Pope Francis recently paid a famed Catholic monument in Portugal a visit. The shrine is known for ominous prophecies about damnation, world peace, and Soviet communism that have gained fresh significance in light of Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.
The 86-year-old prayed the rosary in Fatima, where the Church claims the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children in 1917, among some 200,000 other pilgrims.
Francis was supposed to travel to Ukraine to pray for peace, according to the Vatican, but instead he skipped a speech that was supposed to be the highlight of the event.
Since the tour began on Wednesday, he has cut down on many addresses or deviated from the script, with one speech being attributed to difficulty with his glasses.
Pope Francis, according to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, “always addresses first and foremost the people he meets, as a shepherd, and speaks accordingly.”
When speaking in his native Spanish, the Argentine pontiff veers much further from his planned statements.
Bishop Fatima Jose Ornelas specifically prayed for Ukraine throughout his speech.
We join Your Holiness’ prayer for peace, which is strongly associated with this sanctuary, he continued, “thinking in particular of the war in Ukraine and so many other conflicts in the world.”
Later, as a helper carefully pushed his wheelchair through the crowd, Francis addressed scores of individuals one by one, frequently pausing to console infants and the sick.
He then proceeded to return to the helicopter that would take him to the following event on his five-day visit to Portugal, where he was serving as the chief celebrant of World Youth Day.
Since the children’s first claimed vision of the Virgin Mary on May 13, 1917, Fatima has fascinated Catholics.
Tradition has it that the Virgin Mary visited Francisco, Jacinta, and Lucia Marto, three Portuguese cousins, six times, and revealed three secrets to them.
The first two foresaw the end of World War I and the beginning of World War II, as well as the rise and fall of Soviet communism. They also painted an apocalyptic picture of hell.
The third was kept a secret by everyone save Lucia and the popes for more than three and a half centuries, creating literature and cults that believed it to be the timing of the end of the world.
On May 13, the same day as the first alleged apparition in 1917, the Vatican claimed in 2000 that it was a prophecy of the 1981 attempt on the life of Pope John Paul II.
At the time, the kids ranged in age from seven to ten. A few years after they passed away, Francisco and Jacinta were canonised in 2017.
At the age of 97, Lucia became as a nun and passed away in 2005. She is also being attempted to become a saint.