lady of fatima tour

The International Pilgrim Statue

An epic journey – a critical message that must be spread.

The world-famous International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Fatima has been traveling since 1947, bringing the message of Fatima to a world in need.

Experience the graces and blessings of Fatima!

The visitation of the IPVS is a spiritually powerful event for the faithful and the most effective means to spread this urgent message anew. The heart She touches along the way cannot be measured. We invite you to plan a visit to your parish or diocese.

The visit may include processions, Mass, confession, presentations on Fatima, scapular enrollment, Rosaries, Marian consecration, Holy Hours of Adoration and private veneration. Often a special program is designed for school children and other groups.

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THE 10 BEST Fatima Tours & Excursions

Fatima tours.

• Historical & Heritage Tours
• Walking Tours
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• The ranking of tours, activities, and experiences available on Tripadvisor is determined by several factors including the revenue generated by Tripadvisor from these bookings, the frequency of user clicks, and the volume and quality of customer reviews. Occasionally, newly listed offerings may be prioritized and appear higher in the list. The specific placement of these new listings may vary.

1. Fátima, Nazaré and Óbidos Small-Group Day Trip from Lisbon

2. Full-day Fátima, Nazaré, and Óbidos Small-Group Tour from Lisbon

3. Discover Fátima: Half-Day Small-Group Tour from Lisbon

4. Fatima, Batalha, Nazare, Obidos Full-Day Group Tour from Lisbon

5. Faith and Heritage: Fátima, Batalha, Nazaré, Óbidos from Lisbon

6. Private Tour to Fátima, Monastery of Batalha, Nazaré and Óbidos

7. Fatima Private Half Day Tour from Lisbon

8. Fátima Private Pilgrimage: Shrine, Sacred Path and Scenic Rail

9. Private Transfer Porto-Lisbon with 2 (two) Visits on the Way

10. Fátima and Coimbra Full Day Tour with Optional Lunch

11. Templar's Castle, Nazaré and Obidos

12. Divine Fátima Full Day Private Tour from Lisbon

13. Fátima, Nazaré, Óbidos and S. Martinho do Porto Small-Group Tour from Lisbon

14. Fatima, Batalha, Nazare and Obidos Full Day Tour from Lisbon

15. Fátima, Batalha, Nazaré and Óbidos Private Tour

16. Lisbon to Porto with stop Óbidos, Nazaré, Fátima, Coimbra, Aveiro

17. Small Group Tour to Fátima, Batalha, Nazaré and Óbidos from Lisbon

18. Full-Day Trip in Fatima, Nazare and Obidos with Private Transport

19. Óbidos, Nazaré, Batalha and Fátima Full Day Tour From Lisbon

20. Private Half Day Tour to Fatima from Lisbon

21. Fátima, Nazaré and Óbidos Small Group Tour from Lisbon

22. Private 5H Tour of Fatima from Lisbon

23. Porto: Fatima and Coimbra Day Trip

24. Lisbon: Tour of Fátima, Batalha, Nazaré & Óbidos

25. Three Cities in One Day Tour: Sintra, Nazaré, Fátima from Lisbon

26. Fátima Message Private Tour with Candle Procession from Lisbon

27. Private Day Tour With Guide to Fatima, Batalha, Nazaré and Obidos

28. Day tour Fatima and Sintra

29. Fátima & Coimbra: Full Day Private Tour from Porto

30. Private Tour to Fátima Sanctuary and the Little Shepherds Houses

What travelers are saying.

• Peter S 1 contribution 0 5.0 of 5 bubbles Amazing experience and transfer! Hugo is the absolute best! My wife and I were picked up seamlessly at our hotel in Porto and stopped in Nazeré and Obidos on our way down to Lisbon. Would highly recommend both. Hugo was full of interesting stories and fun facts about Portugal and our two stops. The day felt like we were getting a private tour from a close friend and by the end of the day we were sad to say goodbye. The day was absolutely one of the best parts of our entire trip to Portugal and we couldn’t have been more impressed and satisfied with the entire experience. 10/10 Read more Review of: Porto-Lisbon transfer with visits on the way Written April 8, 2024 This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

• Fátima, Nazaré and Óbidos Small-Group Day Trip from Lisbon
• Full-day Fátima, Nazaré, and Óbidos Small-Group Tour from Lisbon
• Fatima, Batalha, Nazare, Obidos Full-Day Group Tour from Lisbon
• Discover Fátima: Half-Day Small-Group Tour from Lisbon
• Faith and Heritage: Fátima, Batalha, Nazaré, and Óbidos Group Tour from Lisbon
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Fátima , located in the Santarem district in Central Portugal, is a spiritual city that attracts over 8 million visitors annually. The iconic Sanctuary of Fátima, known for the Miracle of Fátima , intrigues both Catholics and atheists alike.

If you’re staying in Lisbon or Porto but want to experience this site, several Fátima tours are available, both private and group, to take you to Fátima for a day.

To help you choose, here are the top 4 Miracle of Fátima tours for 2023, but book quickly as these tours sell out fast due to the location’s popularity with religious pilgrims. Keep in mind that all tours allow free cancellation if done at least 24 hours beforehand.

1. 3 in 1 – Discover Fátima, Nazaré, and Óbidos from Lisbon

A lot of the best tours out there do not only stop at Fátima, but also at nearby cities. Embark on a small-group guided day trip from Lisbon to explore Portugal’s rich heritage and stunning countryside, including Fátima, Óbidos, and Nazaré.

Visit the Sanctuary of Fátima, where three children saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary in 1917, and learn about its significance as a pilgrimage site.

You will also get o discover the medieval town of Óbidos, experience the life of a fisherman in the seaside village of Nazaré, and marvel at the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Batalha Monastery.

With a maximum of only 8 people, this small-group tour ensures a more personalized experience with your guide. 

2. Day Exploring Fátima and Coimbra

Another incredible tour is this affordable one departing from Porto that allows you to discover Portugal’s rich culture and religious history with a day trip to Fatima and Coimbra. With an expert local guide, this small-group tour ensures a personalized experience.

Explore the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary in Fatima and attend mass at the sanctuary’s basilica, immersing yourself in the local religious culture.

Next, visit the university town of Coimbra, known for its prestigious university and informative walking tour. Learn about the history of the Old Cathedral of Coimbra and admire its Romanesque architecture. Keep in mind that the university tour fee is not included in the tour price.

3. Full Day Private Tour from Porto

Take a journey on this private tour to Fátima and Coimbra from Porto, allowing you to see these cities in a personalized way. You will get to experience one of the world’s main religious cities, on a private 8-hour tour.

Explore the beautiful Sanctuary and visit the village where the three little shepherds were born. Learn about the faith that moves many pilgrims each year.

In the afternoon, after a few hours of exploring the site of the Miracle of Fátima, visit Coimbra, a student city with one of the oldest universities in Europe. Explore the narrow streets of the city center and discover important references with the help of your expert guide. 

4. Private Tour of Fátima, Batalha, Nazaré & Obidos from Lisbon

Last but not least, this complete private tour of Fátima, Batalha, Nazaré, and Obidos allows you to explore four key cities in the center of Portugal with your very own guide. Visit the sacred city of Fatima, the Batalha Monastery, the fishing village of Nazare, and the walled village of Obidos, where you can taste the traditional ginjinha liquor. The guide for this tour will pick you up wherever you are in Lisbon and drop you off at the end of the day.

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Fatima Lourdes

This Pilgrimage to Fatima and Lourdes begins in Lisbon , with Mass and a visit to the Church where the body of St. Anthony of Padua , the patron saint of lost objects, is located. In Santarem, visit St. Stephen’s Church to venerate the Eucharistic Miracle which has been displayed since it occurred in 1269. In Fatima , where the Virgin Mary appeared in 1917, you will visit the Old and the New Basilicas and celebrate Mass at the Little Chapel of the Apparitions, which is built on the spot where three shepherd children were implored by Our Lady to Pray for World Peace.  During the Fatima Lourdes Pilgrimage Tour, you will visit the tombs and childhood homes of Francisco, Jacinta, and Lucia, and join the Candlelight Procession on the main plaza as you pray the rosary with thousands of pilgrims from around the globe.  In Spain, you will visit Alba de Tormes and Avila to visit the Convent and the important places in the life of St. Teresa of Avila , and you will stop in Loyola to see the family home of St. Ignatius Loyola and pray in the “Room of the Conversion.” After traveling through the magnificent countryside the Fatima Lourdes pilgrimage takes you to the Lourdes Shrine , known around the world for physical and spiritual healing. Here you will see the grotto where Our Lady identified herself as the Immaculate Conception, and have time to immerse yourself in the Miraculous Water. You will visit the Boly Mill and the Cachot, the prison where Bernadette’s family once lived, and join other pilgrims in prayers for the sick and nightly Candlelight Procession in front of the Rosary Basilica. Over 70 miracles have been recognized by the Church at this Marian shrine.  Go ahead and book the Fatima Lourdes Pilgrimage now for 2024 or 2025!

Pilgrimage to Fatima and Lourdes

Tour Details for Fatima Lourdes Northern Spain Pilgrimage

Departure & return location.

Your  local airport of choice  —  Or you can choose land only and make your own flight arrangements.

Departure Time

Arrive for Check-in 3 Hours Before Flight Time

Price Includes

• Air fares - Round trip airfare listed below Airfare is included for most major airports
• 1 Checked Bag with the Airlines
• Hotel Accommodations - First Class Hotels with Porterage
• Meals - Breakfast and Dinner Daily Wine & mineral water with dinners
• All transportation in destination location Airconditioned Motor Coach with Bottled Water available onboard
• Tour Guide - Professional English Speaking Catholic Guides
• Entrance Fees - Sightseeing and admissions fees as per itinerary
• Catholic Priest with Daily Mass and Spiritual Activities Coordinated

Price Excludes

• Travel Insurance - optional but recommended
• Gratuities for Guides and Drivers
• Baggage Fees, if applicable
• Fees for Seat Assignments or upgrades, if applicable
• Private airport transfers when selecting Land Only and arranging your own flights
• Any Personal Expenses

Complementaries

• Name and Luggage tags
• Neck Wallet

Itinerary for Fatima Lourdes Pilgrimage

Day 1 home - lisbon.

Day 2 Lisbon

Day 3 Santarem - Eucharistic Miracle - Fatima

Day 4 Fatima

Day 5 Fatima - Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova in Coimbra - Alba de Tormes - Avila

Day 6 Avila - Burgos

St. Teresa of Avila, the great mystic was the first woman to be named a Doctor of the Church. In Avila, visit the Cathedral, which contains many of St. Teresa’s relics, and the crypt of the Convento of La Santa, which is built on the site of the house where she was born and is home to the most comprehensive museum dedicated to her life. Also visit La Encarnacion Convent, the first convent she founded. In the afternoon, travel to Burgos, the historic capital of Old Castile. Dinner and overnight in Burgos.

Day 7 Burgos - Loyola - Lourdes

Day 8 & 9 Lourdes

See a video presentation telling the story of Lourdes and enjoy a guided tour of Lourdes which will include the sanctuary; the Grotto, where Our Lady appeared under the title of the Immaculate Conception; the Basilica of the Rosary, the Basilica of St Pius X, the world’s largest underground church; Boly Mill where St Bernadette was born and the “Cachot,” an abandoned prison where Bernadette’s impoverished family lived; and the baths where hundreds of miraculous cures have taken place. Dinner and overnight in Lourdes.

Day 10 Lourdes - Home

Map of Fatima Lourdes & Northern Spain Pilgrimage

Photos of Fatima Lourdes Northern Spain Pilgrimage

Dates, Pricing, and Booking for Fatima Lourdes Spain Pilgrimage

Travel insurance for fatima lourdes spain pilgrimage tour.

Travel Insurance is available for the Fatima Lourdes Pilgrimage Tour – and is recommended!

Click here for information on insurance plans!

Frequently Asked Questions About Fatima Lourdes Spain Pilgrimage

What hotels will we be staying at for the Fatima Lourdes Pilgrimage Tour?

For more information about Fatima Lourdes hotel accommodations please click here.

How do I meet up with the group if I make my own flight arrangements? 

Arrival times vary between dates and within pilgrimages.  If you make your own flight arrangements, we can arrange a private transfer from Lisbon to the group hotel for $45 per person.  A private transfer from Lourdes to Toulouse is $269.  We recommend using our transfer service because they are known and trusted drivers.  As soon as you have your flight information, email Marcelle .

Will I need an electrical adapter?  Yes, you will need an adapter for France, Portugal , and Spain .  The same adapter will work for the entire tour.

Would you like to lead your parish or group on this Fatima Lourdes pilgrimage?   Click Here to get started.

Do you offer other Pilgrimage Tours to Lourdes or Fatima?

Yes.   Click here for the Lourdes Pilgrimage Tour.   We also offer the  Shrines of France Pilgrimage Tour which includes Lourdes.  If you would like to add Rome to this pilgrimage, see our Fatima Lourdes Rome Pilgrimage Tour .

Do you have any additional information about Lourdes?   For the story of Lourdes and pilgrimage tour facts click here.

Do you have FAQs for airlines, passports, vaccinations, travel insurance, tipping, packing, mobility, and others?   Yes. FAQ for all Catholic Journeys Pilgrimage Tours

Related Tours

Fr. Joel Almendras

Overall, it was a good pilgrimage. We had a very professional and knowledgeable Tour Guide in Sandra who knew all the details and the needs of the pilgrims. The accommodations and meals in the hotels were very good. The driver was very professional. Thank you for this pilgrimage to Fatima and Lourdes!

Tom and I got back today from our Fatima Lourdes pilgrimage!

Thanks so much! It was wonderful

Betsie and Harold

Our pilgrimage to Fatima and Lourdes was a trip of a lifetime, thank you Catholic Journeys. The trip was well organized and professionally run. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable; she knew everything and was fluent in English, Portuguese, Spanish and French. She was very personal and answered all of our questions. Having a priest on the trip opened up places that would not be accessible to just lay people. Fr. .Carl offered private masses each day in magnificent chapels and cathedrals, it was wonderful. Fatima and Lourdes was all that we thought it would be, it did not disappoint. However, the several stunning and sacred towns we visited along the way made the trip extra special. Again, this was the pilgrimage and journey of a lifetime. Thank you.

