Account of the Inter-Religious Assembly of Fatima
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The major media has barely mentioned the inter-religious assembly which took place in Fatima in October. Following are the combined and edited accounts of the priests of the Society in Portugal and the press release they issued on the occasion.
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From October 10-12, 2003, in Fatima, in the Paul VI Pastoral Center, an assembly was held entitled "Man's Present, God's Future–The Place of Shrines in Relation to the Sacred" sponsored by the Vatican and the United Nations. Present were Msgr. Michael Louis Fitzgerald, head of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, Cardinal Jose de Cruz Policarpo, Patriarch of Lisbon, Msgr. Luciano Guerra, Shrine Rector of Fatima, Fr. Jacques Dupuis, a Belgian Jesuit known for his heterodox theological opinions, as well as representatives from Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, and Catholicism. Only the Society of Saint Pius X organized any protest of reparation and information for the faithful. [See below] The Shrine Rector, Msgr. Luciano Guerra, declared:
The future of Fatima, or the adoration of God and His mother at this holy Shrine, must pass through the creation of a shrine where different religions can mingle. The inter-religious dialogue in Portugal, and in the Catholic Church, is still in an embryonic phase, but the Shrine of Fatima is not indifferent to this fact and is already open to being a universalistic place of vocation....[T]he very fact that Fatima is the name of a Muslim and Mohammed's daughter is indicative that the Shrine must be open to the co-existence of various faiths and beliefs....Therefore we must assume that it was the will of the Blessed Virgin Mary that this comes about this way.
The Monsignor described Catholics opposed to the assembly as "old-fashioned, narrow minded, fanatic extremists and provocateurs." The Hindu representative, Ansshok Ansraj, explained how millions of Hindus in Asia already receive "positive vibrations" when visiting Marian shrines, while not endangering their own belief. Fr. Jacques Dupuis insisted upon the necessity of a union of all the religions of the world.
The religion of the future will be a general convergence of all religions into one universal Christ which will satisfy everyone....[T]he other religious traditions which exist in the world are part and parcel of the divine plan for mankind; and that the Holy Ghost is present and at work in the sacred texts of Buddhism, Hinduism, of Christians and non-Christians....The universality of God's kingdom allows this and it is nothing more than a diversified way of access to the common mystery of salvation. At the end, we hope that the Christian will be a better Christian, and each Hindu a better Hindu.
The editor of Catholic Family News, John Vennari, who was there, heard Fr. Jacques Dupuis deny that outside the Church there was no salvation. He said, "There is no need to invoke here that horrible text from the Council of Florence in 1442." The assembly recommended an approach free of proselytism on the part of each religion.
No religion can eliminate the other or gain strength by downplaying the others. An open dialogue leads to building bridges and to destroying the walls erected by centuries of hatred. What is requested is that each religion integrally respects its own belief and that it treats with others on an equal footing, without either superiority or inferiority complex.
This declaration insists upon that the secret for peace between religions is to admit that contradictions exist between the different confessions but to concentrate upon what unites rather than upon what divides. The delegates were told that all the religious shrines, Fatima included, should be updated every 25 years so as to reflect the contemporary trends and beliefs. The Fatima Shrine will soon be completely remodeled with a new stadium-like basilica. This new shrine will become a center where all the religions of the world will gather to worship their own god(s).
The prior of the Society of Saint Pius X in Portugal, Fr. Danjou, had organized two ceremonies in reparation for this insult to Our Lady, together with the distribution of 35,000 pamphlets at Fatima. He found great helpers in the young people of the MJCF [Catholic Youth Group in France] who were able to gain admission to several of the key talks of the assembly. After the conference titled "The Future of God" given by the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, Msgr. Jose de Cruz Policarpo, the young people were given an impromptu interview by him.
MJCF: Your Eminence, I would like to clarify what you said. In your speech you said, "Every religion when practiced with sincerity leads to God," yet Sr. Lucy comments on the first Commandment saying in Calls from the Message of Fatima that "there is only one God who deserves our adoration, the other divinities are nothing, are worth nothing and can do nothing for us." How are we to reconcile those two notions of God?
Msgr P.: But, my boy, such a vision is outmoded. Who are those "divinities" Sr. Lucy is talking about?! We Christians, Muslims, Jews...we all have the same God....Of course, faith must be Christocentric, but the other religions are in progress towards Christ. Each is advancing more or less, that's all.
MJCF: Yet we do not have the same religion as the Muslims or the Jews. Then how can one say we have the same God?
Msgr P.: You know, I did a lot of studying when I was young. If you're a Christian, as you say you are, it's a question of culture; that's because you were taught that way. For the Muslim, it's just the same.
MJCF: But, Your Eminence, how far will ecumenism go?
Msgr P.: Each religion has something to teach you. Experience of other religions is very important. We've got a lot to learn from them.
MJCF: But it's written in the Koran, "Do not take the Christians or the Jews for your friends."
Msgr P.: You've read the Koran, my boy?MJCF: Yes, twice!
Msgr P.: In Arabic?
MJCF: No, but our religion is based on Revelation. Could the so-called prophet Mohammed truly have received a part of Revelation?
