Our Lady of Fatima statues donor dies at 83

The donor of over a thousand statues of Our Lady of Fatima to South African churches and around the world, has died.

José Camara, a businessman who lived most of his life in Cape Town, died on December 31 after a long illness in Lisbon. He was 83.

His mission of donating the statues as a way of promoting devotion to Our Lady of Fatima began in January 2013 with an offer in The Southern Cross to give away 12 statues to parishes in South Africa.

Demand was high, and from there his mission spread first to other countries in Southern Africa and eventually all around the world.

Between that first offer ten years ago and 2019, Mr Camara sent 1146 hand-made statues of Our Lady of Fatima to 47 countries as far apart as Saudi Arabia, Japan, Haiti, Britain, Australia, Mozambique, and India.

His devotion to Our Lady of Fatima went back to 1947. He was seven years old when he saw a procession of the statue of Our Lady from Fatima through the streets of Funchal in Madeira.

At age 14, he was sent to Cape Town to stay with his uncle so that he could learn English. He soon made the Mother City his home. After completing his studies, he sold sewing machines door-to-door. From there he built a successful business career as an auctioneer and in real estate.

Mr Camara retired to Portugal, but on a 2012 visit to Cape Town, God guided him to a new ministry. He later recalled that he knew that there was nothing that he could give to God, as the Lord has everything already, and so he decided to help the Blessed Virgin. His goal was to take Mary to the world, and to take the world to Mary.

He contacted The Southern Cross to run an initial offer for 12 statues, which was published in the issue of January 9, 2013. The response was overwhelming, and soon Mr Camara contacted The Southern Cross to extend the offer. Over the years, he repeated the offer many times.

“The organisation that went into this effort is immense, but the rewards are immense too! Wherever a statue of Our Lady of Fatima has been placed, there has been an increase in prayer and devotion to Our Blessed Mother, and prayer groups have started where there was none before — even in prisons,” Mr Camara said in a 2018 article in The Southern Cross.

Southern Cross editor Günther Simmermacher recalls Mr Camara as a man of deep faith who gave his wealth, energy and talent for logistics to serve Our Lady.

“Mr Camara’s ministry has been one of the most remarkable things I’ve been a little part of in my many years as editor of The Southern Cross,” Simmermacher said. “When he contacted me with the idea to offer the initial 12 statues, I thought, ‘Wow, that’s very nice.’ By the time he had exceeded a thousand statues, I thought, ‘Wow, this is incredible.’”

Many churches and schools in South Africa have benefitted from Mr Camara’s generosity, Simmermacher said, adding that he hopes all of them will say a Mass for the repose of his soul.