Maria & Aurora

The trip was outstanding so eye opening historical and inspiring. ALL the staff was so pleasant and helpful with my mom.We thank all of u for your patience as we are not experienced travelers.Leo Fredrica Philip Fr. Ken are the best. GOD BLESS U ALL

John and Barbara

John and I would like you to know how enjoyable and interesting our tour guide and bus driver made our pilgrimage to Fatima and Lourdes.

Anna knew 4 languages and she traveled with us through 3 countries. She knew many people and she could show our small group many things on the tour and some other interesting sites. She was always on time and always courteous. She could answer all our questions. Her tour was well planned with our stops along the way even the lunch spots and places to buy souvenirs. We would highly recommend Anna on all your future tours.

Paolo was our driver. He did an excellent job. They had perfect chemistry. You could tell that this team has worked together many times and they were pros. He was very courteous and helpful. He was always on time. We highly recommend him on your future Fatima Lourdes Pilgrimage Tours.

John and I have been N.O. tour guides for years. We can really appreciate a team that works so well and is so professional. There is nothing I would have changed and we highly recommend this tour if Anna and Paolo are doing it.

We also enjoyed Fr. Carl. He was young and enthusiastic. His masses were very enjoyable with well thought out homilies. He mixed well with all the pilgrims from the young to the old. He participated in all the events (masses, celebrations, walks, prayers, etc.). We were so proud to have our priest standing shoulder to shoulder with the other priests at the religious sites. We enjoyed eating with him and our conversations with him. He was always the first one down and ready to go each day. He came prepared with all the things he needed to be our spiritual director.

Welcome to Fatima, Portugal

Dear pilgrim of Fatima: welcome to our official website.

We schedule guided tours for those willing to experience the Sanctuary of Fatima (Portugal) and the surrounding places related to the Angel of Peace and Our Lady apparitions. We provide an intimate and personalized full-day tour with a local professional guide.

We are waiting for you here, in the Virgin Mary's land, in the «altar of the world».

1st Part: Morning Tour

Our guided tour starts in Cova da Iria and includes a presentation and guided tour to the Sanctuary of Fatima and its main references, which include: the Chapel of the Apparitions (considered as "the heart" of the Marian Shrine and where the Virgin Mary appeared in 1917); the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary (where can be visited the tombs of the three little shepherds: Lucia dos Santos, St. Francisco and St. Jacinta Marto); and the modern Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity .

2nd Part: Afternoon Tour

Our guided tour continues to the surrounding apparition sites of the Angel of Peace , along with the place of the 4th apparition of Our Lady in August 19, 1917, who took place in Valinhos . We will also go to Aljustrel village to visit the late 19th century family houses of the three seers of Our Lady. The guided tour ends with a visit to the Parish Church of Fatima where the three shepherd children were baptized. All visits described are made by walking tour.

Sightseeing tours Places of interest

Sister lucia's house.

This is the family home of Lucia dos Santos – Sister Lucia, the main seer of the Virgin Mary apparitions in Cova da Iria, Fátima, Portugal.

Francisco and Jacinta's House

This is the family home of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, the little shepherds to whom Our Lady appeared in Cova da Iria, Fátima, Portugal.

Aljustrel village

Aljustrel is a small village that became famous for being the birthplace of Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta – the three little shepherds of Fatima.

Francisco and Jacinta's Room

Bedroom where were born the saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto, little shepherds to whom Our Lady appeared in Cova da Iria, Fatima, Portugal.

Loca do Cabeço / Valinhos

The place of the 1st and 3rd apparitions of the Angel of Peace – known as the Guardian Angel of Portugal – is located in Valinhos, Fatima.

Hungarian Calvary / Valinhos

The Way of the Cross stations in Fatima and the Calvary were offered by Hungarian Catholics, refugees in Portugal after the soviet invasion.

Chapel of King Saint Stephen

The Chapel dedicated to the King Saint Stephen was offered by Hungarian Catholics, refugees in Portugal after the soviet invasion of Hungary.

Parish Church of Fatima

The Parish Church of Fatima is where the three little shepherds were baptized and where Saint Francisco Marto spent many hours in adoration to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

Wax Museum of Fatima

The Wax Museum of Fatima depicts the whole history of Our Lady of Fatima apparitions in 31 scenes with 119 wax figures.

Our Lady of the Rosary Basilica

The Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary is the main temple of the Sanctuary of Fatima. It was consecrated to the Marian invocation presented by Our Lady during her apparitions in 1917.

Chapel of the Apparitions

The Chapel of the Apparitions is a small chapel located in Cova da Iria that was constructed in the 1920s to mark the exact place where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in Portugal.

Basilica of the Holy Trinity

The Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity is the latest temple built in the complex of the Sanctuary of Fatima. This Minor Basilica was designed by the Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis.

Sanctuary of Our Lady of Ortiga

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Ortiga marks the place where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared around 1758 to a mute shepherdess and where she promised that would bestow many graces.

Eucharistic Miracle (Santarém)

The Church of St. Stephen – current Sanctuary of the Most Holy Miracle – in Santarém marks the place where the sacred particles of the 13th century Eucharistic miracle are preserved.

Shrine of Our Lady of Nazaré

The Shrine of Our Lady of Nazaré dates back to the 14th century. It evokes the famous miracle that occurred through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1182.

Monastery of Batalha

The Monastery of Saint Mary of the Victory was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. This monument was also elected as one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal.

Monastery of Alcobaça

The Monastery of Saint Mary of Alcobaça was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. This monument was also elected as one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal.

Óbidos – The medieval village

UNESCO considered the iconic Portuguese medieval village of Óbidos as a "literary city". Its castle has been declared one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal.

Special offers

We provide all the necessary materials so that you may have the best visit / pilgrimage to Fátima, Portugal: printed color maps, tourist itineraries, prayer cards of Our Lady of Fatima and of the three little shepherds, etc.

The Catholic Travel Guide

Fatima, Portugal: Our Lady of Fatima Shrine

About the apparitions at fatima:.

In the spring of 1916 , three children took their parents sheep to a pasture in a place not far from the mountain village of Fatima, Portugal.  Their names were Lucia dos Santos (age 9) and her younger cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto (ages 6 & 8, respectively).

They saw a bright light in a cave nearby and a beautiful young man in white garments appeared to the children and announced “ fear not, I am the angel of peace…pray with me “.  He gave them what became known as the Fatima Prayer.

The following year, on May 13th, 1917   while the children were once again pasturing the flock, this time in Cova da Iria, about a mile from their homes, when a lovely lady appeared to them.  After telling the children not to be frightened, she said “ I have come from heaven ” and told them she wanted them to come to that same place on the same hour on the 13th day of each month until October.

Our Lady continued to appear to the children each month between May and October with messages of great importance for the world and the events to follow, which were to have major consequences and lead many people to Jesus Christ.

The Blessed Mother asked that the children pray the rosary daily, and said that through the rosary wars could be prevented. At that time many men from Portugal were involved in the fighting of World War I.

Fatima involved three secrets:

1. The First Secret:  On July 13, 1917 the visionaries were given horrific visions of hell which lasted only a minute. Our Lady showed the visionaries a great sea of fire that they said “ seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear ”.

According to the visionaries, the Blessed Mother looked at them sadly and said: “ You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace “.

Our Lady went on to say: “ To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of The Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated ”.

In that same year, 1917, the communists took over Russia and unleashed a 70 year reign of terror .

Our Lady had gone on to say: “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world”.

2.  The Second Secret:   “ The war is going to end (meaning World War I) , but if people do not stop offending God, a worse one will break out during the pontificate of Pope Pius XI “.

“When you see a night illuminated by an unknown light , know that this is the great sign given you by God that He is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and the Holy Father”.

Then on the nights of January 25 & 26, 1938, the sky across Europe was illuminated with a red light , perhaps the strongest Aurora Borealis ever known to mankind. On February 4, 1938.. one week later ….Hitler promoted himself to military chief in Germany and on March 12, 1938, German troops marched into Austria to annex the German-speaking nation, effectively ushering in the start of World War II, even though it was not officially declared until September 1939.

3. The Third Secret was the subject of much mystery and even a few conspiracy theories. The third secret was not initially revealed by Lucia. She said that Mary had not yet permitted her to reveal it to the world. In October the Bishop ordered her to put it in writing, which she did, and sealed it in an envelope not to be opened until 1960 , when “it will appear clearer”.[The text of the third secret was officially released by Pope John Paul II in 2000.  It was interpreted by The Church to be symbolic in nature and referred to the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1981……the anniversary date of the first reported Fatima vision. The Pope had just bent down to hug a little girl wearing a Lady of Fatima emblem when the assailant fired, and the bullets struck him in the abdomen rather than the head as planned. John Paul II credited Our Lady of Fatima with saving his life.

The miracle of the sun in Fatima:

On October 13, 1917 about 70,000 people had gathered on the hillside at the Cova da Iria. Beginning the night before and throughout most of the morning a cold rain fell thoroughly drenching the crowd. The ground was muddy and had soaked everything. At the time when Our Lady was due to arrive, Lucy asked those assembled to close their umbrellas, which they did. Our Lady appeared and told Lucy: “ I want to tell you that a chapel is to be built here in my honor . I am the Lady of the Rosary . May you continue to pray the Rosary every day. The war is going to end and the soldiers will soon return to their homes “.

In 1918 on the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour, the armistice was signed ending the “Great War”.

As Our Lady ascended, the sky suddenly cleared and the sun danced. The people were able to look directly at the sun without it bothering their eyes at all. The event was reported in the newspaper at the time as you can see from the photo below.

A physician who was present, Dr. Almeida Garrett, testified: “ Suddenly I heard the uproar of thousands of voices, and I saw the whole multitude spread out in that vast space at my feet…I turned around too, toward the point commanding their gaze, and I could see the sun, like a very clear disc, with its sharp edge, which gleamed without hurting the sight or damaging the retina ”.

The great miracle of the sun lasted about 10 minutes, but the results of this miracle continue today, as Fatima draws millions of pilgrims from around the world every year, and had even more in 2017….the 100th anniversary of the apparitions. Interestingly enough, the three visionaries did not see the miracle of the sun . They saw a completely different event…an apparition of our lady.

Sister Lucia explained in her memoirs:  “After our Lady had disappeared into the immense distance of the firmament, we beheld St. Joseph with the Child Jesus and Our Lady robed in white with a blue mantle, beside the sun. St. Joseph and the Child Jesus seemed to bless the world, for they traced the Sign of the Cross with their hands. When, a little later, this apparition disappeared, I saw Our Lord and Our Lady; it seemed to me to that it was Our Lady of Sorrows (Dolors). Our Lord appeared to bless the world in the same manner as St. Joseph had done. This apparition also vanished, and I saw Our Lady once more, this time resembling Our Lady of Carmel.”  Interestingly, Sister Lucia went on to join the Carmelite Order.

This vision was only seen by the children, while the crowd was witnessing the sun “dance.”

It is believed that the “dancing sun” was meant to inspire belief in the unbelieving crowd, while Our Lady had a different message for the visionaries.

For example, Sr. Lucia saw Our Lady of Mt. Carmel to prepare the way for her entrance into a Carmelite monastery when she was older.

The newspaper article shown to the left was actually an anti-Catholic paper , and yet they published the events.

The fate of the children:

Francisco and Jacinta both died young, as prophesied by Our Lady: she had told them they would be taken to Heaven early. Francisco died at age 10 and Jacinta at age 9.    Francisco and Jacinta were canonized Saints by Pope Francis on May 13th, 2017, the 100th anniversary of the first apparition, and their feast day is February 20th .

Lucia went on to become a Discalced Carmelite nun (taking the name Sister Maria Lucia of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart).  She lived at the convent in Monastery of Santa Clara in Coimbra, Portugal ( about 53 miles north of Fatima).  If you can, try to include this in your trip ….there is a small museum detailing the life of Sister Lucia.  She had been blind and deaf ,and ailing for some years, when she died on February 13, 2017.  Sister Lucia was accorded the title Servant of God , as the first major step toward her canonization.

About the Shrine at Fatima:

Your visit to the Shrine in Fatima.

In addition to Masses held throughout the da y there are Stations of the Cross , daily processions , Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and much more at what is considered by many to be the most important Marian shrine of the 20th Century.

♦  The Chapel of Apparitions (Portuguese: Capelinha das Aparições): We like to start our visits here…it is the exact spot of the apparitions, marked by a marble pillar and enclosed case, with the image of the Virgin Mary.  It is covered by the small structure you can see on the left side of the photo above. Pilgrim groups often celebrate Mass here.

♦  The Big Holmoak: the tree under which the children and the early pilgrims sat and prayed the Rosary as they awaited Our Lady’s appearance.  It is right behind the Chapel of the Apparitions.

♦  The Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary:  the focal part of the Fatima shrine, this Basilica was constructed in the Baroque Revival Style, features Stained glass windows that depict the events of the apparitions.  There are 14 side altars within the church, each one dedicated to one of the fourteen mysteries of the Rosary and represented in bronze, Bas-reliefs. The 15th mystery is represented in the vault of the presbytery and is a high-relief by Maximiano Alves.

     The Basilica houses the tombs of Saints Francisco and Jacinta.  Upon her death in 2005, Sister Lucia’s body was also entombed here.

♦  The Perpetual Adoration Chapel:    located at the end of the collonade of the Basilica of the Rosary.

♦  The Basilica of the Holy Trinity:   constructed in 2007,  it is across from the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary and contains five chapels, 16 confessionals and a cafeteria. It will help to accommodate the millions of people who visit here each year.

♦  House of Our Lady of Dolours (Our Lady of Sorrows): Located next to The Chapel of Apparitions, it is destined to receive the sick during the great pilgrimages, and also is also used for retreats and accommodation for pilgrims.

