The Holy See Press Office has confirmed that Pope Francis will visit Fatima during his trip to World Youth Day in Lisbon. He will be in Portugal from Aug. 2-6, with a stop in Fatima on Aug. 5.
The pope has a very close relationship with Our Lady of Fatima. Less than two weeks ago, on her feast day, he remembered her in a meeting with the World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations. He was saddened that Portugal recently passed a law to legalize euthanasia.
"Today I am also very sad, because in the country where Our Lady appeared, a law to kill is enacted, one more step in the long list of countries with euthanasia," Pope Francis said. "Today, then, thinking of Our Lady, let us look at Mary as a model of a woman of excellence, who lives a gift and task in fullness: the gift of motherhood and the task of taking care of her children in the Church."
On March 25 of last year, just two months before the anniversary of the apparitions, Pope Francis consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He did so in St. Peter's Basilica before an image of Our Lady of Fatima.
"This is no magic formula but a spiritual act," the pope said. "It is an act of complete trust on the part of children who, amid the tribulation of this cruel and senseless war that threatens our world, turn to their mother—like children when they are scared, they run to their mother."
Meanwhile, young people from around the world are preparing to see the pope up close at the first World Youth Day since the pandemic.