The Laventille/Morvant Pastoral Area is commencing fundraising to repair the Our Lady of Fatima statue by September this year.

The statue was damaged by lightning on September 9, 2020. The head was knocked off and a large crack was left on the body.

Prior to this, it stood atop a pinnacle at the Marian shrine at Our Lady of Fatima RC Church. The site is a cultural heritage site listed by the National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago.

Parish priest Fr Clifford Mainooh CSSp appealed to the public for help. “The Laventille/Morvant Pastoral area is kindly requesting assistance from our faithful in the Archdiocese of Port of Spain and for people of goodwill to support us with donations for the restoration of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima.”

The cost of work on the statue and other things has been estimated to be over $800,000. It will cover repairs to the statue, repairs on the statue’s head, repairs to the stair access, lightning protection, scaffolding, and security.

Fr Mainooh said, “we seek to have the restoration done as a matter of importance”. He referred to Mary’s importance in the Catholic faith as Mother of God, citing Luke 1:43 and John 19:26–27: “it is fitting to accord the Mother of God a fitting place especially as our beloved country bears the name of her divine Son, the Trinity, Trinidad”.

No one has been assigned to collect donations for the church, but there are multiple ways to give.

Donations can be made in the following ways:

·  Collections at Masses. Place donations into an envelope and label ‘Restoration of Our Lady of Laventille’

· Delivered to the pastoral area office at Corpus Christi RC Church, Eastern Main Road, Success Laventille, Mondays to Wednesday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and on Thursdays 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

· Deposited into the pastoral area’s chequing account at Republic Bank account #320 800 913 701

Persons donating by cheques are to make them payable to the RC Archbishop of Port of Spain/Laventille Morvant Pastoral Area.

For further information call 763-1873 or 626-2056.

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