Pope John Paul II will travel to Fatima, Portugal, in May to beatify two shepherd children who had visions of Mary in 1917, a Vatican official confirmed.
“The Holy Father accepted the invitation of the Bishop of Fatima to hold the beatification ceremony of the shepherd children directly in Fatima,” secretary-general of the Vatican’s Jubilee committee, Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe, told Vatican Radio on March 21.
The Pope will leave for Portugal on May 12 and celebrate the beatification Mass the following day ( the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima ) on the shrine’s esplanade, he said.
The announcement marked the first Vatican confirmation that the Pope would travel to Fatima to beatify Francesco and Jacinto Marto, two of the three children who had visions of Mary. The third child, Sr Lucia dos Santos, is a 93 year-old nun living in a Portuguese convent. (CNS)
