"Prayer is vital, through Mary’s example, to promote the culture of life," Americo Lopez-Ortiz, international president of the World Apostolate of Fatima (WAF), recently told a group of Catholic journalists. "Hard work and prayer will triumph in the battle for life.

"The message of Fatima is a life-giving message," he said. "Since the beginning, WAF has been pro-life. Prayer is a means to achieve peace. Peace is a gift from God. It can’t be achieved by human means alone unless prayer is involved. Eucharistic reparation can overcome violence and sin."

WAF sponsored the recent Worldwide Day of Prayer for the Sanctity of Life at Fatima. Its goal was to get 100 million prayers to help spread the Fatima message and promote the sanctity of life. More than 100,000 people filled the square outside the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima for the Mass, which was celebrated by Bishop Serafim de Sousa Ferreira e Silva of Leiria-Fatima.

After Mass, Bishop de Sousa Ferreira de Silva walked to the Domus Pacis guesthouse of the Blue Army of Fatima to bless a statue, "Mary Mother of the Life Within." A similar statue was blessed and placed at the U.S. headquarters in Washington, N.J., the same day.

Bishop de Sousa Ferreira de Silva, who does not speak English, said Mary was trying to tell people "to think, to do new things" for a better world.

"Each of us has something to do. And the boss wants us to produce," Nuno Prazeres, international secretary of the World Apostolate of Fatima, interpreted as the bishop spoke.

"It is a great honor to have Bishop de Sousa Ferreira e Silva here to bless the statue," said Lopez-Ortiz.

Lopez-Ortiz said Pope Benedict XVI is very close to Fatima. When he headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger helped write the explanation for the third secret of Fatima. He also was close to Sister Lucia and visited her at the Fatima shrine and at her Carmelite monastery in Coimbra.

Lopez-Ortiz expects Pope Benedict to come to Fatima when the new Holy Trinity Basilica is blessed. The pope also is expected to attend the canonization of Jacinta and Francisco. "They are the youngest children to be declared blessed by the Church who are not martyrs," said Lopez-Ortiz.

WAF, a member of the Pontifical Council of the Laity, is one of only 12 public associations in the Church. Its primary focus now is formation of the laity. "The message of Fatima is the instrument we use to perform this new evangelization," said Lopez-Ortiz.

"If we don’t give God the place he deserves, then we will have to suffer the consequences," he continued. "The message of Fatima is spiritual medicine that is very strong. Many sick people have been cured by this message."

Lopez-Ortiz believes the correspondence between Sister Lucia and Pope John Paul II will reveal much about the importance of Fatima’s message. The late Holy Father believed his life was saved in 1981 by Our Lady of Fatima following the assassination attempt on his life in St. Peter’s Square. The pope, in thanksgiving that his life was spared, had one of the bullets that wounded him embedded in the crown of the statue of Our Lady that stands at the Fatima shrine.

"I remember with emotion the various meetings I had with (Sister Lucia) and the bonds of spiritual friendship that intensified with the passing of time," said John Paul II upon the death of Sister Lucia in February.

"I always felt supported by the daily gift of her prayers, especially in difficult moments of trial and suffering. May the Lord repay her abundantly for the great and hidden service she gave the Church."