♦  The childhood homes of the visionaries:  in nearby Aljustrel, they remain much as they were in 1917.  The bedrooms of the young visionaries remain  much as they were at the times of their deaths.  Relatives of the visionaries are still seen around in the village, as the photos below show.

♦  A portion of the Berlin Wall:   at the entrance of the Sanctuary, on the south side of the Rectory,  a testament to the fall of Communism and the triumph of Our Lady.

Devout pilgrims can often be seen on their knees approaching the shrine, as seen in the photos below.

Check out the new book “Fatima Mysteries” from Ignatius Press

Traveling to Fatima:

There are many Catholic tour groups to Fatima each year. If you are traveling independently, Fatima is located about 70 miles north of Lisbon, and you can go by car or train.. If you plan to go by train, trains leave from Oriente station in Lisbon and take about one hour to Caxarias, the nearest station From there, shuttle buses connect to Fatima.

There are many hotels ranging from basic accommodations to luxury. T he Feast Day ( May 13 ) naturally tends to be crowded so you need to plan well in advance.

GPS coordinates: 39° 37′ 50.1168” N, 8° 40′ 22.8684” W

Tel:    (+351) 249 – 539 600                 Fax:    (+351) 249 – 539 605

e-mail:         [email protected] 

Click here for the official website of the Fatima Shrine in Portugal.

When visiting Fatima you might also want to consider a visit to the Eucharistic Miracle in Santarem , about 30 miles from Fatima.  It is included in many tours, but can be an easy day trip from Fatima.

Live in the U.S. or Canada but can’t make it to Portugal? If you live in the U.S.A., consider visiting the National Fatima Shrine in New York State.

Find restaurants, hotels and B&B’s in Fatima, compare prices, and read what other travelers have to say at TripAdvisor

⇐ Back to Catholic shrines and places of interest in Portugal

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Our Lady of Fatima Tours in Portugal

One of the most breathtaking sights in all of Europe is undoubtedly Our Lady of Fatima Basilica, which is just a short ride from the port of Lisbon . If you're lucky enough to be setting sail on a Western European cruise , you'll have a chance to visit this renowned site.

In 1917, three shepherds reported that the Virgin Mary appeared to them in a vision. Since then, Fatima has become a popular pilgrimage spot, with thousands flocking to the site every day, hoping to also have a mystical experience.

One of the big draws of Fatima tours is the beauty of the Basilica, which features a 213-foot tower. It's possible to spend all day simply marveling at the beautiful architecture and droves of pilgrims, but there's also plenty of alternative activities scattered around the main area.

Those who book a Fatima tour as part of an excursion will be able to tour the area on their own for several hours. In addition to the many churches around the main square, there are also several shops for travelers to purchase mementos at. Lunch will not be provided, but travelers can use this opportunity to grab a bite on their own at one of the many nearby restaurants.

Our Lady of Fatima Basilica and its surroundings are not to be missed.  View Europe cruises .

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The world-famous International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima was sculpted in 1947 by Jose Thedim, based on the description of Sr. Lucia, one of the three young seers who saw Our Lady each month from May to October 1917 in Fatima, Portugal. On May 13, 1947, in the presence of some 150,000 pilgrims, the statue was blessed by the Bishop of Leiria at Fatima to be the pilgrim, the traveler. Sent out to bring the Message of Fatima to the world, it began its journeys.

How can I host the Satellite IPVS?

To find out how you can host the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue, please contact:

Rose Marie Malburg President, International Pilgrim Virgin Statue Foundation

If you have additional questions, please read the frequently asked questions page, and do not hesitate to contact the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue Foundation. God bless you!

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Miracles, graces and favors received.

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Our Lady of Fatima's Peace Plan from Heaven

The Peace Plan from Heaven is a call for prayer and penance offered in reparation for sin. Our Lady said at Fatima, "War is a punishment for sin." She asks for Communions of Reparation on the First Saturday of the month and that we daily offer up each act as a sacrifice for sin, pray the Rosary, be consecrated to Her Immaculate Heart, and wear the Brown Scapular as a sign of this consecration.

Pope Pius XII Blesses the second International Pilgrim Virgin Statue

On October 24th, 1952, the Holy Father, Pope Pius XII, graciously granted an audience to three priests of the Scarboro Foreign Mission Society: Rev. D. Stringer, Very Rev. A. Chafe, Vicar General, and Rt. Rev. Wm. C. McGrath, custodian and Director of the Pilgrim Virgin Tour. After blessing the Pilgrim Virgin Statue, His Holiness imparted a special blessing to the work of the Society and to the Fatima Pilgrimage.

Why the World Needs the Rosary

The great marian prayer for peace is so relevant in the current culture..

Before Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was our Pope, at the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia on Aug. 13, 1976, he declared: "We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through... We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel and the anti-Gospel."  That is still true today.

Russian archbishop crowns the Pilgrim Virgin Statue in Fatima, Portugal

Our lady’s promise for his country.

Among the more than half a million people who gathered at Fatima in October of 2007 for the 90th Anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun, was Archbishop Tadeusz Kondruchewicz, the first Catholic bishop consecrated in Russia in the post Communist era. He had been consecrated Archbishop of Moscow in 1991.

In Loving Memory of John Haffert

Founder of the international pilgrim virgin statue; foundation and co-founder of the blue army.

On October 31, 2001, a truly great man of world-wide renown, John Mathias Haffert, passed peacefully from this life, praying his Rosary, in the presence of the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima. It was appropriate that he die during October, the month of the Holy Rosary. His life was dedicated to promoting the Message of Our Lady of Fatima and the related Brown Scapular devotion. He was the Founder of the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue Foundation and the Co-Founder of the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima.

First Saturdays Explained

"i promise to assist them at the hour of death, with all graces necessary for the salvation of their souls.".

On June 13, 1917, Lucia asked the Blessed Virgin to lead them to Heaven. The Blessed Virgin answered: "Yes, I will lead Jacinta and Francisco there soon. But you (Lucia) will remain here some time longer. JESUS WANTS TO USE YOU TO MAKE ME KNOWN AND LOVED. HE WANTS TO ESTABLISH IN THE WORLD DEVOTION TO MY IMMACULATE HEART (Through the Five First Saturdays.) I PROMISE SALVATION TO THOSE WHO ADOPT THIS DEVOTION AND THE SOULS WHO PRACTICE IT (The Five First Saturdays) WILL BE BELOVED OF GOD. THEY WILL BE AS FLOWERS PLACED BY ME ADORNING HIS THRONE."

Our Lady of Fatima: Our Mother Comes To Us

A powerful little booklet explains the requests of fatima, and how to fulfill them..

The message of Our Lady of Fatima is for all mankind, and it is just as cogent and important in our day as when it was first given in 1917. Many people the world over have never even heard about Our Lady's crucial apparition at Fatima, let alone read her message. Become an apostle of Our Lady by distributing this inexpensive but powerful little booklet.

No One Can Say There Is No Hell

Hell exists, and we might go there..

"I, Sister Faustina Kowalska, by the order of God, have visited the Abysses of Hell so that I might tell souls about it and testify to its existence... the devils were full of hatred for me, but they had to obey me at the command of God. What I have written is but a pale shadow of the things I saw. But I noticed one thing: That most of the souls there are those who disbelieved that there is a hell." (Diary 741)

Pilgrim Statue Visits 9/11 Crash Site

Bob and Karen Kirsch of Saint Benedict Parish in Carrolltown request the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the International Pilgrim Virgin of Fatima statue visited the site of the September 11, 2001 crash of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Somerset County. "I feel sad," said Karen, looking out over the field where the plane went down. "It shows how people gave up their lives for people they didnt know," she said. Bob was equally moved, noting "You wonder what they could have been thinking before the plane hit the ground."

The 5 Best Fatima Tours from Lisbon [2024 Reviews]

If you’re a devout Catholic, or you’re simply curious, a pilgrimage to Fatima from Lisbon is a must when you visit Portugal. This holy site marks the location where Our Lady of Fatima appeared to 3 young children who were working as shepherds.

During these holy apparitions, the children learned 3 important secrets and the date of a miracle to come. These apparitions occurred on multiple occasions from the spring of 1916 onward culminating in an internationally famous miracle witnessed by approximately 70,000 people in October 1917.

Fortunately, there are many organized Fatima tours from Lisbon that will take you to visit the key locations around this holy site and provide an expert local guide to answer all your questions about the Miracle of the Sun, the Three Secrets, and the 3 children blessed by these miraculous events.

However, each of these tours offers different features. If you are not sure which Lisbon Fatima pilgrimage is best for you and your family, check out our reviews of the 5 top-rated Lisbon Fatima trips in Portugal.

Best Fatima Tours from Lisbon, Portugal

Quick answer: the 5 best rated fatima tours from lisbon.

• From Fátima: Private Tour with a Local Guide
• From Lisbon: Fátima, Batalha, Nazaré, and Óbidos Tour
• From Lisbon: Best of Fátima Half-Day Tour
• From Lisbon: Fátima and Sintra Private Tour
• From Lisbon: Half-Day Fátima Tour

We have reviewed the top rated Fatima Tours, providing overviews and highlighting the details of each. We also make recommendations on staying in Lisbon, Portugal in our guide section.

Best Fatima Tours from Lisbon, Portugal Reviews

#1. from fátima: private tour with a local guide.

• Departure Point : Hotel pick-up
• Departure Time: 9:00 AM, 2:30 PM
• Duration : 4 hours
• Includes : Expert local tour guide, guided tours around Fatima, air-conditioned transportation, insurance, and bottled water

The guide even knows surviving family members of the children. Previous tour participants report meeting with Lucia’s 98-year-old niece during their Fatima pilgrimage.

During this Fatima trip, you will learn the full story of the apparitions experienced between 1916 and 1917 and enjoy a private guided tour of the Sanctuary of Fatima. You will visit locations where Our Lady of Fatima appeared and hear the full details about what happened during these visitations.

To aid you in understanding the complete story from beginning to end, you will tour around Aljustrel, a hamlet on the outskirts of Fatima. There you will find the church where the children were baptized and their childhood homes.

You will enjoy the privilege of walking across the ground in Valinhos (a sacred site just outside of Fatima) where the 1 st and 3 rd Angel of Peace apparitions and the 4 th apparition occurred.

In the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, you can pay your respects at Lucia’s, Francisco’s, and Jacinta’s tombs. You can also admire the recently consecrated Basilica of the Holy Trinity, completed in 2007 in celebration of the miracle’s 90 th anniversary.

Tour Information & Booking

100% refund for cancellations within 24 hours of tour experience, #2. from lisbon: fátima, batalha, nazaré, and óbidos tour.

• Departure Time: 9:00 AM
• Includes : Local tour guide, Fatima tour, Batalha Monastery, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Nazare, Obidos walled city, air-conditioned transportation, sample local liquor, and optional lunch

As well as visiting the sacred sites of several Marian apparitions, you also visit a monastery church where members of the Aviz royal dynasty were laid to rest and a historic fortified hilltop town.

The main highlight of this tour is the pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Fatima. Here you will learn all about the miraculous events when Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta were blessed by visits from Our Lady of Fatima between 1916 and 1917.

Since then, many impressive monuments have been built to mark the holy sites, such as the Chapel of the Apparitions. After this, you will visit one of the most architecturally unique churches in Europe.

The Mosterio de Santa Maria da Vitoria (the Monastery of Saint Mary of the Victory) was erected between 1386 and 1517 to thank the Virgin Mary for the Portuguese victory at the Battle of the Aljubarrota in 1385.

Because this monastery church took over a century to build, 15 different architects took charge of the construction project, each injecting their own tastes and influences into the emerging structure. The resulting building was so grand that the Portuguese Aviz royal dynasty chose to be buried there.

Today, this monastery church is regarded as one of the world’s best examples of Late Flamboyant Gothic architecture.

Another sacred Marian site is the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Nazare built to commemorate a miracle that occurred nearby. A knight templar almost lost his life during a hunting incident in 1182 but was saved after praying for Marian intervention.

The current grand structure is the result of many embellishments over the centuries as the shrine grew in importance. Finally, you will visit the walled, hilltop town of Obidos.

This historic settlement contains several UNESCO World Heritage monuments. After touring the unique medieval streets and viewing the breathtaking architectural sights, you will have the opportunity to sample traditional ginjinha liquor, often simply called ginja.

It’s made by infusing Morello cherries in alcohol and adding sugar and spices and is Portugal’s most popular liquor.

#3. From Lisbon: Best of Fátima Half-Day Tour

• Departure Time: 8:00 AM
• Duration : 5 hours
• Includes : Local tour guide, small group guided tours around Fatima, air-conditioned transportation, and insurance

During this comprehensive tour, you will explore the hamlet of Aljustrel where Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta were born. There you can see the houses where these young shepherds were born. Their childhood homes are well-preserved, and you can witness their humble origins inside a house museum. You may also look around inside the church where the blessed children were baptized.

In the nearby city of Fatima, you can visit the sacred pilgrimage site of the Sanctuary of Our Lady. This is the location of multiple apparitions of the Virgin Mary between 1916 and 1917. Today, there are many structures and monuments in Fatima dedicated to celebrating the lives of these children and their miraculous experiences.

This half-day Fatima trip from Lisbon offers great value for money along with a friendly and knowledgeable guide. If you want to fully comprehend what happened in Fatima a century ago, this is a wonderful Fatima guided tour.

#4. From Lisbon: Fátima and Sintra Private Tour

• Departure Time: 8:30 AM
• Duration : 9 hours
• Includes : Expert local tour guide, private tours of Fatima, Sintra, Pena Palace, air-conditioned transportation, and bottled water

This is also the most flexible Fatima excursion because it is a private tour, and the itinerary may be adjusted to suit your specific interests and requirements. In Fatima, your expert local guide will explain about the Marian apparitions of 1916 and 1917 and lead you around the most important shrines.

These include Our Lady of the Rosary Basilica, the Apparition Chapel, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima, and the recently dedicated Holy Trinity Basilica. You will also visit the hamlet of Valinhos to see the childhood homes of Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta and the church where they were baptized.

