Our Lady of Arabia cathedral being built in Bahrain: Will this be part of the interfaith agenda?
‘Our Lady of Arabia’ (Photo by )
The Church of Rome is building a cathedral for “Our Lady of Arabia.” Here is some additional information about it:
Bahrain’s Our Lady Cathedral to become the heart of the Catholic community in Arabia
Construction, which began with the ground-breaking ceremony, is set to last until 2021. Once completed, it will be the reference point for the community of northern Arabia. …
The land was donated by the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The ground-breaking ceremony was held on 10 June and construction should be completed by the end of 2021.
The cathedral, under the patronage of Our Lady of Arabia, will be a concrete testimony of the Christian presence in one of the most powerful monarchies of the mostly Muslim Gulf and region.
As the country’s second place of Christian worship, the cathedral will be able to accommodate up to 2,000 people and will serve as the see of the Church for the northern Persian Gulf.
Here is some information from the Bahrain Cathedral’s website:
Few are aware that devotion to Our Lady of Arabia began in 1948, on 8th December – the day on which the little Chapel in Ahmadi, Kuwait, was dedicated in her honour. Her statue in the same shrine at Ahmadi was blessed in 1949 at the Vatican by Pope Pius XII (photo on the right) who later proclaimed the Queenship of Mary in 1954. In 1949 the Church of Our Lady of Arabia in Ahmadi was aggregated to the Patriarchal Liberian Basilica (Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major) in Rome and has been granted the same indulgences as for visiting this greatest Marian Shrine in the world. H.H. Pope Pius XII, by a pontifical decree Regnum Mariae, dated 25th January, 1957, declared Our Lady of Arabia the Principal Patron of the territory and the Vicariate Apostolic of Kuwait. …
In a magnanimous gesture of goodwill to the Catholic community, the King of Bahrain, His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa granted 9,000 square metres of land in Awali, to build a new church. This decision was officially conveyed to His Lordship Bishop Camillo on February 11, 2013 (Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes). The news was received with great joy and excitement by all the faithful in our Vicariate. H.L. Bishop Camillo’s immediate reaction on hearing the good news was to thank our Blessed Mother for her miraculous intercession and decided that the new Cathedral would be dedicated to Our Lady of Arabia. http://www.bahraincathedral.org/?p=1499 accessed 07/17/18
Before getting to the interfaith aspects of this, let’s first look at something else from the Bahrain Cathedral’s website:
Queen of Arabia! Queen of Peace!
PATRONESS OF THE ARABIAN PENINSULA, PRAY FOR US!From the earliest ages of the Church, whether in times of triumph or in times of crisis, Catholics have always offered prayers of petition and hymns of praise and veneration to the Queen of Heaven. … Hence, it is not surprising that even in this part of the world, the Arabian Peninsula, that we extol Mary’s queenly dignity. The title ‘Our Lady of Arabia’ (or ‘Queen of Arabia’) even though it seemed quite “new”, yet, the Right Rev. Apostolic Administrator of Arabia had approved it in 1948. http://www.bahraincathedral.org/?p=1499 accessed 07/17/18
That statement about veneration to the ‘Queen of Heaven’ from the earliest ages of the Church (presuming that is a reference to a Christian church) is flat-out untrue.
The Catholic Encyclopedia that confirms that:
Devotion to Our Blessed Lady in its ultimate analysis must be regarded as a practical application of the doctrine of the Communion of Saints. Seeing that this doctrine is not contained, at least explicitly in the earlier forms of the Apostles’ Creed, there is perhaps no ground for surprise if we do not meet with any clear traces of the cultus of the Blessed Virgin in the first Christian centuries. The earliest unmistakable examples of the “worship” — we use the word of course in the relative sense — of the saints is connected with the veneration paid to the martyrs who gave their lives for the Faith…Further, it is quite likely that the mention of the Blessed Virgin in the intercessions of the diptychs of the liturgy goes back to the days before the Council of Nicaea, but we have no definite evidence upon the point, and the same must be said of any form of direct invocation, even for purposes of private devotion (Herbert Thurston. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XV. Published 1912. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).
