A second shrine to Our Lady has been built by the Timorese Catholic community in Australia and was blessed on 11 January this year. The new shrine, dedicated to Our Lady of Aitara, was built at Marian Valley at Canungra in the Gold Coast hinterland which hosts a collection of shrines and chapels. Bishop Ken Howell blessed the shrine and celebrated mass assisted by Carmelite Fr Januario Pinto. The title, Our Lady of Aitara, comes from an alleged apparition of Our Lady more than 100 years ago on Mount Aitara in Timor-Leste. Since then popular devotion to Our Lady of Aitara has grown and Timorese people see her as the mother “who supported us through war, strife, suffering, invasion and illnesses,’ according to Canossian Sister Odette Moreira.
Second Timorese Shrine in Australia
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