Msgr P.: You must have read a bad translation. Islam has a lot to teach you.
MJCF: In the Book of Apocalypse, St. John the Apostle warns us to beware of false prophets. Is Mohammed a false prophet?
Msgr. P.: [Nervously] Young man, I leave to you the full responsibility for the answer! [The cardinal brushed them aside to go, but one of the young people detained him.]
MJCF: Your Eminence, you did not answer my question, I believe?
Msgr. P.: It may be said that in the time of Jeremias, Mohammed would have been considered a false prophet. [The Monsignor departed, pushing the young adults aside and not saying goodbye.]
The next day, the entrance to the congress was guarded by three people and the young adults of the MJCF had to give two proofs of identity to be allowed in. A priest called out at the door that they couldn't enter. They replied, "But we have an authorization," to which the priest responded, "OK, but not a single question!" The priest kept his eyes on them during the whole conference.
The essential aspect of the Society's reaction was prayer, daily exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, and Holy Mass. It put public and personal reparation at the heart of these activities. In this spirit, it made the "Way of Lucy" on the immense esplanade of the shrine of Fatima. Despite a heavy downpour, it prayed 15 mysteries of the Rosary, going from the top of the hill to the chapel of the apparitions at the pace of the more courageous members who went on their knees. At the head of the procession the banner of Our Lady Queen of Portugal clearly displayed the name of the Society.
On Sunday morning, there was no Mass at the assembly, but there was a fashion show of current religious costumes. This time, the young adults went to the doors of the Pastoral Center. They began by reciting the Rosary on their knees and then chanted the Kyrie eleison and the Credo. During the chants, Fr. Danjou went into the Center to personally deliver the press release of the Society and the five tracts that had been distributed. The sight of a priest in a cassock seemed to frighten the coordinators of the event. Their bewildered looks seemed to ask, "What is he up to?" All Fr. Danjou did was to deliver the documents in the name of the Society of Saint Pius X and rejoin the faithful in prayer. Once the chanting was finished, the MJCF left the "high places" [an Old Testament reference to the pagan shrines where the children of Israel apostatized–Ed.] and their inter-religious testimonies. The indifference and ingratitude of the men of the Church was astounding, reminding the young adults that all hope and trust is to be put only in God.
Press Release
The priests of the Society of St. Pius X in Portugal voice the opinion of thousands of Catholics who are scandalized by the international and inter-religious congress taking place at Fatima on October 10-12, 2003.
The Society will send a delegation, itself international, to Fatima, whose mission will be to make reparation for the injury made to Our Lady and to inform Catholics of the gravity of such gatherings. It will thus give voice to the feelings of all the Catholics throughout the world who sense the great necessity of repairing such an affront made to the Mother of God and their Mother of Heaven.
Anyone who knows the message of Fatima knows that the Holy Virgin calls all men to convert and that she is never ecumenical. It is the devotion to her Immaculate Heart which saves "poor sinners." The hearts of Buddha, Mohammed or Luther neither loved God or saved men, and today they are nothing more than dust. That of the Most Holy Virgin is in Heaven. It beats; it loves God, and wishes to save us. Our Lord Jesus Christ has been forgotten, His Catholic Church, and the Virgin Mary.
Our Lord Jesus Christ's recommendations for prudence in order to distinguish the false prophets, preaching another doctrine than His own, are despised:
Amen, amen I say to you: He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up another way, the same is a thief and robber. But the that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep....sheep. All others, as many as have come [presenting themselves as the Messias–Ed], are thieves and robbers...! am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved: and he shall go in, and go out, and shall find pastures (Jn. 10:1, 2, 9).
And Jesus answering, said to them: Take heed that no man seduce you: For many will come in my name saying, I am Christ: and they will seduce many (Mt. 24:4,5].
Beware of false prophets (Mt. 7:15).
His messianic and divine identity, with his indispensable role for the salvation of all men will be put aside. The congress prefers to collaborate with the representatives of false religions rather than confess the Catholic Faith.
While Jesus Christ says, "Every one therefore that shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven" (Mt. 10: 32), this congress puts Catholics into the occasion of renouncing Him, the One true God.
While Jesus Christ says to the Jews, "Search the scriptures,...; and the same are they that give testimony of me" (Jn. 5:39), and with the disciples of Emmaus, He taught them "beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures, the things that were concerning him" (Lk. 24:27), that is, He was the promised Messiah. This convention, on the other hand, puts aside this messianic character.
While Jesus Christ forcefully affirms, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me" (Jn. 14:6), this congress believes that there are other ways or other truths which lead to God.
While Jesus Christ says, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (Jn. 8:12), this congress intends to find other "lights" in inter-religious discussion.
While Jesus Christ affirms, "All power is given to me in heaven and on earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost..." (Mt. 28: 18,19), and "he that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned" (Mk. 16:16), this congress directs the attention of the faithful towards the religious experiences presented by the followers of religions invented by men, or deformed by the agitation of the passions. Even more serious, it takes an interest even in non-Christian religions, mentioned in Psalm 95 where it reads, "The gods of the Gentiles are devils."
