By Eileen Buckley
Buffalo, NY – A statue that many Catholics pray to for healing is making its way to Buffalo. The Buffalo Catholic Diocese will host a special ceremony Wednesday night for the arrival of the Our Lady of Fatima statue.
A procession will form at Our Lady of Loretto Church on Buffalo's West Side for the arrival. The statue is a copy of the International Pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima that has traveled around the world for more than 50 years. The replica is with the "American Needs Fatima" campaign that calls on Catholics to pray to Mary, the Mother of God.
Wednesday night's procession will be lead by diocesan administrator Bishop Edward Grosz. It begins at 6:30 at the church and will end just 300 feet away at the home of John McDowell of Vermont Street, who will be hosting the statue.
"My wife and I feel very proud and very fortunate to have the Lady of Fatima statue in our home," McDowell said. "We are also hopeful the many, many people from Erie and Ontario will come to visit it.
McDowell is a member of "America Needs Fatima" campaign. In 1917, three children in Portugal reported that Mary appeared to them six times delivering what became known as mysteries.
"Our Lady of Fatima spoke to three children in 1917 and she told them to pray for peace and hope," McDowell explained. "There were a lot of miracles that happened at that time. But today we still need Fatima -- America needs Fatima."
According to the Vatican, the mysteries delivered to the children at Fatima predicted the end of World War I, the start of World War II, the rise and fall of Soviet communism and the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul the Second in 1981.
The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo says physical cures have been attributed to the presence of the original Our Lady of Fatima statue.