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Pope Francis explains why he skipped Fatima prayer for peace

Pope Francis addresses reporters on Aug. 6, 2023 aboard the papal flight on his return to Rome from his five-day trip to Portugal and World Youth Day. | Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Aug 6, 2023 / 16:15 pm (CNA).

On his return flight from World Youth Day on Sunday, Pope Francis explained why he opted to skip reading a prayer in Fatima that consecrated the Church and “countries at war” to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

When asked by a journalist why he did not pray publicly for an end to the war in Ukraine during his visit to the Fatima shrine, the pope explained that he prayed for peace but did not want to “advertise” his private prayer.

“I prayed, I prayed. I prayed to Our Lady, and I prayed for peace. I did not advertise this, but I prayed. And we must continually repeat this prayer for peace,” the pope said during an in-flight press conference on his return from Lisbon on Aug. 6.

“She [Our Lady] made this request during the First World War. And this time I appealed to Our Lady and I prayed. I did not advertise.”

Last year, Pope Francis consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Blessed Virgin Mary in St. Peter’s Basilica with a prayer asking for peace in the world, one month after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, asking all of the bishops of the world to join him.

Immediately following the pope’s Saturday morning visit to Fatima, where he chose to simply pray a “Hail Mary” rather than read a prepared consecration prayer, the Vatican published an excerpt of the prayer on Pope Francis’ official Twitter account, now known as X.

The skipped prayer was one of many instances that the pope deviated from his prepared speeches during World Youth Day in Portugal Aug. 1-6. Noting how often the pope had done this, one journalist asked him about his health, and his eyesight, in particular.

“My health is fine,” Pope Francis responded, explaining that he cut off one of his speeches because “there was a light in front of me and I couldn’t read.”

In other instances, he said he shortened or changed his homilies based on the response of his audience.

“When I speak, I don’t do academic homilies, but I try to make it as clear as possible,” he explained.

“You noticed that I asked a few questions and immediately the feedback showed me where it was going, whether it was wrong or not,” he said. “Young people don’t have a long attention span. Think about it: If you make a clear speech with an idea, an image, an affection, they can follow you for eight minutes.”

Pope Francis listens to questions from journalists aboard the papal flight to Rome on Aug. 6, 2023, following his visit to Portugal and World Youth Day in Lisbon. Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Pope Francis listens to questions from journalists aboard the papal flight to Rome on Aug. 6, 2023, following his visit to Portugal and World Youth Day in Lisbon. Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

The Holy Father also shared his impressions of World Youth Day — the fourth he’s attended as pope.

The attendance in Lisbon, he noted, was “impressive,” pointing to estimates that as many as 1.4 million or more attended the Saturday evening vigil. In addition to this youth event being “the most numerous” it was the “best prepared,” he added.

“The young people are a surprise. Young people are young, they act youthful, life is like that. But they are seeking to move forward. And they are the future. The idea is to accompany them,” he said.

“The problem is knowing how to accompany them,” the pope continued. “And that is that they shouldn’t detach themselves from their roots. That’s why I insist so much on dialogue between old and young, between grandparents with grandchildren. This dialogue is important, more important than the parent-child dialogue. The grandparents, the roots. Young people are religious. They seek faith, not something artificial … They seek an encounter with Jesus.”

He added: “Some people say, ‘But young people don’t always live life according to morality.’ But who among us has not made a moral mistake in his life? Everyone has.

“There should be commandments. Each of us has our own downfalls in our own history. Life is like that. But the Lord is always waiting for us because he is merciful and [he is] Father and mercy goes beyond everything,” he said.

During the 25-minute in-flight press conference, Pope Francis stressed that mental health and suicide are serious issues facing young people today and that he does not believe that it is discussed enough by the media.

The pope revealed that a young man had confided in him (not in the context of confession) that he had considered committing suicide last year.

“Youth suicide is a major issue today,” the pope added.

“So many young people are anxious and depressed … In some countries that are very, very demanding at the university, young people who do not succeed in getting a degree or finding a job, (and) commit suicide because they feel great shame.”