After completing this pilgrimage to Fatima, you will be transported back toward Lisbon and visit the town of Sintra on the Portuguese Riviera. Sintra is renowned for its Romanticist, 19 th -century buildings, castles, palaces, and parkland, which is why the town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This historic town is packed with stunning architecture, including famous landmarks such as the Portuguese Renaissance Sintra National Palace and the 8 th -century Castle of the Moors. If you know nothing about the Reconquista, this is a great place to brush up on your history.

To complete this full-day Fatima tour from Lisbon, you will be guided around the beautiful Pena Palace. This royal palace began life as a monastery but was converted into a palace during the 19 th century.

Its distinctive outline atop a hill in the Sintra Mountains is visible from Lisbon on clear days. From the palace, you can enjoy wonderful panoramic views of the town of Sintra below.

#5. From Lisbon: Half-Day Fátima Tour

• Includes : Local tour guide, guided tours around Fatima, attend mass in a basilica, and air-conditioned transportation with Wi-Fi

During this guided tour of Fatima, you will visit the most important holy sites, such as the saints’ childhood homes, the Chapel of the Apparitions, the Most Holy Trinity Basilica, and the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary.

But the schedule is arranged around the opportunity for you to attend a mass in one of the basilicas while you are visiting this sacred location.

The children’s homes are inspirational. Inside the rooms, experts have carefully recreated scenes from the saints’ lives using relics such as their clothes, furniture, and family photographs. This gives you a unique insight into the humble lifestyle of a group of people selected for a very special blessing.

Following your pilgrimage to Fatima from Lisbon, you will benefit from a deeper understanding of what it means to be a saint and the suffering entailed. You will also learn all about one of the best recorded miracles in history — the Miracle of the Sun.

Pilgrimages To Fatima

On 13 th October 1917, a vast crowd of approximately 70,000 people witnessed a series of miracles in the city of Fatima referred to as the Miracle of the Sun event. These witnesses included sceptics, scientists, atheists, believers, and impartial curious folks.

Many later documented that they witnessed awesome sights they could not explain using conventional logic or science. The sun appeared to spin in the sky and then drop toward the ground in a blaze of color.

This mixed group from myriad backgrounds had gathered in that place because Our Lady of Fatima visited 3 young children — Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta — on multiple occasions and provided them with a prophesy that a miracle would occur on this exact date. These 3 children also received 3 further prophesies, referred to as the Three Secrets.

The prophesied events mentioned in the Three Secrets later came to pass. In response, Pope Francis canonised Francisco and Jacinta in 2017 who are now recognized as saints by the Roman Catholic Church. Lucia has yet to receive such recognition. She lived until 2005 and so was still alive when her contemporaries began their path toward sainthood. It is likely she will join their ranks in due course.

Despite government opposition and a lack of support from the Church, local believers began to erect illegal monuments to the miracles surrounding those three children as early as 1919, beginning with a small chapel and a statue of the Virgin Mary.

Although the government destroyed the first chapel in 1922 and the Catholic Church dithered over granting its blessing, over the years this holy site grew in prominence. Eventually, it was accepted by the Church and then became home to a selection of impressive monuments, including two basilicas, a selection of iconic statues, and a breathtaking Calvary monument.

This impressive site is now a major pilgrimage destination. Alongside several monuments and shrines, you can visit Lucia’s, Francisco’s, and Jacinta’s childhood homes, which are incredibly well preserved. Inside, the children’s rooms are arranged as they would have looked when the three shepherds received their visitations.

If you are Catholic, or you are curious about the famous Miracle of the Sun, then you must include a pilgrimage to Fatima on your vacation itinerary while visiting Portugal.

Portugal Travel Guide

Portugal’s importance in world history is often overlooked in favor of surrounding countries more prominent in modern history, such as the United Kingdom or Spain. However, Portugal formed the first global empire in history.

During the Age of Exploration, when European maritime nations raced to create colonies worldwide, Portugal was the first off the starting blocks and soon became the most powerful and influential country in the world.

Although its colonial ambitions began in north Africa, Brazil was by far its most successful colony. Today, Brazil is the largest Portuguese speaking nation in the world, and the largest country in Latin America.

Evidence of Portugal’s past wealth and power can be seen in the many monuments and structures surviving from its heyday. In Porto to the north and Lisbon to the south, impressive fortresses, grand palaces, and lofty cathedrals stand proudly and steal away their visitors’ breath.

But a fascinating history and culture are not the only features Portugal has to offer. Its unique position as the most westerly nation in Europe provide it with many unique natural landmarks, such as Peneda-Gerês National Park to the northeast of Porto, Arrábida Natural Park just south of Lisbon, and the Tagus River.

The Tagus River

The Tagus River is not only the largest river in Portugal but also the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. It flows westward through Spain before entering Portugal and is blocked by multiple dams creating reservoirs to supply drinking water to millions and hydroelectric power stations to generate electricity.

At its mouth is a large estuary and the capital of Portugal — Lisbon. The Tagus River has played an important part in Portuguese history and culture. It is celebrated in poetry and songs and is lined with historic harbors from which Portuguese sailors set sail to explore the world and form colonies worldwide.

Where the river passes through Lisbon, there are many important monuments celebrating Portuguese achievements and history. These include the Padrăo dos Descobrimentos monument, Belém Tower, Cristo-Rei statue, and Ponte 25 de Abril suspension bridge.

All these landmarks and more are best viewed from the river. A Tagus River cruise is an essential part of any vacation in Portugal. It is the easiest and most enjoyable way to experience the sights around Lisbon and learn about Portuguese history and culture.

Traveling in the time of COVID

Like many destinations, some tours and visitor attractions in Portugal have adopted special precautionary measures during the pandemic.

Face masks are mandatory in some locations, notably in enclosed public areas such as travel hubs and shopping malls. You are expected to supply your own mask and wear it when you enter buildings.

It is in your own interest to keep your distance from other visitors who are not in your family group or bubble. You are expected to keep your distance inside boats, coaches, train compartments, and other vehicles and when seated in restaurants.

At the time of writing, Portugal welcomes visitors and visas are not required for US citizens. However, with the exception of children aged 12 and under, every person arriving in Portugal must provide a negative SARSCoV-2 test certificate of nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) or rapid antigen test (TRAg). This certificate must be time stamped within 72 hours for NAAT or 48 hours for TRAg before boarding.

You can obtain the most up-to-date information directly from the Portuguese government immigration department website . During these relatively uncertain times, it is wise to also consult the US Department of State website for current travel advisories .

Airports & Entry

You can enter Portugal by ferry, road, railway, or air. Except for air, all the methods of travel involve traveling through or from Spain. By far the easiest and quickest way to travel to Portugal is by airplane.

Most visitors fly to Porto Airport in the north, Lisbon Airport in the middle, or Faro Airport in the south. To compare, in 2017 Porto saw 10.8 million passengers, Faro 8.7 million, and Lisbon 26.7 million, making the capital by far the most popular entry point into Portugal.

If you are interested in beautiful scenery and wildlife, you’ll likely want to be in the north. For history and culture, Lisbon. And for “Mediterranean” beach vacations, Faro.

Lisbon International Airport (LIS, or Humberto Delgado Airport) is located inside the city and only 4.3 miles northeast of the historic center. Before the pandemic, the airport saw annual increases in passenger traffic, handling 31.2 million visitors in 2019. Because it is a travel hub for Ryanair, TAP Air Portugal, and TAP Express, it is the 20 th busiest European airport.

The airport’s 2 terminal buildings are dated and busy, but they do contain all the amenities you would expect from a major international airport. All arrivals and most international departures are handled by Terminal 1.

Note that passport control on departure is after the duty-free shops, and the queues for immigration control can be long. So, don’t get so excited in the stores hunting out last minute bargains that you miss your flight.

Just because you arrived in Terminal 1, it does not mean that you will depart from there. To avoid unnecessary complications on departure, check your ticket carefully and ensure you know which terminal you are flying from before heading for the airport.

By far the easiest way to transfer from the airport to any location around Lisbon is on the metro. The metro is affordable, safe, and efficient, with stations all around the city. To use the metro, you will need to purchase a reusable Viva Viagem card for €0.5 and then pay a €1.50 fare for your journey around Lisbon.

If you are in more of a hurry, or you have children to watch and luggage to carry, consider taking a taxi. The typical taxi fare for a 4-seat taxi to the historic center is between €10 and €15 during the day. In a larger vehicle or at night, fares increase by 20%.

Alternatively, you can hire a car at the airport. All the major international car rental companies are represented in the Terminal 1 arrivals hall. But be warned that the car rental car park exits immediately into a busy urban area, and accidents do happen.

Planning Tips

Portugal is a beautiful country that boasts a rich history and culture, which is why it is one of the most visited tourist destinations in Europe. Here are a few specific tips to help you get the most out of your vacation in Portugal.

If you have tips of your own about this beautiful country, please share them with other readers in the comments below.

Tip #1: Travel Off Season

In high summer (July and August) the streets of Lisbon and beaches in the Algarve are crowded. Not only is this when many local schools break for summer, but it is also the  time when the Portuguese think the weather is best for sea swimming.

If you delay a little and travel to Portugal in the fall, you will benefit from fewer crowds while there is still plenty of sunshine and the average seawater temperature in the Algarve in October is 70 0 F. You may also benefit from lower, off-season prices and tours are less likely to be fully booked.

Tip #2: Explore Beyond the Typical Tourist Traps

Most tourists head to Lisbon, Porto, or the Algarve. However, there is much more to see in Portugal that’s off the beaten trail.

In the border regions between Portugal and Spain, historical tensions led to the construction of many picturesque fortified hill towns and castles, such as Estremoz and Marvão. And the north of Portugal around Porto is famous for its bountiful vineyards.

If you’re visiting off-season in the fall, the grape harvest typically occurs around September and October. At some vineyards, you can arrange to take part in the grape harvest and traditional foot stomping. Crush the grapes beneath your feet to assist the locals in their traditional wine manufacturing process.

Tip #3: Plan Ahead

Whenever you visit Portugal, the day trips are popular. Sometimes they become fully booked weeks in advance. To avoid disappointment, book before you travel.

If your main interest is history and culture, note many museums and art galleries that usually charge for admission typically have one free admission day each month, or sometimes each week. Do your research and decide which museums you wish to visit. You may then be able to organize your vacation around the free days and save a lot of money in entrance tickets.

Tip #4: Consider Surfing & Whale Watching While you’re in Portugal

When you think about taking a surfing vacation, Portugal isn’t a country that immediately springs to mind. It should be.

You don’t have to be a genius to recognize that it offers an identical situation to southern California. It is the westernmost country in Europe, and its entire shoreline is exposed to the Atlantic Ocean.

Portuguese beaches boast rolling Atlantic waves perfect for surfing. Experienced surfers looking for a challenge should head to Nazaré on the central Portuguese coast. Beginners and intermediate surfers will be more comfortable surfing in the Algarve where the beaches are slightly more sheltered.

While you might not think about Portugal for whale watching, whale migration take place off the coast every year. To have the best chance at seeing them, be sure to take a whale watching tour .

Tip #5: Buy Local Crafts

In Portugal, you’re spoiled for choice when selecting suitable souvenirs as gifts for your family and friends back home or as a memento of your vacation. Portugal is noted for its fine ceramics. For the finest traditional glazed pottery, visit the historic town of Caldas da Rainha on the central Portuguese coast north of Lisbon.

The town of Arraiolos in south-eastern Portugal is famous for both its picturesque castle and its fine hand-stitched rugs. However, you don’t need to take a special trip to buy Portuguese textiles. Throughout the country, you will discover unique textile products that make a wonderful keepsake to remind you of Portugal when you return home.

Restaurants & Eating Out

Given Portugal’s extensive coastline, it is no surprise to discover that seafood is an important food source. However, red meat and poultry are also important in many traditional dishes. In common with nearby Mediterranean countries, olive oil is typically used to fry and to flavor dishes.

Like France to the north, bread is important in Portuguese meals, and there are several traditional varieties found across the country.

Where Portuguese cuisine differs from neighboring countries is in its extensive use of exotic herbs and spices. Due to Portugal’s long-lasting colonial empire, cooking techniques and flavorings from its former colonies have become an important element of many popular dishes.

Dried and salted cold known as bacalhau is a staple part of many Portuguese diets. Historically, the drying procedure was a means of preserving the fish for consumption over the winter months. However, now it is done to create a revered taste and texture. This can be grilled, fried, boiled, or baked. You’ll see it served as a snack in paper pouches.

A thick seafood stew called cataplana is popular in the Algarve. It is cooked in a special, clam-shaped cooking pot and traditionally features the fish of the day.

A francesinha is a popular variety of sandwich. Multiple kinds of meat are piled between two slabs of bread. This provides a hearty meal that is often flavored with surprisingly spicy sauces using ingredients such as paprika, saffron, piri-piri, and black pepper.

Watch out for alheiras on menus across Portugal. These traditional sausages were originally made by members of secret Jewish communities using only kosher meats. Instead of pork fat, bread was used as a main ingredient. These bready sausages can be served grilled or baked and with a fried egg and a side of rice.

In bygone days, not everyone could afford large quantities of meat. Hence a cabbage and potato-based soup called caldo verde is popular in rural communities. However, vegetarians should beware. These soups are flavored using a small amount of chorizo spicy sausage. It is rare to find caldo verde without at least a little spicy sausage flavoring.

If you have a sweet tooth, you’ll be happy to hear that sweet and flaky pastries are important in Portuguese cuisine. Popular varieties include bolos de São Gonçalo and pastel de Nata , both involve generous amounts of custard as a filling or topping.

Nightlife & Entertainment

In northern and central Portugal, the nightlight is focused around the main cities of Porto and Lisbon. However, in the south, the Algarve region is noted for its lively nightclub scene, live music venues, and popular beach bars.

As with any city with a large student population, Porto is a wonderful destination for nightclubbing and music venues year-round. Portugal’s second largest city is also host to some wonderful cultural festivals that amaze visitors.

