Thirty-five thousand candle-wielding worshipers gathered at the base of Crato, Brazil’s massive monument to the Virgin Mary. Mass, fireworks, musical performances, and “great devotion and joy” marked the dedication service. The image of Our Lady of Fatima reaches 54 meters (177 ft). That’s taller than Rio’s famous 38-meter (125 ft) Christ the Redeemer statue. It’s the tallest Marian image in the world.

Crato’s image, dedicated November 13, is based on the original Our Lady of Fatima sculpture, which sits in a shrine in Fatima, Portugal. Its stature is vastly more diminutive at 104 centimeters (3.4 ft).

Why should you care that Crato made a giant Marian statue? Keep reading.

The Pilgrim Statue

In 1952, Pope Pius XII stated, “In 1946, I crowned Our Lady of Fatima as Queen of the World and the following year, through the Pilgrim Virgin, she set forth as though to claim her dominion, and the favors she performs along the way are such that we can hardly believe what we are seeing with our eyes.”

The Pilgrim Virgin, a reproduction of the original Our Lady of Fatima Sculpture, visited Crato on November 13, 1953. According to the National Catholic Register, “There are reports of favors after the statue’s passage through the streets. At the end of that month, the Crato cathedral received as a gift a replica of Our Lady’s statue. … Consequently, devotion to Our Lady of Fatima has flourished in the region.”

A few of the “miracles” and “favors” claimed over the years include: the statue shedding tears during a 1972 visit to New Orleans; sparing Aruba from a hurricane in 1999; curing a child’s cancer in the Philippines in 2002; and numerous accounts of miraculous conversions and physical healings.

But is this really the work of Mary? Let’s dig deeper.

Talking to the Dead

In 1917, three shepherd children reported that Mary appeared to them once a month for six months in Fatima, Portugal. Mary is said to have encouraged them to pray the Rosary daily, devote themselves to her, and seek to turn sinners to God. They also said she gave them a vision of hell and made several predictions.

All but one appearance occurred on the thirteenth of each month from May through October. The children said Mary had promised to perform a miracle in October. On the day of the final apparition, some 70,000 people gathered to witness the miracle. It’s reported that “the sun began to spin, change colors, and zigzag across the sky.”

Two of the shepherd children died the following year, as Mary reportedly told them they would. The third, Lúcia dos Santos, became a nun. The first image of Our Lady of Fatima was sculpted in 1920. Two more were made in 1947 based on Lúcia’s description. One of them became the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue that inspired Crato, Brazil, to eventually build a 45-meter (147 ft) version in 2014. But after its beauty was questioned, it was replaced by the current, larger one, which was recently dedicated.

Again, we ask: Did Mary visit the shepherd children, perform the Miracle of the Sun, and other signs afterwards?

That’s impossible. Here’s why.

Mary Is Dead

The thing about the dead is that we can’t talk to them. Scripture says, “the dead know nothing,” and have nothing to do with “anything done under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6). When a person dies, they “go down into silence” (Psalm 115:17) to await the resurrection (John 5:28, 29).

We should not expect to hear from the dead, nor should we attempt to contact them. In fact, we are forbidden to do so. Such behavior is called “an abomination” (Deuteronomy 18:10–12).

Mary, like King David, is “dead and buried” and “did not ascend into the heavens” (Acts 2:29, 34).

Idolatry Forbidden

The being who appeared at Fatima as Mary encouraged prayer and devotion to herself. This directly opposes Scripture, which says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me” (Psalm 50:15), and “O You who hear prayer, to You all flesh will come” (Psalm 65:2).

Jesus Himself taught us to pray to “our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). And when someone sought to elevate Jesus’ mother, saying, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You,” He replied, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:27, 28).

Prayer should always be directed to God alone. It is a form of sacrifice involving offering our time, effort, and devotion to God. Many of the children of Israel died in the wilderness because they made sacrifices to the dead (Psalm 106:28, 29). Praying to anyone other than God is idolatry, and exchanges “the truth of God for the lie,” by placing another in His place (Romans 1:25). “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).

Crato’s giant Marian statue is nothing more than an idol encouraging worship of the dead while masquerading as a Christian symbol.

Our Only Safeguard

Jesus warned, “Take heed that no one deceives you” (Matthew 24:4). The apostle John wrote about “spirits of demons, performing signs” to fool the “whole world” (Revelation 16:14). Paul wrote that Satanic forces would work “with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:9–12).

Never forget: “Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).

The being who appeared as Mary at Fatima, who encouraged the violation of God’s commandments and, afterward, is said to have performed signs and wonders, was not Mary. We must stand on God’s Word alone. Satan can fool the senses, but “the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8).

Learn more about what the Bible says concerning the dead and communicating with them.