(Sept 25, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI will visit the Fatima shrine in Portugal next year,
the Portuguese president's office as well as the country’s bishops have announced.
The pope will preside at the Marian shrine's annual May 13 ceremonies, a brief statement
from the office of president Aníbal António Cavaco Silva said on Thursday. Even though
the Vatican has not made any official announcement as yet, the president of the Portuguese
Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Jorge Ferreira da Costa Ortiga of Braga on Thursday
issued a statement saying the Vatican Secretariat of State has communicated that Pope
Benedict has accepted the invitation of the Portuguese bishops and the nation’s president
to visit the country. The papal visit is to mark the anniversary of the first apparition
of the Virgin Mary to the three shepherd children on May 13, 1917, in Fatima, a small
town some 110 kilometres north of the capital Lisbon. Pope Benedict's visit will
be the fifth by a pontiff. Paul VI was the first, in 1967. Fatima is a major shrine
in Christendom, attracting an estimated 6 million pilgrims each year.