President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa invited Pope Leo XIV to visit the Fátima Sanctuary during an engagement on Sunday.
“I spoke to him about how Portugal would welcome, whenever deemed appropriate, amid its fundamental mission, a visit to Fátima or generally to Portugal,” he stated to RTP.
Returning to Lisbon after attending the inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate at the Vatican, and shortly before attending election night at the Belém Palace, Marcelo expressed being “impressed” by the mass, where the new Pope heavily referenced Francis, noting the presence of numerous notable figures.
“The most important thing is that representatives from all continents were present, along with leading personalities, such as several European presidents, the president of Ukraine, the vice-president of the United States, and heads of government from other countries,” he observed.
“I was impressed by the Pope’s separation of the religious homily from the speech more oriented towards contemporary reality,” revealed Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. “One, as usual, in the middle of the mass—highly religious—and another at the end.”
“He spoke often of Pope Francis to indicate he aligns with Pope Francis’s direction,” he also stated, highlighting that Leo XIV is “a Pope looking toward the future.”
Regarding the meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Marcelo suggested the Pope “is signaling that, if necessary, he is willing and has both the physical and mental readiness to help build peace, which has seen no positive steps, as observed in recent weeks and days.”
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa offered a rosary of Our Lady of Fátima to the leader of the Catholic Church at the inaugural mass of the pontificate. The Portuguese president was seated next to Polish President Andrzej Duda and former Italian soccer player and coach Delio Rossi.