The university students traditionally celebrate the end of their exams in style during the first half of May. During this time, expect to find 50,000 students flooding the bars and nightclubs in search of fun. And in the Queimódromo square adjacent to City Park, you can attend live concerts every evening.

During the midsummer solstice, the São João Festival involves some quirky local traditions, such as displaying a vase decorated with a poem and eating sardines and potatoes alongside locally produced red wine.

As the cultural capital of the nation, you’ll find a broader range of options in Lisbon. It is twice the size of Porto and houses a more diverse, international population. The nightclubs are less aimed at students and more toward younger tourists.

You’ll find that the nightlife starts late but goes on until after dawn. The narrow labyrinth of streets in the Old Town contains many popular bars that fill with the younger crowd nightly, especially around the Avenida da Liberdade and Rossio .

The Bairro Alto is the heart of the Lisbon night scene. You’ll find traditional Portuguese folk music played in tiny tavernas neighboring live rock and jazz music venues. The bars don’t close until 2 am and the clubs remain open until around 7 am. The night spots in this area are always crowded and typically reach capacity soon after 11 pm.

The Algarve

In the Algarve, the city of Albufeira is renowned for its nightlife. In fact, although it is a small city when compared with Porto or Lisbon, it is reputed to contain the best nightclubs and bars in Portugal.

Young tourists from around Europe and the rest of the world flock to Albufeira to spend their days playing on the beaches and nights playing in the clubs. During the summer months, The Strip is a prime destination for hen and stag parties and students looking to get drunk and maybe get lucky, too.

The big name clubs that attract the famous DJs and crowds are Kadoc outside of town, Kiss on Rua Vasco da Gama, and Club Heaven, Club Vida, and Liberto’s Lounge Club on The Strip.

If you seek something quieter and more sophisticated, head for the pedestrianized old town center where the restaurants and cocktail bars cater for an older crowd with more refined tastes.

Getting Around

The strange thing about Portugal when compared to many other countries is that it’s often quicker to travel by bus than by train. My wife recently needed to travel from Lisbon to Porto, which is 195 miles. The time quoted for both long-distance coach and high-speed train was 3 hours 15 minutes, but the coach cost €5.00 and the train €23.31.

Hiring a car is a great option if you want to visit those remote fortified hilltop towns or vineyards around Porto. However, you must be a confident driver. The number of car accidents in Portugal is higher than average in Europe, though, to be fair, there are fewer road fatalities in Portugal than in the US . Note that driving while intoxicated is a problem in the evenings, so take special care if driving after dark.

Despite their lack of speed, Portuguese trains are modern. Some rail services pass through scenic areas and provide excellent views, such as the service from Porto to Pochinho. However, you should be aware that train stations are often a long distance from the town center or village they serve.

The services are divided into Intercidades (IC), Interregionais (IR), Regionais (R), and Urbanos. IC services are the fastest linking Lisbon to the major cities, but they are also more expensive. Urbanos services are aimed at commuters around Lisbon and Porto, which also both have underground metro systems.

Tickets are purchased from the station on the day of travel, but be aware that long queues form so you must arrive early to ensure you don’t miss your train. The tickets are affordable compared with other nations and you can choose between primeira classe (first class) and conforto (economy).

The bus services across Portugal reach more places than the railway, deliver you to the center of the towns, are cheaper than the train, and often faster. If you want to travel from one large city to another, you need a Rede Expressos coach.

Unlike with the trains, it’s a good idea to book bus tickets online in advance. You can also buy them at ticket desks in cafés near the bus stop or at central bus stations. You can get travel information from bus stations. However, note that many assistants outside of the Algarve speak poor English or none.

Portugal has surprisingly good main roads that have been improved and extended in recent years. That’s why the buses are as quick as the trains. These major routes are called Estrada Nacional (EN or N).

However, when visiting remote rural areas, you can expect poorly maintained and narrow roads. And you may need to share them with loose animals, so drive carefully.

There is a freeway network between major cities — Auto-Estrada (A). These are 4 or 6 lane roads, but they have toll gates, and you must pay to use them. DO NOT use the lane labelled Via Verde because this is for prearranged automatic payment.

Unlike most countries, the Portuguese police will accept foreign driving licenses, so you won’t require an international license to drive here. The Portuguese police are empowered to enforce on-the-spot fines for poor parking, speeding, and other misdemeanors.

Parking at cities is at a premium, so you may struggle to park near popular attractions. Consider using park-and-ride schemes where they are available.

Within cities, the taxis are relatively affordable. This is a good thing since railway stations are often a long way from the town center, so you may need a taxi.

Accommodations

If you plan to explore the Portuguese countryside, you’re in luck. Outside of Porto, Lisbon, and the Algarve, accommodation is very affordable. In towns and villages, you can find twin rooms in small hotels and guesthouses for around €40 per night. And if money is no object, there are many upscale hotels, historic manor houses, and even castles, such as the Pousada Castelo de Óbidos just 53 miles north of Lisbon.

Pousadas, such as the one in the castle above, are a class of comfortable hotels typically either located in beautiful historic buildings or situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty. No matter where you want to stay in Portugal, locating affordable and comfortable accommodation is not a problem.

However, if you plan to stay in Porto, Lisbon, or the Algarve, you need to plan ahead. All the best and most affordable accommodations in these areas are typically booked up days, if not weeks in advance. Reservations are essential to ensure you don’t end up staying in a crumbling dump and paying through the nose.

For travelers on a budget, Portugal has a great range of youth hostels and campgrounds to choose from. RVers are especially welcome. There are also many one-star hotels that offer the minimum of facilities but at a low, low price. Be aware that youth hostels and one-star hotels may not have air conditioning, which may become a problem in high summer.

Self-catering villas are an option for larger groups of family and friends. When the bill is shared between many, a large villa can prove more comfortable than a hotel but for a lower price. Note that for villas and hotels alike, it is a good idea to book ahead in high season to avoid disappointment.

Portugal’s weather is dependent upon two factors — its latitude and its position at the south-westernmost point of Europe sticking out into the Atlantic Ocean. The ocean moderates Portugal’s temperatures, resulting in relatively mild winters and warm summers.

There is a significant variance between the north and the south of the nation. Around Porto in the north, the annual average temperature is 55 0 F. In the Algarve in the far south, this rises to 64 0 F. While the mountains in northern Portugal do see snow, with a ski resort at Serra da Estrela, the rest of the country misses out completely.

The mild winters provide average temperatures of 49 0 F in Porto, 52.5 0 F in Lisbon, and 53.5 0 F in the Algarve. There are spells of poor weather with high winds and heavy rainfall. Occasionally, the winds grow to gale force. But overall, the weather is mild from December to February.

The warm summers are sunny with average temperatures of 70 0 F in Porto and 74.5 0 F in Lisbon and the Algarve. Some coastal areas in the west experience relatively cool weather because of the ocean breezes. Due to its more sheltered location, the Algarve avoids those breezes and maintains high summer temperatures.

Attractions

Though Portugal is a small country, it is packed with many wonderful natural and historic attractions. These are separated into three distinctive regions: the north, the central region, and the Algarve in the far south.

The most famous natural attraction in Portugal is found in the far north, and it is Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês. The rocky landscape of this beautiful mountainous area is noted for its lush vegetation, picturesque waterfalls, clear blue lakes, and breathtaking valleys.

This national park is popular with hikers and other outdoor pursuits enthusiasts. Watch out for golden eagles soaring over the tree tops while wild boar and wolves wander through the foliage. There are marked trails, designated campsites, and quaint villages with unique guesthouses.

Porto is the second largest city in Portugal and the main tourist destination in the north. Some tourists come to view the unique architecture featuring fine Neoclassical and Baroque churches. Look out for the granite walls and pretty blue and white ceramic tiles used to decorate buildings such as the beautiful main railway station.

Other visitors come to visit the surrounding vineyards and take part in the harvests or sample the wines. River cruises are also popular and provide access to the beautiful Douro Valley where you can see traditional terraced hillsides and pretty hamlets.

Midway between Porto and Lisbon you can find Coimbra and its famous hilltop university. Founded in 1290, Velha Universidade is one of the world’s oldest educational establishments. The Baroque library is a particularly popular attraction containing over 250,000 books, some dating to the 12 th century. The whole university campus is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Lisbon is the cultural capital of Portugal. The best way to explore the old city is by jumping on the historic tram #28 that takes you up the steep streets. This vibrant city is home to many world-class museums and fascinating historic buildings.

The most iconic building in the city is the ancient Torre de Belém fortress guarding the entrance to the city from an island close to the northern bank of the Tagus River. But if you are especially interested in history and architecture, it is worth taking a day trip to nearby Sintra .

Sintra is a renowned hilltop retreat containing palaces and other historic buildings. Its most popular attractions are the Palácio da Pena, the Castelo dos Mouros, and Palácio Nacional. Sintra is especially popular for walking tours because of its hills and the many breathtaking vistas they offer.

Most people who head down south are more interested in sunbathing on the beaches and partying at night than any historic or cultural attractions. But they are missing out on some amazing sights.

Faro’s old town is built on Roman foundations and is filled with a selection of medieval buildings gathered inside a 16 th -century city wall. The 13 th -century cathedral is noted for its tall tower providing panoramic views across the Parque Natural da Ria Formosa.

You may also enjoy the Museu Municipal de Faro, a fascinating museum inside a medieval convent. Those who love the macabre will be drawn to the infamous Igreja do Carmo, noted for its Bone Chapel decorated with the bones of over 1,000 monks who prayed here over the years.

If you want to explore beyond Faro, Tavira is a popular destination. This picturesque town in the Algarve contains a well-preserved castle, a grand medieval church filled with knights’ tombs, and a captivating riverside walk featuring a surviving Roman footbridge.

Robert Baker

Related articles, the best sailing and river cruises in lisbon, portugal [2024 reviews], 🐋 the 5 best dolphin & whale watching tours in portugal [2024 reviews], the 5 best kayaking tours in portugal [2024 reviews], the 5 best sintra day trips from lisbon [2024 reviews].

Shrine’s Live Blog To Follow the Pope's Visit to Fatima

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Little Chapel of the Apparitions Refurbished for the Pope's Visit

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On the Hill of Encounter, Pope Francis Urges Young People to Be Courageous

The Holy Father reaffirms that in the Church there is a place for everyone, without exception.

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The National Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima

National pilgrim virgin statue.

The National Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, and Relics of Blessed Jacinta and Francisco travelled around the country, visiting various Cathedrals and churches in 2017, which was the Centenary year of the Fatima message, which was given by the Blessed Virgin between May and October 1917.

The Pilgrim Virgin Statue was crowned at Walsingham, the National Shrine of Our Lady, by Bishop Alan Clark, Auxiliary Bishop of Northampton, on Thursday, 13 May, 1971, in the presence of more than one thousand people, with a crown specially blessed by His Holiness Pope Paul for the occasion.

When Pope John Paul II came to England in 1982, he blessed the National Pilgrim Virgin statue while at the Apostolic Nunciature in Wimbledon.

History of the Statue

The idea of the “pilgrim” or “travelling” statue of Our Lady of Fatima began in 1947, after Cardinal Masella, the papal legate, crowned the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima as Queen of the World, on 13 May 1946, on behalf of Pope Pius XII. The Pope himself spoke to 800,000 pilgrims at Fatima by radio on this occasion saying: “Your ardent love, full of gratitude led you here, and you wished to give a tangible form to this love by symbolically representing it in that precious crown, which is the fruit of much generosity and of many sacrifices and with which we have now crowned the miraculous statue by means our Cardinal Legate” (There is Nothing More: The Blue Army’s Pledge to Our Lady of Fatima,  p 325)

A youth Congress at Fatima the following year suggested the idea of carrying a copy of the statue processionally to Russia. Wonders occurred along the way. When the statue was in the Vatican, Pope Pius XII saw a re-enactment of the Miracle of the Sun which had taken place in Fatima in 1917.

Pope Pius XII said: “In 1946 I crowned her Queen of the World … and the following year, through this Pilgrim Virgin, she has gone forth as though to claim her dominions—and the favours she performs along the way are such that we can hardly believe what we are seeing with our own eyes.”

At first there were only four “official” Pilgrim Virgins. One was taken to Moscow in 1950, and enshrined there in the chapel of the American Embassy; a second travelled to the East; and a third to the West; and a fourth was blessed for the United Nations. Then in 1967, to commemorate the Golden Jubilee Year of Fatima and because in particular of a plea from Vietnam that the “Pilgrim Virgin may remain here until peace comes”, the Bishop of Fatima decided to bless special statues to remain permanently in each nation as “National Pilgrim Virgin Statue” and memorials of the Jubilee year. Twenty-five of these statues were delivered around the world. (There is Nothing More, p. 344.)

On 13 May 1971, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the coronation of Our Lady as Queen of the World by the papal Legate of Pius XII, Cardinal Masella, this symbolism was brought to a glorious climax when Bishops in 70 countries from all around the world simultaneously crowned National Pilgrim Virgin Statues to acknowledge Our Lady’s sovereignty over their individual countries as well as over the entire world. One of these coronations was at the National Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham. (There is Nothing More, pages 347-48)

This took place in the presence of more than one thousand people. The Pilgrim Virgin Statue was crowned by Bishop Alan Clark, Auxiliary Bishop of Northampton, with a crown specially blessed by His Holiness Pope Paul for the occasion.

When Pope John Paul II came to England in May 1982 he stayed, while in London, at the Apostolic Nunciature in Wimbledon. The National Pilgrim Virgin was received at the Nunciature during this time and was blessed by the Holy Father.

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The Complete Fatima Timeline

Click on the Year or + to reveal the dates.

The three shepherd children of Fatima — Lucia dos Santos and her two cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto — were visited three times by the Angel of Peace.

May 13: Our Lady appears to the three children at the Cova da Iria and asks that they return for five more months in succession, on the 13th day, at the same hour.

June 13: Our Lady tells the children that God wants to establish in the world devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. About 50 people come to the Cova da Iria to witness the apparition.