So, certain Catholic scholars admit that there is NO clear early evidence of Marian adoration by any real Christian.
It may be of interest to note that Europe is named after Europa, who also has had titles such as Astarte, Ishtar, and the “Queen of Heaven”:
According to Greek mythology the chief Greek god Zeus fell in love with the human daughter of the Phoenician king, named Europa; in the shape of a white bull he abducted her, and had three sons through her. In order to ‘make up’ for his behavior, she was honored by naming a continent after her: Europa. This ‘love’ affair, though illegal, is ‘covenantal behavior.’ And giving names to territories is also ‘covenantal behavior’. Zeus can be identified as Satan (Rev. 2:13). Has he tried, by establishing a false covenantal relationship with this continent, to have a ‘legal’ claim on this continent?…As mentioned, Europa was a Phoenician princess. In Syria she was equated with Astarte, an adaptation of the demonic principality named in the bible as the queen of heaven. She is also known as Ishtar. One of Ishtar’s sacred symbols was the bull. At Knossos the queen-priestess represented the ‘mother goddess,’ the queen of heaven. Bulls were sacred; bull-games had a very important…Europe bore him three sons, one of whom was Minos. Then Europe married Asterios, the king of Crete (Bos, Helene. EUROPE, WHAT’S IN THE NAME? February 2004. http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:ercf9u3roXgJ:www.joelnews.nl/NameofEurope.doc+europa+consolation+continent+named&hl=en&i.e.=UTF-8 4/8/04).
The Bible itself warns about worship of the ‘queen of heaven’. Here are all the verses in the Bible that use the expression “queen of heaven”:
18 The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger. 19 Do they provoke Me to anger?” says the LORD. “Do they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?” 20 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place–on man and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground. And it will burn and not be quenched.” (Jeremiah 7:18-20)
15 Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other gods, with all the women who stood by, a great multitude, and all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying: 16 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you! 17 But we will certainly do whatever has gone out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and saw no trouble. 18 But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” 19 The women also said, “And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes for her, to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands’ permission?”
20 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the people–the men, the women, and all the people who had given him that answer–saying: 21 “The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and did it not come into His mind? 22 So the LORD could no longer bear it, because of the evil of your doings and because of the abominations which you committed. Therefore your land is a desolation, an astonishment, a curse, and without an inhabitant, as it is this day. 23 Because you have burned incense and because you have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD or walked in His law, in His statutes or in His testimonies, therefore this calamity has happened to you, as at this day.” (Jer 44:15-23)
Notice that God considered that practices honoring the “queen of heaven” were an abomination.
There is no verse in the Bible that indicates that a woman is to be venerated because she has the title “queen of heaven.” Furthermore, the Bible never gives that title to Mary.
What about the use of ‘Mary’ and Islam and the interfaith movement?
Here are details from my book Fatima Shock!:
Islam, the Lady of Fatima, and Mary in the Qur’an
Interestingly, Archbishop Fulton Sheen wrote:
It is our firm belief that…Islam…will be converted to Christianity…It is our belief that this will not happen through direct teaching of Christianity, but through a summoning of the Muslims to a veneration of the Mother of God.582
He also wrote he believed that the apparition:
…chose to be known as “Our Lady of Fatima” as a pledge and sign of hope for the Muslim people… so that they one day would accept…583
Thus, Archbishop Sheen essentially thought that the appearance in Fatima was to also ultimately result in Muslims (and possibly Hindus) accepting his faith. Notice that he also wrote:
Our missionaries report the most extraordinary reaction of these peoples as the Pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima was carried through the East. At the edge of Nepal, three hundred Catholics were joined by three thousand Hindus and Moslems, as four elephants carried the statue to the little church for Rosary and Benediction…The final evidence of the relationship of the village of Fatima to the Moslems is the enthusiastic reception that the Moslems in Africa and India and elsewhere gave to the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima… in Mozambique the Moslems, who were unconverted, became Christians as soon as the statue of Our Lady of Fatima was erected…
Missionaries in the future will, more and more, see that their apostolate among the Moslems will be successful in the measure they preach Our Lady of Fatima.584
On December 27, 1983, Ali Ağca referred to Muhammad’s daughter as the goddess of the Fatima apparitions. 585
It seems that apparitions could be a factor in temporarily getting Muslims to consider that there is more to Catholicism than most of them have thought. Archbishop Sheen felt that a Marian “miracle” would be a factor in Muslims and others together and become end time Catholics in the Day of Wrath (Dies Irae):
And as Mary revealed herself in that first Miracle of the Sun, so may we look forward to another revelation of her power when the world has its next rehearsal for the Dies Irae.586
Also notice something from Vatican II:
Moslems…They also honor Mary, His virgin Mother; at times they even call on her with devotion.587
Chapter 19 of the Qur’an/Koran/Quran is, from an Islamic perspective, devoted to Mary and Jesus (“Mary” is also spelled Maryam, Marium, or Miriam in Arabic translations into English). Here are a few passages from it:
019.020 Y: She said: “How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?”…
019.027…S: And she came to her people with him, carrying him (with her). They said: O Marium! Surely you have done a strange thing.
