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Pope Francis to canonize two children in Portugal
Updated On May 13, 2017 06:58 am IST
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A couple hug each other upon their arrival to Fatima Sanctuary in central Portugal. Tens of thousands of Catholic faithful await the high-security arrival of Pope Francis in Fatima on Friday as the Portuguese holy site marks 100 years since the Virgin Mary reportedly appeared to child shepherds. (Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP)
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Singing Ave Maria, holding hands in prayer, falling into each other’s arms crying or strolling past shops selling t-shirts with photos of the Argentine pontiff, pilgrims from all over the world have been gathering on and near the sprawling, white Catholic shrine this week. (Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP)
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An Angolan woman pays a promise walking on her knees at Fatima Sanctuary. The Virgin is said to have appeared six times in Fatima, north of Lisbon, between May and October 1917 to three impoverished, barely-literate children -- Jacinta, 7, Francisco, 9, and their cousin Lucia, 10. (Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP)
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Pilgrims wearing t-shirts with the picture of Pope Francis carry the image of Our Lady of Fatima upon their arrival at Fatima Sanctuary. She apparently shared three major prophesies with the trio at a time marked by the ravages of the First World War and Church persecution in a relatively new Portuguese republic. (Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP)
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These prophecies reportedly included a warning of a second war and the rise of communist Russia. (Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP)
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On Saturday, the 100th anniversary of the first reported apparition, Pope Francis will canonise Jacinta and Francisco, who have officially been found responsible for two miracles. (Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP)
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On the day before the arrival of Pope Francis, a pilgrim carries a cross at the Catholic shrine of Fatima. One of these apparently took place in 2013, when a five-year-old Brazilian boy called Lucas recovered at lightning speed after falling more than six metres (20 feet) down to the ground from a window, smashing his skull. (Rafael Marchante/reuters)
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His parents had prayed to the late Jacinta and Francisco for help. (Pedro Nunes/Reuters)
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Many pilgrims have trekked for days on foot to the central Portuguese town, some finishing the journey to the small Chapel of the Apparitions on their knees. (Rafael Marchante/Reuters)
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Pope Francis is set to leave Rome at 2pm local time (1200 GMT) and lands more than two hours later at the Monte Real military base, north of Lisbon. (Pedro Nunes/REUTERS)
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Two nuns attend a mass at the Chapel of the Apparitions in the Fatima Sanctuary. (Paulo Duarte/AP)
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After a welcome by Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, he will travel to Fatima by helicopter. (Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP)
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There, he will arrive on the giant esplanade that faces the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima in a “Popemobile” brought specially from Rome, welcomed by some 400,000 faithful. (Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP)
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Countless others will follow proceedings on giant screens and television sets. (Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP)
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The day’s events and Saturday’s canonisation will take place under high security. (Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP)
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Some 6,000 members of security and emergency services have been mobilised. (Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP)
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Cars will be banned from the immediate vicinity of the sanctuary, the airspace above will be closed and measures for jamming electronic signals implemented to prevent any flights of drones. (Paulo Duarte/AP)
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A man holding an umbrella looks at a big rosary at Fatima Sanctuary. (Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP)
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Two nuns outside the chapel "Capelinha das Aparicoes" attend a mass as the "Nossa Senhora do Rosario de Fatima" cathedral's spire is reflected on the window at Fatima. (Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP)
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