In the press conference, Pope Francis also touched on the membership of the Catholic Church and access to the sacraments. A journalist recalled the pope’s own words during the World Youth Day welcome ceremony Aug. 3, that, “In the Church, there is room for everyone, for everyone,” and asked why women and homosexual people cannot access every sacrament.

Pope Francis said the question concerned two different aspects of ecclesiology: the membership of the Church and its regulations.

“What you say is a simplification: ‘He cannot participate in the sacraments.’ This does not mean that the Church is closed,” Francis said.

He emphasized that the Church welcomes everyone, including homosexual people.

“The Lord is clear: the sick and the well, the old and the young, the ugly and the beautiful, the good and the bad. Even the immoral [person], which is bad, but the immoral too,” he said.

Pope Francis described the Church as a mother who guides her children in the maturation of their faith through prayer, interior dialogue, and dialogue with pastors.

“In [ministry], one of the important things is patience: accompanying people step by step on their way to maturity,” he said. “Each one of us has this experience: that the Mother Church has accompanied us and accompanies us in our own path of maturation.”

“I don’t like the reduction,” he added. “This is not ecclesial, it is gnostic. … A certain Gnosticism that reduces ecclesial reality, and that doesn’t help. The Church is ‘mother,’ receiving everyone, and everyone makes their own way within the Church, without advertisement, and this is very important.”


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30 Comments

  1. In a 1982 letter to Pope John Paul II, Sister Lucia explains that it was the failure of Catholic Popes to get mankind to repent of their massive sinfulness which caused God not to grant us World Peace, in place of WWII. Also, the failure of Popes to properly and timely, Consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is what caused the Russian menace of the world today, according to Sister Lucia.

    More than Pope Francis’ prayers, we need Pope Francis to tell all of humanity to repent of their massive sinfulness, so that God will grant us Peace on Earth.

    “Sister Lucia had already given an indication for interpreting the third part of the “secret” in a letter to the Holy Father, dated 12 May 1982:

    “The third part of the secret refers to Our Lady’s words: ‘If not [Russia] 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’ (13-VII-1917).

    The third part of the secret is a symbolic revelation, referring to this part of the Message, conditioned by whether we accept or not what the Message itself asks of us: ‘If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, etc.’.

    Since we did not heed this appeal of the Message, we see that it has been fulfilled, Russia has invaded the world with her errors. And if we have not yet seen the complete fulfilment of the final part of this prophecy, we are going towards it little by little with great strides. If we do not reject the path of sin, hatred, revenge, injustice, violations of the rights of the human person, immorality and violence, etc.

    And let us not say that it is God who is punishing us in this way; on the contrary it is people themselves who are preparing their own punishment. In his kindness God warns us and calls us to the right path, while respecting the freedom he has given us; hence people are responsible.”
    Quoted from:
    https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000626_message-fatima_en.html

  2. “The young people are a surprise. Young people are young, they act youthful, life is like that. But they are seeking to move forward. And they are the future. The idea is to accompany them.” Such comments by Pope Francis suggest that he shares a speech writer with Kamala Harris.

    • After all these years I finally understand what ROFL means.
      More soberly, it was reported that he got into one of his particularly vile and venomous tirades towards Catholics who are Catholic, insinuating they necessarily suffer from mental illness.

      • And I wonder why the reporters at the Catholic New Agency can not give an explanation of why Catholics who are Catholic should singularly be excluded from the class of humanity where where “everyone is welcome.”

  3. The pope said he prayed to Mary. He should read from the authors here that the church does not pray or worship Mary, but only put their trust in Jesus Christ. Someone needs to inform him immediately!

    • What website are you reading, Brian? Yes we DO “pray” to Mary, and the angels and saints. Not in the way we pray to God or honor him as GOD, but to ask for her help and intercession–just as we would anyone else on earth.