019.028 Y: “O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!”588
066.012 Y: And Mary the daughter of ‘Imran, who guarded her chastity; and We breathed into (her body) of Our spirit; and she testified to the truth of the words of her Lord and of His Revelations, and was one of the devout (servants).589
While the above supports the virgin birth of Jesus, some also seem to believe that the Qur’an is supportive of teaching the “immaculate” conception of Mary in Islam.590
So, there are Islamic ties to Mary that resemble those in post-sixth century Catholicism.
Marian Interest and Her Claimed Final House in Turkey
A house where Mary may have lived out her last days is in Turkey. My wife Joyce and I have visited it. It is on the outskirts of ancient Ephesus.
“Mary’s House” near Ephesus—Lighter, Upper, Portion AddedThere is an annual celebration for Mary, in the area near Ephesus, which Islamic Turks put on and participate in. Because of Islamic fascination with Mary, it is possible that an apparition claiming to be Mary might appear in Turkey and/or elsewhere. This may partially persuade some Muslims to temporarily consider that somehow God might be working through a Western religious leader. This will not last for all (Daniel 11:27; 40), but it seems to have been part of Catholic prophecy:
Blessed Maria of Agreda (died 1665): The power of Mary in the latter days will be very conspicuous. Mary will extend the reign of Christ over the heathens and the Mohammedans…591
Perhaps it should be mentioned that there are certain Catholic prophecies that suggest many Muslims in Turkey will somewhat accept the Catholic faith. Here is one:
Brother Louis Rocco (19th century): Terrible wars will rage all over Europe…Great cities and small towns alike will be destroyed in a bloody revolution…In Istanbul (Constantinople) the Cross will replace the half-moon of Islamism, and Jerusalem will be the seat of a King. The southern Slavs will form a great Catholic Empire and drive out of Europe the Turks (Mohammedans), who will withdraw to North Africa and subsequently embrace the Catholic faith.592
Many people of all persuasions, including apparently atheists, are going to fall away from their current beliefs in vast numbers (even according to many Catholic leaders) to embrace one who will promote a powerful ecumenical religion that is to be accompanied by what will appear to be real miracles.
Perhaps more shocking is that there is a 17th century Islamic prophecy from a Dervish (Dervishes are mainly based in Turkey) that suggests that because many are not good Muslims, they will accept a faith that claims Christ after seeing something that resembles a female apparition, that some suspect will be considered to be “Mary.”593
Hence, at least one Islamic prophecy seems to support the view that many Muslims (especially in Turkey) may accept the coming ecumenical religion promoted by a “Marian” apparition. …
In the 21st century, Giuseppe De Carli wrote the following related to Islam and Fatima:
The Shiites believe that the Fatima shrine belongs, by right, to Muslims, and that Catholics have stolen it from their rightful owners. They argue that if a Lady dressed in shining white appeared there, then it’s because she had a message for the Muslims, not for Christians. Ali Ağca, in his megalomania thought he had a mission from God. Apparently, when John Paul II visited him at the Rebibbia prison in 1983, he asked the pontiff, “So who is Fatima for you?” Twice now I have done on-the-scene reporting from Fatima and I have spotted Arabs who seemed to want to remain incognito…Fatima has a religious and political significance.594
So, some Muslims, at least, believe that the messages for Fatima were apparently different than those publicly revealed, that Fatima is for them, and any message for Fatima has to do with Islam.
