Today is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I would like to share why I hold this particular day close to my heart because the 9th of November 1989 was special for my Mom, my sisters and myself.

As Catholics with a devotion to the Rosary and Our Lady of Fatima, we prayed, together with many others, that people's hearts may be converted against the oppression of communism. As a family, our personal attachment lies in the dedicated heart and spirit of my Dad who sought to make things right in the world, in the way that he could and did through his work. He did not live to see that triumphant day in November but, we did. My Dad passed away a month and a day before the fall of the wall in Berlin. So, it was a bittersweet moment for my Mom, my sisters and I.

In 2000, I met this most beautiful man, who like my father, worked towards the fall of communism.


Such was his threat that they tried to assassinate him on 13th May 1981, which is a day special to those who have a devotion to Fatima. It is the Feast of the First Apparition of Our Lady. He, too, had a devotion to Her.

Today, the bullet which hit Pope John Paull II rests in the crown of the statue of Our Lady in Fatima, Portugal. There, too, is a slab of the Berlin wall. I also possess a piece of the wall. It is a personal reminder that social injustices ought not to be triumphant over us and that prayer and works can help resolve social ills.