July 13: Our Lady shows the children a vision of hell and tells them that She will come back at a later date to ask for the consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. She tells the children the Secret (in three parts) and promises to prove Her appearances with a miracle on October13, 1917. About 5,000 people come to the Cova on July 13.

August 13: The children are kidnapped by the Mayor of Ourém and miss their appointed meeting with Our Lady. About 15,000 people come to the Cova and many witness supernatural phenomena indicating that Our Lady came nonetheless. – August 19: Our Lady visits the children in nearby Valinhos and again prophesizes the working of a miracle in October while telling the children to pray and make sacrifices for sinners.

September 13 : Our Lady tells the children that in October, Our Lord will come, as well as Our Lady of Sorrows and Our Lady of Carmel. Also, Saint Joseph will appear with the Child Jesus in order to bless the world. About 30,000 people come to the Cova and again, many witness supernatural phenomena indicating Our Lady’s presence.

October 13: Our Lady announces: “ People must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend Our Lord any more for He is already too much offended .” She tells us to continue to pray the Rosary every day. Then the 70,000 people present witness the Miracle of the Sun at the Cova da Iria.

December 10: Our Lady appears to Sister Lucy at Pontevedra in Spain to relate the specific requirements for the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays.

June 13: In fulfillment of Her promise at Fatima on July 13, 1917, Our Lady of Fatima appears to Sister Lucy at Tuy, Spain in the visible presence of the Most Holy Trinity and asks for the consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart.

August: Jesus says to Sister Lucy: “Make it known to My ministers, given that they follow the example of the King of France in delaying the execution of My command, they will follow him into misfortune.” Our Lord gives to Sister Lucy in Rianjo, Spain this warning addressed to the Pope and bishops.

March 19: Pope Pius XI promulgates his encyclical against atheistic Communism. He first explains that he has already condemned Communism in 1924, 1928, 1931, 1932 (twice) and 1933. But it is his solemn duty once more to raise his voice and remind the faithful yet again against the dangers of Communism. Among many other things, the Pope solemnly says: “Communism is intrinsically evil, and no one who would save Christian civilization may collaborate with it in any undertaking whatsoever.”

Sister Lucy reveals the first two parts of the Secret in her Memoirs, first on August 31st in her Third Memoir and then again on December 8 in her Fourth Memoir.

October 31 and December 8: Pope Pius XII, acting alone, consecrates the world, but not Russia, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Our Lord tells Sister Lucy that as a result World War II will be shortened but that world peace will not result from this consecration

October: After one month of prayer and reflection, the Bishop of Fatima, His Excellency José da Silva, gives Sister Lucy a formal, written order to write down the Third Secret. Sister Lucy tries to obey immediately, but for over two months is mysteriously unable to commit the Third Secret to paper.

January 2: Our Lady appears to Sister Lucy and bids her to write down the Third Secret. Our Lady asks it to be revealed to the world not later than 1960. When later asked why the people had to wait for the Third Secret to be revealed in 1960, Sister Lucy states: “Because the Blessed Virgin wishes it so,” and “It [the Third Secret] will be clearer then.”

January 9: Sister Lucy commits both texts of the Third Secret to paper by this date.

June 17: The Third Secret is given by Sister Lucy herself to her confessor, Bishop da Silva, since she would not let anyone but a bishop bring it to the Bishop of Fatima. Sister Lucy

January 3: A photograph of Bishop da Silva posing in front of the 25-line text of the Third Secret, which is enclosed in the bishop’s own outer envelope, appears in Life magazine.

May: Our Lady appears to Sister Lucy saying: “Make it known to the Holy Father that I am always awaiting the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart. Without that Consecration, Russia will not be able to convert. Without that Consecration, the world cannot have peace.”

July 7: Pope Pius XII consecrates Russia specifically, but he does not ask for the bishops to join him and thus he is not joined by the Catholic bishops of the world.

September 2: Austrian Jesuit Father Joseph Schweigl is sent by Pope Pius XII to Coimbra, Portugal to interrogate Sister Lucy about the Third Secret. Father Schweigl later confides to one of his colleagues: “I cannot reveal anything of what I learned at Fatima concerning the Third Secret, but I can say that it has two parts: one concerns the Pope. The other, logically — although I must say nothing — would have to be the continuation of the words: In Portugal the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved”.

March: Bishop John Venancio holds up to a strong light the outer envelope of Bishop da Silva (photographed for Life magazine in 1949) containing an inner envelope of Sister Lucy, inside of which he sees the paper upon which is written the Third Secret. He carefully notes that the Secret is about 25 lines long and is written on a single sheet of paper with 3/4 centimeter margins on both sides.

April 16: The 25-line text of the Third Secret, sealed with wax in the original envelope and the Bishop of Fatima’s outer envelope, is received in the Vatican. The text is placed in a safe in the papal apartments (not in the Holy Office).

December 26: Father Fuentes, Postulator of the Cause for Beatification of Jacinta and Francisco Marto, interviews Sister Lucy. In an allusion to the contents of the Third Secret, she tells him of many nations disappearing from the face of the earth, she speaks about the crisis in the priesthood, and of many souls going to hell as a result of ignoring Our Lady’s Fatima Message.

Father Fuentes publishes the interview with Sister Lucy with the Imprimatur of the Bishop of Fatima. It is read widely and no one questions its authenticity.

October: The well-known magazine Paris-Match publishes a photo of the wooden safe in Pope Pius XII’s apartment in which was kept the Third Secret of Fatima.

July 2: Father Fuentes’ interview with Sister Lucy is suddenly denounced as fraudulent in an anonymous report from the bishop’s chancery office in Coimbra, Portugal. To this day, more than fifty years later, no official will take responsibility for this report.

August 17: Pope John XXIII reads the 25-line text of the Third Secret which was taken from the papal apartment and then has his personal secretary, Msgr. Loris Capovilla, write on the envelope: “I leave it to others to comment or decide.”

February 8: As the world anxiously awaits the full revelation of the Third Secret, an unnamed person, who is close to the Pope, authorizes the Press to quote him anonymously that the Third Secret will not be revealed in 1960 and “would probably remain, forever, under absolute seal.”

Sister Lucy is officially forbidden to speak about the Third Secret and not allowed to receive any visitors except close relatives and people she has known for a long time. Her own confessor of many years returns from Brazil and is not allowed to see her.

Pope John XXIII reads the 62-line text of the Third Secret, contained in another sealed envelope. Unlike the first text, which he opened in 1959 but could not read without the aid of a translator because of its difficult Portuguese dialect, this text posed no difficulty for the Pope and he was able to comprehend it completely on his own reading.

October: Just prior to Vatican Council II, the Vatican Secretariat of State agrees with Moscow that the Council will not condemn Soviet Russia or communism, in exchange for which two Russian Orthodox observers would attend the Council. This agreement launches the policy of Ostpolitik. This Vatican-Moscow Agreement, which is not allowed by traditional Catholic moral theology (see entry for 1937), nevertheless is followed and thus the Vatican Secretariat of State silences those bishops and priests in the Church who are anti-Communist at the Second Vatican Council and afterward.

June 27: Less than a week after becoming pope, Paul VI reads the text of the Third Secret kept in the papal apartment after the Substitute Secretary of State telephones Msgr. Capovilla, personal secretary to Pope John XXIII, to inquire as to where to find it. Capovilla testifies to this fact in his certified note of May 17, 1967. It is this text — the one which contains Our Lady’s words — that is later identified by Cardinal Ottaviani as being 25-lines long.

November 21: At the last day of the third session of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI consecrates the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary with no mention of Russia, and the bishops look on but do not join in.

March 27: Pope Paul VI reads the other text of the Third Secret — the one that is 62- lines long. Cardinal Bertone claims that Paul VI read the Third Secret for the first time on this date. However, Archbishop Capovilla testified in his certified note of May 1967 that Paul VI read the Third Secret for the first time on June 27, 1963.

The Bishop of Fatima commissions a learned Claretian priest, Father Joaquin Alonso, to establish a complete critical history of the revelations of Fatima. Ten years later, Father Alonso will complete his work, entitled Fatima Texts and Critical Studies.

Sister Lucy’s memoirs are published, in which she reveals Our Lady’s 1929 request for the Consecration of Russia.

May 13: Sister Lucy meets Pope Paul VI in Fatima and asks him to release the Third Secret, but he refuses.

After 10 years of studying the Fatima archives, Father Alonso declares, in public, that Father Fuentes’ published 1957 interview of Sister Lucy was a true and accurate report of her statements concerning the content of the Message of Fatima.

Father Alonso’s 24 volumes of 800 pages each are ready for publication. This monumental work on the Message of Fatima includes at least 5,396 documents. The presses are literally stopped by the new Bishop of Fatima, Monsignor do Amaral, preventing Father Alonso’s ten years of research from reaching the public. At least 20 of these 24 volumes are still under lock and key to this day.

October 16: Pope John Paul II is elected Pope and reads a text of the Third Secret — the 25-line text that is kept in the papal apartment — within days of his election, according to a statement to Associated Press in May 2000 by his spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls. The statement by Navarro-Valls is contradicted by Msgr. Bertone when he claimed in June 2000 that the Pope first read the Third Secret on July 18, 1981.

May 13: Pope John Paul II is shot and seriously wounded by an assassin.

June 7: The Pope consecrates the world, but not Russia, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

July 18: According to Cardinal Bertone, Pope John Paul II reads the Third Secret for the first time. The text he reads is the 62-line text that is kept in the Holy Office archives.

March 21: Sister Lucy informs the Papal Nuncio of the requirements for a valid Consecration of Russia according to the request of Our Lady of Fatima. Sister Lucy’s full message is not transmitted to the Pope by the Nuncio. Following the suggestion of Bishop Amaral of Fatima, the Nuncio fails to mention the requirement that the world’s bishops participate in the Consecration.

May 12: L’Osservatore Romano publishes an article by Father Umberto Maria Pasquale, S.D.B. (a well-known Salesian priest who has known Sister Lucy since 1939 and had received over 150 letters from her) reveals that Sister Lucy clearly and emphatically told him that Our Lady of Fatima never asked for the consecration of the world but only the consecration of Russia. Father Pasquale also publishes a photographically-reproduced copy of a handwritten note by Sister Lucy attesting to their conversation on this point.

May 13: Pope John Paul II consecrates the world, but not Russia, at Fatima. The bishops of the world do not participate.

March 19: Sister Lucy meets with the Papal Nuncio and confirms that the Consecration of Russia was not done because Russia was not clearly the object of the consecration and the Catholic bishops of the world did not join in.

March 25: Pope John Paul II, before 250,000 people in Rome, consecrates the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Immediately after he pronounced the words of consecration, he departs from his prepared text and prays “Enlighten especially the peoples of which You Yourself are awaiting our consecration and confiding.” The Pope thus publicly acknowledges that Our Lady of Fatima is still awaiting the Consecration of Russia.

March 26: The Pope’s own newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, reports the exact words spoken by the Holy Father on the 25th.

March 27: The Italian Catholic bishops’ newspaper Avvenire reports that the Holy Father, on March 25 at 4:00 in the afternoon, three hours after he consecrated the world, prays at St. Peter’s, asking Our Lady to bless “those peoples for whom You Yourself are awaiting our act of consecration and entrusting,” and thus again the Pope acknowledges that he did not fulfill Our Lady’s request for the Consecration of Russia. The same remarks were reported in L’Osservatore Romano on March 26-27, on page 6 (Italian edition).

September 10: Bishop Alberto Cosme do Amaral, the Bishop of Fatima, declares during a question and answer session in the aula magna of the Technical University of Vienna, Austria: “Its [the Third Secret’s] content concerns only our faith. To identify the Secret with catastrophic announcements or with a nuclear holocaust is to deform the meaning of the message. The loss of faith of a continent is worse than the annihilation of a nation; and it is true that faith is continually diminishing in Europe”.

November 11: Jesus magazine publishes an interview with Cardinal Ratzinger. The interview is entitled “Here is Why the Faith is in Crisis,” and is published with the Cardinal’s explicit permission. Cardinal Ratzinger reveals that he has read the Third Secret and that the Secret refers to “dangers threatening the faith and the life of the Christian and therefore (the life) of the world.” Cardinal Ratzinger says in the same interview that the Secret also refers to “the importance of the Novissimi [the Last Times]”, “the absolute importance of history”, and that “the things contained in this ‘Third Secret’ correspond to what has been announced in Scripture and has been said again and again in many other Marian apparitions, first of all that of Fatima …”

September : In an interview in Sol de Fatima magazine, Sister Lucy affirms that the Consecration of Russia still has not been done because Russia was not the clear object of the 1984 consecration and the world’s episcopate did not participate.

July 20: Interviewed quickly outside her convent while voting, Sister Lucy confirms to journalist Enrico Romero that the Consecration of Russia has not been done.

July: Father Messias Coelho reveals that Sister Lucy and others have received an anonymous “instruction” from unidentified persons in the Vatican stating that she (and they) must now say that the Consecration of Russia was accomplished on March 25, 1984.

August through November: Five computer-generated and typewritten notes and letters supposedly signed by Sister Lucy suddenly appear, contradicting her previous statements that the Consecration of Russia has not been done. These texts are quickly proven to be fakes and this fact is published worldwide.

October 11: Sister Lucy’s blood-sister, Carolina, reveals that Sister Lucy does not know how to type.

May 13: Pope John Paul II visits Fatima and meets with Sister Lucy for thirty minutes. After the meeting, neither the Pope nor Sister Lucy make any announcement concerning the Consecration of Russia.

October: The Fatima Center holds its Bishops Conference in Fatima and 65 bishops attend. The Rector of the Fatima Shrine, Msgr. Guerra, holds his own conference and there Frère Francois denounces the five fake letters produced in 1989 and accuses in public, before many witnesses, to their faces — namely Father Fox, Father Kondor, and Msgr. Guerra — that they are the authors of these fake, forged letters attributed to Sister Lucy. Not one of them denies his accusation.

