Vatican media editor-in-chief Andrea Tornielli opined on Thursday that Pope Francis’ visit to Fatima on August 5 is linked to “the tragedy of the war that afflicts martyred Ukraine”.
In a text published this Thursday on the Vatican News portal, Andrea Tornelli emphasizes that Francis’s gesture “can be directly linked to another gesture he made a little over a month after the start of the war: the dedication of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary held in San Pedro on March 25, 2022”.
“Russia’s devotion was moreover prompted by its appearance in the message to the shepherd children of Fatima. Sixteen months ago, Francis prayed as follows: ‘We have lost the path of peace. We have forgotten the lesson of the tragedies of the last century, the sacrifice of millions who died in the world wars. We ignore the commitments we made as a Community of Nations and we betray the dreams of peace of peoples and the hopes of young people,” Tornielli recalled in the text released this Thursday.
The editor in charge of the Vatican media also recalls that the Fatima apparitions are “linked to the history of the popes of the 20th century and intertwined with their personal biographies”, culminating in Paulo’s travels to the Shrine of Cova da Iria VI (1967), John Paul II (1982, 1991 and 2000) Benedict XVI (2010) and Francisco (2017).
On Wednesday, the rector of the Sanctuary of Fátima, Father Carlos Cabecinhas, announced that on August 5, Pope Francis will have sick youth and prisoners to pray with him at the small Chapel of Apparitions in Fátima.
In a message to pilgrims posted on the website of the Sanctuary of Fatima, Carlos Cabecinhas left an invitation so that “on Saturday morning, August 5, you can be in Fatima to pray with the Holy Father”.
According to the scheduled program, Pope Francis will arrive at the Sanctuary of Fátima at 9 a.m. on August 5 and pray in the Little Chapel of the Apparitions.
“The Pope will cross the prayer hall with the Popemobile and head towards the Little Chapel of the Apparitions, where sick young people, who will not be able to participate in the WYD in Lisbon, and some young prisoners will be waiting for him. After praying the rosary will the Pope address the pilgrims present and proceed to Lisbon,” the Sanctuary said, adding that, “although short, the program will be intense and full of meaning, since Francis will come to Cova da Iria by express will since the creation of the WYD in Lisbon”.
Pope Francis will arrive in Lisbon on August 2 for World Youth Day and return to Rome on August 6, with a visit to Fatima scheduled for the 5th.
The program of the visit to Portugal includes, in addition to meetings with the civil authorities of the country and some visits to institutions, the participation of the Pope in the afternoon of August 3 in Parque Eduardo VI, in the Ceremony of the Reception of Pilgrims. The next day he will lead the Via Sacra, also in Parque Eduardo VII, while on Saturday, in addition to the morning, in Fátima he will be in Parque Tejo in the late afternoon and early evening, before the start of the youth vigil.
On Sunday, in addition to the closing mass, in the morning, also in Parque Tejo, there will be a meeting in the afternoon with the thousands of volunteers participating in WYD, on the Passeio Marítimo de Algés, before returning to the Vatican.
Source: DN
