Ireland Needs Fatima: Campaign Update

“If  they heed my request, there will be peace.”

Towards Resolving Ireland’s Dilemma

IRELAND NEEDS FATIMA was launched as a campaign to bring the Fatima Message home to Ireland. It is already making a difference to the lives of individuals and to Irish families straining under the weight of increasing hardships in family life.

This past decade’s accelerated moral decline that has seen our country so afflicted by corruption, scandal, crime and violence, has left very few with any doubt as to the urgent need for action.

And Our Lady, speaking to the three young children at Fatima, clearly knew what lay ahead for the world and, indeed, Ireland.

Did her words not point the way to overcome the problems nations and their people faced then, as now, and in the future? However, have we heeded her message? Or mostly ignored it, to our own detriment?

Opening a newspaper or switching on the news these days is most often quite a depressing experience. One is as quickly inclined to switch it off, saying “Here we go again, the same thing as yesterday, the same thing as every day …”

No news is good-news, or so it seems. Many have opted to avoid the news altogether, just to stay sane.

For many the situation has become intolerable. Most people want to see something done. And yet nobody seems able to suggest precisely what action is required, or who should take responsibility.

With murders escalating every year, and a huge number of robberies and thefts, spiraling crime and violence has left many concerned for their own safety and their family’s, as well as for the future of our country.

And yet, Our Lady indicated so much at Fatima that could help us understand this crisis facing us.

In the current scenario is there any place for hope? Can our society look forward to a better future?

Do we have the power now to make a decisive difference that can change things not only for ourselves, but also for future generations?

To know the answer to that, we would have to properly understand the root of our present-day crisis.

Where does the solution lie?

Regarding crime, for instance, it would seem a larger and better-equipped Garda force could solve the problem. Together with the correct legislation
and other measures, this might alleviate the situation in the short term. But we are immediately struck with the fact that even the Gardaí have not been immune from the damaging effects of moral corruption at times. The crisis affects all areas of society.

So where does the solution lie? Stricter laws? Greater punishments for offenders? A harsher judiciary?

Arguably, these may have a role to play, but will more Gardaí, stricter courts or more prisons ultimately solve these problems?

It is a fact that the rise in crime is not an isolated problem. Pornography and immorality in the media has simultaneously become more widespread, abortion promoted, violence become endemic, and a disregard for human life and private property become more prevalent.

As a result, respect for proper order has diminished greatly, while criminal elements have only contempt for authority and law.

Ideological currents that favour such an environment in the country have also increased, both in number and influence.

Currents within Socialism and Communism, still very much alive and active, despite their appearance of having changed, often desire a breakdown of the moral order  onducive to chaos. This in turn enables an acceleration of revolution in society.

For concerned Irish people, these considerations are indeed perplexing. When faced with the ensemble, some may even be given to despair.

A universal crisis of civilisation

Yet as Catholics the answer to the dilemma is presented to us with sublime reason and clarity.

The crisis facing Ireland is not entirely unique to this country. We should note that crime, violence and immorality have increased globally. Mankind is currently experiencing a profound moral crisis of immense proportions. This is a universal crisis of civilisation, which has been ongoing for  enturies, and is now greatly accelerated.

And it is within the midst of this crisis that, already early last century, mankind was forewarned, and given the solution – by the Mother of God, at Fatima.

That warning and solution, then, apply as much to Ireland as to any other country or the whole of mankind.

Had we as Catholics heeded the message, there would have been peace. Referring to the Second World War, Our Lady said: “If they do not stop offending God, another even worse war will begin…” Think about it. The Second World War would not have happened if mankind had heeded the requests of Our Lady. However, the message was greatly ignored, and continues to be ignored.

The crisis in which Ireland finds itself today is a profound moral crisis, and the only solution for it is a moral solution.

For this to come about, immorality must be stopped in its tracks. Good wholesome laws must be enacted, defending the family and respect for human life, respect for law, and proper order established. When the Teaching of Christ is no longer opposed by the State, but rather recognised and practised by a nation and, as a consequence implemented in the laws and customs of the country, only then can there be true peace, the tranquillity of order, which will endure.

