Pope Francis visited the Portuguese town of Fatima on Saturday to pray for peace at a shrine that has captivated Catholics for a century. The shrine is known for apocalyptic prophecies of hell, peace and Soviet communism that have found new relevance with Russia's war in Ukraine.
Pope Francis waves on arrival at Our Lady of Fatima shrine in Fatima, central Portugal, Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023. Pope Francis is in Portugal through the weekend into Sunday's 37th World Youth Day to preside over the jamboree that St. John Paul II launched in the 1980s to encourage young Catholics in their faith. Pope Francis visited the Portuguese town of Fatima on Saturday to pray for peace at a shrine that has captivated Catholics for a century.
The trip is a brief excursion from Lisbon, where Francis has been presiding over World Youth Day celebrations, the big Catholic jamboree that has gathered nearly 1 million young Catholics together. He returns to the Portuguese capital for a Saturday night vigil service and then will preside over a final Mass on Sunday, where the site of the next edition of the faith festival will be announced.
At the time of the apparitions, Europe was still in the grip of World War I and Portugal's Catholic Church was facing a crisis after Portugal became a republic in 1910. The republican government introduced a host of anti-clerical laws, including prohibiting religious teaching at schools. In that context, in which priests and bishops were exiled, the visions helped reinvigorate a persecuted church.
According to later writings by Lucia, who became a nun and died in 2005, Russia would be converted and peace would reign if the pope and all the bishops of the world consecrated Russia to the "Immaculate Heart of Mary." Lucia later claimed that John Paul fulfilled that prophecy during a 1984 Mass, even though he never specified Russia in the prayer.
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