Pope Canonizes Two Child Visionaries in Fátima, Portugal

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During the visit, he also canonized two of the young visionaries, Francisco and Jacinta Marto.

A man reaches to touch Pope Francis after the pope blessed the sick with the Eucharist at the conclusion of the canonization Mass of Sts.

In that light was a woman who said, "I am a lady from heaven".

Pope Francis also was asked about the resignation of Marie Collins, one of the founding members and the last remaining abuse survivor on the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

(L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP).

Fatima attracts millions of worshippers every year for whom the story of apparitions and miracles adds powerful fuel to their faith.

"This is a special trip", Pope Francis told journalists on board the flight to Portugal.

John Paul donated the bullet to Fatima, and it was inserted into the crown adorning a statue of Mary there. He will make two of them saints at a Mass on Saturday.

On May 13, Pope Francis declared as saints the two young shepherds who claimed to have seen the apparition of the Virgin Mary in 1917.

The pontiff left Fatima on Saturday afternoon after riding through the town in his popemobile. On the edge of town, he switched to a standard vehicle for the brief ride to the airport.

While the investigations into the very first alleged apparitions at Medjugorje in must continue, Pope Francis said he has doubts about claims that Mary continues to appear in the village of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Success for the SNP in recent council elections
She is expected to say: "Under the Tories and the SNP almost half a million emergency food parcels have been handed out to people across Scotland".

The boy, then five years old, fell 6.5 metres from a window in 2013 and suffered such severe head trauma that doctors said he would be severely mentally disabled or in a vegetative state if he even survived. Lucas and the pope embraced.

In a hard-hitting rebuff to devotees of the unofficial shrine, the Pope on Saturday scorned the idea of seers' receiving daily visions of the Virgin Mary.

After arriving in Portugal at a military air base, the pope traveled 10 minutes by helicopter to Fatima, twice circling the shrine before landing as crowds waved.

Francis provided the first-ever details about the contentious process that has been underway for years to determine whether the Catholic Church should declare the Medjugorje visions authentic. They clapped as soon as Francis read the proclamation aloud.

Francisco, Jacinta and their cousin Lucia are buried here side by side in the basilica. The pair died in 1919.

The Fatima mystery has fascinated Catholics and non-Catholics alike for a century, blending visions of the Virgin, supernatural meteorological events and apocalyptic messages of hell, World War II, communism and the death of a pope.

Two of the children - Jacinta and Francisco Marto - have now been canonised for the miracles attributed to them.

The visions drew huge popular interest, bolstering the persecuted Catholic Church in Portugal.

The pilgrims traditionally walk there as an expression of thanks to Our Lady of Fatima for helping them, or to pray to her for help. Some people wrapped themselves in foil and blankets to guard against the chill.

Many people had spent the night camped out along the barricades in the shrine's vast square, which were draped in Fatima banners and scarves.

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