Yet it is exactly the opposite that we experience today. And to change it, one needs to look first at the causes of this deep moral crisis.

Our Lady gave us the solution at Fatima

Our Lady said at Fatima in no uncertain terms that the problems the world faced were as a direct result of men’s sins.

It was due to this that wars and persecutions of religion occurred.

As men sin, so too do nations – by the general sinfulness of their population, the common acceptance of sin, and then by the enacting of evil laws as a result.

“While men are punished in the afterlife, nations receive their punishment during their earthly existence,” writes St Augustine.

If that is the case, then certainly wars and natural disasters could be seen as punishment, but so too could crime and violence, and even evil laws that allow a nation to sink further into sin.

And while much of this seems like a vicious cycle that feeds off itself with no end or solution, Our Lady gave us the solution at Fatima, saying, “If they heed my requests, there will be peace ….”

A vital and necessary apostolate

It is imperative therefore, that to solve our country’s crisis, we must personally and individually do as Our Lady requested. Furthermore, as many people as possible need to know her message, and to heed it.

Thus we have an important and urgent responsibility as Catholics.

It is a vital and necessary apostolate in this time to spread her message to as many as possible. When enough Catholics begin to observe her message, only then can we look forward to the possibility of real peace.

“In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph”

And with confidence and the help of Our Lady this is not only possible, it is inevitable. Our Lady said at Fatima: “In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph”. Hence, our victory is assured, as long as we work to constantly find more souls for Our Lady and bring them to the Fatima message. Then we can begin to affect society at large, a vitally important step in conquering the nation for Our Lady.

At times it may seem as if the encroaching chaos and degradation of society have no end in sight, with things only set to worsen, and nobody willing or able to do anything about it.

However consider that, repeatedly throughout time, the course of history has been changed by the actions of only a few determined people.

Today, the state of the world and of our country cries out to us to respond to this request of Our Lady.

Politicians and public figures propose their solutions, but do they propose what Our Lady proposed at Fatima?

This campaign now affords each one of us the privilege and opportunity, in heeding Our Lady, to help our country.

Thus, with hope and trust in Our Lady as Catholics, we ask her for the grace to help us bring that peace she wished for mankind to this country.

There can be little doubt, at this moment in time, perhaps more than at any other, that Ireland really does need Fatima!

Ireland Needs Fatima: Campaign Update

Since the beginning of this campaign less than 2 years ago, we have given out more than 570,000 flyers about the message of Fatima. We have had them inserted in publications, distributed door-to-door and handed out on the streets of some cities. We have also distributed nearly 10,000 copies of the book Fatima: Past or Future? and about 8,500 pictures of Our Lady of Fatima. During Lent this year 4,900 copies of the Way of the Cross were sent out.

Our Readers Write

• “Ireland does need Fatima. Religion is gone but it will come back again. The Blessed Virgin will raise her hand…”
  KH, Co. Clare
• “Thank you for the most beautiful picture of Our Lady of Fatima. Every home in Ireland should have one.”
  NN, Co. Mayo
• “I was praying the Rosary when the postman arrived with your picture of Our Lady. It touched my heart very  deeply… it was a great consolation to me.”
  AK, Co. Carlow
• “Our Blessed Lady will always be behind your campaign, so you can’t go wrong.”
  JK, Co. Cork
• “I admire all you are doing to make our world a better place…”
  CH, Co. Mayo
• “…we can never give up hope. Our Lady is always there to help us, and no prayer goes unanswered. Nothing is impossible with God and Our Lady is always interceding for us.”
  AG, Co. Cavan
• “…if all of our Bishops got their acts together and spoke in one voice about the fall off of our religion, it might help to stop the slide.”
  MF, Co. Limerick
• “This is really the most beautifulWay of the Cross that I have seen. I am praying it every day during Lent.”
  BR, Co. Kerry

Questionnaire 2006

Here we present the results of the questionnaire that we sent to our readers in January. It was indispensable to sound the opinions of our friends, and they have firmly expressed themselves, valuing the work already carried out and, above all, asking for more action. We thank each and every one who sent in an answer to the questionnaire. The results are promising and encourage us to advance, knowing that we can count on a strong contingent of supporters who understand our work and want to participate in various projects. Much hope was expressed in this apostolate for the good of Ireland. With the help of the Most Holy Virgin we will not let you down.