Notice also from Priest L.J. Cizik:
It is a fact that Moslems from various nations, especially from the Middle East, make so many pilgrimages to Our Lady of Fatima’s Shrine in Portugal that Portuguese officials have expressed concern. The combination of an Islamic name and Islamic devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is a great attraction to Moslems.595
It would not surprise me if one or more future Lady apparitions shows herself to Muslims and encourages them to support the ecumenical religion that the Europeans will themselves embrace in much greater numbers in very few years.
Notice the following from the Encyclopedia of Islam:
Fatima is greatly revered by Muslims…Moreover, she will be the first to enter PARADISE…and like MARY in Catholic Christianity, she will intercede for those who honor her…Indeed, in Shii literature, Fatima is compared to Mary the mother of JESUS because of the violent deaths suffered by each of their sons.596
So, there are similarities (as well as differences) between Catholic and Islamic beliefs related to Mary and Fatima.
A series of apparitions occurred at a Coptic Orthodox church in Zeitoun, Egypt, from 1968 to 1973 and:
Moslems, Copts, Roman Catholics, Protestants, and others were overwhelmed by the Lady who seemed to be composed of light. Moslems chanted from the Koran: “Mary, God has chosen thee. And purified thee; He has chosen thee above all women.”597
So, some Muslims have already been impressed by apparitions of the Lady, and may once again. …
Based upon sacred scripture (Daniel 11:40), the religious fervor that is often present in the Islamic world, and the pagan connection to female apparitions, I suspect that any close “semi-ecumenical” alliance with the majority of the Muslims will be very short-lived. The Bible tells of a time when the final “King of the South” (a Caliphate-type leader of a likely Islamic confederation, who some may consider to be the Imam Mahdi) will make a deal with the final European “King of the North” (Daniel 11:27), but later attack the King of the North (Daniel 11:40). Some countries, like Turkey (ancient Edom) will apparently end up supporting the Europeans (Daniel 11:25-26, 41).
Regarding Fatima, I am more of the opinion that since some Muslims somewhat venerate Muhammed’s daughter Fatima, the Hindus have various female deities, the Chinese have had female apparitions, Japan and other lands have had apparitions, many Protestants are getting closer to Rome, many people believe in goddesses, most Buddhist’s tend to support a more ecumenical view of religion, etc. that Marian apparitions may be used to help many groups get together (at least temporarily).
582 Sheen, Fulton Archbishop. The World’s First Love. Reprint, Ignatius Press, 1996, p. 201
583 Sheen, p. 203
584 Sheen, pp. 190, 202-203
585 Apostoli, p. 188
586 Sheen, p. 274
587 Nostra Aetate as cited in Bertone, p. 120
588 Online version of Koran at http://www.asksam.com/ebooks/releases.asp?file=Koran.ask&dn=19%3a%20MARYAM%20%28MARY%29 viewed 04/05/2011
589 Online version of Koran at http://www.asksam.com/ebooks/releases.asp?file=Koran.ask&dn=66%3a%20AT-TAHRIM%20%28BANNING%2c%20PROHIBITION%29 viewed 04/07/2011
590 Pennington R. Islam’s view of Mary. Muslim Voices, December 22, 2008 http://muslimvoices.org/islam-view-of-mary/ viewed 04/05/2011
591 Dupont, p. 33
592 Dupont, p.76
593 Tzima Otto, Helen. They’ll have no King but Caesar. Verenikia Press, 2005, pp. 417-422; the Dervish was killed for making it, p. 522
594 Bertone, p. 77
595 Cizik LJ Priest. OUR LADY AND ISLAM: HEAVEN’S PEACE PLAN. Soul Magazine. September – October 2001, © 2001 The Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima, U.S.A., Inc., page 6 http://www.ewtn. com/library/mary/olislam.htm viewed 11/02/10
596 Campos JE. Encyclopedia of Islam: Encyclopedia of world religions: Facts on File library of religion and mythology. Infobase Publishing, 2009, pp. 230-231
597 Tetlow J. Will Mary Unite All Religions? ENDTIME ISSUES NEWSLETTER No. 116, Biblical Perspectives, 2004, p. 16
Perhaps it should be mentioned, that just one ‘Marian apparition’ (The ‘Lady’ of Guadalupe ) has been claimed to have been effective in turning Latin America predominantly Roman Catholic–this profoundly affected those cultures and the world.
