Accompanying the Holy Father in Portugal

"Mercy and truth have met, justice and peace have kissed."  Penance and the cross.
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If one is physically prevented from going on a pilgrimage one may always do so in spirit.  I have been anticipating the Holy Father's pilgrimage to Portugal, 'where the dogma of Faith will always be preserved' - the promise of Our Lady at Fatima.  The visit of a reigning pope to any Marian shrine is always significant, but none more so than to Fatima, since the apparition in 1917 were very much concerned with the pope and the Church.  This week I will unite my prayer and activities to the Holy Father, praying with him and especially for him.  In this way I will be at his side spiritually, listening and praying.
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Diehard Fatimists
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Anticipating his pilgrimage, the skeptics - no not those who deny that Our Lady really did appear in 1917 - but those who insist the secret of Fatima, revealed by Our Lady, has not been disclosed in its entirety.  In their denial, these otherwise good people harshly criticize members of the hierarchy as well as former Cardinal Ratzinger, claiming the entire third part of the secret has not been revealed.  In doing so, they foment dissent and the critical spirit, casting doubts upon the authority of the Church to govern, direct and rule on such matters.  Indeed, these scoffers resemble those who advocate purported apparitions and messages elsewhere in the world which are not approved by the Catholic Church.  They seek to isolate the messages of Fatima and somehow make it into a sort of parallel gospel, or their private Book of Revelation.  In effect, they derange the apostolate into something of a cult, offering speculative theories as to what Our Lady revealed to the children in 1917, as if their ideas were fact.
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On the other hand, no one is more reasonable and grounded in the faith as our Holy Father, and he never sensationalizes the message of Fatima.  In fact, he seems to me to have penetrated to the essential component of the message, "Penance, penance, penance."  Priests and laity must understand that the so-called third secret was intended for the Holy Father - it has always been up to the Pope's discretion to reveal it or not.  I hardly think that JPII and his curia would lie to the Church and the world when they announced that the complete secret has been revealed, or when they revealed from Sr. Lucy that Heaven had accepted the consecration of Russia as it was performed by JPII and the bishops of the world.  As many whose devotion has been enriched by the message of Fatima know already, these are matters some Catholic diehard Fatimists in the so-called "Fatima Challenge" movement contest.
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What the Pope says about his pilgrimage.
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LISBON — In his most direct condemnation of the sexual abuse crisis that has swept the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday said that the “sins inside the church” posed the greatest threat to Catholicism, adding that “forgiveness does not substitute justice.”
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“Attacks on the pope and the church come not only from outside the church, but the suffering of the church comes from inside the church, from sins that exist inside the church. This we have always known but today we see it in a really terrifying way,” Benedict told reporters aboard his plane en route to Portugal.
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“The greatest persecution of the church does not come from the enemies outside, but is born from sin inside the church,” he added. “The church has a profound need to relearn penance, to accept purification, to learn on the one hand forgiveness but also the necessity of justice. And forgiveness does not substitute justice.”
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In his remarks, Benedict appeared to distance himself from other church officials who in recent weeks have criticized the news media for focusing on the sex abuse crisis, which they called attacks on the church.
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On the plane, Benedict told reporters that the church had to relearn “conversion, prayer, penance.”** - NYT

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As Benedict XVI arrived in Portugal he announced: 

"'I come as a pilgrim to Our Lady of Fatima", said the Pope at the beginning of his address, "invested from on high with the mission of confirming my brothers and sisters as they advance on their own pilgrimage towards heaven'". - VIS

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**The following is a more complete text from an earlier interview with the Pope: 
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"In terms of what we today can discover in this Our Lady's message, attacks against the pope or the church don’t come just from outside the church. The suffering of the church also comes from within the church, because sin exists in the church. This too has always been known, but today we see it in a really terrifying way. The greatest persecution of the church doesn’t come from enemies on the outside, but is born in sin within the church. The church thus has a deep need to re-learn penance, to accept purification, to learn on one hand forgiveness but also the necessity of justice. Forgiveness does not exclude justice. We have to re-learn the essentials: conversion, prayer, penance, and the theological virtues. That’s how we respond, and we can be realistic in expecting that evil will always launch attacks from within and from outside, but the forces of good are also always present, and finally the Lord is stronger than evil. The Madonna for us is the visible maternal guarantee that the will of God is always the last word in history." - NCR

Pray for the Holy Father.