Here are the questions and the responses we received:

1. Apostolate of the message of Fatima – The message of Fatima is more urgent than ever.
Question: Do you believe that the spreading of the Message of Fatima in our country has:

Great importance 85.20%
Some importance 9.42%
Little or no importance 0.90%
Blank 4.48%

2. Apostolate with Marian books – Mariology is necessary so that the Faith remain strong.
Question: Do you consider that the distribution of books on devotion to the Most Holy Virgin has:

Great importance 77.13%
Some importance 17.49%
Little or no importance 0.45%
Blank 4.93%

3. Apostolate of the Holy Rosary – Without prayer there is no salvation!
Question: Do you consider that an intense promotion of the devotion of the Holy Rosary has:

Great importance 92.83%
Some importance 2.69%
Little or no importance 0.00%
Blank 4.48%

4. Apostolate of promotion of the Miraculous Medal – The Miraculous Medal is an easy and very valuable way in which the Mother of God can be known by all men.
Question: Do you think that the distribution of the Miraculous  Medal has:

Great importance 82.51%
Some importance 12.56%
Little or no importance 0.00%
Blank 4.93%

5. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus – A true renovation of the Faith without a pious and profound devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is not possible.
Question: In your opinion does the propagation of this devotion in our country have:

Great importance 86.10%
Some importance 7.17%
Little or no importance 0.45%
Blank 6.28%

6. Protests against the blasphemies against the Name of God – Blasphemies and manifestations that are hostile to the Most Holy Virgin are increasing.
Question: Do you think that the Ireland Needs Fatima campaign should protest against these blasphemies and books and films that are offensive to the Catholic Faith, such as the Da Vinci Code?

Yes 83.86%
No 1.80%
I don´t know 10.31%
Blank 4.03%

7. Fatima prayer groups – The time has come to pray! Ireland finds itself in the midst of an enormous religious and moral crisis. Without prayer, the help of Divine Providence will not come!
Question: Would you like to be part of a Circle of Prayer of Fatima, which has a certain daily promise to fulfil (for example, to pray three Hail Marys)?

Yes 89.69%
No 5.38%
Blank 4.93%

Why the “Da Vinci Code” is an obnoxious farce.

Using the resources of fantasy Dan Brown instils doubt about Catholic doctrine, denies Our Lord’s divinity and presents the Church as the enemy of mankind. At the same time, he presents Gnostic occultist writings as the true  Holy Scriptures” and Gnosticism as the real “Christianity.”

The Da Vinci Code mixes Gnostic and occultist concepts with the most gross and often laughable inventions, to which it attributes historic value. This fable full of stupidities that a 7 year old child would have difficulty believing, fills the reader with doubts about the Catholic faith.

Some may think that it is only a novel without importance, that could be enjoyed and pass the time on a train journey or in a dentist’s waiting room. But the advertising of the film reveals the psychological climate it is creating. On a background of “New Age” music, a cavernous voice announces “a message hidden for centuries, (…) a secret capable of changing the course of history forever.” And it concludes: “It doesn’t matter what you have read, it doesn’t matter what you believe, the voyage has begun.”

The “secret” thus mentioned, which is the foundation of this novel, is the allegation that “almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false.”

Full of absurd pretension, it “reveals” the “true gospel” and attempts to “prove” that Our Lord Jesus Christ is not God. So, what we have is a book which, under the mask of fiction, promotes a religion: pagan occultism – gnosis (See section below story). Many people without a profound religious formation are attracted by a novel which, in the midst of suspense, adventure and mystery, develops religious and philosophical principles. Carried on by the excitement of  the story, these readers easily assimilate, at least in part, the subtle message it contains.

