About FIAT

FIAT was born from the meeting between Monsignor Suenens and Veronica O'Brien in 1947.

Gradually, a small international and apostolic fraternity formed around them, following the same spiritual path. This group, which plays an important role within various existing organisations, already carries within it the promise of the Second Vatican Council.

 

Following a retreat in Paray-le-Monial in 1981, this group felt called to enter even more deeply into Mary's Fiat and thus discover its own vocation in the Church. At Veronica's suggestion, this group allowed itself a long period of seeking God's will in prayer.

 

Thanks to the FIAT rosary, the ‘FIAT’ group, which had begun informally in 1982, took its missionary leap in September 1984. On 16 July 1987, on the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, ‘FIAT’ became a non-profit association (asbl) and thus received legal status.

The team responsible for FIAT also collaborated with other groups that emerged from the Charismatic Renewal, as well as with congregations such as the Montfortian family, to organise retreats, study days, training sessions, etc.

Thanks to very committed and dedicated people who knew Cardinal Suenens and Veronica O'Brien, the FIAT apostolate has had a certain impact in the world. The FIAT rosary has been disseminated in many countries. There are communities that have been inspired by FIAT spirituality: the Magnificat Community in Congo, the “Jeunes de Lumière” in Aledjo/Togo, and the “Community Our Lady of Walsingham” in the United Kingdom.

 

For more than 40 years, the apostolate of the FIAT Association has benefited from the prayers and financial support of the Friends of FIAT, as well as encouragement from the Church.

 

The FIAT International Secretariat is located in the ‘Diocesan Pastoral Centre’ of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels, which facilitates communication with the various curial offices of the Church, as well as with different movements and communities. Diocesan» of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels, which facilitates communication with the various Church services, as well as with different movements and communities.

Presentation of the FIAT Association

For many years, commitments have been made in different countries and continents. Step by step, the inspirations of the founders – Cardinal Suenens and Veronica O'Brien – have been translated into very concrete initiatives.

 

Humbly and in its own way, the FIAT Association wishes to respond to the call of the Second Vatican Council, a call to all Christians who, through their baptism, are sent on a mission, a vocation ‘to be witnesses of Christ and the Love of his Divine Heart always and everywhere, in word and deed’.

 

The FIAT Association is very careful to live its apostolate in harmony with the teaching of the Catholic Church and its pastors. Through its “initiatives”, the FIAT Association invites Christians to participate in the mission of the Church and suggests that they become involved in parish life or participate in other Church services.

 

The FIAT Association offers “a journey of faith with Mary”, a journey that leads to intimacy with Christ. In fact, the FIAT prayer and the FIAT rosary open us up to a pastoral dynamic.

 

To date, we have received requests for FIAT rosaries and ‘FIAT writings from more than 120 countries. It is a joy to be able to work in this way at the heart of the Church. After republishing the ‘Mechelen Documents’ (which relate to the Charismatic Renewal), the FIAT Association transferred the copyright to CHARIS (at the service of the Renewal). The ‘FIAT group’ – as Saint John Paul II liked to call us – gives thanks to the Lord!

Pope Francis

In two speeches (1 June 2014 and 3 July 2015), Pope Francis emphasized the importance of the Renewal and Cardinal Suenens' Malines Documents. The Holy Father also highlighted the role played by Veronica O'Brien.

 

... The Charismatic Renewal is a great force in the service of proclaiming the Gospel, in the joy of the Holy Spirit. You have received the Holy Spirit who has made you discover God's love for all his children and the love of the Word. ... In the Malines Documents, you have a guide, a sure path so that you do not stray from the way. The first document is: Theological and Pastoral Orientation. 

…In the Mechelen Documents, you have a guide, a safe path so as not to stray. The first document is: Theological and Pastoral Orientation.

 

Here is your path: evangelisation, spiritual ecumenism, care for the poor and needy, and welcoming the marginalised.

 

Here is your path: evangelisation, spiritual ecumenism, care for the poor and needy, and welcoming the marginalised.

.. Today, I would like to recall — because it is always good to remember — the identity of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, from which the service of accompaniment of the Renewal in the Spirit was born [first ICCRO, then ICCRS, which today is CHARIS]. 

 

]. I will do so with the words of Cardinal Léon-Joseph Suenens, a great protector of the Charismatic Renewal, as he describes it in the second book of his memoirs.

The FIAT group welcomed by the Holy Father on Saturday, 23 April 2022.

First of all, he recalls here the extraordinary figure of a woman who did a great deal at the beginning of the Charismatic Renewal; she was Cardinal Suenens' collaborator, who also enjoyed the trust and affection of Pope Paul VI. 

 

I am referring to Veronica O'Brien: it was she who asked the Cardinal to go to the United States to see what was happening, to see with his own eyes what she considered to be the work of the Holy Spirit. This is how Cardinal Suenens came to know the Charismatic Renewal, which he defined as a “current of grace”, and he was the key person safeguarding/protecting it within the Church.

 

 

Pope Paul VI, during Mass on Pentecost Monday in 1975, thanked him with these words: ‘In the name of the Lord, I thank you for bringing the Charismatic Renewal into the heart of the Church.’».

FIAT worldwide

Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV concludes the homily of the Mass inaugurating his pontificate, telling us, brothers and sisters, that it is time for love! God's charity, which makes us brothers and sisters, is at the heart of the Gospel...

With the light and strength of the Holy Spirit, let us build a Church founded on God's love and a sign of unity, a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the Word, allows itself to be challenged by history and becomes a leaven of unity for humanity.

At the Mass of Pentecost, Pope Leo XIV urged the faithful to remain attentive to the Holy Spirit, who is ‘God's gift that opens our lives to love. And this presence of the Lord dissolves our hardness, our closedness, our selfishness, the fears that block us, the narcissism that makes us revolve only around ourselves.’

May the Holy Spirit, the Pope concluded, "come upon us and within us, open the frontiers of our hearts, give us the grace of encountering God, broaden the horizons of love and support our efforts to build a world where peace reigns. ».