Non-Catholics Flock to Marian Shrines

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, Aug. 29 — The globalization of the tourist industry has taken a religious twist, as Muslims, Hindus and other non-Christian pilgrims worship with increasing frequency at Fatima, Lourdes and other European shrines.

“There are lots of them,” Bishop Jacques Perrier of Lourdes said of non-Catholic pilgrims during Pope John Paul II's visit to Lourdes in mid-August, the Philadelphia daily reported.

However, the interfaith flocks have given rise to controversy. Many of the non-Catholics regard Mary as one of their own goddesses, a belief that is heretical to the Catholic understanding of Mary as the purely human mother of God.

In May, pictures of a Hindu event at Fatima were posted on the Internet by critics who alleged that the non-Catholic ceremony had desecrated an altar.

Msgr. Luciano Guerro, Fatima's director, issued a statement in June denying that such defilement took place during the ceremony, the Inquirer reported.

“The priest sang a prayer which lasted a few minutes,” he said. “No gesture was made, no rite was performed, on or off the altar.”

Patriarch Attacks Syrian ‘Plot’ Against Lebanon

ASIANEWS — Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir charged Aug. 29 that the Syrian government was “plotting by night” to push through a constitutional change to keep Lebanon's Syrian-backed president Emile Lahoud in office after his term ends in November.

Currently, Lebanon's Constitution prohibits him from another term.

AsiaNews, a Catholic news service, reported that a “hastily convened cabinet requested such a change to extend Lahoud's term by three years” on Aug. 28 despite widespread opposition from prominent political leaders, including Lebanon's prime minister.

“What happened yesterday regarding the Constitution and the presidency is unfamiliar, plotted by night and carried out swiftly by day,” Patriarch Sfeir said during Sunday Mass in Diman. “I call on all to be aware … and for God to help Lebanon and the Lebanese.”

Added Patriarch Sfeir, who has been a vocal critic of Syrian interference in Lebanese affairs, “Lebanon has become a toy in the hands of regional and international interests, disregarding the interests of the Lebanese people who are now outsiders in deciding vital national issues.”

Aussie Priest Bets on Lourdes Miracles

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, Aug. 30 — Marist Father Paul Glynn says that Church-recognized cures at Lourdes are real miracles, and he's prepared to back up his beliefs: The Australian priest has posted a bounty of 5,000 Australian dollars to be awarded to anyone who can prove that any of the Lourdes miracles he has examined are fakes.

The Catholic Church has recognized 66 miracles at Lourdes since a 14-year-old French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, said in 1858 that she had seen an apparition of Mary there.

The most recent was recognized in 1987.

Father Glynn and his cousin Bill Dougherty, a former regional newspaperowner, offered the reward — worth about $3,500 in U.S. dollars — from their own pockets to anyone who can disprove 24 recognized miracles that Father Glynn has personally examined. He announced his offer at Sunday Mass Aug. 29, the Morning Herald reported.