Throughout its pages of fast paced action, The Da Vinci Code alleges that the New Testament is an instrument of the Church to mislead people about Christ. To support its “narration” of the life of Christ, it cites the Gnostic writings, “the gospel of Philip” and “the gospel of Mary Magdalene,” alleging that they are the “most ancient Christian records” and “original and unaltered gospels.”

In the introduction under the title: “Fact”, the author “informs” the reader that there is a “Priory of Sion” founded in 1099. He bases this “information” on a hypothetical document which he calls “Les Dossiers Secrets”, discovered at the national library in Paris in 1975. He finishes the introduction defending the accuracy of all his descriptions. He hus tries to give himself some credibility, preparing the reader to accept the Gnostic message which is hidden in the novel.

At the centre of this delirious and blasphemous intrigue, the author invents a marriage between Our Lord Jesus Christ and St. Mary Magdalene, and the birth of a child – the beginning of a “divine lineage.” To impress his credulous readers, one of the personalities, Sr. Teabing, affirms that this descent of Jesus Christ and of Mary Magdalene is attested to by numerous historians. In truth, he is referring to a handful of occultist writers who,  in divulging their ideas, make no distinction between reality and imagination … and they recognise this themselves! Thus Margaret Starbird, the principal source of the author of the Da Vinci Code on the imaginary marriage of Our Lord with Mary Magdalene, freely affirms: “My story of Mary Magdalene and of the little Sarah (the supposed daughter) is fiction. (Margaret Starbird, Mary Magdalene: TheBeloved, www.magdalene.org/beloved_essay.php) (…). It is quite evident that I cannot prove that Jesus was married or that Mary Magdalene was the mother of his daughter.” (Margaret Starbird, The Woman With the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalene and the Holy Grail (Rochester, Vt.: Bear & Co., 1993)).

If one tries to follow the thread of logic in the Da Vinci Code, without getting dragged along by the literary tricks to sustain suspense, one finds a ridiculous story and an absurd plot. Here is a summary.

A Pope, hostile to the Catholic organisation Opus Dei, decides to close it. The Prelate who is at the head of this  organisation receives a mysterious telephone call from an anonymous caller, who proposes a deal: he (the caller) will give the Prelate, into his own hands, the Holy Grail, on condition that Opus Dei provides him with one of its members to obey him blindly. Having the Holy Grail, the Prelate of Opus Dei will become the keeper of a secret so dangerous to the Church that the Pope will be obliged to abandon any idea of closing the organisation. The Prelate (in absolute defiance of all likelihood) would be sufficiently naive and amoral to have confidence in this anonymous caller and to accept his delirious proposition.

This unknown figure (one learns at the end that it is a Gnostic occultist, enemy of the Church) begins to direct the actions of the supposed member of Opus Dei, a fanatic “monk”, getting him to murder different people. One of his targets is the director of the Louvre Museum, who would be the Grand Master of a secret occultist society, the Priory of Sion, supposedly “founded” by Godefroi de Bouillon, one of the leaders of the first Crusade, and the “strong arm” of this Priory would be the Templars. All these people and organisations, according to the story, would be occultist and would adore St. Mary Magdalene as a Goddess. Don’t forget that from the first page the author has guaranteed that all these facts and “secret rituals” are accurate.

There, you may say, I really don’t understand anything anymore. Why does a “Gnostic occultist” want to kill the Grand Master of the Priory of Sion, another occultist? On the contrary, they should be united,… Yes, but this nasty guy finds that the Priory of Sion only wish to “keep” the secret while he wishes to reveal it publicly to “alter history forever” and to unmask the Church.

