Sister Lucia Has Told All Details, Says Researcher
FREE Catholic Classes
Contends That Fatima's Core Message Is Simple
COIMBRA, Portugal, FEB. 21, 2005 (Zenit) - Sister Lucia's writings will not reveal any new details of the Fatima apparitions, though they provide more insight into the 1917 events, says the head of a research panel.
"Sister Lucia's experience is one of continuity and she was faithful. I think what the future holds in store is an even more profound development," Father Jacinto Farias, president of the Scientific Commission of the Fatima Congress, told the Portuguese news agency Ecclesia.
"We should not find any novelties," he added. The "richness of the Fatima message is its extreme simplicity and, at the same time, great fruits at the pastoral and theological level."
Father Farias made his statements about the last witness of the Fatima apparitions shortly after her death Feb. 13. He said Sister Lucia's texts constitute a fundamental testimony for the Church.
Her writings are categorized as "Fatima 1" and "Fatima 2," and reflect her testimony written at different stages in her life.
Father Farias explained that the writings show an "internalization of the events."
"A 10-year-old girl and a woman of 40 have a different perception of things," he noted. But he added that the writings show continuity "in an interior rereading."
The evolution does not depend on the political, national or international events of the moment, as has been proposed, the priest said.
This, in fact, would imply "extreme intellectual preparation on the part of Sister Lucia to be able to follow these events and make a critical reading of them -- something which does not seem likely to me," he continued.
"On the specific question of the Fatima message and Marxism's militant atheism and dialectical materialism, there are documents which state that Sister Lucia thought that Russia was a woman or a person who was being asked to convert. It was a message that was beyond the awareness of the visionary herself," Father Farias explained.
The fact that the message has now been interpreted and translated by the Church into a pastoral strategy is "perfectly legitimate," said Father Farias.
"Cardinal Gonçalves Cerejeira himself said that it was not the Church that imposed Fatima, but Fatima that imposed itself on the Church," the priest added. Cardinal Manuel Gonçalves Cerejeira, the former patriarch of Lisbon, died in 1977.
Moreover, it was only at the beginning of the 1930s that the Church recognized the Fatima miracle "in virtue of the massive popular adherence not only in Portugal, but worldwide," he said. Analysis of the Fatima message "is now in the hermeneutic plane," as the "historical analysis is closed."
"It is necessary to make a theological analysis, to take advantage of the potential latent in the content of the secret," he continued.
"In the beginning, Francisco did not hear or see; Jacinta saw and heard, but did not speak. Lucia was the voice, the leader, so her spirituality will always be the core of these experiences," said Father Farias, referring to the other two little shepherds present during the Virgin's apparitions.
There will be no "great novelties" from the theological point of view now that the last witness has died, he said, but Fatima will probably have a greater development "in terms of its spiritual and pastoral irradiation."
Contact
Catholic Online
https://www.catholic.org
CA, US
Catholic Online - Publisher, 661 869-1000
info@yourcatholicvoice.org
Keywords
Sister Lucia, Fatima, Portugal, Vatican, Apparitions, Mary
More Catholic PRWire
Showing 1 - 50 of 4,716
A Recession Antidote
Randy Hain
Monaco & The Vatican: Monaco's Grace Kelly Exhibit to Rome--A Review of Monegasque-Holy See Diplomatic History
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.
The Why of Jesus' Death: A Pauline Perspective
Jerom Paul
A Royal Betrayal: Catholic Monaco Liberalizes Abortion
Dna. Maria St.Catherine De Grace Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.
Embrace every moment as sacred time
Mary Regina Morrell
My Dad
JoMarie Grinkiewicz
Letting go is simple wisdom with divine potential
Mary Regina Morrell
Father Lombardi's Address on Catholic Media
Catholic Online
Pope's Words to Pontifical Latin American College
Catholic Online
Prelate: Genetics Needs a Conscience
Catholic Online
State Aid for Catholic Schools: Help or Hindrance?
Catholic Online
Scorsese Planning Movie on Japanese Martyrs
Catholic Online
2 Nuns Kidnapped in Kenya Set Free
Catholic Online
Holy See-Israel Negotiation Moves Forward
Catholic Online
Franchising to Evangelize
Catholic Online
Catholics Decry Anti-Christianity in Israel
Catholic Online
Pope and Gordon Brown Meet About Development Aid
Catholic Online
Pontiff Backs Latin America's Continental Mission
Catholic Online
Cardinal Warns Against Anti-Catholic Education
Catholic Online
Full Circle
Robert Gieb
Three words to a deeper faith
Paul Sposite
Relections for Lent 2009
chris anthony
Wisdom lies beyond the surface of life
Mary Regina Morrell
World Food Program Director on Lent
Catholic Online
Moral Clarity
DAN SHEA
Pope's Lenten Message for 2009
Catholic Online
A Prayer for Monaco: Remembering the Faith Legacy of Prince Rainier III & Princess Grace and Contemplating the Moral Challenges of Prince Albert II
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe
Keeping a Lid on Permissiveness
Sally Connolly
Glimpse of Me
Sarah Reinhard
The 3 stages of life
Michele Szekely
Sex and the Married Woman
Cheryl Dickow
A Catholic Woman Returns to the Church
Cheryl Dickow
Modernity & Morality
Dan Shea
Just a Minute
Sarah Reinhard
Catholic identity ... triumphant reemergence!
Hugh McNichol
Edging God Out
Paul Sposite
Burying a St. Joseph Statue
Cheryl Dickow
George Bush Speaks on Papal Visit
Catholic Online
Sometimes moving forward means moving the canoe
Mary Regina Morrell
Action Changes Things: Teaching our Kids about Community Service
Lisa Hendey
Easter... A Way of Life
Paul Spoisite
Papal initiative...peace and harmony!
Hugh McNichol
Proclaim the mysteries of the Resurrection!
Hugh McNichol
Jerusalem Patriarch's Easter Message
Catholic Online
Good Friday Sermon of Father Cantalamessa
Catholic Online
Papal Address at the End of the Way of the Cross
Catholic Online
Cardinal Zen's Meditations for Via Crucis
Catholic Online
Interview With Vatican Aide on Jewish-Catholic Relations
Catholic Online
Pope Benedict XVI On the Easter Triduum
Catholic Online
Holy Saturday...anticipation!
Hugh McNichol