In 2017 we celebrated the centenary of the Fatima apparitions. This jubilee was associated with many events through which we not only showed gratitude to God and the Holy Mother for the gift of the apparitions and their fruits, but also asked ourselves about the role that the Fatima apparitions should play in the life of the modern Church and individual Christians.
The crucial ceremonies were held at the place of the apparitions, that is in Fatima, between May 12 and 13, 2017. The celebrations were presided by Pope Francis, who also canonized the little visionaries: Francisco and Jacinta Marto.
However, the centenary of the Fatima events was celebrated with great solemnity in Poland as well. The main ceremonies took place in “Polish Fatima” – at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Krzeptówki-Zakopane.
On June 6, the Polish Episcopal Conference gathered there for the ceremonial renewal of the Act of the Consecration of the Homeland and the Church in Poland to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It was a reference to the entrustment of Poland to the Immaculate Heart of Mary at Jasna Góra in 1946, performed by the Polish Bishops Conference on the initiative and under the presidency of Cardinal August Hlond.
Moreover, in September the Shrine in Zakopane-Krzeptówki hosted the International Mariological and Marian Congress, which included a meeting of the Father Curators of Polish Sanctuaries. The theme of the Congress was: “Fatima in God’s plan of Salvation”. The event received the honorary patronage of the Pontifical International Marian Academy of the Vatican and the Polish Episcopal Conference.
Kongres Mariologiczno-Maryjny Fatima w Bożym planie Zbawienia