What will happen if some type of ‘Marian apparition’ is seen and even shown on media like television and/or the internet? Might Islam temporarily respond?
Since the Bible teaches that the whole world will worship the Beast (Revelation 13:8), but that the King of the South will turn against the Beast (Daniel 11:40-43), this shows that Muslims will, temporarily, support the Beast (cf. Psalm 83:4-8).
Since Islam does acknowledge Jesus’ mother Mary and Catholics have tried to use ‘Mary’ as an ecumenical and interfaith tool, a false version of ‘Mary’ will likely be part of the reason for this temporary worship of the Beast. It is my opinion that building a cathedral for ‘Mary’ in an Islamic land is consistent with this.
Islam will temporarily support the coming Beast and Marianism will likely be a factor for this temporary support.
Notice the following:
Mary’s Providential Bridge to Islam
May 15, 2017
From the time of the apparitions of the Blessed Mother at Fatima, Portugal, many have wondered about the possible significance of Our Lady choosing a location with such an apparent connection to Islam.
As a matter of historical importance, Fatima was the favorite daughter of Muhammad — a woman considered of the highest dignity in Islam, save for only one person: the Virgin Mary. Indeed, after Fatima’s death at around the age of 26, her father wrote to his dead daughter: “Thou shalt be the most blessed of women in Paradise after Mary.”
Is there a relationship between the appearance of Our Lady and the Muslim world? Surely, it was not a random choice by the Blessed Mother, and so how should we approach the possible message it sends to the world at this historical moment?
It is a surprise to many that Islam traditionally has thought so highly of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is called by Muslims Miriam or Maryam in Arabic, and also Umm Isa, or “Mary, the mother of Jesus,” or simply, Sayyida, the Lady.
Mary is the only woman named in the Quran, and she is revered as a righteous woman in her own right and as the most pious, chaste and virtuous woman in history. …
It was in the very village named after a convert from Islam — a convert initially named after Muhammad’s daughter — that the Blessed Mother chose to appear to the three shepherd children May 13, 1917. What does it mean? What is Our Lady trying to teach us? Is she telling us that just as she shows us the way to her Son that the path ahead in evangelization and overcoming the savagery of jihadism might also pass through her loving heart?
Venerable Fulton Sheen thought so.
In his 1952 book, The World’s First Love, he devoted a chapter to Mary and the Muslims. He prophetically observed, “At the present time, the hatred of the Moslem countries against the West is becoming a hatred against Christianity itself. Although the statesmen have not yet taken it into account, there is still grave danger that the temporal power of Islam may return and, with it, the menace that it may shake off a West which has ceased to be Christian and affirm itself as a great anti-Christian world power.”
Archbishop Sheen, however, did not despair. Instead, he looked to Fatima and to Mary. “Since nothing ever happens out of heaven except with a finesse of all details,” he wrote, “I believe that the Blessed Virgin chose to be known as ‘Our Lady of Fatima’ as a pledge and a sign of hope to the Moslem people, and as an assurance that they, who show her so much respect, will one day accept her Divine Son, too.”
