in the Prayer Area of the Shrine of Fatima.
Organized by the National Acolyte Service (SNA) and sponsored by the National Secretariat of Liturgy and the Shrine of Fatima, on May 1 there will be made one more National Pilgrimage of Acolytes (altar servers). The motto for the pilgrimage will be the theme proposed by the Shrine of Fatima for this pastoral year (2011-2012) to its pilgrims and visitors: “Are you willing to offer yourselves to God?” The program begins at 10h00, in Paul VI Pastoral Center, with a meeting of several groups of acolytes. Mass will be celebrated at 12h30, in Most Holy Trinity Church, under the presidency of Bishop Anacleto Oliveira. The Acolytes will pray the Rosary at 16h00, in the Little Chapel of Apparitions, followed by the procession of the Blessed Sacrament at 17h30.
The Diocese of Leiria-Fatima is preparing its 81st pilgrimage to the Shrine of Fatima, this year under the motto: “Witnesses of Christ in the world, at the invitation of Mary”. The pilgrimage takes place this Sunday March 25 and there are been organized specific activities for youths and scouts on the 24th, under the guidance, respectively, of the Diocese’s Youth Pastoral Ministry and the Regional Junta of the National Corps of Scouts. Bishop Antonio Marto, of Leiria-Fatima, presides over the pilgrimage.
On February 20, 92nd anniversary of the death of Blessed Jacinta Marto, Bishop António Marto granted the Imprimatur to the official Litany of the Little Shepherds, Blesseds of Fatima Francisco and Jacinta Marto.
Thirty years after its inauguration on May 13, 1982, by Pope John Paul II, Paul VI Pastoral Center was object of improvement work started in 2011. This work will soon be concluded and the Center will reopen on March 10.
A statue of Our Lady of Fatima was rescued intact, on January 21, from cruise ship Costa Concordia, which shipwrecked near the island of Giglio, Italy. It is a replica of the statue enthroned in the Little Chapel of Apparitions, at the Shrine of Fatima, Portugal.
On December 11, third Sunday in Advent, all are invited to bring to the Shrine of Fatima the images of the Child Jesus of their Nativity scenes, so that they may be blessed, a simple gesture to recall the true meaning of Christmas: the birth of the Child Jesus, the Savior of the world. The Blessing will take place during the 11h00 Mass at Most Holy Trinity Church.
As in previous years, the Shrine of Fatima invites visitors and pilgrims to show solidarity with the poor by being generous in the offertories of the main official Masses of the Shrine of Fatima, during this month of December. The offertories collected during the osculation of the Child Jesus are earmarked to help the poorest of the poor. These monies will be handed over to Caritas.
Vestibule of Convivium de Santo Agostinho (St. Augustine Foyer), in the Complex of Most Holy Trinity Church From December 1, 2011 to October 31, 2012 Visiting hours: Monday to Sunday, from 09h00 to 19h00 Free admission
In the context of the coming pastoral year and having in mind the thematic cycle which the Shrine started in 2010-2011, the Rector of the Shrine of Fatima, Fr. Carlos Cabecinhas, has announced that the session of presentation of the second year of preparation for the Centennial of the Apparitions will be held on December 1, 2011, in the Chapel of the Death of Jesus, located in the area of Reconciliation, in the Complex of Most Holy Trinity Church. He also announced that the next pastoral theme proposed to pilgrims and visitors by the Shrine will be: “Are you willing to offer yourselves up to God?”
“Will of God, ways to happiness” is the theme of the IX Week of studies of Ignatian spirituality scheduled for November 25 to 27, at the Shrine of Fatima. The sessions are being held in the Convivium de Santo Agostinho (St. Augustine’s Foyer), at the Complex of Most Holy Trinity Church. They are set to start at 18h30, on the 25th, with greeting remarks, and end on Sunday with the celebration of Holy Mass presided over by recently named Bishop of Lamego, the Most Rev. António Couto
On Nov. 7 thru 10, the Shrine of Fatima receives the 178th General Assembly of the Bishops Conference of Portugal (CEP). The sessions are being held at the House of Our Lady of Sorrows.
Two years after his death (in October 2009), the Missionaries of the Divine Word and the Secretariat of the Little Shepherds have scheduled for November 10 the presentation of a book by Fr. Louis Kondor, Vice-Postulator for the Cause of Canonization of the Little Shepherds of Fatima until his death. The program begins with the celebration of Holy Mass in the Basilica of the Shrine of Fatima.
Archbishop Paolo Pezzi presided over the International Anniversary Pilgrimage of October 12/13. He wrote on the Guest Book of the Shrine of Fatima: “It is with heartfelt gratitude that I come to Fatima as a pilgrim. Our Lady loves Russia and we consecrate ourselves again here to Her. Come, O Holy Spirit, come through Mary!”
The Most Rev. Manuel Clemente, Bishop of Porto, presided at the Shrine of Fatima, on October 16, over the National Pilgrimage of the Apostolate of Prayer. This movement has informed the Shrine of Fatima that the main intention of the pilgrimage is to pray “that all parishes in Portugal and their pastors commit themselves to renovate the Centers of the Apostolate of Prayer, live with enthusiasm the spirituality of the Movement and be promoters of prayer, of union with the Pope, of the offering in union with Jesus Eucharist and of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus”.