From the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima to the World Apostolate of Fatima
The Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima was founded in 1947 by Father Harold Colgan and Mr. John Haffert, in the United States of America.
It quickly grew to an international movement with millions of members spread throughout the world, assuming a new name, the World Apostolate of Fatima.
The mission was and still is to learn, live and spread the message of Fatima in concert with the Church’s task of evangelization. On the 7th of October 2005, Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, the Pontifical Council for the Laity approved the International Statutes of the World Apostolate of Fatima and elevated the organization to the status of a public international association of the faithful.
EARLY BEGINNING
To trace down the history of the World Apostolate of Fatima we need to go as far as to St. Mary of Plainfield, a small parish in New Jersey, U.S.A. Why?
Because it was here that its parish priest, Rev. Father Harold V. Colgan laid the foundations of this Marian catholic movement. All started when Fr. Colgan felt very sick and was in hospital for long time without getting any better. It was then that he promised to Our Lady that if She cured him, he would consecrate the rest of his life preaching Her devotion. The miracle happened and the parish priest of St. Mary of Plainfield fulfilled his word. Twice a week he would preach in his church about the Blessed Mother of God. Many were those who attended his sermons.
Fr. Colgan, impressed by the private revelation that Our Lady had given in Fatima, in 1917, thought that the best thing he could do was to spread the Message in his parish and make his parishioners to live it according to the requests of the Blessed Mother. To do this, he summed up the Message of Fatima in three main points:
Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, daily meditation of the Rosary and righteous observance and sanctification of the one’s state duties. The scope was to answer the requests of Our Lady and by doing so to speed the advent of Peace and the conversion of Russia, as She had promised in Fatima. The campaign was straightway coronated with the best success.
However, Fr. Colgan knew that it was not sufficient to have good intentions which could easily be forgotten as time went by. So, he thought of adding to the former three aspects already mentioned, other two, totally external to the message. The first was the signature of a little pledge to promise observance of Our Lady’s requests; the second, the use of an external sign, a blue coloured medal or a ribbon, to remember the promise. The enrolment would be gratis and by no means would constitute a vow.
The little parish of St. Mary of Plainfield enrolled massively on this. “We will be the Blue Army of Mary and Christ, against the red army of the world and of Satan”, preached Fr. Harold from his pulpit. Some days after, the parish priest of Plainfield invited the brilliant writer John Haffert, author of many books, to deliver a conference to his flock. Haffert spoke about the apparitions of Fatima. Soon he noticed to be speaking to assistance extremely keen on what he was saying. In his mind occurred then the idea of extending such experience to other parishes and nations.
Such project was audacious, but neither Fr. Colgan nor Haffert were the type of persons to hesitate before the responsibility of the future. Thus is born the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima. From then onward, Colgan and Haffert will work together: One is the flame, the other the thunder. But both plan and execute. Colgan has even sold his car to cover the first expenses. In May of that same year, the humble parish priest of Plainfield went to the Vatican to present the project to the Holy Father, Pope Pius XII, who received him and said: “As the world chief against communism I bless you and all members of the Blue Army”. The foundation of the Blue Army was done. Like a fire, it would spread through the whole world. In 1950, there were already one million registered members. In 1953, five million.
The extraordinary expansion of this movement in such a short period of time was the natural response to the pleas of Our Lady of Fatima and her accurate description of the moral, spiritual and religious crisis of the world. The message was spread by the extensive use of all means, by forming prayer groups, known as “cells” that would multiply themselves, the usage of mass media, international meetings, pilgrimages, movies and television programs.
Later, with the ongoing study of the message of Fatima, a recognition of a fourth essential element was added to the membership’s requirements: the practice of the First Five Saturdays Devotion.
With the pontificate of Saint John Paul II, the message of Fatima was better understood as a charisma for the Universal Church. The so-called Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima evolves into the World Apostolate of Fatima. The Holy See suggested the change of name to focus on the importance of a Marian Apostolate, ecclesial in its nature, with its renewed charisma: the new evangelization of the world through the observance and spreading of the authentic Message of Fatima.
HISTORICAL CHRONOLOGY
1947: Father Harold Colgan and Mr. John M. Haffert founded the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima, in USA.
1950: One million members were already registered in the Blue Army. Father Harold Colgan presented the Blue Army to Pope Pius XII who gave his blessing to the organization.
13-10-1956: The first International Statutes of the Blue Army were adopted and submitted to the Holy See in Rome, that approved them ad experimentum.
1970: Bishop João Pereira Venâncio, of the diocese of Leiria, in Portugal is elected first International President of the Blue Army.
1980-1981: Canon José Galamba de Oliveira, from the diocese of Leiria, assumes the Presidency due to Bishop Venâncio’s illness.
07/1981: Bishop Constantino Luna, of the diocese of Zacapa, in Guatemala, is elected International President of the World Apostolate of Fatima.