In a personal communication to Professor Baumgartner in Salzburg, Austria, Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi — the personal theologian of John Paul II (and of the four popes before him) — reveals that: “In the Third Secret it is foretold, among other things, that the great apostasy in the Church will begin at the top.”

Howard Dee, former Philippine ambassador to the Vatican, said in an interview with Inside the Vatican magazine that “Bishop Ito [the local bishop of Akita, now deceased] was certain Akita was an extension of Fatima, and Cardinal Ratzinger personally confirmed to me that these two messages, of Fatima and Akita, are essentially the same. ”

At Akita on October 13, 1973, Our Lady said there would be a worldwide chastisement for sins in which a great part of humanity would be killed and that those who survive would envy the dead.

May 13: At the beatification ceremony of Jacinta and Francisco Marto at Fatima, the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Sodano, announces that the Third Secret of Fatima will be revealed.

June 26: At a press conference, Archbishop Bertone publishes the 62-line text which he claims is the entire Third Secret and claims it refers to the 1981 assassination attempt of John Paul II. The 62-line text describes a vision in which the Pope (a “Bishop dressed in White”) is killed by a band of soldiers. This text, containing none of the elements described by Cardinal Ratzinger in his 1984 interview in Jesus magazine, is obviously incomplete. Also, Cardinal Bertone claims the Consecration of Russia is done and, as proof, offers a quote from one of the five fake letters of 1989.

October 8: Pope John Paul II consecrates the world, but not Russia, in an “entrustment” ceremony.

November 30: A Cardinal described as “one of the Pope’s closest advisors” (Cardinal Tomko) admits to a Vatican magazine editor that he advised Pope John Paul II to not make mention of Russia in any consecration ceremony because it would offend the Russian Orthodox.

May 16: Reflecting the growing skepticism of millions of Catholics, Mother Angelica states on her live television show on this date that she does not believe the Vatican has revealed the entirety of the Third Secret. “Mother Angelica Live” as a live program is taken off the air forever by December.

October 25: Cardinal Ratzinger admits to a “destabilizing [of] the internal equilibrium of the Roman Curia” due to reports (following the September 11th terrorist attack on New York and the invasion of Afghanistan) of a recent letter from Sister Lucy to the Pope concerning the Third Secret and dangers to the world and the person of the Pope.

November 17: Archbishop Bertone (later to become Cardinal Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State) travels from Rome to Coimbra to interview Sister Lucy about the Third Secret and claims the interview went on for two hours, but the communiqué later published by Bertone contains only 44 words alleged to be from the mouth of Sister Lucy concerning the matters of the Third Secret and the Consecration of Russia controversies.

December 20: L’Osservatore Romano publishes the secret “interview” of Sister Lucy, conducted by Archbishop Bertone on November 17, 2001 at the convent in Coimbra. According to Bertone, Sister Lucy said that the consecration of the world in 1984 has been “accepted by heaven”, but yet never even asks Sister Lucy if she wrote and signed the contested fake letters that Bertone relies upon to tell us that Sister Lucy said it was done. No transcript or other independent record of the “interview” is provided.

February 13: Sister Lucy of Fatima dies less than two months short of her 98th birthday.

November 22: Renowned Italian Catholic commentator and journalist Antonio Socci publishes his book, The Fourth Secret of Fatima, which accuses Cardinal Bertone of covering up the complete Third Secret. The book cites the testimony of Archbishop Loris F. Capovilla in July 2006, to Catholic researcher Solideo Paolini, that there are two different texts and two different envelopes pertaining to the Third Secret, that one of the envelopes and its contents — the “Capovilla envelope” — was kept in the papal apartment, not in the archives of the former Holy Office where the text of the vision was lodged, and that Paul VI read its contents on June 27, 1963, two years before the Bertone “official account”, which claims that Pope Paul VI first read the text of the Third Secret on March 27, 1965. The “Capovilla envelope” and text have never been produced.

May 10: Attempting to discredit Socci, Cardinal Bertone publishes his own book, The Last Visionary of Fatima, written in the form of an interview by a Vatican affairs reporter, Giuseppe De Carli, who poses no challenging questions but rather de facto avoids all of the issues, including Msgr. Capovilla’s explosive testimony. In response, on May 12 Socci proclaims and explains publicly (in his weekly column in the Italian journal Libero) that his own book has been vindicated by the Cardinal’s complete failure to answer it, which Socci calls a disturbing development as it means that there is indeed an ongoing cover-up on the part of the Vatican regarding the Third Secret.

May 31: Cardinal Bertone appears by remote live feed on the very popular Italian TV talk show Porta a Porta to again respond to Socci’s book. During this telecast Bertone displays not only the text of the vision but also two separate sealed envelopes prepared by Sister Lucy, each bearing the explicit statement in Sister Lucy’s own handwriting that “By express order of Our Lady, this envelope can be opened in 1960 only by the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon or the Bishop of Leiria.”

The two sealed envelopes, and other revelations by Cardinal Bertone during the telecast, further confirm the existence of two texts comprising the Third Secret in its entirety. Further, the “express order of Our Lady” noted on the envelopes flatly contradicts Cardinal Bertone’s earlier repeated representations (only said after Sr. Lucy’s death in 2005) that Sister Lucy “confessed” to him in private, unrecorded conversations that the Virgin has never given any such order.

June 2: Following the telecast, from which Socci has been excluded, Socci publishes his response in Libero. He declares that Bertone has not only failed to “give even one answer” to Socci’s book, but “On the contrary, he did more: He offered the proof that I am right” and “that as a matter of fact the explosive part of the ‘Third Secret of Fatima’ exists yet is well hidden….”

September 21: Bertone stages a second television appearance for himself, this time on the Telepace network, to officially launch his own book which had been published in May and also to try yet again to discredit Socci’s book for a third time. The press are invited to attend. Socci, as a journalist, appears at the telecast location to question Cardinal Bertone. He acts in a proper way but is forcibly removed from the premises by security guards. During the telecast Bertone once again avoids any discussion of the issues. Instead, he presents a heavily-edited videotape of an interview of Archbishop Capovilla conducted by Giuseppe De Carli, a partisan of Cardinal Bertone, in which the Archbishop not only fails to deny the testimony he gave to Paolini (whose name is never mentioned) about the “Capovilla envelope,” but rather fully confirms its existence and location in the papal apartment, and the reading of its contents by Paul VI in 1963, not 1965 as the Bertone “official account” had claimed.

September 22: The Italian newspaper Il Giornale reports that before the guards removed Socci from the location of the telecast of September 21, he was able to play for the assembled journalists an audiotape of Capovilla’s statements to Paolini during a meeting on June 21, 2007. On the tape Capovilla is heard to state: “Besides the four pages [of the vision of the bishop dressed in white] there was also something else, an attachment, yes.” As the reporter from Il Giornale concludes, Capovilla’s statement “would confirm the thesis of the existence of a second sheet with the interpretation of the Secret” — namely, the words of the Virgin following the “etc.”

September 23: Socci again responds to Cardinal Bertone in his column in Libero. Socci again calmly demonstrates that Cardinal Bertone is hiding a major part of the Third Secret.

January 25: Christopher A. Ferrara’s book, The Secret Still Hidden, goes to press; 100,000 copies are printed. In this book, the author gives the history of the Third Secret up to that time. He proves beyond any reasonable doubt that there is a second text, still hidden by the Vatican bureaucrats, which contains the words of Our Lady which follow “In Portugal the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved etc.” He demonstrates his proof using the facts and details provided by both Socci and Bertone. The Italian version of his book is sent to 12,000 Italian priests in June 2008. Cardinal Bertone is sent a copy of Ferrara’s book by August 2008 and Bertone acknowledges receipt of the book but refuses to answer the substance of any of Ferrara’s arguments.

May 4: Vatican journalist Giuseppe De Carli, co-author with Cardinal Bertone of The Last Visionary of Fatima (re-issued in 2010 under the new title, The Last Secret of Fatima), and an apologist for Cardinal Bertone’s now discredited explanations of the Third Secret, admits to the Fatima Challenge Conference before the TV cameras that “…they could have tricked me.”

May 11: Pope Benedict XVI, on his pilgrimage to Portugal in May, stunned the press and the Catholic world by saying that the Third Secret of Fatima tells us that “not only from the outside come the attacks against the Pope and the Church, but the sufferings of the Church come from right inside the Church, from the sin that resides inside the Church… we see this today really in a terrifying way: the greatest persecution against the Church doesn’t come from its enemies outside, but starts from the sins within the Church.”

May 13: Before 500,000 pilgrims, the Pope proclaimed (in reference to the Third Secret): “Whoever thinks that the prophetic mission of Fatima is concluded deceives himself.”

July 13: Giuseppe De Carli dies on the 93rd anniversary of the imparting of the Third Secret by Our Lady of Fatima to the three shepherd children.

An American lawyer’s book-length investigation of the Third Secret cover-up is republished in Italian, receiving the endorsement of a Papal Nuncio.

May 11: A second edition of Christopher Ferrara’s The Secret Still Hidden is published in Italian (bringing the number of copies in print in Italian to well over 20,000), citing Giuseppe De Carli’s statements from the year before and addressing the second edition of De Carli’s/Bertone’s book. The evidence presented in this exhaustive study demonstrates conclusively that Bertone is concealing the companion text of vision published eleven years earlier.

August – September: Inside the Vatican magazine reveals recently deceased Archbishop Pietro Sambi, who was Papal Nuncio to the United States and thus a key attaché of the Vatican Secretariat of State under Cardinal Bertone, had read and praised Ferrara’s book. The endorsement came during a conversation reported by the editor, Robert Moynihan, a personal friend of Sambi’s:

We [Sambi and Moynihan] were discussing the Third Secret of Fatima, the allegations that the Vatican has not published the entire text of the Third Secret as revealed to Sister Lucia, and the response of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, in a book where Bertone states that there is nothing more to be revealed. Archbishop Sambi said, “Excuse me.” He got up, went out of the room, and came back with a book. “Here,” he said. “Do you know this book? You should read it.” It was Christopher Ferrara’s The Secret Still Hidden. “Wait,” I said. “You are the Pope’s representative in the US, and you are urging me to read a book that questions what the Secretary of State wrote?” Sambi replied: “All I am saying is that there are interesting things worth reading in this book. And in the end, we are all after the truth, aren’t we? The truth is the important thing …”

European politicians respond to the urgency of the Fatima Message.

October 23 : Father Nicholas Gruner and Christopher Ferrara address the international press corps of the European Union Parliament in Strasbourg, France, in support of a motion sponsored by two Members of Parliament, the Honorable Mario Borghezio and the Honorable Lorenzo Fontana, for a declaration by the EU Parliament formally requesting that “His Holiness,Pope Benedict XVI… fulfill the will of the Queen of Heaven”by performing the Consecration of Russia in order to address the threat of “great danger at the present time to world peace and the serenity of all European peoples.”

The Parliament is informed that “the Blessed Virgin Mary has promised a long period of prosperity and peace, if and only if, the Holy Father will consecrate Russia in a solemn and public manner, as precisely specified by Her in the Message of Fatima.” Father Gruner’s remarks conclude: “I urge the Members of Parliament and I urge the members of the Press to bring this motion of the Parliament to the Pope, because he wants to do this but he has many pressures against him not to do the Consecration. He needs public support for doing the Consecration of Russia in time, before it’s too late for all of us.”

The petition for this parliamentary motion is subsequently approved by the Petitions Committee for presentation before the full legislative body.

Pope Benedict “resigns” the Papacy, but with a curious qualification.

February 11 : In the wake of a rumored death threat (made public in November by an Italian Cardinal) against Pope Benedict XVI and amid concerns that, contrary to true justice, he will be forced by secular powers to be brought to trial before the International Criminal Court, Pope Benedict makes the stunning announcement that he will abdicate from the Throne of Peter: “I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.”

The Pope’s stated rationale for his abdication is that “in order to govern the barque of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.” In subsequent months, however, the Pope will reveal that he is in full possession of his mental faculties, including the ability to deliver complex extemporaneous addresses and that he is under no serious physical disability.

Various canonists, scholars, and Vatican officials express the expectation that—in keeping with the rare historical precedents for papal resignation—Benedict will once again take the name Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, as well as the black cassock and the coat of arms that he used as a Cardinal, and that he will leave the Vatican to reside in Bavaria or in a cloistered monastery, because (as one spokesman puts it) “Otherwise, it will get very

February 14 : The Pope tells the parish priests of Rome that upon his resignation becoming effective he will remain “hidden from the world.” In fact, he will not remain hidden from the world but will continue to reside in the Vatican and will begin appearing at public events alongside Pope Francis.

February 26 : To the amazement of canonists, the press, and Catholics in general, two days before his resignation takes effect, Pope Benedict announces that despite his “resignation” he will retain the name “Pope Benedict XVI” (Emeritus), the title “His Holiness,” the white papal cassock, the papal coat of arms bearing the Keys of Peter, and that he will continue to live within the Vatican. Canonists and commentators express the concern that Benedict risks creating the impression that he will remain Pope in some sense after the coming conclave, for which there is no precedent in Church history.

February 27 : In his last public papal audience, Pope Benedict announces: “I will no longer vest the power of the office for the government of the Church, but … I am not returning to private life … [T]here is no return to the private sphere. My decision to forgo the exercise of active ministry does not revoke this fact.” In other words, Benedict suggests that under a certain (passive) aspect he will remain Pope and that he has not renounced this aspect of the papacy. This less-than-total renunciation of the papacy likewise has no precedent in the entire history of the Church.

March – April : In the following months, Pope Benedict does indeed continue to wear the white papal cassock (though without the symbols of active government such as the pallium and the papal ring), and he often leaves his residence next to St. Peter’s in order to meet with Pope Francis, to receive guests, and to participate in ceremonies. Speculation gathers apace as to what Pope Benedict truly meant in his resignation speech: “I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. … For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome.”

