The Fatima Seers (L/R) Lucia dos Santos, Francisco and Jacinta MartoThe Vatican has just confirmed that Blesseds Francisco and Jacinta Marto will be canonized on May 12-13 during Pope Francis' visit to Fatima, Portugal.
Vatican Radio is reporting that Pope Francis announced the canonization of 35 people, including the Fatima seers, during an ordinary consistory yesterday. The Martos will be canonized in May. A group of Brazilian martyrs has been scheduled for canonization on October 15. At the same time, three Mexican boys who died for the faith in the 16th century along with a Spanish priest named Blessed Faustino Miquez and an Italian Capuchin named Blessed Angelo da Acri.
Blessed Jacinto and Francisco Marto died in childhood as a result of a flu epidemic that swept through Europe in 1918. The two were beatified by Pope John Paul II during his pastoral visit to Portugal in the year 2000.
A separate cause for canonization for the third seer, Lucia dos Santos, is currently underway. The longest surviving of the three shepherd children, she became a Carmelite nun and died in 2005 at the age of 98. The first stage of her cause was completed earlier this year and is now being examined at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the Vatican.
Along with millions of others, Pope Francis is planning to make a pilgrimage to Fatima on May 12-13 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the apparitions and to celebrate the joyful celebration of the elevation of these two beloved children to sainthood.
© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace® http://www.womenofgrace.com
