FATIMA (SE): Pope Francis arrived at Fatima in Portugal under threatening skies late in the afternoon of May 12. His mission was a pilgrimage. He stressed that he was coming on pilgrimage and in the same spirit, he invited people all over the world to join him on his travels through prayer.

 

The following day he was present with thousands of others to mark the centenary of the first apparition of Our Lady to the three shepherd children on the hillside.

 

On 13 May 1917, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, together with their cousin, Lucia, witnessed what Pope Francis described as a heavenly woman clothed with the sun.

 

During a Mass celebrated on the day of the centenary in the town 305 metres...