“While we await your presence, the new successor of Peter, to pray with us in Fatima, we ask you to welcome and accompany him with maternal solicitude, so that, inspired by your message to the shepherds, he may continue to deliver to the world the urgent cry for peace that directed us on the first day of his ministry,” stated José Ornelas, also Bishop of the Diocese of Leiria-Fátima, at the conclusion of the May international pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Fatima.
In entrusting the pontificate of the new leader of the Catholic Church to the protection of the Virgin of Fatima, José Ornelas requested for Leo XIV “the gift of discernment to recognize and continue the paths of Church renewal” and the “courage not to hesitate in following the paths suggested by the Holy Spirit,” in addition to supporting him “in difficult hours of suffering” and overcoming “the trials on the path of Church renewal.”
“At your feet are the bishops of Portugal and the world, and this multitude of pilgrims, on the 108th anniversary of your apparition to the shepherd children, in this Cova da Iria, to consecrate to you the ministry of the current successor of Peter and Bishop of Rome, the Holy Father Leo XIV,” he added.
During the consecration, which concluded with a prayer, the Bishop of Leiria-Fátima recalled that “four of the last Popes became pilgrims” to Fatima, noting that the presence of Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21, is “well alive” in memory.
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, 69, was elected Pope on Thursday after two days of conclave in Vatican City, taking the name Leo XIV.
Born in Chicago, USA, the new Pope has Spanish ancestry and Peruvian nationality and belongs to the Order of Saint Augustine.
Leo XIV succeeds Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21 at the age of 88.
The first Pope to visit the Sanctuary of Fatima was Paul VI in 1967, followed by John Paul II in 1982, 1991, and 2000. During this last visit, he presided over the beatification of the shepherd children Francisco and Jacinta Marto.
Benedict XVI visited the Sanctuary of Fatima in 2010, marking the tenth anniversary of the beatification of Francisco and Jacinta Marto.
Pope Francis visited Fatima in 2017 for the centenary of the events at Cova da Iria and to canonize the blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, and again in 2023 for the World Youth Day in Lisbon.
Elected Pope on March 13, 2013, his pontificate was also consecrated to the Virgin of Fatima on May 13 of the same year, with the then-president of CEP, the Cardinal-Patriarch of Lisbon, José Policarpo.