      “Beginning with Mary’s unique cooperation with the working of the Holy Spirit, the Churches developed their prayer to the holy Mother of God, centering it on the person of Christ manifested in his mysteries. In countless hymns and antiphons expressing this prayer, two movements usually alternate with one another: the first ‘magnifies’ the Lord for the ‘great things’ he did for his lowly servant and through her for all human beings the second entrusts the supplications and praises of the children of God to the Mother of Jesus, because she now knows the humanity which, in her, the Son of God espoused.” (CCC, 2675)

    • One of the many “mysteries” of Fundamentalism is that good Fundamentalist folks (such as my parents, God bless them) will ask for you to pray for them, but once a fellow Fundamentalist has died and moved on immediately to heaven, one cannot attempt to communicate with them in prayer, as that is somehow idolatrous. Because, of course, being in the presence of God immediately severs one from any sort of relationship or communication with those remaining in this life. Sigh.

      • And here we thought brother Brian was a Fundamentalist literally wired into every word of sola Scriptura. Silly us…

        Instead, we read “We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, for we have heard your faith in Christ Jesus AND of the love that you bear towards all the saints [even Mary!]” (Col 1:3-4); and “Therefore let us also, having such a cloud of witnesses over us…” (Heb 12:1).

        Still looking for the lines explaining that the saints are blind, deaf and dumb, and totally alienated from those of us who, otherwise, might call upon our friends in high places.

    • Hey Brain! You, as a member of the ‘invisible church’ surely should understand something about the invisible spiritual world. Have you never heard of the Body of Christ or the Communion of Saints? Do you recite a creed in your protestant splinter group? Whether we like it or not, we are related to one another. Perhaps you have never encountered the scripture where Jesus says something like: If you do it to the least of my brothers, you do it to me. If you pray to one of Christ’s close and favored disciples, He will take note. It is not a difficult concept. OTOH, plenty of people believe that faith should be unthinking. Why do you think that is?

  4. Not to judge him…. but I find it a poor excuse for not saying the Fatima Prayer…. I know I immediately said it after hearing he didn’t. Lady of Fatima pray for us.

  5. We read: “If you make a clear speech with an idea, an image, an affection, [young people] can follow you for eight minutes.” And, we know the lower limit of this decline; the measured attention span of a goldfish circling around in its bowl is eight seconds!”

    And, of the Church, the plummeting attention span used to be measured in two millennia, or at least centuries, but something more than the past ten years….Take, for example, history’s 17th-century Francis Bacon who’s scientific agenda was “to put nature on the rack to reveal her secrets for our control”….On this point, do we see a parallel between nuclear guru J. Robert Oppenheimer and synodal guru Cardinal Hollerich?

    The former unlocked the most intimate secrets of the physical universe with the birth of unlimited atomic power–with “nature on the rack,” the mushroom cloud deflowered Mother Nature! With Hollerich in mind, God has shared His copyright [!] with us on how to produce new persons–each as a unique universe infused with a personal soul directly by God. Now, Hollerich & Co. would drown such binary/complementary human sexuality under a primordial sea of indifferent, anti-binary and alphabetized sexual randomness.

    As with Bacon, Hollerich also appeals to a “sociological-scientific foundation” for the rack treatment, now to replace self-evident human physiology and coherent moral theology. His signaled dispensation broadly obsolesces the natural family and with it, all the past history–and future–of peripheralized (!) human civilization.

    A short attention span, that–this part of a “Synod on [the back of] Synodality.” In the interests of families and human flourishing, the perennial Catholic Church and legitimate synods, should the man in a red hat stop circling the fish bowl?

    And, honorably decline an assigned role shown to be over his head?

  6. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5. This is in the Catholic bible. Charles, what bible references are you using to say that dead people can intercede to God for us?

    • Bible reference? Probably where Christ himself says that dead folks ain’t dead: “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life!” (John 5:24). So, “dead people”?

      But why listen to the incarnate Word when we can selectively pick through goat entrails and tea leaves, messing blindly with our private notion of sola scriptura “words” as we pretend to see fit?

    • Yes, and The Blessed Virgin and the Saints intercede with the Lord for us. In doing so they are acting as mediators between us and Jesus. We also act as mediators when we pray for others.

