Catholic church in Northern Ireland hit with sectarian graffiti

Image of Our Lady of Fatima in Lisbon’s cathedral. / Kate Veik/CNA

Fatima, Portugal, May 13, 2022 / 03:00 am (CNA).

While men in the trenches of World War I faced chemical gasses and industrialized weaponry that wrought unprecedented human carnage, an Angel of Peace appeared with a message.

“Do not be afraid. I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me: My God I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love You,” the angel told three children in rural Portugal in that first of several supernatural encounters that would take place over the course of 1916 and 1917.

When the Virgin Mary appeared to Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco on May 13, 1917, she requested, “Say the Rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and an end to the war.”

The Great War did come to an end in 1918, but the story and secrets of Fatima continued to unfold after the first world war until the fall of Communism in 1989. The Virgin Mary entered into the bloodiest century in human history with a message of peace and prayer.

In many ways the events at Fatima encapsulate the history of the 20th century, and in the long history of the Church, they will be remembered for their deep connections to the most important milestones of the last century.

Today a piece of the Berlin Wall stands in the Fatima square as a permanent monument to the apparition’s connection to 1989. The Bolsheviks’ October Revolution took place the same year as Fatima’s “Miracle of the Sun,” and the Virgin Mary specifically requested that the pope consecrate Russia to Mary, in union with the bishops of the world.

In Fatima’s museum, there is a rosary made from pieces of the Berlin Wall, a gift made by a Portuguese emigrant on May 13, 1991. There is also the ring that Pope John Paul II donated to Our Lady of Fatima in gratitude for her protection during the attempt on his life on May 13, 1981, a date that coincided with the anniversary of the Fatima apparitions. The ring had a special meaning to the pope; Cardinal Stephen Wszynski had given it to him at the beginning of his papacy in 1978. The pope also offered the bullet from the assassination attempt, which fit perfectly into Our Lady of Fatima’s crown.

World War II was also predicted by Our Lady of Fatima.

“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 Pius XI,” recorded Lucia in her third memoir.

“Fatima is undoubtedly the most prophetic of modern apparitions. The first and second parts of the ‘secret’ . . . refer especially to the frightening vision of hell, devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Second World War, and finally the prediction of the immense damage that Russia would do to humanity by abandoning the Christian faith and embracing Communist totalitarianism,” wrote the former Secretary of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith Tarcisio Bertone.

Lucia dos Santos, the principal Fatima visionary died in 2005. Her niece, Maria dos Anjos, is still living across the street from Lucia’s little house in Fatima. Now 98 years old, Anjos’ life has spanned all but three years of Fatima’s modern history.

“When she visited us Lucia always said ‘Pray the rosary every day. That is what Our Lady asked,” Anjos told CNA.

Anjos also told CNA how much the city of Fatima has changed in her lifetime. Life across Europe has changed completely since 1917, she said. For one thing, children no longer work as shepherds.

Saints Jacinta and Francisco Marto did not travel far within their short lifetimes. They lived simple, austere, and faithful lives. Both died of the Spanish flu pandemic that killed between 50 and 100 million people in the early 20th century.

In perhaps the most poignant symbol of a changing world, what was once the pasture of poor shepherds is now an international pilgrimage destination where people from South Korea, India, Australia, and all over the world come together seeking the sacred.

This article was originally published on CNA on July 18, 2018. Maria dos Anjos is now 102 years old.

[…]

Paris, France, Feb 22, 2017 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- An international group of Catholic physicians is protesting a law passed by France’s parliament last week sanctioning pro-life websites that aim to dissuade women from abortion by using “misleading claims.”

The law constitutes “a clear violation of the freedom of expression and cannot be approved, especially when it comes from a country which prides herself on being tolerant, broad-minded, and always fighting in the defense of human rights,” the World Federation of the Catholic Medical Associations (FIAMC) stated.

“In this instance, it would appear that the French government interprets ‘human rights’ as a kind of a privilege to be enjoyed only by women seeking a medical procedure that, from a health standpoint, is not in their or their unborn child’s best interest.”

It continued: “FIAMC protests this immoral law and its future consequences, and denounces the abuse it constitutes. Such a law contradicts the universal moral law and cannot be obeyed in conscience. It is hoped that a future French government will abolish it quickly in order to restore the now tarnished image of this great democratic nation.”

The lower house of the French parliament, which is dominated by the Socialist Party, passed the bill Feb. 16. It was also supported by most Union of Democrats and Independents members of parliament.

The Republicans, who dominate the French Senate, opposed the law. The party has said it will challenge the law in the courts.

The law provides for a penalty of up to two years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euro ($31,800) against the directors of publication of websites which run afoul of the law.

