Catholic Shrines Dedicated to the Virgin Mary
Draw Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims
Is this a problem?
Draw Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims
Is this a problem?
INTRODUCTION and BACKGROUND
On Monday, August 23, 2004, the Religion Editor for Reuters News Service reports
from Lourdes, France, that "Catholic Shrines draw Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims"
(1) . Since this has become a very controversial issue for traditional
Catholics (2) in the Sanctuary of Fátima and because God Wills it, miguel
de Portugal will address the Reuters' report in His Name. Those who have ears, will Hear; and
those who have eyes, will See.
It will be easier to address such a controversial issue by discussing and commenting upon the news
- section by section.
The News: In an unexpected twist of globalization, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and
other pilgrims regularly worship at famous Roman Catholic shrines to the Virgin Mary such as
Lourdes in France and Fátima in Portugal. They drink the holy water, light votive candles
and pray fervently to the Madonna for help with life's hardships. Many venerate her like one of
their own goddesses, a view that would be a heresy if a Catholic theologian tried to defend it.
miguel de Portugal Comments: A child does not view, or act upon, the world as an
adult does. As he learns and intellectually matures, his fundamental perspectives and earlier
experiences will be added on to and/or modified to better reflect a reality that he could not
comprehend before. Even Mary and Jesus Christ experienced this.
In the passages dealing with the finding of Jesus at the Temple by Joseph and Mary we read:
First in Luke 2: 48-50
And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us?
Behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said to them: How is it
that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business?
And they understood not the word that he spoke unto them.
Then in Luke 2: 51-52
And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them. And his mother kept
all these words in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and grace with God
and men.
It is obvious from this that:
(a) Neither Mary nor Joseph had fully grasped the mission of Jesus, the Son of God. This came with
time and maturity as the parenting of Jesus Christ, the Savior of Mankind, followed its course in
time.
(b) Jesus, the Son of God the Father, but still a child had to further "advance in wisdom and age and grace with God and men" as time went by.
Therefore, we should view our younger (in beliefs and faith) brothers and sisters as such, for
they are advancing in wisdom and age and grace with God and men even if we do not understand where
they find themselves now in their faith journey.
(b) Jesus, the Son of God the Father, but still a child had to further "advance in wisdom and age and grace with God and men" as time went by.
Let us not forget the words of the Master through Luke 18: 15-17:
And they brought unto him also infants, that he might touch them. Which when the
disciples saw, they rebuked them. But) Jesus, calling them together, said: Suffer
children to come to me and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Amen, I say
to you: Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a child shall not enter into it.
The News: Rather than being turned away, the newcomers are free to join the crowds from Ireland, Italy, Spain and other traditionally Catholic countries who flock to Europe's most popular shrines. In Fátima, the warm welcome they have received has caused an uproar among traditionalist Catholics.
miguel de Portugal Comments: Those who are further advanced in the theology of our
Faith journey, do not have to emulate them. However, we must welcome them with open arms - as wide
open as the arms of Jesus on the cross. We must respect their current faith stage, encourage them
to pay homage to THEIR Mother (did not Jesus gave all humanity Mary as our Mother from the cross?
[John 19:25-27]). Through example - not hysterical fanaticism
(2) - we may help them along in order that their faith advances "in wisdom
and grace" so that they eventually understand what "we speak unto them."
The News: No one can say how many non Catholics worship at shrines where the Virgin
is said to have appeared, but they have become a familiar minority there over the past five to 10
years.... Their numbers may be small as a percentage of the 6 million pilgrims here each year, but
they're big in absolute terms.
Standing near the grotto where she was said to have appeared in 1858, two women wearing the Hindu
red dot or "bindi" on their foreheads said they prayed daily to the Madonna. "I come here for
peace of mind and heart," said Buvaneswary Palani, a Hindu from southeastern India who now lives
in southern France.
miguel de Portugal Comments: I wish more Catholics - especially those militant
Catholics who call themselves "traditionalists" - would pray daily and in sincerity to the
Madonna so that they may gain that same peace of mind and heart. (This peace presently seems to
elude them, if we are to judge by their vitriolic fanaticism.)