He added:
“Missionaries in the future will, more and more, see that their apostolate among the Moslems will be successful in the measure that they preach Our Lady of Fatima. Mary is the advent of Christ, bringing Christ to the people before Christ himself is born. In any apologetic endeavor, it is always best to start with that which people already accept. Because the Moslems have a devotion to Mary, our missionaries should be satisfied merely to expand and to develop that devotion, with the full realization that Our Blessed Lady will carry the Moslems the rest of the way to her Divine Son. She is forever a ‘traitor,’ in the sense that she will not accept any devotion for herself, but will always bring anyone who is devoted to her to her Divine Son. As those who lose devotion to her lose belief in the divinity of Christ, so those who intensify devotion to her gradually acquire that belief. … The Moslems should be prepared to acknowledge that, if Fatima must give way in honor to the Blessed Mother, it is because she is different from all the other mothers of the world and that without Christ she would be nothing.”
We seek bridges to Islam. Mary is a way. http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/marys-providential-bridge-to-islam
It is probably at least partially because of how Islam views Mary that the King of Bahrain has provided support and approval for the cathedral for the ‘Lady of Arabia.’ Building a cathedral to Mary in an Islamic land is truly part of the interfaith agenda.
Since many in Islam have a special reverence for Mary, I suspect that if one or more apparitions claiming (or presumed) to be Mary show up in Islamic lands, that many there will be temporarily persuaded to support the Beast power (the Catholic prophesied “Great Monarch”)–especially if Muslims can be temporarily persuaded to accept a cross symbol (which would otherwise be quite difficult for them to do).
Apparently, others have felt the same way.
The following was written over two decades ago by a member of the Orthodox Church and is warning people that false apparitions claiming to be Mary will lead to people to accept Antichrist:
“Mother goddesses” known in the ancient world were not just confined to the Near East and Mediterranean but are universal. The Kogi Indians, among whom we lived in Columbia, worship a spirit called Nabuba, the “Ancient Mother.” When Roman Catholics missionaries attempted to evangelize the Kogi int he last century, they used a not-uncommon strategy for drawing pagan peoples into Rome’s fold: rather than explaining the differences between the pagan mysthology and Christian truth, they found “equivalences,” Christ, under this syncretistic view, corresponds to the Kogi Sejukukui (a trickster god who faked his own death by hiding in a cave), while Nabuba is said to be the Virgin Mary. This confusion has led the Kogis to call their pagan temples “cansamaria,” a corruption of “casa de Maria” (house of Mary).
Given these Roman Catholic “evangelistic methods” of more than a century ago, it is it any wonder that contemporary “apparitions” of Mary are invariably accompanied by ecumenistic messages promoting the idea that all religions are equally valid and Orthodox Christianity is but one “path” among many? A recent issue of Orthodox Tradition (1966) contains the account of Matushka (wife of a Russian Orthodox priest) Katherine Swanson’s trip to Medjugorje, Croatia, to investigate the most famous of the recent cases of apparitions of Mary in the Roman Catholic world. In it she recounts a telling episode:
Our guide took our group for an audience with the “seers.” During this audience, a pilgrim asked one of the children the following questions: “Does the Virgin say that the Catholic Church is the true church?” The response given by the child provides clear evidence of the ecumenical content and religious relativism which, oddly enough, increasingly mark the “revelations” at Medjugorje: “Our Blessed Mother says that all religions are equally pleasing to God.“
The Life magazine article, then, is yet another contribution to this line of thought. Given the idea that all paths are equally valid, then all “Marys” are equally valid, too. The author describes several of the Marys of our times: Miearculous Mary (such as at Medjugorje), Mediator Mary (Who, as the author quotes Fr. Andrew Greeley saying, lets people into Heaven through the “back door”), (Editors notes: the Orthodox Church of course never taught about the “back door”, and of course one only prays that this is a matter of a figure of speech, but let us not dwell on the “back door”, but the gates of Paradise, the Kingdom of our God). Mediator Mary of the feminists, and Mother Mary. This last one, Mother Mary, is the role which the author considers the most appealing to non-Catholics: “The emotional need for her is so irresistible to a troubled world that people without an obvious link to the Virgin are being drawn to her. It is known that Muslins revere Mary as a pure and holy saint…Interdenominational Marian prayer groups are springing up throughout the world. Many Protestants, even some who still reject notions of a supernatural Virgin, miss Mary.”
