The members of the World Apostolate of Fatima in Ukraine, particularly those of the parish of the Mother of God, in Lviv, have an old desire to welcome the visit of the Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima to their region. This became more so at this particular time of war and tension with Russia. Therefore, on March 10, the Greek Catholic Archbishop and Metropolitan of Lviv, Mons. Ihor Vozniak, wrote a letter to the Rector of the Shrine of Fatima, in Portugal, to formally request the visit of the Statue, “in order to ask her intercession and protection for Ukraine and for the whole world”, he wrote.  

The Shrine of Fatima received the letter and immediately decided to send the Pilgrim Virgin Statue nº 13, a replica of the original one, to Ukraine. She will travel via Krakow, in Poland, this week. The Statue will remain for a month in Ukraine and will be welcomed and transported by the Greek-Catholic community of Lviv, where there is a large group of members of the World Apostolate of Fatima, with whom we are deeply united, both spiritually as well as through our assistance. 

Our Lady in Fatima insistently asked us to pray for peace. The visit of Our Lady Statue to Ukraine is part of this spiritual and pastoral mission to install peace in this country and in the world.

Historic note: In 1971, a group of pilgrims of the World Apostolate of Fatima, USA attempted to deliver a Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady to Russia that had been blessed at Fatima by Pope Paul VI, but she was denied entrance. While sitting on a ship in the Ukranian port of Odessa, they made the decision to fly the statue to Moscow in a chartered plane, wrap it in rags, and secretly process it through the heart of Red Square. It was then flown back to the ship and later placed at the Shrine of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Washington, New Jersey where it came to be known as the “Odessa Pilgrim Virgin Statue”. A few years ago, this very Statue was offered by the Apostolate in USA, to the Catholic parish community in Kazan, Russia where she is still venerated. 

On January 28, Pope Francis appointed Bishop José Ornelas, as the new bishop of the diocese of Leiria-Fátima, succeeding Cardinal António Marto.

The new bishop of Fatima is a member of the missionary congregation of the Dehonians - Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He is 68 years old and has been in charge of the diocese of Setúbal, in Portugal, since 2015. Besides, he is also the President of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference.

Cardinal Antonio Marto had presented his resignation to the Holy Father when he turned 74, last May 2021, because of his age and “aware of the enormous limits of his physical and psychological forces to properly exercise the office, in view of the pastoral demands of the Diocese and of the Shrine of Fatima” he said.  

Bishop José Ornelas, in his first written message to the faithful of the diocese made a special reference to Fatima, saying:

"Fatima resonates in our ears and in our hearts, here in Portugal and in the world, as a very special place and a reference of the presence of God, also in a dramatic situation, similar to the one we live in. (...) Mary, loving Mother of the little ones is the image of the Church that we want to be, as heralds in this world."

The World Apostolate of Fatima expresses his gratitude to Cardinal Antonio Marto for his loving dedication to the diocese of Leiria-Fatima (2006-2022) and for his support to the World Apostolate of Fatima, in the quality of its ecclesiastical adviser.

A warm and joyful welcome to the new Bishop José Ornelas! Pray for him and for his fruitful mission.

The official entrance of Bishop José Ornelas in the diocese will occur on March 13, 2022, in the cathedral of Leiria.

In a video produced by the Shrine of Fatima for the series "Faces of Fatima", Nuno Prazeres, the director of the International Secretariat of the World Apostolate of Fatima, speaks about the importance of the travels of the Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima around the world. 

As the guest of another video of the series "Faces of Fatima", which, every month, presents the faces that integrate the new temporary exhibition of the Shrine of Fatima, Nuno Prazeres presents, in this episode, the Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima as the "face of a missionary Church".

“Today, just as yesterday, Mary continues to travel in haste to where she is called. She becomes a pilgrim travelling the roads of the world, bringing consolation and hope to the hearts of a humanity so often wounded and distressed, a humanity which seeks peace. But she never imposes herself! Each visit to any country or place is the result of an invitation, of a pastoral desire often matured over months or even years”, he says, deducing a "recognition of the importance of the message of Fatima" in the "numerous requests of the Pilgrim Statue".

From the painted wooden World Map, from 1956, on display at the exhibition, which describes the first travels of the Pilgrim Statue, Nuno Prazeres revisits some of the most symbolic pilgrimages that the Pilgrim Statue has fulfilled, over almost 75 years.

“During the first nine years of her pilgrimages, as we can see on this World Map, the Statue travelled more than half a million kilometres and was welcomed by more than 300 million people. In Europe, during this period, Our Lady travelled as a Symbol of Peace, inspiring unity and solidarity amongst nations in the aftermath of a world war which had caused divisions and destroyed so much” he recalls.

The video also evokes the famous 'Peace flights’ that carried the the second Pilgrim Statue to visit many countries, on various continents, under the World Apostolate of Fatima, a movement founded in the United States of America by Monsignor Harold Colgan and John Haffert, faces that are also present in the temporary exhibition of the Shrine of Fatima.

The exhibition "The Faces of Fatima - Images of a Spiritual Setting" is open until October 15, 2022, at the Convivium of St. Augustine, in the lower floor of the Basilica of the Holy Trinity, and can be visited, free of charge, every day from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm and from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm. (www.fatima.pt)

The World Apostolate of Fatima, as a policy designed by its International Board, has been promoting the construction of replicas of the Chapel of the Apparitions of Fatima, located in Portugal, for its regional centers, namely, in the Philippines – Asia, in the Czech Republic – Europe, in Panama – Central America and in Samoa – Oceania. The establishment of the official replicas of the Chapel of the Apparition is a process that requires the approval of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima, in Portugal.

