Written By Miriam Gruner
Co-Sponsoring an International Catholic Conference
The Fatima Center was a sponsor of the Rome Life Forum Conference organized by LifeSiteNews. This conference was a 2-day strategy session held immediately after the Vatican’s “Synod on Synodality,” which, among other evils, threatens to formalize heretical teachings on the family and on the Church. The conference had a focus on the Deep Church, Deep State, and the “Great Reset” agenda, which proposes to refashion the world according to the errors of Russia (e.g., tyrannical and socialistic atheism). Our goal at the conference was to work together to formulate a plan to end corruption in the Church, which is a necessary first step in ending corruption in the world.
The Fatima Center chose to sponsor and participate in this international conference as we know we have the simple solution: If we want to end the crisis in the Church and reset the world in Christ, then we must obey the requests of Our Lady of Fatima in our individual lives and in the Church at large. This is, of course, not “our” solution, but rather it is the solution which God has given the world, and therefore it is the only solution. Our Lady brought it to us more than a century ago. Mankind has disobeyed far too long! It remains for us to obey, and obey promptly and whole-heartedly.
Chris Ferrara represented The Fatima Center and presented a fabulous speech. His goal was to convince everyone that all Catholic organizations and prominent individuals should come together to promote the full Fatima Message, in addition to providing their unique perspectives on the issues we face. We will post Chris Ferrara’s talk at our website and social media channels as soon as possible. (There were, of course, many other edifying talks at the conference, which can be found at LifeSiteNews.)
Prevalent Messages at the Conference
Several important themes surfaced at the conference. One of them was that we need to be joyful. Times are hard now as we have a Pope who is promoting new and false teachings which undermine the faith in order to promote the New World Order. (For more information on this topic, see The Fatima Crusader, Issue 131, “Exposed: Errors of the 2023 Synod.”) We were reminded about the need to have our hearts on fire for Our Lord and Our Lady, as many forces are bent upon quenching that fire of the Holy Ghost. When speaking of times of tribulation, Our Lord prophetically warned:
“You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars… you shall be hated by all nations for My Name’s sake… Many false prophets shall rise, and shall seduce many. And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold” (Matthew 24:6-12).
His Excellency, Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, one of the conference speakers, reminded us that we need to rekindle awe and reverence in what we do, as it is easy to get into routines and become numb to the wonder of every single Mass. We need to make sure we never treat the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as routine. And we must remain hope-filled and steadfast in the Catholic Faith, for Our Lord likewise asserted:
“But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13).
This Is Our Time
We also need to keep in mind that we are meant, by Divine Providence no less, to be living through these times. We were made by God for this specific time. We were born for this (or as was stated in pro-life terms: We were conceived for this).
It is easy to feel depressed given what is happening in our world, in our countries, and in our own families. A tactic of the devil to induce depression is to tempt us with the thought that ‘it would have been easier (or better) to have lived at another time.’ Recognize this deceit for what it is: a ploy of the devil which denies the omniscience, omnipotence, and absolute goodness of God. As soon as you feel these emotions, use right reason to make a firm act of the will and reject them as deceits. Trusting in God, pray as well for an increase in faith, hope, and charity.
It certainly helps to be reminded that we are meant to be living through these times, that God has foreseen this, and that all is under His perfect control. God chose us to be here and deal with what we are dealing with. Each one of us has a role to play. We have examples of many saints to guide us. And, of course, we have the most powerful weapons on our side: the Traditional Mass and the holy Rosary.
The Blood of Martyrs
There were many people at the conference – with participants representing 23 countries throughout the world. There was a focus on the Faith in Africa and the example of the Ugandan martyrs. We were reminded how the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church. Anyone who demands eternal truths to be changed, mocks the martyrs, cheapens the Church’s authority, and repudiates the purpose for which Christ shed His Precious Blood.
Spreading the Full Message of Fatima
It was edifying to meet devotees of Our Lady and learn how our efforts have impacted those people over the years. We met two priests who were at a Fatima Center conference in Rome with Father Gruner. We rejoiced at the suffering endured by a woman from the United Kingdom who got in trouble with her local Fatima group for pointing out errors they were promoting. She used The Fatima Center literature for reference and defense of the truth. An English couple decided to attend when they heard Chris Ferrara was a featured speaker. They have been following him for years as he was a close associate of our founder. Another woman told me she still wears her Brown Scapular and remembers a priest came to her elementary school to enroll the children. She is quite certain that priest was Father Gruner!
We were able to hand out hundreds of our Fatima in Brief pamphlets; in fact, we ran out. The conference attendees took the bulk, but the remainder were taken to be distributed in Africa! Our prayer is that the full Message of Fatima will continue to be spread throughout the world. Indeed, many participants spoke to us about needing to know more about Fatima. Having placed this entire effort in Our Lady’s hands, we are trustingly confident that the aim of our participation was achieved.
We especially thank all our donors for their prayers and donations, which were absolutely necessary to make this goal a reality. May Our Lady reward you!
Be Faithful Catholics
Bishop Strickland was introduced by John-Henry Weston, co-founder of LifeSiteNews, as a modern-day hero. To this the Bishop modestly replied: “I don’t want to be called a hero. I want to be called a Catholic.” This captured the essence of the conference. And it pretty well sums up what we all want to be called – and what we are called to be.