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News Items about Fatima
Confessions Increase at Fatima Shrine
FATIMA, Portugal MARCH 5, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The shrine of Fatima is becoming more and more a place to find the mercy of God, says the chaplain of the Marian pilgrimage site.
Father Clemente Dotti said this to the Portuguese news agency Ecclesia on Monday when reporting that in 2007, almost 10,000 more confessions were heard compared to the previous year.
The chaplain explained that the pastoral program of the shrine focused on the merciful love of God in 2007, and with that "we had the opportunity to show how the Mother knew to guide her children to find the mercy of God in the sacrament of reconciliation."
According to the shrine, 199,333 people confessed there in 2007 -- 9,016 more than in 2006. Of these, 34,653 confessed in a language other than Portuguese - 1,049 more than the previous year.
Father Dotti said 190 priests heard confessions at the shrine in 2007.
Tags: Fatima
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Time Magazine Writes about Sr. Lucia
FEBRUARY 29, 2008 (Time Magazine)- "It is a Vatican rule: candidates for sainthood wait five years beyond their deaths before the Catholic Church begins its investigation of their "heroic virtue," the first step toward canonization. Only two figures in recent history have received a fast-track exemption: Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II, both of them superstars in the Catholic and wider popular firmament. So, when the Vatican recently added Sister Lucia dos Santos, who died in 2005 at age 97, to this list, many wondered why she had been put in that esteemed company. "
Read entire Time Magazine article
Tags: Fatima, Sr. Lucia
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Church in Portugal expresses joy over beatification process for Sister Lucia
Coimbra, Feb 15, 2008 / 11:23 pm (CNA).- The Catholic Church in Portugal expressed satisfaction and gratitude to Pope Benedict XVI for waving the five-year waiting period in order to begin the process of beatification of Sister Lucia, one of the three visionaries of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary at Fatima.
In a statement, the president of the Bishops’ Conference of Portugal, Bishop Jose Ortiga, expressed “our great joy at the wonderful decision by the Holy Father,” which is a call to all Christians to seek holiness. Bishop Antonio Marto of Leiria-Fatima, where the famous shrine to Our Lady of Fatima is located, said he received the news with “enormous satisfaction.”
Bishop Luciano Guerra, the current rector of the Shrine of Fatima, said the faithful and the priests at the basilica “have welcomed the news with great joy, because it is another sign of the importance of Sister Lucia for the Church and for the world.”
Benedict XVI waived the waiting period for the opening of the beatification process, which Canon Law establishes as five years after the death of the candidate. Sister Lucia died three years ago in Coimbra, Portugal, where she lived most of her life. The announcement was made Wednesday by the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, in a ceremony at the Cathedral of Coimbra.
Tags: Fatima, Sr. Lucia, Benedict XVI |
Beatification process for Sister Lucia opened, new writings to be published
Coimbra, Feb 14, 2008 / 10:54 am (CNA).- The prefect for the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, announced this Wednesday in Coimbra, Portugal, that Pope Benedict XVI has authorized the opening of the cause of beatification of Sister Lucia, the Fatima visionary, and he revealed that she left a series of important unpublished writings.
“Since the death of Sister Lucia, it has been obvious how much the reputation of holiness of this humble nun has spread throughout Portugal and the rest of the world,” the cardinal said, explaining the Pontiff’s decision to suspend the five year waiting period before beginning the process of beatification.
Cardinal Saraiva made the announcement during a ceremony celebrated in Coimbra marking the third anniversary of Sister Lucia’s death.
The Pope authorized the opening of the cause on December 17, but he requested the announcement be made by Cardinal Saraiva in his role as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints.
The other two Fatima seers, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, cousins of Sister Lucia, were beatified on May 13, 2000, by Pope John Paul II.
Cardinal Saraiva noted that during the last decade there have only been two cases in which the five-year waiting period has been waivered. They involved Blessed Teresa of Calcutta and Pope John Paul II.
The prefect explained that neither the apparitions at Fatima nor the three secrets will have any bearing on the process of beatification of Sister Lucia, which will instead focus on the heroism of her virtues and the required miracle obtained through her intercession. Sister Lucia died on February 13, 2005, at the age of 97 in the convent of Coimbra.
The Portuguese cardinal confirmed that Sister Lucia left behind “other important unpublished works” which he hoped would “soon be published, as they are a spiritual treasure.”
Tags: Fatima, Sr. Lucia, Benedict XVI |
Pope reduces waiting period for sainthood cause for Fatima visionary
COIMBRA, Portugal (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has lifted the five- year waiting period to start the canonization process for Carmelite Sister Lucia dos Santos, one of the three children who saw Our Lady of Fatima in 1917.
The decision means that the diocesan phase of the sainthood process can begin immediately.
Tags: Fatima, Sr. Lucia, Benedict XVI |
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