    • If I were at WYD, the monstrance in a storage box, sacred hosts in a plastic bowl, the DJ priest and the Cirque de Soleil-type Stations of the Cross will surely stick in my memory. Spiritual experience? I hope and pray that the young people got some of that despite the above.

  7. Again Peter………taken out of context. The people chosen by God for heavenly eternity who have died are “with Christ”, but they in no way can intercede ours prayers to Him.

    • The Lord has revealed to us that those who have gone before us are constantly interceding for us. Sometimes they have been sent by the Lord to appear to certain people. The Apostles too have taught us EVERYTHING the Lord taught them. As the Bible says, only a fraction is written down in the Bible. The Lord never commanded that His teachings be written down but told the Apostles to pass along all His teachings by word of mouth. The Bible is certainly divinely inspired in spite of Luther throwing out 7 books and adding the word “alone” after the words “we are saved by faith” because he didn’t want to believe what those words said. 10 people can and do interpret scripture in 10 different ways which is why only those who are familiar with Biblical Theology, Typology, ancient Hebrew and figures of figures of etc and are also led by the Holy Spirit should pretend to know the correct interpretation.

        • There is a whole list of revelations on it. I would start with Marian apparitions; however, instead, I will yield the initial proof to Elijah, taken up into heaven on Israel’s chariots and horses.

          Who then gave a double portion of his spirit to Elisha that Elijah had promised to do.

          Dismas.

          Tombs opening when Jesus gave up His Spirit to the Father.

          Angels who were always ahead of us interceding for us. I would cite Gabriel first at the Annunciation but I yield the initial position to Raphael telling Tobias what he was about with his other Angels.

          Michael, defeating the devil in heaven and even now -done also for our sakes.

          Enoch.

          Petitions to saints answered proving their intercessions -and miracles.

          You want to suppose it is something so remarkable that it can’t be real. But it is remarkable and it is real. As real as the angel transporting Habakkuk to Daniel in the lion’s den to deliver the food -here on earth.

          O but you mustn’t think I am so bright. I was stirred up by what Carl Olson said.

          O like the saints in heaven appearing to other saints on earth as one Catherine plus one Margaret to one Joan. Dare I say.

          Jesus Himself promised Nathanael that Nathanael would be one such intercessor.

        • And then there’s the sweeping mystery of human suffering…Why does God permit it? Indeed, why did God take our suffering upon himself, right down to the dregs on the Contradiction of the Cross?

          On Calvary—the total sacrifice/communion continued and extended at each Mass—even human suffering, itself, has been redeemed. God takes on our suffering; AND in our own suffering we can mysteriously take part in the suffering of Christ. St. Pope John Paul II remarks that “human suffering, by reason of the loving union with Christ, completes the suffering of Christ” (from Salvifici dolorus SD, On Human Suffering, Feb. 11, 1984). Recall St. Paul: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church” (Colossians 1:24).

          Human suffering “completes that suffering just as the Church completes the redemptive work of Christ [….] Christ achieved the Redemption completely and to the very limit; But at the same time, He did not bring it to a close” (SD). St. John Paul II then turns to the parable of the Good Samaritan—and we learn that each of us should be sensitive to the suffering, now, of those other than ourselves. Something, ultimately, about the sincere gift of our very selves…

          But, are we to believe, with brother Brian and his evangelical minister of 30 years ago, that those who are now fully with Christ are somehow exempted and excluded from His example and the very life of Christ as shown to us partially even on this earth? Sharing of the abundant Life—even including intercession by those deceased/fully living—is not clipped short by passing through the veil.

          Yes, Brian, the Catholic Faith often has not been presented well. But 30 years—a long time to fast (!) from the mystery of the Mass and Eucharistic incorporation into the Mystical Body of Christ.

  8. It wasn’t God who called you out His Bride, the Catholic Church. He has already shown us that He IS the Catholic Church, even when her leaders are sinful and heretics etc. Those who apostatize will be lost unless they repent.

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