Hindus Worship at Fatima Altar

[Marie]

DominvsVobiscvm:

Then where is the chorus of orthodox Catholics refuting the article’s events? I don’t see Father Fox denying it, either.

Right here;

From “In Brief” Lay Witness magazine, p.19
All Religions at Fatima?
see communiqué below
March 04
A few months ago, some news sources unsympathetic to the Vatican claimed that they had information about a supposed “interfaith shrine” at Fatima, the site of Our Lady’s 1917 apparitions (see pp. 46-47). The information originally surfaced in the weekly Portugal News, an English-language paper in Algarve, Portugal. The paper published an article that took some of the rector’s statements out of context and painted a questionable picture of the future shrine at Fatima, strongly suggesting that Fatima was compromising its Catholic identity.

Subsequent reports based on this erroneous information claimed that “at the inspiration of delegates from the U.N. and from the Vatican and also according to statements from the Rector of the Shrine, Fatima ‘is to be developed into a center where all the religions of the world will gather to pay homage to their gods.’” CUF’s information specialists received a number of inquiries about this alleged “interfaith shrine” and wrote directly to Fr. Luciano Guerra, the rector of the shrine at Fatima. Fr. Guerra eventually sent a note stating that the rectory in Fatima had published a communiqué on its website that addressed the many inquiries they had received regarding the shrine. Fr. Guerra called the original report “very tendentious” and provided a link to a thorough explanation of the situation.

The communiqué from the shrine answers the erroneous reports and clarifies the plans for the shrine. It states that: “The worship space which, God willing, will soon start to be built—and which the journalist claims will be similar to a stadium—in fact will be a church with capacity to seat 9,000 people and will be marked exclusively for Catholic worship.”

 

[Marie]

And Here:

From the archieves of Zenit - Full Report

ROME, JAN. 1, 2004 (Zenit.org)- Controversy has broken out over the construction of a new building near the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal.

Several Web sites devoted to news about Fatima have expressed outrage at the possibility that the new building might be used for interreligious purposes.

“Fatima to Become Inter-faith Shrine” headlined the Nov. 1 online dispatch of English-language Portugal News.

In the erroneous report, the rector of the shrine, Monsignor Luciano Gomes Paulo Guerra, says, “The future of Fatima, or the adoration of God and his mother at this holy shrine, must pass through the creation of a shrine where different religions can mingle.”

The head of the Leiria-Fatima Diocese, Bishop Serafim de Sousa Ferreira e Silva, faxed me a three-page statement written in Portuguese (I had it unofficially translated) by the rector of the shrine, dated Dec. 28.

The letter resumes the news published by Portugal News, including Monsignor Guerra’s statement that the shrine would become a place “where different religions can mingle.”

According to the letter, the rector has been inundated by correspondence due to this “sensationalist news.”

The rector clarifies: “God willing, a religious space, will begin to be constructed very shortly, and though it is the presumption of some journalists that it will resemble a stadium, it will in fact be a church, with seating for 9,000; it will be exclusively destined to be a place of Catholic worship, located not next to the current basilica, but between the Cruz Alta and a national road and, when opportune, … can receive pilgrims of other convictions who wish to fraternally partake in our way of prayer.”

Regarding the controversy surrounding the building, the rector mentions specifically Father Nicholas Gruner, a Canadian priest who runs The Fatima Crusader, a quarterly newsletter.

“It is our conviction,” says Monsignor Guerra, “that the article in Portugal News has been guided by some members of the group led by Father Gruner, a priest who finds himself in an irregular canonical situation, who persists in his crusade in favor of the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, according to the secret of Fatima (although it has been said and re-said that this consecration has already occurred) and who distributed pamphlets during our October conference against the realization and intentions of the conference.”

 

[Marie]

And continued here;

Father Gruner was suspended “a divinis” by the Vatican in 1996 – meaning he is relieved of his priestly functions, primarily administering the sacraments. He continues to take a critical stance toward John Paul II’s vision of ecumenism, as evidenced by a 2000 document called, “We Resist You to Your Face” – the You referring to the Pope.

The conference to which Father Guerra refers was held Oct. 10-12 and sponsored by the Sanctuary of Fatima, entitled, “The Present of Man – The Future of God: The Place of Sanctuaries in Relation to the Sacred.”

Conferees included Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue; Cardinal José da Cruz Policarpo, patriarch of Lisbon; Bishop Silva; Father Jacques Dupuis, professor of theology at Rome’s Gregorian University; and Monsignor Guerra.

On the third day of the conference the floor was opened to representatives of Hindu, Buddhist, Judaic and Islamic religions. Orthodox and Anglican representatives also spoke.

During the conference no mention was made of the construction of a new shrine.

When I recently spoke to Archbishop Fitzgerald in Rome, he said he was surprised that the news of the building had caused such consternation.

