The world's tallest monument of Our Lady of Fatima was inaugurated in Crato, located in Ceará state in northeastern Brazil. / Credit: Courtesy of Prefeitura do Crato/Screenshot
Sao Paulo, Brazil, Nov 20, 2025 / 12:48 pm (CNA).
The world’s tallest monument dedicated to Our Lady of Fátima was inaugurated and blessed on Nov. 13 during the closing Mass of the Marian Jubilee in Crato, located in Ceará state in northeastern Brazil.
The 177-foot-tall statue was created by the artist Ranilson Viana, inspired by the replica of the pilgrim image venerated in the cathedral of Our Lady of Penha, a work by the Portuguese sculptor Guilherme Ferreira Thedim.
“Our hearts overflow with joy and faith because in this blessed land of Crato, this magnificent image of Our Lady of Fátima stands thanks to the presence of the pilgrim image, coming directly from Fátima, in Portugal, a sign of our spiritual communion with that Marian shrine, a beating heart of prayer, penance, and hope for the whole world,” said Bishop Magnus Henrique Lopes of Crato, who celebrated the Mass.
The pilgrim image of Our Lady of Fátima arrived in Juazeiro do Norte on Nov. 10, 72 years after its first visit. Its pilgrimage concluded on Nov. 13 during the closing Mass of the Diocesan Marian Day.
In his homily, Lopes said that “from Fatima to Crato, we travel the same path of faith and tenderness.” He recalled that in Portugal “Mary appeared as a lady brighter than the sun” and that in Crato “she arrives as a loving mother who welcomes her suffering children. Poor, but full of trust.”
The bishop also noted that in blessing “this image of Our Lady of Fátima,” we can hear “the same maternal invitation” that Mary made at the wedding at Cana, when she said to the servants: “Do whatever he tells you.”
‘Fátima is a school of listening and obedience to the Gospel’
“In this simple gesture” of Our Lady at Cana “is all the theology of Marian intercession,” he explained. “Mary does not take the place of Jesus. She reveals him. She does not create grace. Mary leads us to the One who is grace itself.”
As the bishop explained it, “Fátima is a school of listening and obedience to the Gospel.”
“Mary called the little shepherds Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta to conversion, to praying the rosary, to penance, and to trust in God’s love,” he added.
“Today, many Franciscos and many Lucias and countless Jacintas no longer listen to the call to prayer, to catechesis, to the sacred moment” but instead “so often listen to other voices” that “destroy dreams, families, and hope,” the bishop lamented.
“We live in times when faith, the sacred, are being snatched from the hands of children, from the hearts of our young people, from our sons and daughters,” he warned. “And this void manifests itself in violence, in self-destruction, in a loss of meaning, and in dehumanization at an early age.”
“We, laypeople, consecrated men and women, and authorities, are witnessing how these dreams are being stolen. We are perceiving with indifference, even contributing to it because it’s easier that way, to the destruction and disintegration of the future of our children,” he pointed out. “That is why the message of Fátima is so urgent here in our land, in our diocese, and in so many other dioceses where the faith of the people is profound and Marian devotion is an integral part of [their lives].
At the end of the Mass, Lopes imparted the apostolic blessing with a plenary indulgence to the faithful present and then went to the new monument in Crato with the pilgrim image of Our Lady of Fátima, where he blessed the new statue.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Comments
Post a Comment