The Catholic Leader - 7 May

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The Catholic Leader, May 7, 2017
Parishes
May 8-11: Australian
Catholic Bishops Con-
ference, Sydney
May 12: Episcopal
Council meeting;
6.30pm Mass for the
installation of Fr Baiyi
Gong as parish priest, St
Peter’s Church, Rochedale
May 14: 9am Mass for the installa-
tion of Fr Rafal Rucinski as parish priest, St
Flannan’s Church, Zillmere.
Official
engagements
for Brisbane’s
archbishop
Archbishop Mark Coleridge
Visit
to see the 10am Sunday Mass live from
St Stephen’s Cathedral
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Big Fatima night on hill
By Emilie Ng
A BRISBANE parish that welcomed
St John Paul II before he was elected
pope will host a Eucharistic proces-
sion to honour the Marian apparition
he claimed saved his life.
Our Lady of Victories Parish in Bowen Hills,
which received a visit from St John Paul II in
1973 when he was Archbishop of Krakow, will
commemorate the first apparition of Our Lady of
Fatima exactly 100 years after she appeared to
three shepherd children.
Pope John Paul II claimed the intercession of
Our Lady of Fatima had saved him from an as-
sassination attempt by Turkish man Mehmet Ali
Agca in 1981, who shot the pontiff four times in
a crowded St Peter’s Square.
The failed assassination took place exactly 64
years after Our Lady of Fatima first appeared to
three shepherd children on May 13, 1917.
The pope publicly forgave his shooter and in
1983 the Holy Father visited Mr Agca in his jail
cell.
He also gave one of the bullets that wounded
him to the bishop in charge of Fatima, and the
bullet is now in the crown of the statue of Our
Lady of Fatima.
Parish priest Fr Andrzej Kołaczkowski, who is
originally from Poland, has invited all Catholics
in Brisbane archdiocese to his parish on May 13
for the centenary of Our Lady of Fatima.
Bowen Hills parishioners have honoured Our
Lady of Fatima for 20 years, praying in a Rosary
procession outside the church that follows a
statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
On May 13, which marks 100 years since Our
Lady of Fatima appeared, the parish will host a
Eucharistic procession.
“To mark this special occasion, however, we
will give the first place of honour to Our Lord
Himself in the Blessed Sacrament, which is very
fitting since the Eucharist is central to the Fatima
message,” Fr Kołaczkowski said.
“It’s wonderful to think that we can answer Our
Lady’s call to worship Our Lord through prayer
and penance half a world away and one century
on, and that her message is still so relevant to
modern society.”
Priests will hear confessions between 5 and
7pm before Mass at 7.15pm.
Mass will be followed by the Eucharistic
procession.
The church doors will be kept open after Mass
for all-night adoration.
People can also be enrolled in the Brown
Scapular on the night.
Fr Kołaczkowski expected a packed church for
the centenary celebrations, and confirmed at least
10 seminarians from Holy Spirit Seminary would
join in for three hours of Eucharistic adoration.
“We’ve even heard that some people are
thinking of travelling from interstate to join in
the celebrations,” he said.
From May 13 the parish will also offer a small
pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima that will be
available for families to adopt for one week.
Fr Kołaczkowski said the strong devotion to
Our Lady of Fatima in his parish came from the
parishioners.
“I think it’s one of those celebrations that
comes from the grassroots level,” he said.
“The devotion of the people to Our Lady of
Fatima here, which was a big devotion of John
Paul II, has influenced the Polish chaplaincy and
strengthened our community.”
The community’s special connection with St
John Paul II and the prayers of the current Pope
will also be central to this year’s celebrations.
“I invite everyone to attend and unite in spirit
with the current Holy Father Pope Francis who
will be celebrating in Fatima, as well as with
St John Paul II from his place in heaven,” Fr
Kołaczkowski said.
Saintly visit: Cardinal Karol Wojtyla presiding at
a Mass at Bowen Hills in 1973. While Archbish-
op of Krakow, Cardinal Wojtyla was assigned
to care for Polish Catholics around the world,
including members of the Bowen Hills parish
at Our Lady of Victories.
Remembering the intercession: A close-up of
the crown of Our Lady of Fatima showing the
mounted bullet that wounded Pope John Paul
II in a failed assassination.
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