To which Mary are Muslims and Protestants being drawn? The Protestant Reformation rejected the distorted view of Mary which had developed in the West since the Schism of 1054, and which would ultimately result in the Roman Church’s proclamation of their dogma of the Immaculate Conception. But Protestantism did not just reject the Western view of Mary; it ignored Her altogether, in effect denying Her role in the Incarnation and, consequently, the part She plays in our salvation. As Rome began to see her more and more as a “goddess,” a fourth Hypostasis of the Trinity, as it were, the Protestants reacted by down playing Her position and refusing to honor Her at all, this in spite of the Gospel words:“All Generations Shall Call Me Blessed.”
Today, as heterodox Christians become more and more ecumenist and work toward creating a “One World Church,” the search has begun for a Mary of universal recognition, one who will appeal not only to those who bear the name Christian, but apparently to Muslims and others as well, just as attempts are likewise being made to identify the “new Christ” with the Muslim concept of their coming Mahdi and with the Messiah still awaited by the Jews. This, of course, will be no Christ at all but the antichrist.
(Jackson P. ORTHODOX LIFE., No. I, 1997., Brotherhood of Saint Job of Pochaev at Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, N.Y. pp. 18-22. http://fr-d-serfes.org/orthodox/theotokos.htm viewed 05/11/09)
Notice what Bishop Kennedy of the Celtic Orthodox Church wrote:
The great deceiver of Fatima promises salvation to those who embrace devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary… We can be very certain that God did not send Mary to earth to change God’s eternal plan of salvation. It is just this kind of deceit that leads to other false statements about Mary; Mediatrix of all graces etc. The devil’s deceit is felt far and wide within the Church as is evidenced in the number of well meaning but deceived souls proclaiming Mary is Mediatrix of all graces. How would have such a statement sounded to the Apostles? This salvation we enjoy is from God in Christ; “The man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as ransom for all”. (1 Timothy 2:1, 3-6 NAB)… We should STOP THE DEVIL in his tracks and proclaim the vision of Fatima to be a fraud, a work of the devil and an abomination to God, Mary and to the Church. (Kennedy BJ, Bishop. The Fatima Affair. HOLY TRINITY CELTIC ORTHODOX CHURCH / MONASTERY. Toledo, Ohio. http:// www.celticorthodoxchurch.com/fatima.html viewed 05/17/12 )
In the 21st century, various Catholics hope that Marian apparitions, etc. will be factors that will lead to ecumenical unity, sometimes preceded by what is called ‘inter-religious dialogue’:
“Mother Mary is revered with great devotion by the Indian community as a mother and a spiritual figure of maternal protection,” said Friar Jayaseellan Pitchaimuthu OFM, head of the Indian Chaplaincy in Holy Land. She is acknowledged as the “protector and patroness” of the Indian Chaplaincy in Holy Land because she is a “model” for the migrants, he told CNA.
The friar explained that the Marian feast day is particularly important in the Indian context because of its relation to other faiths.
Members of other religions, including Hindus and Muslims, “regard Marian devotions in esteem,” he said. Thousands of devotees “both Catholics and non-Catholics” flock every week to the Marian apparition site at Velankanni, near Chennai in South India, and other shines that have recorded various miracles, he said. In this way, the friar explained, “Marian devotion also leads to a platform for inter-religious dialogue.” (Gonzales AA. Indian migrants in Holy Land prepare for Marian feast. (http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/indian-migrants-in-holy-land-prepare-for-marian-feast)
This is dangerous!
The Apostle Paul warned that even if someone appeared as an angel from heaven, if that representative tried to change the gospel, he/she should not be listened to, but should be cursed:
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema. (Galatians 1:8, Douay-Rheims)
Many Marian apparitions have preached a gospel different than what the Apostle Paul and other real Christians taught, and putting Mary as one to turn to for salvation is also a false gospel.