While initially offering the incredible explanation that he retained the white papal cassock because there was nothing else for him to wear, Benedict soon lets it be known through both his Secretary, Georg Gänswein, and Pope Francis himself, that he considers himself to be a “Pope Emeritus.” This is something the Church has never seen before, but Francis will declare it to be a new “institution” in the Church.

Contrary to the prior explanation the he had resigned due to mental and physical infirmity, Benedict will make various appearances at public events conducted by Francis and will continue to give addresses and receive people in audience.

May 13 : Exactly two months after Pope Francis’ election, at the Pope’s repeated and insistent request, his pontificate is consecrated to Our Lady of Fatima by Cardinal José Policarpo, the Patriarch of Lisbon, at the Fatima Shrine in a collegial act in union with all the bishops of Portugal.

July 28 : During an impromptu press conference on the flight returning to Rome from his visit to Brazil, Francis reveals that in discussing with Benedict the “Vatileaks” scandal, arising from leaks to the press concerning rampant corruption in the Vatican bureaucracy, Benedict presented him with a large box and envelope containing the investigative material and report on the scandal. Francis notes that Benedict “had it all in his head! What intelligence! Everything memorized, everything! But no, it didn’t frighten me, no. No, no. Though it is a big problem.” Aside from revealing the extent of the scandal, Francis here also reveals Benedict’s full possession of his remarkable mental faculties, thus calling into question the “official” explanation for his unprecedented “renunciation” of the “active ministry” of the papacy on grounds of weakness of mind as well as body.

August 13 : Pope Francis announces that he has invited the Catholic bishops to accompany him in consecrating the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in a solemn ceremony in Rome on the coming October 13, 2013.

October 11 : Father Gruner is in Rome preparing for the ceremonies, particularly by organizing the distribution of 200,000 copies of a 12-page newspaper explaining the true Message of Fatima and Our Lady’s request for the Consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart by the Pope in union with all of the Catholic bishops of the world. A similar four-page supplement is also published in Il Tempo, the third largest daily newspaper in Rome, with a readership of 225,000.

October 12 : While in the Vatican, the day before the ceremony announced by Francis, Father Gruner is repeatedly detained and harassed by Vatican Security officers, including Dr. Dominic Giani, the head of Vatican Security. Though Giani admits to Father Gruner that he does not believe Father poses any threat to the Pope’s security, he is singled out and forbidden to approach the Pope.

October 13 : Pope Francis officiates at the announced ceremony with an uncharacteristic dour expression, as if he were annoyed at the way the proceedings had been arranged. The promised consecration to the Immaculate Heart turns out to be nothing more than yet another vague act of “entrustment” in which nothing is consecrated, not even the world is mentioned, there is no reference at all to the Immaculate Heart. This represents the weakest effort yet to carry out Our Lady’s specific request for Russia’s consecration.

“Two Popes?”; the alarming “Francis effect”; the world on the brink; yet another revelation concerning the Third Secret.

February 20 : At an “Extraordinary Consistory on the Family” convened by Pope Francis, Cardinal Walter Kasper, with the Pope’s prior approval, proposes to permit divorced and “remarried” Catholics to receive Holy Communion without any commitment to cease their adulterous relations. The implications for Catholic moral teaching are staggering, and numerous Cardinals express their opposition.

Kasper’s “revolutionary” proposal comes at the end of Francis’s first year as Pope, during which the promising signs of Marian piety and respect for the Message of Fatima have given way to a “Francis effect” consisting of an astonishing series of radically progressive and theologically dubious pronouncements made at press conferences and during interviews with various newspapers and magazines, beginning with his infamous “Who am I to judge?” regarding homosexuals in the priesthood.

By the beginning of 2014, Pope Francis has already been hailed as a “revolutionary Pope” by all the world’s major media outlets. In an unprecedented display of praise for a Roman Pontiff by the hostile organs of world opinion, Francis is named “Person of the Year” by Time magazine, which features him on its cover, is also featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine (the leading journal of degenerate “rock culture”), which hails the Pope’s “gentle revolution,” and is even lauded as “Person of the Year” by the Advocate, a magazine dedicated to militant homosexualism and the “gay lifestyle,” whose cover is likewise devoted to Francis.

March : Russia accepts the will of 96% of the Crimean people to rejoin Russia, and the threat of war with Ukraine looms large as Russian-speaking eastern Ukrainians were fearing the nonelected leader and policies of the Ukraine who takes over after the coup d’état of February 21, 2014.

May 28 : The renowned “Vaticanist” Vittorio Messori joins other prominent journalists, including Antonio Socci (author of The Fourth Secret of Fatima) and Robert Moynihan (Editor of Inside the Vatican), in recognizing a totally new situation in the history arising from the curiously nuanced “resignation” by Pope Benedict and his retention of the papal title as Pope Emeritus, the papal garb, and the signs of the papal office.

Messori contends that there are presently, in effect, two Popes acting in communion with and in recognition of each other, having even co-authored an encyclical together, Lumen Fidei, published the previous July.

Other Catholics, however, recognize that this is a false distinction. Regardless of what Pope Benedict may have meant by his words, not even a Pope has the power or authority to change the constitution of the Church established by Christ. There can only be one Pope; the office, and the task of exercising the duties of that office, can reside only in one and the same person.

This utterly unprecedented situation calls to mind the vision of the Third Secret, regarding which Lucia writes of the “Bishop dressed in white” that “we had the impression it was the Holy Father.”

July 8 : Israel launches “Operation Protective Edge,” unleashing devastating force against the Gaza strip and killing thousands of Palestinians. Only days earlier Pope Francis had conducted a patently useless and scandalous interreligious ceremony in the Vatican gardens to “pray for peace” with Jewish and Muslim representatives, including the planting of an olive tree. A Muslim Imam intones a prayer calling for the defeat of the “infidels” (i.e., all non-Muslims, which would include Francis himself) which Vatican Radio censors from the transcript. This useless publicity stunt is followed almost immediately by the worst outbreak of violence in the Holy Land in many years.

July-August : Muslim fanatics of the Islamic State organization (ISIS) begin violent persecution of Christians in Iraq, including beheadings, rapes, enslavement and the destruction of Christian churches and shrines. Tens of thousands of Christians flee for their lives.

August 17 : In an explosive column in Il Libero, Antonio Socci reports that a new biography of Sister Lucia, prepared by the nuns at the Carmelite Convent in Coimbra, reveals that during the famous apparition of Our Lady in the convent chapel to Sister Lucia on January 3, 1944, during which Our Lady directed her how to write down the Secret, the Virgin said: “Be at peace, and write what I have commanded you, but not, however, that which has been given to you to understand its meaning,” that is, the meaning of the vision published in 2000.

That is, even after the first writing on January 3, a portion of the Secret had yet to be committed to paper; but it obviously would be at some point, as it would be nonsensical for Our Lady to direct the seer to write down part of the Secret but then hide forever the other part in which She explains its meaning.

Accordingly, while the text of the vision was written and dated January 3, 1944, it was not until January 9, 1944 that Lucia wrote to her bishop to inform him that she had finally committed the Third Secret to paper as he had commanded her. Lucia evidently wrote a separate text giving the Virgin’s explanation of the vision’s meaning (which, following the Virgin’s instructions, Lucia had not written down on January 3).

This new revelation, Socci notes, is yet another “confirmation of the historical reconstruction according to which the Third Secret is composed of two parts: one, the vision, was written and sent first [to the Vatican], while the other—that which, in the words of the Virgin, is “the meaning” of the vision—was written and sent later.”

Socci concludes that this later text is evidently “the famous and mysterious ‘attachment’ of which Capovilla hinted” in the audio tape Socci played for his fellow reporters during Bertone’s television event from which he was expelled in 2007. It is in this text, “as yet unpublished,” writes Socci, “where presumably resides the part that most frightened Sister Lucia. The same part that frightened John XXIII (but also, before him, Pius XII) and which Roncalli decided not to make public because—according to him—it could be only a thought of Sister Lucia’s that did not have a supernatural origin. And a part so explosive that its existence continues officially to be denied. And the opening by Benedict XVI in 2010 [see above], which led as well to the publication of this volume, is today reopened.”

September 13 : Pope Francis declares that the Third World War has already begun “piecemeal,” although he gives no sign that he will take the measure Our Lady of Fatima prescribed as the only means to avoid it: the Consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart.

September 20 : With tensions between the United States and Russia over the situation in Ukraine at crisis levels, Russian military planes enter United States airspace, and Air Force jets “scramble” to intercept them. This is the latest incident in a series of such incursions over the past five years, with Air Force jets intercepting at least 50 Russian bombers in U.S. airspace.

April 10, 2015 : Faithful Catholics are increasingly aware of how dire the situation in the Church and the world has become. While the Church is disturbed and even scandalized by the words and deeds of a “revolutionary Pope” like no other before him, international crises threaten to spark a global conflagration at any time.

  PDF of The Complete Fatima Timeline – Click to See

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The Saint and the Lady Who Saved Him: John Paul II and Fatima

In 1982, the Marian shrine that St. John Paul II wanted to visit was the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, the Queen of Poland. Instead, he went to Fatima.

Being saved from death linked him more with Fatima than his Polish birth linked him with Czestochowa. In 1982, the shrine of the Black Madonna was marking its 600th anniversary. St. John Paul II dearly wanted to be present, but his 1979 visit to Poland for the 900th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Stanislaus had so destabilized the communist regime that they would not permit the Holy Father to visit for an even more significant anniversary. (The visit would eventually be permitted in 1983.)

Growing up in Poland, Karol Wojtyla was aware of the Fatima apparitions and knew about their anti-communist dimension, as Our Lady spoke about the “conversion of Russia.” Yet it did not figure prominently in his piety.

“The Holy Father wasn’t especially interested in these apparitions until the assassination attempt on his life in 1981,” his longtime personal secretary, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, told the Register. “The Fatima devotion was present in the Krakow Archdiocese, and he supported it, but they [the apparitions] weren’t a priority in his ministry. Fatima became very close to him on May 13, 1981, when he realized the significance of these apparitions, which he then started to link to the attempt on his life, when he realized that it took place on the anniversary of the first apparitions. He was so close to death that he was convinced that the Holy Mother had saved his life.”

St. John Paul II visited Fatima three times — on the first anniversary of the assassination attempt, May 13, 1982; on the 10th anniversary, May 13, 1991; and finally during the Great Jubilee of 2000, when he beatified the child visionaries, Jacinta and Francisco, on May 13. (They will be canonized by Pope Francis this May 13  in Fatima.)

The final Fatima visit was most significant for John Paul. During the Great Jubilee, to accommodate all the special events in Rome, the Holy Father did not schedule any foreign trips, save for a great biblical pilgrimage, first to Egypt and then to the Holy Land. The only other trip was to Fatima, an indication that what happened there was decisive for understanding the history of our time.

At the end of the beatification Mass, it was announced that the “Third Secret” of Fatima would be revealed, which spoke of a “bishop in white” being killed upon a great mountain of martyrs. St. John Paul II interpreted the secret as referring to his assassination attempt of 1981, at which point Our Lady intervened to prevent his killing.

A patriotic Pole, Wojtyla read history in a Providential way, from the improbable survival of the Czestochowa shrine against Swedish invaders in 1655 to the “Miracle of the Vistula” in 1920, when a newly independent Poland defeated the Soviet Red Army.

“It is impossible to understand the history of Poland, from Stanislaus in Skalka to Maximilian Kolbe in Oswiecim, if one does not apply to them, also, that unique and fundamental criterion which bears the name of Jesus Christ,” preached St. John Paul II on that epic first visit to Poland in 1979.

After the 1981 shooting, the Holy Father began to read the history of the 20th century through the lens of Fatima. The apparitions there were unusually historical, emphasizing the maternal dimension of Providence in history.

The Blessed Mother spoke to the shepherd children about world events of which they had no understanding — the Great War then raging, the rise of communism in Russia, the coming Second World War and the eventual triumph of her Immaculate Heart over communism.

On the same day as Mary first appeared at Fatima — May 13, 1917 — Eugenio Pacelli was consecrated a bishop in the Sistine Chapel. He would become Pope Pius XII and consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart, as Mary asked at Fatima. After seeing that his own survival was linked to the mystery of Fatima, St. John Paul II took up that same cause and formally consecrated the whole world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on March 25, 1984. Sister Lucia, the surviving Fatima visionary, confirmed that the consecration fulfilled the request of Our Lady of Fatima in 1917.

History accelerated. Within a year of the consecration, Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the Soviet Union, and within five years of that, communism had been vanquished by free elections in Poland, and the Berlin Wall was breached.

St. John Paul II always resisted the more apocalyptic — even superstitious — elements associated with devotion to Fatima. So his decision to insert the mystery of Fatima directly into the Great Jubilee — similar to what he did when he canonized St. Faustina Kowalska and instituted Divine Mercy Sunday also in the year 2000 — reflected his conclusion that the history of our times could not be read in its full Providential depth without reference to Fatima.

Devotion to Divine Mercy and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary are the Church’s fundamental response to the 20th century, the slaughterhouse of history.

“I seemed to recognize in the coincidence of the dates a special call to come to this place,” St. John Paul II said during his Fatima pilgrimage in 1982. “And so, today, I am here. I have come in order to thank Divine Providence in this place which the Mother of God seems to have chosen in a particular way. … The mystery of the spiritual motherhood of Mary has been actualized boundlessly in history. The Lady of the message [of Fatima] seems to have read with special insight the ‘signs of the times,’ the signs of our time.”

One of the most quoted lines of St. John Paul II is that “in the designs of Providence there are no mere coincidences.” He said it at Fatima in 1982, convinced that to really understand what happened the year previous in the shooting, the message of Fatima had to be fully appreciated. History is not made only in places like Washington and Moscow, or at conferences of great powers like at Yalta.

God, too, writes in history, in obscure places like Nazareth and Fatima — places where the Mother of God listens to the Word of God and makes him visible in history.

Father Raymond J. de Souza

is editor in chief of 

Convivium  magazine.

• father raymond j. de souza
• st. john paul ii

Father Raymond J. de Souza Father Raymond J. de Souza is the founding editor of Convivium magazine.

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