Pope travels to the shrine of Fatima to canonize little shepherds

Celebration takes place in the centenary of the apparitions of the Virgin to Portuguese children

The Francisc pope the travels on Friday at 14 pm (9 am GMT) at the shrine of Fatima in Portugal , where it will remain until Saturday to participate in the centenary of the apparitions of the Virgin to the shepherd and canonize two of them siblings Jacinta and Francisco Marto .

The pontiff will spend a few hours in the sanctuary of Fatima and there will be no official visits to Lisbon, nor speeches with authorities. At the occasion, he will make a prayer, two greetings to the faithful and a homily, which will be read in Portuguese by the pope.

He will arrive at the Monte Real airbase and there will have a private meeting with the Portuguese president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, where the traditional exchange of gifts will take place. Francis will be the third pontiff to land on this Portuguese base, after Paul VI and John Paul II, in 1967 and 1991, respectively. By helicopter, on a 20-minute flight, the Pope goes to the football stadium of Fatima and then travels about 3km on the papamobile until he reaches the sanctuary.

Reception
Your first stop will be in the chapel, built on the site where three shepherd children Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia witnessed apparitions of the Virgin. There will be welcomed by a thousand children and by the rector of the sanctuary, Carlos Cabecinhas. Francis will say a prayer dedicated to the Virgin and give the blessing to the faithful.

At around 9 pm (local time, 5 pm in Brasilia) he will participate in the celebration of the candle blessing and before the rosary prayer he will dedicate a few words to the faithful, making his second speech.

Already on Saturday, the Argentine pontiff will meet with the prime minister, António Costa, who will visit him at the House of Our Lady of Carmo, where Francis will spend the night, as did his predecessors when they visited Fatima. Then he goes to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, where he will pray at the tomb of Francisco and Jacinta, who died 9 and 10 years respectively.

In addition, Francis will celebrate a Mass in the Sanctuary where he will canonize the two brothers, who will become the first holy boys for having performed a miracle and not for being considered martyrs. After having lunch with Portuguese bishops, he will return to the sanctuary in a last course in the “papamobile” among the faithful, and then he will go to the airport from which he will return to Rome.