The reality is that it is likely that false apparitions, claiming to be “Mary” may be among the signs and lying wonders that the Bible warns are coming (2 Thessalonians 2:7-12).
Satan has a plan and I have long believed that the Bible supports the view that Marianism will be a part of it (Isaiah 47; Zechariah 5:5-11; Nahum 3:4-5; Revelation 18:7,23).
For even more information on Mary and Catholic teachings on the rise of an anti-pope/Anti-Christ and the interfaith agenda, please check out the book Fatima Shock!
Some items of possibly related interest may include:
Satan’s Plan Does Satan have a plan? What is it? Has it already been successful? Will it be successful in the future?
Mystery of Civilization Why is civilization like it is? How will it end? What will replace it?Here is a link to a related sermon titled: Mystery of Civilization and How it Will End.
Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions Do you know much about Mary? Are the apparitions real? What happened at Fatima? What might they mean for the rise of the ecumenical religion of Antichrist? Are Protestants moving towards Mary? How do the Eastern/Greek Orthodox view Mary? How might Mary view her adorers? Here is a link to a YouTube video Marian Apparitions May Fulfill Prophecy. Here is a link to a sermon video: Why Learn About Fatima?
Fatima and the ‘Miracle’ of the Sun On October 13, 1917, tens of thousands of people witnessed what they considered to be a miracle in the sky in Fatima, Portugal. Was this a miracle from God? Can you be certain? A video of some related interest is Fatima and Pope Francis. Here is a link to the sermon: Fatima and the ‘Miracle of the Sun’.
The ‘Lady’ of Guadalupe: Any Future Ramifications? It is claimed that a female apparition appeared near Mexico City on December 12, 1531. How has it affected the world? What might it suggest about the future? A video of related interest is titled: The ‘Lady of Guadalupe’ and Prophecy.
Pope Francis: Could this Marian Focused Pontiff be Fulfilling Prophecy? Pope Francis has taken many steps to turn people more towards his version of ‘Mary.’ Could this be consistent with biblical and Catholic prophecies? This article documents what has been happening. There is also a video version titled Pope Francis: Could this Marian Focused Pontiff be Fulfilling Prophecy?
Feast of the Immaculate Conception? Did early Christians teach Mary had an immaculate conception and led a sinless life?
Origin of the Marian Dogmas: Where Do Catholic Scholars Say The Four Dogmas of Mary Came From?
Why Should American Catholics Fear Unity with the Orthodox? (And the Protestants) Are the current ecumenical meetings a good thing or will they result in disaster? Is doctrinal compromise good? Here is a link to a related video Should you be concerned about the ecumenical movement?
Will the Interfaith Movement Lead to Peace or Sudden Destruction? Is the interfaith movement going to lead to lasting peace or is it warned against? A video sermon of related interest is: Will the Interfaith Movement lead to World War III? and a video sermon is also available: Do You Know That Babylon is Forming?
Some Similarities and Differences Between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Continuing Church of God Both groups claim to be the original church, but both groups have differing ways to claim it. Both groups have some amazing similarities and some major differences. Do you know what they are?
Orthodox Must Reject Unity with the Roman Catholics Unity between these groups will put them in position to be part of the final end time Babylon that the Bible warns against as well as require improper compromise.
What Did the Early Church Teach About Idols and Icons? Did Catholic and Orthodox “saints” endorse or condemn idols and icons for Christians? A related sermon is available: The Second Commandment, Idols, and Icons.
Assumption of Mary Did Mary die? Was she taken to heaven on August 15th? What is known? What does the Bible show?
Fatima Shock! What the Vatican Does Not Want You to Know About Fatima, Dogmas of Mary, and Future Apparitions. Whether or not you believe anything happened at Fatima, if you live long enough, you will be affected by its ramifications (cf. Isaiah 47; Revelation 17). Fatima Shock! provides concerned Christians with enough Catholic-documented facts to effectively counter every false Marian argument. In addition to the print version, there is a Kindle version of Fatima Shock! which you can acquire in seconds.
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