portugal
Ceremonies marking the “October commemoration” ended at Fatima on 13 October, as part of the year of celebrations for the 90th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Presided over by the new bishop of Leiria-Fatima, the Right Rev. Antonio Marto, this year’s ceremonies were attended by thousands of pilgrims. “I don’t condemn you, go and sin no more” was the theme of the pilgrimage held in the “Little Chapel of the Apparitions”. The celebrations of the 90th anniversary of the Virgin’s apparitions to the three peasant children of Fatima, which took place between 13 May and 13 October 1917, will continue until 13 October 2007 and will also include the inauguration of the new church of the Holy Trinity, currently being built. Bishop Marto announced he would invite Benedict XVI to consecrate it. Meanwhile, again at Fatima, the 7th meeting of the Portuguese-speaking Churches was held in recent days. “Evaluating the results of the six previous meetings and planning their continuation; strengthening the scope for mutual relations and trust between the various participants in the cooperation between and missionary activity of the Portuguese-speaking Churches; consolidating the procedures and channels of dialogue; and promoting a wide debate on cooperation and, more specifically, on the hypothesis of agreement between the logic of the Church and that of the State in supporting the integral development of the Portuguese-speaking peoples”: these were the objectives of the meeting on the theme “Love as source of development”.
