Thousands of Catholics gather at shrine of Fatima Rani in Bangladesh

DHAKA, Bangladesh (OSV News) — Thousands of pilgrims have gathered at the shrine of Fatima Rani — or Mary, Queen of Fatima — at St. Leo’s Church in the Baromari hills of the Diocese of Mymensingh in northern Bangladesh, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the locally famed pilgrimage site.

Like every year, about 40,000 Christians celebrated the pilgrimage on the last Thursday and Friday of October with rosary prayers, candlelight processions and Stations of the Cross. Final Mass was celebrated by Bishop Paul Ponen Kubi of Mymensingh, with the Vatican’s nuncio to Dhaka, Archbishop Kevin Randall, with local priests, religious and lay faithful present in large numbers.

Father Torun Bonwary, pastor of St. Leo’s Parish and head of the pilgrimage’s organizing committee, told OSV News, “The 25th anniversary of our Queen of Fatima shrine, amidst the Jubilee Year of the entire Catholic Church, has added a different level of spirituality to the minds of local Christians.”

“We have seen thousands of Christian devotees from all over Bangladesh participate in the pilgrimage this year. Those who could not go to Rome for the pilgrimage have at least come here and expressed their desire” to celebrate the special jubilee time, Father Bonwary added.

Located about 120 miles from the capital, Dhaka, the Diocese of Mymensingh has over 83,500 primarily ethnic Indigenous Catholics, and is located close to the Indian border.

During the pilgrimage, devotees traverse a 1.2-mile mountain path, hoping for their prayers to be heard. Candles are traditionally placed on the path.

During the light procession, the devotees chant collectively: “O Mother of Jesus, we are sinners, forgive us.” Faithful also pray the rosary going up and down the famed path.

“It is the first time I have come to this pilgrimage. I have expressed my desire to Mother Mary, and I have prayed together with others. I feel spiritually satisfied,” Manuel Hembram, 29, who came to the pilgrimage from Dinajpur, told OSV News. “Because of my busy work schedule, I often pray on Sundays, but I actually feel much more purified at these pilgrimages,” he said.

Bangladesh is a Muslim-majority country with a workweek starting Sunday.

Despite being a tiny community, Catholics play a significant role in Bangladesh. According to the Bangladesh Catholic Education Board, Christians run one university, 18 colleges, 80 secondary schools, and nearly 1,000 primary and pre-primary schools, annually serving nearly 300,000 students, mostly Muslims. The church runs nursing colleges, hospitals and dispensaries in its eight dioceses.

“The light procession is a symbol of our faith,” said another pilgrim, Suman Corraya, 40. “The sight of thousands of devotees walking on the hilly path with candlelight in their hands proves that no matter what obstacles we face, we will move forward on the path of light with the grace of Mother Mary,” she added.

St. Leo’s Parish was established in 1942 on 42 acres of land. In 1997, the late Bishop Francis Gomes declared it a pilgrimage site of Fatima Rani in response to St. John Paul II’s call for “pilgrimages of faith” leading up to the anniversary of Christ’s birth in 2000, according to Radio Veritas Asia. Since then, the religious festival has been organized every year.

But despite visible joy and enthusiasm of pilgrims, fear and anxiety was clearly felt among the organizers of the pilgrimage.

“Due to lack of funds, we cannot build a boundary wall (of the church property), nor can we provide toilets, resting places, adequate and uninterrupted lighting. These challenges are quite difficult for us to overcome,” said Father Bonwary.

Christians are a minuscule minority in Bangladesh. According to the 2022 national census by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the Muslim-majority country has about 500,000 Christians out of about 180 million, including 400,000 Catholics. As the largest religious minority, Hindus constitute 8 percent of population, Buddhists 0.7 percent and Christians 0.3 percent.

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