The Pallottine Community from Krzeptówki in Zakopane, has the pleasure to communicate to the fellow Confreres and the whole Society of the Catholic Apostolate that the Conference of Polish Episcopate – by Decree of March 14, 2018 – established at Zakopane-Krzeptówki
The National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima.
The decree of the Polish Episcopal Conference was handed by His Excellency Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, the President of the Polish Bishop’s Conference, today (March 28, 2018) to the Provincial Superior, Father Zenon Hanas S.A.C., and the Shrine’s curator, Father Marian Mucha S.A.C., at the Secretariat of the Polish Episcopal Conference.
The decision of the Polish Bishops’ Conference is the culmination of all the preceding actions and events:
1950 – with the approval of the then Metropolitan of Cracow, Archbishop Eugeniusz Baziak, the Pallottines of the Province of Christ the King founded their establishment in Krzeptówki in Zakopane; the site constituted a nucleus of the today’s centre of Fatima cult;
1961 – the Bishop of Leiria conferred a statue of Our Lady of Fatima to Cardinal Wyszyński. In accordance with the intention of the donor, the statue was to travel through the European countries behind the Iron Curtain, none of which could have been previously reached by the pilgrim statues of Our Lady of the Rosary (due to the reference to Russia in the message of Fatima). The Primate of the Millennium – by entrusting Krzeptówki with the precious gift from Fatima – obliged the Pallottines to set off on a pilgrimage, aimed at bringing the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, as well as her message, to the far corners of the motherland. After the consecration by the then auxiliary Bishop of Cracow, Karol Wojtyła, the statue commenced its journey through the Polish parishes; a journey which would take over 25 years, accompanied by the Fatima retreats preached by the Pallottines from Krzeptówki;
13th of May 1981 – on the anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady in Fatima, there was an attempt on the life of John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. On this very day, in Krzeptówki, during the first hours of ardent prayer in front of the Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, begging Her to save the Pope’s life, Father Drozdek made a commitment: “If God would spare the life of John Paul II, we would build a church here, as a votive offering for the saved life of the Holy Father”.
21st of October 1987 – John Paul II crowned the statue of Our Lady of Fatima from Zakopane, during a ceremony in Rome. On the head of the Holy Mother a crown was placed, which – as the Pope said – was to be “a reminder of what the Mother of God has done for her people”.
22nd of April 1992 – the Apostolic Penitentiary honoured the Shrine of Krzeptówki with a privilege of obtaining plenary indulgence under standard conditions, provided the faithful would piously participate in the liturgical celebrations, or at least say the Lord’s Prayer and the Confession of Faith:
1) on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as well as on May 13;
2) once a year, on a day chosen by the faithful;
3) whenever a group of pilgrims visits the Sanctuary;
7th of June 1997 – on this day the greatest of pilgrims, Pope John Paul II, came to the Lady of Fatima to Krzeptówki. During the consecration of the church, he pronounced the words which attributed special significance to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Zakopane:
“Dear brothers and sisters! Your shrine in Krzeptówki is particularly near and dear to me. (…) The history of this shrine is also linked with the event which took place in Saint Peter’s Square on 13 May 1981. (…) I know that you gathered (…) in the Chapel of Our Lady of Fatima in Krzeptówki to recite the rosary to obtain for me a recovery of health and strength. At that time plans were first made to build here, at the foot of Mount Giewont, a shrine to Our Lady of Fatima as a votive offering of thanksgiving for my life having been spared. I know that this shrine, which today I am able to consecrate, was built by many hands and many hearts united by hard work, sacrifice and love for the Pope. It is hard for me to speak of this without being moved. (…) I have come among you to thank you for your goodness, your thoughts and your continuing prayer. (…) You have always helped me. You were with me and you understood my concerns. I felt this. It was a great support for me. Today I thank you from my heart for this attitude of faith and devotion to the Church. (…) Totus tuus… I thank you all for this church. It is filled with your love for the Church and for the Pope. In some sense it is the continuation of my gratitude to God and to His Mother. Together with you I rejoice greatly in this gift”;
6th of June 2017 – 20 years after the church had been consecrated by St. John Paul II, many pilgrims came to Our Lady of Fatima at her Shrine in Krzeptówki, at “Polish Fatima”, to celebrate the centenary of the apparitions in Portuguese Fatima. The pivotal point of the anniversary celebrations was the renewal of the Act of the Consecration of the Homeland and the Church in Poland to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, by the President of the Polish Episcopal Conference, His Excellency Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, the Metropolitan of Poznań.
The Archbishop expressed words of devotion and dedication on behalf of the Polish Episcopal Conference, attending the ceremony at Krzeptówki, and in presence of the supreme state authorities: President Andrzej Duda with his wife, then Prime Minister Beata Szydło, ministers and members of the Polish Parliament, as well as representatives of local authorities.
We perceive the decision of the Polish Bishop’s Conference to establish the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Zakopane as an ecclesial mandate. It is also an honourable duty, imposed on the Pallottine Family by the Holy Church, to continue to serve the legacy of Fatima with even more zeal, and to bear the worthy and binding name of “Polish Fatima”.
The solemn liturgical announcement of Krzeptówki being appointed the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima took place on May 13, 2017, during the inauguration of the annual Fatima celebrations. This act was be proclaimed by the Metropolitan of Cracow, His Excellency Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski.
Father Marian Mucha S.A.C., the curator of the Shrine