The News: "Gods are the same everywhere," explained her mother Darmavady. "She is
like our mother goddess Mariamman." ... Catholics revere Mary and believe she can intervene with
Jesus to help them, but they do not consider her divine. Hindu or Buddhist pilgrims could be
forgiven for thinking she is, though, when they see the faithful kneeling in silent prayer before
her statue or admire the huge mosaic of her that looms over the altar at the Lourdes basilica.
miguel de Portugal Comments: If that is the way they still see Mary, who are we to
force them to view Her differently at this point in their faith journey? (Of course, we must
NOT worship Her as the Goddess as so many, many Catholics do - not by their word but by
their obvious and, in many cases, outrageous behavior.)
For anyone who has been raised away from Roman Catholicism and then comes in contact with it, its
appearance at first glance will tell them that Mary is a Goddess for Roman Catholics. The worst
part is that this mentality is, many times, encouraged at the highest level of the Vatican.
When H.H. John Paul II wisely chose to Consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, he
had the official statue (3) of Our Lady of Fátima flown from the Sanctuary
of Fátima to Vatican City where he made the consecration.
We understand, and applaud, that he was trying to call the world's attention to the relationship
of this consecration to the requests made by Mary at Fátima by flying in the official statue for
the event. However, to avoid giving the wrong subtle message of idolatry, the consecration
should have, instead, taken place at St. Mary's Major Basilica - Mary's "official" Basilica in the
world, and, to keep the Fátima linkage, any artistically worthy local statue or icon of the
Our Lady of Fátima could have been brought into St. Mary's Major for the Consecration.
By flying a specific statue of Mary to the Vatican and not using any suitable, but local, statue
or icon, the silent implication ascribed the statue "powers" as idolaters ascribe to their idols.
Therefore, what H.H. John Paul II did, without intending to do so, was to promote
idolatry.Now then, are we going to accuse and abuse those who, because of their still developing faith, think of Mary as a Goddess?
The News: Tamils in southeastern India and northern Sri Lanka worship a
goddess Mariamman who protects villages and wards off disease. Among the Buddhists of China,
Vietnam and other Asian states, the "compassionate Savioress" Kwan Yin offers the maternal love
that Catholics find in Mary.
Although Islam teaches there is no god but Allah, folk traditions in some Muslim societies have
smuggled in a devotion for saints much like that seen in other religions. The Koran contains a
whole chapter on Mary, far more than the Gospels have on her. In it, Maryam (her Arabic name) is a
virgin and Jesus a great prophet but neither is divine.
miguel de Portugal Comments: As we have resolutely proven
(4) - Muslims give Mary a more exalted and active role in the Qur'an than we
do in the Christian New Testament.
The News: With its mass pilgrimages, devotion to a mother figure and belief in water with
miracle healing powers, Lourdes combines elements familiar to followers of several other
faiths. "In a globalized age, it's normal that Lourdes attracts them," said Patrick
Theillier, a physician who heads the Medical Bureau which examines every claim of miracle healing
at Lourdes.
miguel de Portugal Comments: Are we going to prevent other children of Mary from
benefiting from Her Maternal Solicitude because they do not happen to be Roman Catholics?
We suggest that the faithful review the many examples in the Gospels where Jesus repeatedly
rejected such religious elitism. [i.e. Luke 18:9-14]
FÁTIMA UNDER FIRE
The News: Perrier saw no theological problem with pilgrims of other faiths
worshiping at a shrine central to Roman Catholicism. "There are no religious services at the
grotto," the bishop explained. "They have great respect for Mary. They come to drink the water and
touch the rocks. But they don't attend mass here. That would have no meaning for them."
But the line between hospitality to outsiders and blurring of religious borders is close, as
Portugal's Fátima shrine to the Virgin has learned.
Traditionalist Catholics are up in arms against the shrine's directors for allegedly being so open
to Hindu pilgrims that they let them perform religious rites there.
"They have sinned against God and given scandal to the faithful," thundered the U.S. monthly
Catholic Family News. "They allowed Mary to be worshiped as God by pagan apostates."
miguel de Portugal Comments: Apostates? First of all, let us be fully aware that, if
the whole world has not turned to Christianity in 1600 years of alleged "Evangelization", it has
not been because God has failed. He even gave His physical life for it. It is because those who
claim to be the only ones with Divine Right to Evangelize - the Roman Catholic Church
Administrators - have failed. They have "traditionally" failed and continue to do so, as
the traditionalists' "up in arms" attitude attests to.
