The Archbishop of Luxembourg, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, will preside over the religious ceremony, which will have twice as many pilgrims as the May celebrations.

Newsroom (August 12, 2021, 12:53 PM, Gaudium Press) On August 12 and 13, the Marian Shrine of Fatima, Portugal, will host an international pilgrimage that is expected to gather around 15 thousand faithful.

During the month of August, the fourth apparition of Our Lady to the three shepherd children will be remembered. The event took place outside the Cova da Iria, and for this reason, the celebration of this occasion has been titled “Pilgrimage of the Migrants.”

The Archbishop of Luxembourg, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, will preside over this year’s religious ceremony, which will have twice as many pilgrims as the May celebration when only 7,500 attended.

Control of the faithful attending the Sanctuary

Despite having enough space to accommodate half a million people, the Sanctuary is controlling the number of worshippers attending the facilities. Restrictions will be in place because of the security norms adopted to control the Covid-19 pandemic in Portugal.

In addition, all participants in the August pilgrimage will be required to wear a mask and maintain social distance. Four groups have registered for this event: two from Spain, one from Poland, and one from Germany.

The director of the Portuguese Catholic Work for Migrations, Eugenia Costa Quaresma, said that “the time has come to rebuild from a strong time of spirituality like the one this Shrine offers us, an altar of the world in which we feel we have a Mother to whom we can entrust our anguish, cry our sorrows, recover our energies, renew our hope.” (EPC)

Compiled by Sarah Gangl