Friday, May 18, 2012

The Fátima Phenomenon - comments

Published Jornal Algarve 123 - www. algarve123.com/
Much fuss over  Fátima: the full story
The 95th anniversary of the first apparition of the Virgin Mary reported from Fátima in Portugal will be celebrated this Sunday, May 13,  with mixed feelings.
     Pilgrims from around the world will worship at the hallowed shrine where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared before three Portuguese children on the 13th day of six successive months in 1917. The anniversary will also be celebrated at the Vatican.
     Controversially, it will be marked with dire warnings at the opening of an international conference in Rome. The conference will hear that not only the Catholic Church, but the whole world, is facing an apocalypse unless the so-called ‘Message of Fátima’ is fully implemented.
     The conference is being organised by the Fatima Center, an apostolate with a large following of traditionalist Catholics in North America and beyond. The organisers say the aim of the conference is “nothing less than saving the world from unthinkable disasters, including, in Our Lady of Fátima´s own words, ‘the annihilation of nations’.”
     There is an easy way to avoid this, according to the apostolate. The Pope, accompanied by all of his bishops, must formally consecrate Russia and thus convert the people of that country to the Catholic Faith - as requested by the Virgin Mary at Fátima.
     The alleged cover-up of the ‘Third Secret of Fátima’ is another highly contentious issue that is sure to be widely discussed again on Sunday.
     Members of the international sedevacantist movement, another radical traditionalist group, claim the Third Secret warned of the Church’s downfall. Freemasons have infiltrated the Church to its highest level, they say. Like at least three of his predecessors, the present Pope, Benedict XVI, is neither a true Pope nor a true Catholic, according to sedevacantists.
     These and all other aspects of the story of Fátima are delved into dispassionately in a new ebook, The Fátima Phenomenon – Divine Grace, Delusion or Pious Fraud?
     The author, Len Port who has lived in Portugal for many years, details the development of the cult of Fátima from historical and political as well as religious perspectives. He quotes the opinions of many eminent non-believers as well as devout believers. Readers are invited to make up their own minds about where the truth lies.
     “The aim of the book is to add light rather than generate more heat. It is meant to be factually informative and thought provoking,” says Port.
     Because it alludes to the much broader debate about faith and reason, creationism and evolution, the supernatural and evidence-based science, the author hopes his book will be of interest to believers and non-believers alike.
     The Fátima Phenomenon – Divine Grace, Delusion or Pious Fraud? is available as an ebook from Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/The-F%C3%A1tima-Phenomenon-Delusion-ebook/dp/B007XC7Q32
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-F%C3%A1tima-Phenomenon-Delusion-ebook/dp/B007XC7Q32

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