“As far as I know, there are no plans that the building is designed specifically for inter-faith purposes,” the archbishop said. “We recognize that Fatima is a place of pilgrimage for many religions.” But he added that the shrine nonetheless retains its Catholic identity.

“It was the Pope himself who said in Assisi in October 1986 that we are all pilgrims together,” continued Archbishop Fitzgerald. “As I said at the conference in Fatima, we must learn to journey together, for if we drift apart we do ourselves harm, but if we walk together we can help one another to reach the goal that God has set for us.”

Monsignor Guerra’s statement concurs with Archbishop Fitzgerald’s sentiments, as most of it is taken up with an explanation of the importance of interreligious dialogue.

The rector of the shrine contends that the Fatima apparitions were exhortations to ecumenical dialogue. His statement says that the Virgin Mary knew that her choice of the site in Portugal would one day be understood as a deliberate association with the daughter of the Islamic prophet Mohammed (whose name was Fatima).

Monsignor Guerra further suggests that in the Fatima apparitions there are “at least two implicit calls to the exercise of the spirit of dialogue with persons of other convictions.”

In the first and third apparitions, he said, the Angel of Peace lies prostrate on the ground in prayer. In the third apparition, Communion under the species of bread is given to the oldest seer, while the two younger, Francisco and Jacinta, receive Communion for the first time under the species of the wine.

Since the practice of receiving Communion under both species has fallen out of wide use in the Latin-rite Catholic Church, but not in the Orthodox Churches, “the message of the Angel of Peace contains an exhortation to ecumenical dialogue with those Churches separated from Rome for a thousand years,” writes Monsignor Guerra.

The angel’s prostration in prayer “has connotations for any religious confession,” and recalls that “all human beings are God’s creatures and loved by him, and that with such prayer we can maintain serious contact with other religions, such as agnostics and even atheists.”

What started out as a debate over a building seems to mask a larger question of the ecumenical work of the Catholic Church as a whole, and Fatima in particular.

Father Gruner is quoted as saying, “The Fatima message is specifically directed at the Catholic Church.” Monsignor Guerra would probably concur.

 

[DominvsVobiscvm]

None of that addresses the article in question.

 

[Kathy_Perry]

Bud Stewart:

I just read the attached article on Spiritdaily.com

spiritdaily.com/fatimacontroversy2.htm

It seems that with all the bickering back and forth about which priest is faithful to Rome no one answered the basic question. Here is more evidence that the unforgivable has indeed happened. How could the church let this holy site bee desecrated?

It hasn’t and according to Fr.Robert J. Fox, it won’t.

 

[Kathy_Perry]

Marie:

He said Sr Lucia was not allowed to tell the truth and she has to lie due to obedience. Now that’s a bell ringer if ever I heard one from the Devils mouth. Gruner, who is the epitome of disobedience to his superiors had the audacity to say Sr Lucia is lying to please the Pope. Good grief! She spends her entire life living the Gospel of Life and her vocation and is the Seer of Fatima and Gruner says she lies!

The devil speaks just enough truth to hook the unaware souls and then delivers the poison under their radar. My radar is not impaired. I follow the Church in obedience. Gruner distains obedience at every turn. Softly spoken and wily words to be sure but poison is poison and that is how the devil operates.

One of our more famous news casters once said (about Bill Clinton), You can lie about many things and still be honest.
I think NOT. Same goes for Gruner

 

[dizzy_dave]

What a thread! I got the Fatima Crusader in the mail yesterday 8-26-2004 (I never subscribed so I don’t know why I get it) They had an insert about this subject and It made me sick (if it’s true) they talked about the EWTN tv show where the priest told Fr. Mitch Pacwa it would never happen and like 2 weeks later it did (according to them) they had 20+ pictures of it, did this happen? If so this is just sick. I can’t believe our church would allow this. I love my church and I would never leave it, but if this is true, it’s a sick, sick shame, I don’t believe anything Fr. Grunner says but the pictures make it seem true. Any futher info?

 

[Gerardello]

the-news.net/cgi-local/story.pl?title=Hindus%20worship%20at%20F%E1tima%20altar&edition=755

I’m dumbfounded and shocked!

However, considering that this is, after all, a Catholic shrine, maybe I shouldn’t be?

This is a sign that we live in Days of Great Apostasy and decline of faith. The Prophecies of Our Lady of Fatima is being fulfilled. Let us pray much, stand firm with our Catholic Faith and defend True Faith!

 

[thistle]

This is a sign that we live in Days of Great Apostasy and decline of faith. The Prophecies of Our Lady of Fatima is being fulfilled. Let us pray much, stand firm with our Catholic Faith and defend True Faith!

This is a 10 year old thread. These should not be resurrected. Even if you wish to discuss the same topic you should start a new thread.