#delitdentraveivg @laurossignol CELA PEUT SERVIR DE SYNTHESE A TOUT CE CIRQUE DELIRANT ; Prochaine étape : le conseil constitutionnel ! pic.twitter.com/g8N28Uw3y2

— IVG (@ivg_infos) February 16, 2017

Laurence Rossingol, the French minister for women’s rights, said the law targets pro-life organizations which operate “websites imitating the state websites”; infos ivg is reportedly the site targeted by the law.

Rossingol said pro-life activists can freely express themselves “under the condition they sincerely say who they are, what they do, and what they want.”

The French minister of health and social affairs, Marisol Touraine, said the law is aimed at “preventing these websites from disseminating disinformation.” She also denounced the “cultural climate that tends to make women feel guilty when they consider” abortion.

The bill was introduced in October 2016, and the Catholic Church in France quickly opposed it. Archbishop Georges Pontier of Marseille, president of the French bishops’ conference, wrote Nov. 22 to President Francois Hollande registering the Church’s concerns, saying the proposal “call into question the foundations of our liberties and most particularly the freedom of expression … Can the slightest encouragement to keep one’s child be described as ‘psychological and moral pressure’?”

Alliance Vita, a pro-life group, has denounced the law as an infringement on freedom of speech.

More than 50,000 pro-life supporters marched in Paris Jan. 22 to protest the bill.

“Obstruction to abortion” had been criminalized in 1993. That law prevented pro-life activists from physically blocking access to abortion clinics, and had an identical penalty for offenders, of up to two years in prison and a 30,000 euro fine. The new law had been proposed as an update the 1993 law for cyberspace.

In January 2016 France also abolished a one-week reflection period before a requested abortion could be carried out.

The AFP reports that 220,000 unborn children are aborted annually in France, where abortion was legalized in 1975. It added that approximately one-third of Frenchwomen undergo abortion.

[…]

Rome Newsroom, Nov 16, 2020 / 10:04 am (CNA).- Catholics in France gathered outside churches in multiple cities this weekend calling on the government to allow them to attend Mass during the national lockdown.

Protests took place across France, including in Nantes, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Rennes, and Versailles, Nov. 14 and 15. A Sunday protest planned in Paris in front of the Church of Saint-Sulpice was prevented by police after authorities said that it violated an order against praying in the streets, according to the AP.

Under France’s second lockdown, all public religious gatherings throughout the country, including public Masses, have been suspended until at least Dec. 1. All non-essential businesses, including restaurants, are closed, but schools remain open.

A legal appeal by the French bishops’ conference was rejected by the Council of State Nov. 7. The bishops had argued that the prohibition of public Masses violates freedom of worship.

At the outdoor gatherings, Catholics sang hymns and prayed the rosary under police supervision.
Catholic demonstrators can be seen in photos holding signs that read “We Want Mass” and “God the King.”

In Nantes, nearly 300 people stood in the rain in front of a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary Nov. 15 and chanted: “Give us back the Mass.”

“Normally we should be at mass this Sunday morning. But we don’t have the right. We are deprived of this right for the second time in a row,” Marc Billig, one of the organizers of the Nantes protest, told local media.

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said that he would meet religious representatives Nov. 16 after French bishops proposed the resumption of Masses with attendance limited to 30% of each church building’s capacity. The French daily Le Monde reported Nov. 16 that the current restrictions are not expected to be lifted until early December at the earliest.

In some dioceses, bishops urged Catholics not to gather outside in protest in light of the coronavirus lockdown.

“Let’s be patient,” Bishop Michel Dubost, apostolic administrator of Lyon, said Nov. 13.

“Let us not come together, neither outside nor inside churches, and show our ability to respect the frameworks given to us in the name of public health,” Dubost said.

Europe is currently experiencing a second wave of coronavirus cases, which has led Ireland and England to impose lockdowns and suspend public Masses, while Italy and Spain have implemented regional restrictions and curfews.

There have been more than 1.9 million coronavirus cases in France this year which has led to the deaths of 42,603 people, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center.

French health authorities reported Nov. 15 that the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care has fallen since France implemented its lockdown, but these patients still take up 96% of the country’s ICU beds, AP reported.

In response to the French bishops’ appeal, a judge specified that churches can remain open during the lockdown and that Catholics can go to a church near their homes regardless of distance if they carry the necessary paperwork. Priests will also be allowed to visit people in their homes and chaplains to visit hospitals.

Catholic weddings can take place with a maximum of six people and funerals with no more than 30 people in attendance.

This was the second week of Catholic protests for some French cities. On Nov. 8 more than 500 Catholics gathered in front of the cathedral in both Nantes and Versailles, according to French RTL.

“They sang hymns, there was the prayer of the rosary, it lasted an hour, ” Bishop Bruno Valentin, auxiliary bishop of Versailles, told AFP.

[…]