Truly, God can renew his complaint, "For my people have done two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have digged to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water" (Jer. 2:13).
On October 13, 1917, our most holy Mother of Heaven said: "Do not offend Our Lord and God anymore, because He is already so much offended." And Lucy says in her memoirs: "How loving a complaint, how tender a request! Who will grant me to make it echo through the world, so that all the children of our Mother in heaven may hear the sound of this voice!" (Memoirs, 2nd edition).
Our Lady's views are despised, when she speaks through the authorized mouth of Pope Leo XIII on September 15, 1895, saying to Cardinal Gibbons:
We have learned that in America some assemblies have taken place in which, indistinctly, the Catholics united themselves with those who are separated from the Church in order to deal with religious or moral questions. We cannot consider as altogether blameless, the silence which purposely leads to the omission or neglect of some of the principles of Christian doctrine, for all the principles come from the same Author and Master, "the Only Begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father."
A revealing fact of the story is that Fr. Charbonnel, the promoter of these congresses and in particular of the "Moral Union of Religions," left the priesthood some months later. The existence of unity–a mark of the true Church–is called into question by this search for unity with other religions supposedly to accomplish Jesus' wish!
The existence of universality in space, another mark of the Church, is also denied by this affirmation, that without these ecumenical efforts, the Church would be closed in on Herself. The existence of universality in time is also denied to the Church, since the future holds a new dimension and a new form for Her–no doubt this so-called "future of God."
This congress inevitably includes errors on the true nature of the Church denounced by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical Mortalium Animos (1928):
And here it seems opportune to expound and to refute a certain false opinion, on which this whole question, as well as that complex movement by which non-Catholics seek to bring about the union of the Christian churches, depends. For authors who favor this view are accustomed, times almost without number, to bring forward these words of Christ: "That they all may be one....And there shall be one fold and one shepherd," (Jn. 17:21; 10:16) with this signification however: that Christ Jesus merely expressed a desire and prayer, which still lacks its fulfillment. For they are of the opinion that the unity of faith and government, which is a note of the one true Church of Christ, has hardly up to the present time existed, and does not to-day exist. They consider that this unity may indeed be desired and that it may even be one day attained through the instrumentality of wills directed to a common end, but that meanwhile it can only be regarded as mere ideal. They add that the Church in itself, or of its nature, is divided into sections; that is to say, that it is made up of several churches or distinct communities, which still remain separate, and although having certain articles of doctrine in common, nevertheless disagree concerning the remainder; that these all enjoy the same rights; and that the Church was one and unique from, at the most, the apostolic age until the first Ecumenical Councils. Controversies therefore, they say, and longstanding differences of opinion which keep asunder till the present day the members of the Christian family, must be entirely put aside, and from the remaining doctrines a common form of faith drawn up and proposed for belief, and in the profession of which all may not only know but feel that they are brothers. The manifold churches or communities, if united in some kind of universal federation, would then be in a position to oppose strongly and with success the progress of irreligion.
This assembly, totally preoccupied with friendly dialogue with the representatives of false religions, could do no more than reduce to a simple opinion, the confession of the divine maternity of Mary, her virginal motherhood, her Immaculate Conception, etc., in brief, all the dogmas of Faith concerning her.
Our Lady was sent by God to Fatima in order to transmit a message of universal magnitude. But this congress could only diminish, filter, and make relative what the Blessed Virgin Mary wished to give each and every soul for its salvation. These treasures are, in particular, the dogmas of Hell, Purgatory, Heaven, and the Communion of Saints. This message reminds us once again of the value of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the works of reparation for sins, and of the necessity of making sacrifices for the conversion of sinners. The importance of this message, therefore, is not limited to Catholics only! This is truly shown by the demand for the practice of the First Saturdays of the month and the consecration, by the one true Catholic Church, of Russia and the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. So many truths are totally smothered by the spirit and the very organization of this assembly.
Let us conclude this expose with this beautiful teaching given by Sr. Lucy:
It is the body received from Mary, which in Jesus Christ becomes the victim immolated for the salvation of men. It is the blood received from Mary which flows through the veins of Christ and which flowed out of His Divine Heart. They are the same Body and the same Blood, received from Mary which, under the species of consecrated bread and wine, are given to us as daily food in order to renew in us the life of Grace, and thus to continue in us, members of the Mystical Body of Christ, His work of redemption for the salvation of each and every one, in as much as each of us remains close to Christ and cooperates with Christ (Appels du message de Fatima, p. 105).
Blasphemy is defined as a discourse, a gesture or an action which holds God in contempt or insults Him or the Saints. It is always gravely culpable. This congress, being an activity which leads to scorn, to the diminution and even the implicit denial of the Messianic nature of the divinity of Jesus Christ and of the character of the absolute necessity of His work, corresponds exactly–and sadly so–to the definition of blasphemy!...When will we see apostasy for the sake of tolerance?
Taken from November 3 and November 29, 2003 issues of DICI, combined and edited by Rev. Fr. Kenneth Novak.
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