One day before the May 13 celebration marking the 100th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions, a statue of Our Lady of Fatima will be visiting the United Nations, CNA reports.
The day will mark the second time this particular statue has been to the United Nations, the first being in 1952.
The event is titled, “The Centenary of Fatima and the Enduring Relevance of Its Message of Peace”. Speakers will include Ambassador Alvaro Mendonca e Moura, permanent representative of Portugal to the UN, and Archbishop Bernardito Auza, apostolic nuncio and permanent observer of the Holy See to the UN.
“The event will be focused in a very special way on the enduring relevance of Fatima’s message of peace,” stated Fr Roger Landry, a priest serving for the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission at the UN, in a press release.
Among the presenters will be Johnnette Benkovic, founder and president of EWTN’s Women of Grace.
She highlighted the significance of the statue travelling to the UN. “Its purpose is to promote a message of peacemaking and peace building in light of Our Lady of Fatima and her messages to the children in 1917,” she said.
“We are in tenuous times and the Blessed Mother’s message to the world through the Fatima shepherd children is more relevant and important than ever. I am both honoured and abundantly humbled to participate in this unprecedented moment at the UN.”
As a presenter, Ms Benkovic noted the cultural and unitive significance of Our Lady of Fatima, particularly among three major religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, saying that Our Lady of Fatima “is a Jewish woman, acclaimed and revered by Christians, and acknowledged and respected by Muslims.”
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