Jimenez and Bishop Emeritus Rev. Tomas A. Camacho met the statue custodians Carl Malburg and Patrick Sabat at the Diocesan Curia yesterday.
Jimenez said the visit of the pilgrim statue will strengthen the faith of the islands’ Catholics.
“At this time in the commonwealth, we are facing many challenges. It’s good for us to be together and join in prayers,” he said.
For almost a year now the diocese still has no new bishop and Jimenez said they will ask for the intercession of the Blessed Mother.
Camacho submitted his resignation to the pope after reaching the age of 75 in 2008, but he left the diocese in 2009.
It was the late Rev. Fr. Manuel Reyes Corcuera, then the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa, who asked the custodians of the pilgrim statue to bring it to Saipan, Jimenez said.
In a separate interview, Malburg said “we’ve come to a place where we’ve never been before.”
“Mother Mary,” he added, “wants us to share our problems with her.”
He said Mother Mary “knows the problems of the people on Saipan.”
Her statue’s visit, he added, will help people “renew their faith and their confidence that things will get better.”
Jimenez said all parishes are excited and ready to welcome the statue.
Last night, there was overnight vigil at the Mt Carmel Cathedral.
The program started at 5:45 p.m. with a procession.
Among the program participants were the El Shaddai, the Legion of Mary, Eucharistic Ministers, the Knights of Columbus, the cathedral clergy and parish.
Today, the pilgrim statue will visit San Roque Parish.
The statue will depart the CNMI on Feb. 21 for a scheduled visit to Rhode Island.
Blessed by the pope and bishops, the statue represents Our Lady of Fatima and what the Catholic church recognizes as the Great Miracle of Fatima in which the Virgin Mary appeared to three children in 1917.
The statue was sculpted in 1947 by Jose Thedim, based on the description of Sr. Lucia, one of the three children who saw the Vigin Mary from May to Oct. 1917 in Fatima, Portugal.
Sent out to bring the “Message of Fatima” to the world, the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue has traveled the world many times, visiting more than 100 countries, including Russia and China. It brings the great message of hope, “the peace plan from heaven,” to millions of people. Many miracles and signal graces are reported wherever the statue travels.