Leonardo da Vinci would have been one of the Grand Masters of the Priory of Sion, and his paintings would be full of occult messages, transmitting in a “coded” way the doctrines of this secret society, keeper of the truth and persecuted by the Church. For example, in the painting of the Last Supper (the main source of “evidence” for the blasphemous conclusions of the novel, even though it was only painted almost 1,500 years after the event it depicts) he supposedly painted St. Mary Magdalene in the place of St. John the Evangelist, contradicting what is believed about the Last Supper. That would “prove” the marriage of Our Lord. In the famous picture of the Mona Lisa, it is supposedly da Vinci himself dressed as a woman (without the beard, mind you, so as not to attract suspicion: what a crafty code!).

The grand-daughter of the occultist director of the Louvre and an American professor of “religious symbolism” are mixed up in the assassinations committed by the “monk” of Opus Dei and are pursued by an ultra-Catholic policeman, “Bezu Fache”, who wants to protect Opus Dei. He doesn’t really respect the presumption of innocence. Then follows a chase through Paris and the surrounding region, then to England and Scotland, the couple flee the mad “monk” and Bezu Fache, and at the  same time seek the Holy Grail. And all this in less than 24 hours. The intensive pace of the novel is slowed down only a few times – for some “history lessons”, mostly from a Gnostic zealot who is bubbling over with hatred for the Catholic Church.

Contrary to the medieval idea that the Holy Grail is the chalice which Our Lord used for the consecration on Holy Thursday, and in which Joseph of Arimathea collected the blood which Jesus shed on the Cross, this Grail would be the body of Mary Magdalene, worshipped by these Gnostics as a Goddess(!), married to Jesus, who (according to this fanciful version) is no more than a man, and from whom was born a “divine lineage” that survived until today.

While on the run, the young woman and the American professor discuss all these Gnostic theses and form a critical position against the Church.

The occultist teacher who is following them catches up with them and “reveals” that the true religion is gnosis, that the Catholic Church is an impostor. According to this version, Our Lord Jesus Christ would neither be God nor the founder of the Catholic Church, which would have been founded by the emperor Constantine. In the same way the Bible would have been the work of this emperor, who would also have invented the “myth” of the divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Finally, according to the original plan, the head of the Church would not have been St. Peter, but instead, St. Mary Magdalene (which would be “proven” by the Gnostic gospels). In keeping with the line of absurdities and contradictions packed into the book, the author claims that Jesus (man but not God) gave Mary Magdalene (the Goddess) directions for the founding of His Church. Really, who’s in charge here? Since when could a mere mortal man order a Goddess what to do? And this is the kind of stuff Dan Brown expects people to believe!

At the end of the novel the couple manage to escape from the grasp of their followers and the American professor discovers the “true Holy Grail”, the tomb of St. Mary Magdalene, right in the centre of Paris. President Mitterand had one of the pyramids of the Louvre built over her tomb. To honour her, in an idolatrous gesture, the professor knelt to adore the remains.

Reject the “Da Vinci Code”

The Da Vinci Code isn’t a historical novel. It is a ridiculous fiction, but one which uses the techniques of writing to capture the attention of the reader and to transport him into a world of fantasy. These techniques create dependence on the part of the reader, who doesn’t stop to reflect on what he is reading and digests, at least in part, the Gnostic doctrine of the book, criticising the Church and Our Lord Jesus Christ. A superficial Christian mesmerized by its drama hardly discerns the book’s Gnostic propaganda. But a subtle doubt is planted: Could the author be right? Could the Church really have hidden the truth about Christ for 2000 years?

Even if the Da Vinci Code had the honesty to present itself as a work of fiction, and didn’t pretend to base itself on historical facts and on creditable documents, its blasphemous attack against the Catholic faith would still merit our indignant rejection. These insinuations, insulting to the Person of Our Lord Jesus Christ should lead us to acts of reparation and to protest.

If we adore Christ as the God-Man, and believe in the Church, one, holy, Catholic and apostolic, which is the Mystical Body of Christ, then we must reject the insults of this book against our adorable Saviour, and the ludicrous affirmations and fantasies it contains.