Jesus is Love. Therefore, we draw people to His Father through love - and not
through condemnations, accusations and insults.
The Roman Catholic Church has failed - thus now Mary has to draw them through Her Sanctuaries
built at Her request.
The News: Fátima's director, Father Luciano Guerra, issued a statement in late June
denying that a Hindu pilgrim group led by its own priest had somehow defiled the shrine during a
visit in May. "The priest sang a prayer which lasted a few minutes," he said. "No gesture
was made, no rite was performed, on or off the altar." Guerra also denied charges that a new
church now being built there would be open to rites from all faiths.
miguel de Portugal Comments: We draw the line here. The altar area of a Catholic
Church should never be used for anything else than for the intended purpose and for prayers
consonant with the Catholic Faith. It should not even be used for concerts as in many Catholic
Churches is being done these days.
VATICAN CONCERN
The News: The blurring of religious borders that globalization has brought to Marian
shrines has also touched the higher levels of Catholic theology, causing deep concern at the
Vatican. Father Jacques Dupuis, an 80-year-old Belgian Jesuit who spent 20 years in India, has
broken new ground in recent years by arguing that God works through many faiths to save all
believers.
This contradicts the Catholic position that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation and
even other Christian churches are imperfect paths to that goal.
miguel de Portugal Comments: We recognize the well used and abused Outside of the
Roman Catholic Church there is no salvation (5) claim.
Jesus Christ is the key to salvation and not Rome! How that is fulfilled even
for those who have never heard of Jesus Christ while alive is for us to know and, as of
now, for the rest to wonder about.
Church Administrators should be rejoicing over that! Otherwise, they would be responsible, because
of their abysmal and failed Evangelization effort, for the loss of billions of souls. The price
for being an accessory to the loss of souls may be found, in very clear terms, in the New
Testament as pronounced by Jesus Christ Himself. [i.e. Matthew 12: 30-32, 33-37, Matthew
18:5-7]
The News: Challenging that view earned the respected theologian a secretive
three-year investigation by the Vatican's stern doctrinal chief, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
The issue calmed in 2001 when Dupuis, under heavy Vatican pressure, issued a statement saying his
writings had contained some doctrinal ambiguities. But he has not changed his view.
miguel de Portugal Comments: If the issue would have been sexual abuse of youngsters
(6), it would have been swept under the "holy" carpet and the abuse would
have continued as usual, with its horrendous consequences (7) - whether in
the USA or in Austria or in Rome itself. However - An apparent challenge to the supremacy of the
Church over Divine Designs? (8) Never!
Rest assured that the days of the Roman Catholic Church - as is - are counted and are very
few (9). They have been amply warned.
_______________
(1) Original News Report
(2) "Traditional Catholics" - What does that term really mean? Byzantine Rite Roman Catholics, Tridentine Rite Roman Catholics, Society of Pius X Roman Catholics or just simply Fanatical Catholics?
(3) The "official" statue of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima is considered the statue which is encased in glass in the Capelhina - the chapel built in the exact location where five of the six Apparitions took place.
(4) As we have resolutely proven
(5) Outside of the Roman Catholic Church there is no salvation
(6) Sexual abuse of youngsters
(7) Consequences of sexual abuse
(8) The claim of supremacy by the Church over Divine Designs
(9) Letters notifying them of that
(1) Original News Report
(2) "Traditional Catholics" - What does that term really mean? Byzantine Rite Roman Catholics, Tridentine Rite Roman Catholics, Society of Pius X Roman Catholics or just simply Fanatical Catholics?
(3) The "official" statue of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima is considered the statue which is encased in glass in the Capelhina - the chapel built in the exact location where five of the six Apparitions took place.
(4) As we have resolutely proven
(5) Outside of the Roman Catholic Church there is no salvation
(6) Sexual abuse of youngsters
(7) Consequences of sexual abuse
(8) The claim of supremacy by the Church over Divine Designs
(9) Letters notifying them of that

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