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Last October The Portugal News reported on the Interfaith Congress held at Fátima, one of Catholicism’s most sacred sites, where representatives of the world’s leading religions allegedly explored the possibility of opening the shrine to a whole variety of faiths. While the newspaper received many letters and emails congratulating it for reporting on the congress, it was also criticised by some groups who claimed that Fátima would remain exclusively Catholic. Now, however, we can report that the first steps in developing Fátima as a multi-faith centre could have been taken. On May 5th, SIC and SIC Notícias carried a report...

NEWS: March 8, 2004 Bird’s Eye View of the News Atila Sinke Guimarães KASPER’S CURIOUS “CODE OF BEHAVIOR” – Cardinal Walter Kasper, chief of Vatican ecumenism, recently flew to Moscow (February 16-22) to meet Alexis II, the schismatic Russian patriarch and ex-KGB agent. According to Vatican sources, Alexis had invited Kasper to a cordial meeting. Many news reports were claiming that this trip would reveal a new opening of the Russian “Orthodox” toward the Catholic Church. I didn’t believe it. I suspected the opposite, that is, that new concessions from the Vatican were being prepared. Finally, the data about...

The Anglican - Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) met from 28 January - 3 February at the Palisades Retreat Centre, Seattle, under the co-chairmanship of the Most Rev Alexander J Brunett, Archbishop of Seattle, and the Most Rev Peter Carnley, Archbishop of Perth and Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia. The Commission completed work on the text of the Seattle Statement, "Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ", which it is now submitting to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and to the Archbishop of Canterbury together with the Anglican Consultative Council. The publication of "Mary: Grace and Hope...

In their attempts to deny, they confirmShrine Rector Confirms New Ecumenical Orientation at Fatima by John Vennari  After two months of silence, Fatima Shrine officials finally spoke publicly about the alleged plan to turn Fatima into an Interfaith Shrine. Three news reports came from Fatima on the subject. The first was a January 1 Zenit report on a December 28 Communiqué from Fatima Shrine Rector, Msgr. Guerra; the second was the Shrine's own web posting of the December 28 Communiqué that was somewhat different from what Zenit reported (the reason for which will be explained); the third was a brief...

Dear Friends and Benefactors, The Church has just celebrated 25 years of the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, one of the longest pontificates of her entire history. It is also a pontificate that has presided over one of the most decadent periods the Church has ever experienced. The French Revolution, the two World Wars and Communism caused less damage to the Church than the reforms of Vatican II. This internal sickness has given rise to a greater loss of faith, a greater spiritual devastation, especially in Europe and North America, than all the ills brought about by the Church’s...

Feb. 1: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels will host Los Angeles' annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity celebration Feb. 1, 4 p.m. Bishop McKinley Young, Tenth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, will be the preacher at the ecumenical service, sponsored by the Southern California Ecumenical Council. All are invited to attend the celebration, and arrangements have been made for guided tours of the cathedral following the service.

Feb. 1: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels will host Los Angeles' annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity celebration Feb. 1, 4 p.m. Bishop McKinley Young, Tenth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, will be the preacher at the ecumenical service, sponsored by the Southern California Ecumenical Council. All are invited to attend the celebration, and arrangements have been made for guided tours of the cathedral following the service.

HOT TOPICS: Consequences of Vatican II A Tango of Contradictory Statements around the Banjo Shrine Marian T. Horvat, Ph.D. Fatima authorities are dancing around many questions about the Fatima interfaith congress and shrine. Almost all of us know about the strange banjo-shaped Fatima Interfaith Shrine through a much publicized article by the Portugal News (1). Before that, an earlier article (2) in the same Portuguese weekly had already announced in detail the pan-religious conference that would be held in Fatima. At it the various confessions and sects were asked to "share" their traditions of "sanctuary," the congress theme. (3)...

The Pope's refusal to grant Catholics the right to take communion together with Protestants threatens to overshadow the first-ever joint gathering of the churches in Germany. It's been heralded as the turning point in the history of Christianity in Germany. Nearly 500 years after Martin Luther upset the church with his reformation theses, after bloody religious wars, hate and estrangement that spanned centuries, more than 200,000 Protestants and Catholics plan to proclaim their desire for unity over Ascension weekend in Berlin during the country's first Ecumenical Kirchentag, which begins Wednesday. But clashes are on the agenda. While the visitors were...