While we see our faith attacked and our God offended in this way, we, too, are offended and want to protest.

Our peaceful protest has  become urgent by the fact that the Da Vinci Code is not an obscure work of fiction, but a book that benefits from worldwide propaganda, more intense in countries that are strongly Catholic, and which has sold more than 40 million copies.

Now a film has been released to continue the promotion of the false affirmations contained in the book.

The Catholic Church, unlike Her detractors, does not have a secret or an occult code and has never feared to proclaim the truth in all its integrity. The ostensible design of the promoters of the film “to alter history forever” is pretentious and vain.

If, as the Da Vinci Code suggests, the Catholic Church is no more than a mere human institution, run by naïve and incompetent fools, what does that not say about the enemies of the Church, who have never been able to elevate themselves above the level of an irrelevant disgruntled sect that feels persecuted and oppressed by the very existence of the Church. The Church’s enemies have no hope of ever changing that situation because Our Lord Jesus Christ made and keeps His promise that the gates of Hell would never prevail against His Church.  This is not the weak promise of a mere mortal man, but the infallible promise of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and God.

In this world full of threats, we have the right to defend ourselves from the spiritual and moral dangers which this attack represents, and which try to reach into the depth of our souls and to destroy our faith, our convictions and our principles. Our best defence is to oppose this enormous machine for propagating unbelief in a peaceful but effective way.

What is Gnosis?

GNOSTICISM: A Summary

Gnosis, or Gnosticism, is a religion that attributes the creation of the universe and man to an evil god, the Demiurge, whom Gnostics identify with the God of the Bible.

The Demiurge imprisoned a divine particle in man.

Gnostics claim man’s salvation consist in liberating the divine particle by illumination, a special kind of knowledge (Gnosis).

Gnostics despise the body and all matter since these entrap divine particles, stopping them from reintegrating in the non-personal fullness of divinity.

Gnostic doctrines have been spread not only by religions, but also by philosophical systems, from Plato in antiquity to forms of Darwinism, Marxism and Existentialism today.

Reasons Why The Church Rejected The Gnostic Gospels:

• Their origin could not be traced to the apostolic age and genuine apostolic authorship.
• They did not have the history of liturgical use.
• They contained heretical teachings.

What Church Figures Say about the Da Vinci Code:

• “Christians should not see this film and should not contribute to the colossal profits that the person who invented this thing is going to receive.”
  Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez
  The former Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
• “stridently anti-Christian … full of calumnies, offences and historical and theological errors regarding Jesus, the Gospels
  and the Church…I hope that you all will boycott the film”.
  Archbishop Angelo Amato
  Secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
• “Christ is still being sold, no longer to the heads of the Sanhedrin for thirty pieces of silver, but to publishers and booksellers for millions of dollars.”
  Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa
  Preacher to the Pontifical Household
• “This book is a sack full of lies against the Church, against the real history of Christianity and against Christ himself.“
  Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone
  Archbishop of Genoa, Italy
• “Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code is not based on the slightest foundation of truth. His misrepresentation of historical facts and repackaging of ancient failed philosophies provide absolutely no basis to respect the bizarre teachings contained in this novel.”
  Most Reverend Robert J. Baker
  Bishop of Charleston, South Carolina, USA
• “There are some other religions which, if you insult their founder, will not just be talking. They will make it painfully clear.”
  Cardinal Francis Arinze
  (on Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code)
• “I think the The Da Vinci Code is a load of nonsense.”
  Cardinal George Pell
  Archbishop of Sydney, Australia
• “The Da Vinci Code novel is filled with distortions, especially sexual distortions and perversions, which have simply been read back into the life of Christ and the history of Church.”
  Rev. Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R.
  Preacher, author and EWTN host
• “I am asking my parishioners and Catholics everywhere to boycott the film and any of its advertising sponsors. I am asking them to protest by sending e-mail, snail mail, phone calls, and faxes to those who made this film.”
  Father John Trigilio, Jr, PhD, ThD
  President of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, EWTN contributor

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