Children to be canonised during papal visit
POPE Francis heads to Fatima, Portugal, tomorrow 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 watch 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.
Jacinta and Francisco will be canonised. The Virgin apparently shared three major prophecies with the three at a time marked by the ravages of World War 1 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 was then racked by paedophilia scandals.
The town has become a major draw for pilgrims, with millions visiting every year.