06/1981: A new revision of the WAF International Statutes is prepared.
1982: Document from the Pontifical Council for the Laity with instructions to Bishop Constantino Luna, in his quality of “President and Ecclesiastical Assistant of the “World Apostolate of Fatima” to be implemented by the association:
1) “It would be useful and appropriate to use progressively the name of the association as “World Apostolate of Fatima”. For a while, the traditional name of “the Blue Army” could be added in parenthesis after the official name.” (…)
3) “A very careful study should be undertaken for the purpose to prepare the statutes of the “World Apostolate of Fatima” (…).
1983: Bishop Constantino Luna presented a revision of the International Statutes of the World Apostolate of Fatima to the Holy See.
1985: International General Assembly of the World Apostolate of Fatima, in Fatima-Portugal and reelection of Bishop Constantino Luna as the International President.
19-12-1985: Letter from the Pontifical Council for the Laity to Bishop Constantino Luna confirming the acceptance of his reelection as International President of the World Apostolate of Fatima and stating that the spiritual-theological principles he wrote for the World Apostolate of Fatima and that were sent to Rome, had the support and acceptance of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.
29-08-1997: Death of Bishop Constantino Luna, International President of the World Apostolate of Fatima. After the death of Bishop Luna, Fr. John Power, OSB, from Ireland, at the time the International Vice President, becomes Acting International President of the World Apostolate of Fatima.
1999: Election of Father Otto B. Pisoni, diocese of Erie, USA as the International President of the World Apostolate of Fatima.
At the General Assembly of 1999, in Fatima, attorney Mr. James W. Broscious, from USA, who assisted to compile the International Statutes of the World Apostolate of Fatima, presented them to the delegates for discussion and consequent adoption. Twenty-four nation members signed the International Statutes to be submitted to the Vatican, for approval.
06/2000: Father Otto Pisoni, International President of the World Apostolate of Fatima, and Mr. James Broscious (Legal counsellor) were summoned to Rome to meet with Cardinal Stafford to discuss the International Statutes and other Apostolate affairs.
29-12-2000: Cardinal James Stafford, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity writes to Father Otto Pisoni, the International President and recommends some small changes to the International Statutes.
8-11-2001: The draft of the mission statement of the World Apostolate of Fatima was prepared by Prof. Américo López-Ortiz, Puerto Rico.
03/2002: The amended Statutes were approved by the Board of Trustees and submitted to Bishop Seraphim Silva, of Leiria-Fatima, for his approval. After that, they were sent to Cardinal James Stafford, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, on March 25, 2002.
14-02-2003: Letter of resignation of Father Otto B. Pisoni as the International President of the World Apostolate of Fatima. Prof. Américo Pablo López-Ortiz, International Vice President at the time, became Acting WAF International President until November 2004.
11/2004: Election of Prof. Américo Pablo López-Ortiz, Puerto Rico, as the International President of the World Apostolate of Fatima. At this General Assembly, delegates made the last revision of the International Statutes. The document was signed by twenty-two attending nation members and was later submitted to the Pontifical Council for the Laity, for its approval.
07-10-2005: The World Apostolate of Fatima was recognized by the Pontifical Council for the Laity as a public international association of the faithful and its Statutes were approved for a period of five years ad experimentum.
03-02-2006: An official ceremony was held at the Vatican to celebrate the acceptance of the World Apostolate of Fatima as a public international association of the faithful by the Holy See.
18-11-2010: The Pontifical Council for the Laity confirms with a Decree dated October 7, 2010, that the World Apostolate of Fatima has been established as a public association of the faithful, with a juridical personality, and its Statutes have been definitely approved.
02-06-2021: The Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life issues a General Decree on the governance of the international public associations of the faithful. The document “limits to five years the maximum length of each term of office in the central governing body at international level, to a maximum of ten consecutive years the exercise of all positions in this body. After the maximum period of ten years, re-election is possible only after a vacancy for one term.” (Art. 1, 2.1 and 2.2)
It also indicates that “anyone who has exercised the function of moderator (President) for a maximum period of ten years cannot access this position again. This person can, however, hold other positions in the central governing body at international level after a vacancy of two terms relative to this other position.” (Art. 2.4)
10/2022: Delegates from twenty-three nation members met for the General Assembly in Fatima. Amendments to the International Statutes of the World Apostolate of Fatima, to include the instructions given by the Decree on the governance of associations, were made. The amended Statutes were approved and submitted to the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life.
Prof. Américo Pablo López-Ortiz terminated his office of International President of the World Apostolate of Fatima in October 2022. He had been elected International President in 2004 and consecutively re-elected until 2022.
27-10-2022: Election of Prof. Michael Ogunu, Nigeria, as the International President of the World Apostolate of Fatima.
(The historical references in this paper are taken from documents in the archives of the International Secretariat of the World Apostolate of Fatima and of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life) @2024.