Although the present pandemic crisis is delaying the works of these projects, there are already positive developments that we wish to report here. 

In Panama, on 13 October 2019, the Archbishop José Domingo Mendieta, with the support of the World Apostolate of Fatima, announced publicly the creation of a shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima, in Panama City, whose core will be a replica of the Little Chapel of the Apparitions. The announcement was made to the assembly gathered at the Basilica Santa María la Antigua, followed by the presentation of the video with the model of the project, much appreciated by all.  The Archbishop, in the letter he wrote to the Rector of the Shrine of Fatima, asking permission for this had explained:  “With this chapel we aspire to give pilgrims in Panama and the world an evangelizing welcome, worthy and filled with the Lord’s love and His Mother’s spirituality, from the Message that She conveyed at Cova da Iria and that nowadays is more alive than ever in the heart of the Panamanians”. The members and friends of the World Apostolate of Fatima in Panama have since then, carried various initiatives to fundraise the building of this shrine in the hope to begin soon erecting it.

In the Czech Republic, precisely at Koclirov, where the World Apostolate of Fatima has its national centre, the first stone for the replica of the Chapel of the Apparitions was launched and blessed on the 3rd October 2020. The date also marked the 25^th anniversary of the Apostolate’s presence in this country.

Bishop Jan Vokal of the diocese where the centre is located presided the ceremony with the presence of the faithful, who had gathered there also for the First Saturday’s devotion. He encouraged the assembly to see in this symbolic act towards building the replica of the Chapel of the Apparitions, precisely in a place marked by much suffering during the time of communism, the celebration of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and ulterior encouragement for a deeper Marian devotion. In the place where the chapel is to be built stands now, a wooden arch with two lamps, just identical to the porch that had been built by the people at the site of the apparitions in Cova da Iria, in year 1917, to mark the sacred place.   

In Samoa Island, in the Pacific, the plan to build the replica of the Chapel of the Apparitions was a decision taken during the Oceania Regional Congress of the World Apostolate of Fatima, held there in 2019. The members of the Apostolate, willing to build their own national center for the Apostolate, presented the proposal to their Archbishop and included in it the plan to integrate in the same construction also the replica of the chapel of Fatima. This was accepted and the archdiocese already made available the needed land for the construction. In this way, the center with its replica of the Chapel of the Apparitions, will serve as a missionary nucleus for the New Evangelization and the promotion of the Message of Fatima and devotion to Our Lady for the Region of Oceania

The World Apostolate of Fatima of the Philippines, has also accepted the invitation to initiate the building of the only replica of the Chapel of the Apparitions in Asia. After consulting the archbishop of Cebu, the territory where the chapel is being built and having also received the permission from the Shrine of Fatima, the project was quickly put on motion. A new Foundation entitled “Três Pastorinhos de Fatima” was created to deal with everything related to this major and challenging work, supervised by the World Apostolate of Fatima of Cebu.

At present, the progress of the works is notable. Although there is still a lot of work to be finished, the main structure of the building is concluded. The quite place in the Cebu hills has already hosted the celebration of the Holy Mass, on each 13^th of the month, with the number of pilgrims growing from month to month. This is to ask God’s intercession and protection for this project and at the same time to make the place known to many people. However, the official plan is to dedicate the new “Capelinha” on the 13^th of October 2021.   

The World Apostolate of Fatima hopes that the establishment of these new replicas of the Chapel of the Apparitions, in addition to the existing ones in USA, Puerto Rico and Brazil, will facilitate and increase, in these regions, devotion to Our Lady and the formation of the faithful into the spirituality of the authentic Message of Fatima. Places that will be like beams of light shining God’s mercy to humanity.

The support of many, both through prayer and financially is much appreciated to enable us to fulfill this dream.

The World Apostolate of Fatima, through its Secretariat, published a commemorative book, in English, on the celebrations of the Centenary of Fatima, titled:“FATIMA CENTENARY AROUND THE WORLD”. The book was released to the public on October 13^th, 2019, anniversary date of the last apparition of Our Lady in Fatima.

With 160 illustrated pages, this book offers the reader, through beautiful photos and texts, a summary of the main activities and celebrations of the World Apostolate of Fatima during year 2017, to mark the centenary of Our Lady’s apparitions in Fatima. A special dossier is also dedicated to the events held at the Shrine of Fatima, in Portugal, during this time, with a special focus on the pilgrimage of Pope Francis and on the canonization of Saint Francisco and Saint Jacinta Marto.

Leaders and members of the World Apostolate of Fatima, from Asia, Africa, Europe, America and Oceania, have contributed for the making of this book by sending their reports.   

Prof. Américo López-Ortiz, the WAF international President, writes in the Editorial, that “this beautiful book we are offering you is not only a major souvenir of the ephemerides but moreover, an instrument for evangelization and catechesis to educate the faithful to comprehend and appreciate the marvels of the Heart of the Mother.”

The book is now available for distribution from the International Secretariat in Fatima. If you wish to have a copy of this book and treasure the everlasting memories of the Centenary of Fatima, kindly visit our online store at https://shop.worldfatima.com/