About the World Apostolate of Fatima

The World Apostolate of Fatima (WAF) is a Public International Association of the Faithful, which was permanently approved by the Holy See on 7 October 2010, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. The WAF is the largest approved global Fatima apostolate with millions of members all over the world. It is present in many countries, including the Philippines, Nigeria, the USA, and England and Wales.

The mission of the World Apostolate of Fatima is to promote the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church, strict adherence to the tenets of the Gospel, and the personal sanctification of its members, through faithful compliance with Our Lady’s message at Fatima. WAF invites the faithful to accept Our Lady’s requests for prayer, penance, the offering of sacrifices—particularly those encountered in fulfilling the duties of one’s state in life—daily recitation of the Rosary, and the Eucharistic reparation of the Five First Saturdays. 

In England, WAF was recognised by the Bishops’ Conference in 1982, and was formally approved by the Bishops’ Conference in 2004. Since then the WAF has been included every year in the Catholic Directory for England and Wales

WAF In England and Wales

On 21 May 2002, Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Birmingham wrote that the Apostolate was “much appreciated” in his Diocese, and that he was glad to commend it for promoting pilgrimages to Fatima, the apostolate of prayer, and the recitation of the Rosary, especially in people’s homes.

In 2011, Fr Gerard Kelly succeeded the late Mgr Thomas Fallon, as parish priest of St Francis of Assisi church, Handsworth, Birmingham, and as the World Apostolate’s Spiritual Director for England and Wales.

He has now been succeeded by Canon Jason Jones, of Sacred Heart Catholic church in Morriston, Swansea.

WAF England and Wales is fully recognised and

approved by the Conference of Bishops of England & Wales - Archbishop Mark O’ Toole is our Bishop Patron.

ORIGIN & EARLY BEGINNINGS

WAF arose in 1947 in the United States, through the joint initiative of Fr Harold Colgan and John Haffert. It was originally called the Blue Army and rapidly spread all over the world with millions of members and national centres in various countries. In the 1980s its name was changed to the World Apostolate of Fatima, since this more correctly reflects its universal character and purpose. Its international headquarters are in Fatima, in the beautiful pilgrim guests’ house, Domus Pacis (“House of Peace”).

In 2004, there were over 50 nations in which the Bishops’ Conference or one or more Bishops had recognised the Apostolate, and some 50 more where the Apostolate was commencing with individual members and prayer cells.

OUR PURPOSE

The main goals of the World Apostolate of Fatima are to spread the Message of Fatima and the acceptance of Our Lady’s requests, and also to encourage active WAF membership.

WAF is self-governing in each country, and seeks to promote the true understanding and acceptance of Our Lady’s message, in a spirit of fidelity to the commandments of God and obedience to the Church.

It always operates only with the approval of the Bishop’s Conference or the local Ordinary, and the permission of the parish priest.

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

A Public International Association of the Christian faithful is an association of people erected by the Holy See, which alone can receive a mission to teach Christian doctrine in the name of the Church, promote public worship or pursue a purpose which by nature is reserved to ecclesiastical authority (canon 301 §1). 

Public associations are able on their own initiative to undertake endeavours in keeping with their own character and according to their statutes, under the higher direction of the competent ecclesiastical authority. As a public association, the members act in the name of the Church when fulfilling the purpose of the association, and they commit themselves to become faithful witnesses of the Catholic faith in their families, at work, in their parishes and communities, participating in this way in the “New Evangelisation”.

Vatican Council II, and later post-conciliar teaching, has given special attention to the new forms of association of the Christian faithful and their participation in the life of the Church. In his Apostolic letter, Novo millennio ineunte, St John Paul II wrote about the great importance of “the promotion of forms of associations, whether of the more traditional kind or the newer ecclesial movements, which continue to give the Church a vitality that is God’s gift and a true “Springtime of the Spirit” (46). 

The Apostolate’s spirituality is simply to live Our Lady’s message, and to cause it to be lived. The meaning of the message was defined in the following words by the former Bishop of Leiria-Fatima, Alberto do Amaral (1916-2005):

“To know the message is to know the Gospel, to live the message is to live the Gospel. To accept the Message is to accept Revelation as interpreted by the authentic Magisterium of the Church. There is almost no article of the Faith of the Church which is not reaffirmed, explicitly or implicitly, in the message of Fatima, understanding this in its widest and deepest sense”. (From Bishop Amaral’s Prologue, dated 13 August 1991, to the work by Fr Fernando Leite, SJ, Francisco of Fatima, p. 5)

NATIONAL PILGRIMAGE AND HOME VISITATION PROGRAMME

Our National Pilgrimage to Fatima each July began in 1982 and has continued nearly every year since then. We often receive touching testimonies from people who have been moved by visiting the holy places and by the beautiful ceremonies in the Cova da Iria, particularly on the thirteenth of the month from May to October. 

Locally we offer a Pilgrim Virgin statue to visit people’s homes, and we will lend a small Pilgrim Virgin statue to anyone who would be interested. More details about the Pilgrimage can be found by following the link below