ROME (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis has canceled public veneration of a statue of the Immaculate Conception for the second year in a row.
The Holy See press office announced on November 27 that in order to avoid the risk of spreading COVID-19 through a crowd, Pope Francis would perform a private devotion to Our Lady instead of participating in the decades-long ceremonial tradition in which the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Immaculate Conception, is adorned with a bouquet of flowers during a public gathering on the Spanish Steps.
The statement said that Francis will ask the Blessed Virgin in prayer “to protect the Romans, the city in which they live, and the sick who need Her maternal protection everywhere in the world.”
Since 1953, popes have publicly venerated the statue on December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, alongside Rome’s mayor, other officials, and Roman firefighters. Rome’s fire department originally erected the column upon which the statue of the Blessed Mother stands. Pope Pius XII was the first pope to participate in the ceremony, walking two miles from the Vatican to attend.
During the customary veneration, the head of the Italian fire department presents a bouquet of flowers, which is placed around the right arm of the statue of the Virgin Mary, accessed from the ladder of a fire truck. Another bouquet is placed at the bottom of the statue.
The Column of the Immaculate Conception consists of a square marble base with statues of biblical figures who foreshadowed the Virgin birth, a Corinthian marble column sculpted in ancient Rome, and a bronze sculpture of the Blessed Virgin Mary, commissioned by Ferdinand II, King of the Two Sicilies. It was dedicated on December 8, 1857, three years after Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. According to this teaching, the Blessed Virgin Mary was preserved “free from every stain of original sin” from the moment of her conception.
Freedom-loving Australians are sending out an urgent call for help, a veritable SOS.
Over the past year and a half, Australia's democracy has been replaced by a type of medical fascism which has grasped control of power by using police state tactics.
In that time, freedoms have been curtailed or suppressed altogether and human rights have been abused, often with the use of the police force.
Please WATCH this video from our friends at Reignite Democracy Australia to better understand how BAD it is right now in Australia.
And, the situation just continues to deteriorate, so much so that our friends Down Under are now asking for outside help.
We simply must come to their aid! But, what can we do?
Please consider participating in the following two action items:
1) SAVE THE DATE and ATTEND a Pro-Freedom Rally on DEC. 4th (12pm, local time) at the Australian Embassy in Washington, DC, (address below), or at an Australian consulate office in one of the cities listed below.
2) Please SIGN and SHARE this petition, directed to the Australian Ambassador to the United States, H.E. Arthur Sinodinos, asking him to:
- End the lockdowns in Australia
- End police brutality in Australia
- End mandatory vaccinations in Australia
- Restore the freedoms of speech, assembly and travel in Australia
Remember, after signing, please make a note of this important date and time (and address, below): Saturday, December 4th, 2021, 12pm.
And, please commit to peaceful protest in support of Australian freedom at one of the locations below on that date!
Our friends Down Under are reaching their limits. So, we must now join them in their struggle to retain their freedoms and human rights against police brutality and medical dictatorship.
Thank you for taking part in this important campaign.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
'‘SOS from Australia’: Freedom activists plead for political asylum from COVID regime' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/australians-call-on-foreign-leaders-to-accept-covid-tyranny-refugees/
Click here to learn more about the the December 4th protest, including helpful messaging for signs you can make at home to take with you on the day: https://www.reignitedemocracyaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FINAL-media-release-SOS-from-Australia.pdf
LOCATIONS and PHONE NUMBERS of the Australian Embassy in the United States, as well as their consular offices in Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. [Please use the phone number to politely, but firmly object to the oppression of the people of Australia if you can't go to the protest in person.]:
Embassy - Washington, DC
1145 17th St NW,
Washington DC,
20036-4707
Telephone: +1 202 797 3000
Chicago Consulate
123 North Wacker Drive, Suite 1330
Chicago, Illinois 60606
Telephone: +1 312 419 1480
Honolulu Consulate
Penthouse, 1000 Bishop Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Telephone: +1 808 529 8100
Houston Consulate
3009 Post Oak Blvd, Suite 1310
Houston, Texas 77056
Telephone: +1 832 962 8420
Los Angeles Consulate
2029 Century Park East, 31st Floor
Los Angeles, California 90067
Telephone: +1 310 229 2300
New York Consulate
150 East 42nd Street, 34th Floor
New York, New York 10017-5612
Telephone: +1 212 351 6500
San Francisco Consulate
575 Market Street, Suite 1800
San Francisco, California 94105
Telephone: +1 415 644 3620
The cancelation of the statue’s public veneration was announced days after the Italian government issued new restrictions that will allow only those who have received the COVID-19 shot or recovered from COVID-19 to dine indoors at restaurants, go to the gym, to movies, museums, sporting events, and public ceremonies such as weddings, beginning December 6.
Last year, Francis made a surprise private visit to the statue of the Immaculate Conception on her feast day, after the public ceremony was canceled due to COVID-19.
Francis is currently scheduled to participate in several public liturgies this December, including Christmas Eve Mass and the Urbi et Orbi blessing in St. Peter’s Square on Christmas Day.