Pope in Portugal to Give Thanks to Virgin of Fatima for ‘Special Protection’
Pope John Paul II arrived Friday in Portugal to venerate the Virgin Mary of Fatima, who he believes saved his life after an assassination attempt and helped end Communist rule in Eastern Europe.
It was the Pope’s second trip to the shrine at Fatima and his 50th foreign pilgrimage. He made the first trip in 1982, the year after being wounded by a Turkish gunman in Rome’s St. Peter’s Square.
John Paul was greeted at the Lisbon airport by President Mario Soares and Prime Minister Anibal Cavaco Silva.
One of the church’s most sacred shrines is built on the spot at Fatima where three shepherd children said they saw the mother of Jesus appear six times in 1917, urging prayers for the conversion of Russia.
The Pope said Friday that he came to give thanks to the Virgin for “protection she gave to the church in these years which recorded swift and deep social transformations, allowing new hopes to many people oppressed by atheist ideologies.”
The Pope’s veneration of Fatima stems from the 1981 attempt on his life, which occurred on May 13, the same day that the first apparition of the Virgin is said to have taken place.
On Friday, John Paul said he sought to thank the Virgin for her “special protection” in saving his life.
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