The Fatima Family Apostolate (FFA) (Fatima Family Apostolate International) is a U.S.-based

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Apostolate with headquarters in

Hanceville, Alabama Hanceville is a city in Cullman County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 3,217. History Founded in Blount County, Hanceville was established in 1832 and incorporated in May 1879. At the time of Cullman County's cr ...

, founded in 1986 by Fr.

Robert J. Fox Robert Joseph Fox (December 24, 1927 – November 26, 2009) was an American priest of the Roman Catholic church. He was an author of religious books and tapes, and appeared on many Roman Catholic television programs and conferences. Fox also s ...

and named after

Our Lady of Fátima Our Lady of Fátima ( pt, Nossa Senhora de Fátima, ); formally known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Fátima) is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus, based on the Marian apparitions reported in 1917 by three shepherd children at the Cov ...

. Mr. John C. Preiss is currently the President.

History

In the mid 1970s, Robert J. Fox, a priest

incardinated Incardination is the formal term in the Catholic Church for a clergyman being under a bishop or other ecclesiastical superior. It is also sometimes used to refer to laity who may transfer to another part of the church. Examples include transfers ...

in the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls ( la, Dioecesis Siouxormensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese in the U.S. state of South Dakota. It comprises that part of South Dakota east of the Missouri River. It is a suffragan see of the Archdiocese ...

, and a prominent author and speaker on devotion to

Our Lady of Fatima Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a government utility regulato ...

, founded "Youth for Fatima", an apostolate that conducted thirteen day pilgrimages to Fatima for young people. This grew into the Fatima Family Apostolate, which was founded in 1986, with the encouragement of the

Pontifical Council for the Laity The Pontifical Council for the Laity was a pontifical council of the Roman Catholic Curia from 1967 to 2016. It had the responsibility of assisting the Pope in his dealings with the laity in lay ecclesial movements or individually, and their co ...

.Fox, Robert J., "Light from the East Miracles of Our Lady of Soufanieh", Fatima Family.org, 2002, pp. 194-195
/ref> Fox took his inspiration from Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

's November 22, 1981 encyclical ''

Familiaris Consortio ''Familiaris consortio'' (''The fellowship of the family''; subtitled ''On the Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World'') is a post-synodal apostolic exhortation written by Pope John Paul II and promulgated on 22 November 1981. Summar ...

'' (On the Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World). At the time, Fox was assigned to the parish of St. Mary of Mercy in

Alexandria, South Dakota Alexandria is a city in central Hanson County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 649 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Hanson County. History In 1879, the community was founded with the name Clarksville. Its post offic ...

. There, he built a Marian shrine now known as the Fatima Family Shrine.Mazurczak, Filip. "Finding Fatima in the Dakotas", ''National Catholic Register'', October 13, 2015
/ref> It was the third Marian shrine Fox built, having previously erected shrines during earlier assignments at St. Bernard's Parish in Redfield and the parish of the Immaculate Conception in

Waubay Waubay is a city in Day County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 473 at the 2020 census. Waubay had its start in the early 1880s when the railroad was extended to that point. The school district is Waubay Public 18-3. The local ...

.Janaro, John M. '"Robert J. Fox", ''Fishers of Men'', Chap.1, Trinity Communications, 1986
/ref> The shrine in Alexandria was dedicated during the 1987

Marian Year A Marian year is a designation given by the Catholic Church to calendar years in which Mary the mother of Jesus is to be particularly reverenced and celebrated. Marian years do not follow a set pattern; they may be declared by a bishop for his di ...

by Alberto Cosme do Amaral, bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Leiria-Fátima Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, and is maintained largely through freewill donations. In September 1987 Fox hosted the first annual Marian Congress in America at Alexandria. The 1989 Congress was attended by Édouard Cardinal Gagnon, President of the

Pontifical Council for the Family The Pontifical Council for the Family was a pontifical council of the Curia of the Roman Catholic Church from 1981 to 2016. It was established by Pope John Paul II on 9 May 1981 with his motu proprio ''Familia a Deo Instituta'', replacing the Com ...

. Fox had many speaking engagements and during a visit to Moscow, presented

Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz Tadevuš Kandrusievič ( be, Тадэвуш Кандрусевіч; pl, Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz; born 3 January 1946) is a Belarusian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Minsk–Mohilev from 2007 to 2021. He has been a bish ...

, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Catholic Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow, a statue of Our Lady of Fatima as a gift to the Russian people. FFA "...considers it to have been one of its greatest honors, when Archbishop Kondrusiewicz, ...requested the FFA to finance the building of Russia's first Fatima shrine." Robert J. Fox, Founder of the FFA, died on 26 November 2009 at his home in Hanceville, AL, USA. A lay person author and writer and convert to the Catholic Church, John C. Preiss, became President of the Fatima Family Apostolate and Editor of the quarterly magazine the Immaculate Heart Messenger. The FFA is located in Hanceville, Alabama. It is an international Apostolate, having members all over the world and publishes a quarterly magazine called the ''Immaculate Heart Messenger''. The FFA has built shrines in honor of Our Lady in Alexandria, South Dakota and Hanceville, Alabama. The FFA operates the Father Robert J. Fox and Our Lady of Fatima Museum to educate its visitors on the life of Father Fox and the message of Our Lady of Fatima.

Spirituality

The Apostolate's stated main goal is the

sanctification Sanctification (or in its verb form, sanctify) literally means "to set apart for special use or purpose", that is, to make holy or sacred (compare la, sanctus). Therefore, sanctification refers to the state or process of being set apart, i.e. " ...

of family life. The Apostolate follows the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope John Paul II Familiaris Consortio (The Role of the Christian Family in the Modem World) regarding the spiritual connection between matrimony and the Holy Eucharist. Members meet at least once per month to pray and discuss spiritual reading done in the course of the month. They educate their children to pray. Apart from morning and evening prayer and prayers before meals, certain forms of prayer are expressly encouraged, including reading, meditating and other devotions and practices.

Operation

The governing document if the Charter of the Fatima Family Apostolate. The Marian Manual provides the key formats for the meetings once a chapter is established. The FFA has no source of income and no dues are required of members. There is no major staff. The Immaculate Heart Messenger Magazine serves as a means of communication among the various groups. The President of the FFA serves as the editor of the Immaculate Heart Messenger- The FFA has six major segments in which members may participate according to their needs and circumstances: Married Marian Couples, Youth For Fatima, Fatima Prayer Groups, and Suffering Members for the Conversion of One's Country - for disabled people."Pastoral Marian Organizations in the United States", Marian International Research Library, University of Dayton
/ref> There are FFA groups in Australia and the Philippines where its magazine, the

Immaculate Heart Messenger The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

is printed for places in Asia.

''Immaculate Heart Messenger''

''Immaculate Heart Messenger'' is a quarterly magazine published by FFA. It was founded by Fox, a columnist for the ''

National Catholic Register The ''National Catholic Register'' is a Catholic newspaper in the United States. It was founded on November 8, 1927, by Matthew J. Smith as the national edition of the '' Denver Catholic Register''. The ''Registers current owner is the Ete ...

'', and a frequent contributor to ''

Our Sunday Visitor Our Sunday Visitor (OSV) is a Catholic publishing company in Huntington, Indiana, which prints the American national weekly newspaper of that name, as well as numerous Catholic periodicals, religious books, pamphlets, catechetical materials, i ...

'', as well as to various other Catholic publications. Before his death in November 2009, he appointed John Preiss, to succeed him as president of FFA and editor of the ''Messenger''. The magazine promotes conservative Catholic teachings with regard to sexuality and marriage, opposing

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

, and what it considers to be indecent literature and film. The ''Immaculate Heart Messenger'' is designed to teach people about the Catholic faith, to pray and read Scripture. It consists of articles about applying church teachings in the present day. Each issue of ''Immaculate Heart Messenger'' contains news briefs, subscriber forum, questions and answers, various articles explaining various aspects of the Catholic faith such as prayer, catechism, the Sacraments, Lent, Advent, Scripture, stories about the lives of the saints or personal witnesses. Articles and meditations are written by guest writers. The magazine layout was a full color 8x11 size and includes pictures and photographs. It subsequently switched to a newsletter format.

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://www.fatimafamily.org/
Magazine Covers from ''The Immaculate Heart Messenger''
Catholic organizations established in the 20th century Cullman County, Alabama Christian organizations established in 1986 1986 establishments in Alabama