Pope to canonise child saints who held Mary’s secrets

Vatican City: Pope Francis heads to Fatima on Friday on a pilgrimage that will see him canonise two child shepherds who reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary 100 years ago.

Some 400,000 pilgrims from around the world will welcome the Argentine pontiff on the giant esplanade that faces the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima as he arrives in his “Popemobile”, while countless others will follow proceedings on television.

The Virgin is said to have appeared six times in Fatima, north of Lisbon, between May and October 1917 to three impoverished, barely-literate children — Jacinta, 7, Francisco, 9, and their cousin Lucia, 10.

She apparently shared three major prophesies with the trio at a time marked by the ravages of the First World War and Church persecution in a relatively new Portuguese republic.

According to interpretations of what Lucia revealed much later on, the first secret gave a vision of hell, while the second warned of a second devastating war and the rise of communist Russia. The third secret, which Lucia kept to herself for years, is believed to have been a prediction of the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II.

His successor Benedict XVI, however, later said she had foreseen the “suffering” of the Church, which at the time was racked by pedophilia scandals. the 12,000-strong town has become a major draw for pilgrims, with millions visiting every year.

On Friday and Saturday, some 40,000 walkers, 2,000 journalists, 2,000 priests, 71 bishops, eight cardinals, 350 patients hoping for a miracle and hundreds of volunteers will be present, according to Carmo Rodeia, one of the sanctuary managers.

Pilgrims will journey from South Korea, Japan and China, Mexico and Colombia. Nationals from Portugal — where 89 percent of the 10.3 million inhabitants are Catholic — will be out in force, prompting the Pope to speak in Portuguese.

On Saturday — the 100th anniversary of the Virgin Mary’s first reported apparition — Pope Francis will canonise Jacinta and Francisco who were apparently responsible for two miracles.

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— AFP Pope Francis touches a statue of Our Lady of Fatima at St Peter’s square at the Vatican. Pope will go to Fatima on Friday on a pilgrimage to canonise two child shepherds who reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary 100 years ago.