America Needs Fatima
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America Needs Fatima is a campaign of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP). Its stated goal is to: "win the heart and soul of America for Mary by spreading Our Lady's Fátima message and promoting devotion to Her Immaculate Heart."[1]
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[edit] History
The effort was begun in 1984 under campaign directorship of American TFP member C. Preston Noell III. Leadership of the campaign changed to American TFP member Robert Ritchie in 1996, who remains as executive director today.[2]
[edit] Activities
America Needs Fatima is action-oriented and has organized pro-life rallies and protests against works it views as blasphemous, distributed millions of fliers, established a home visitation program enthroning statues of Our Lady of Fátima and published books.
To date, America Needs Fatima members have distributed millions of fliers describing the Fátima message and promoting the book: Fatima: Prophecies of Tragedy or Hope. They have also distributed fliers on other issues, including protest fliers against dozens of perceived blasphemies.
In addition to Fatima: Prophecies of Tragedy or Hope, which has over 100,000 copies in circulation, America Needs Fatima has also published an illustrated children's book titled Jacinta’s Story that received encouragement from over twenty U.S. bishops.
Since 1996, America Needs Fatima has visited over 10,000 American homes in forty-nine states with pilgrim Virgin statues of Our Lady of Fátima. The program of these visits includes a statue crowning, a short audio-visual presentation about Fatima and praying the rosary.[3]
America Needs Fatima also has experience organizing "anti-blasphemy" rallies. The most notable anti-blasphemy campaign they sponsored was against the film: The Da Vinci Code[4], in which they arranged more than two thousand theater protests nationwide, as well as major demonstrations outside the Sony headquarters in New York[5] and Los Angeles.
America Needs Fatima's most recent activity is the "Public Square Rosary Campaign." The stated goal of this campaign is for America Needs Fatima contacts all over the country to pray the rosary and proclaim the Fátima message in a public place, such as a sidewalk or street corner, on October 13, 2007, the 90th anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun during the Fatima apparitions.[6] Approximately 2,000 rosary rallies were organized.
On October 11 2008, America Needs Fatima carried out 3,500 rosary rallies in cities across the country. The theme of the 2008 rallies was "Asking God to Save America." The rosary rallies event is to be repeated in 2009.
According to the group's website, 4,337 rosary rallies were carried out on Saturday, October 10, 2009. This is the Saturday closest to the 13 of October, the day in 1917 when God worked the miracle of the sun at Fatima, Portugal.
In 2010, the group's specified goals are to organize 5,000 rallies in the Public Square Rosary Crusade set for Saturday, October 16th. According to news reports, America Needs Fatima had 5,963 rosary rallies on that day, and plans 7,000 for October 15, 2011.
[edit] See also
- American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property
- Roman Catholic Marian Movements and Societies
