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.
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.
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!
