Pope Francis will return to Fatima, Portugal, alongside hundreds of thousands of youth. On Saturday, August 5, as part of his World Youth Day pilgrimage, the Pope will pray the rosary in the Chapel of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima with young people facing illnesses.
The pope visited Fatima in 2017 on the 100th anniversary of the Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin. There, he delivered a message of peace that has been integral to his pontificate.
"Hail Queen, Blessed Virgin of Fatima," Pope Francis prayed. "I implore for world concord among all people. I come as your messenger to wash the feet of all. United with my brothers, through you, I consecrate myself to God, Virgin of the Rosary of Fatima."
This Marian devotion has continued to play an important role. In 2022, the pope consecrated two nations at war, Ukraine and Russia, to Our Lady of Fatima.
"The Ukrainian people, the Russian people, who venerate you with love, come to you," he said. "Your heart beats for them and for all peoples who have been victims of war, hunger, injustice, misery. Therefore, our Mother of God, we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves to your immaculate heart, we consecrate the Church, the whole of humanity, and especially Russia and Ukraine."
Francis is not the first pope to make a pilgrimage to Fatima. He follows in the footsteps of three other popes: St. Paul VI, St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI.