Francis wants to visit Fatima in 2017 for the centenary of the apparitions
Reveals the auxiliary bishop of Lisbon
Francis wants to visit Fatima in 2017 for the centenary of the apparitions
Nuno Bras: "I think we can safely assume, unless you have an illness or unforeseen agenda"
Francis wants to visit the Portuguese shrine of Fatima in May 2017 to commemorate the centenary of the apparitions of the Virgin, as the auxiliary bishop of Lisbon, Nuno Brás said today.
Speaking to "Ecclesia" , the agency of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, Brás explained that the Pope confirmed his intention to go to Fatima on Sunday in the Vatican, at the closing of the Jubilee of catechists."I think we can give as certain that, unless you have an illness or an unforeseen occurs agenda", the pope has decided to come to Fatima, said Auxiliary Bishop Lisbon.
If the visit is confirmed, Francis is the fourth pope to visit Portugal, after Paul VI (1967), John Paul II (1982, 1991 and 2000) and Benedict (2010).
Revelations of the Virgin
The cult of Fatima, located about 130 kilometers from Lisbon, has its origin from 13 May to 13 October 1917, during which three Portuguese children - Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco - said they had witnessed several apparitions of the Virgin.
The three children explained that the Virgin made them several disclosures -known as the three secrets of Fatima - in these meetings, the first on the untimely death of two of them and the second about the end of the First World War, the beginning of the second and the end of communism.
Finally, the third secret was revealed in 2000 and the murder of a "bishop dressed in white" predicted while crossing a big city, in what the Church considers a prophecy of the attack suffered by John Paul II in 1981, when it was shot by Turkish terrorist Ali Agca. (RD / Agencies)
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