Portugal: The christening process of Sister Lucia, who was graced to witness the apparitions of the Holy Mother of God in Fatima, took a step forward. The rector of the Fatima Pilgrimage Center revealed the information that the diocesan court’s report (positio) testifying to Sister Lucia’s heroic life was submitted to the Vatican Dicastery for naming procedures.
The said report was examined by a group of nine theologians. If the information contained therein is approved by the Vatican, Sister Lucia will be elevated to the ranks of the Blessed, the second step in the canonization process. Sister Lucia was one of three shepherd children carried to Fatima for the extended Marian apparitions from May 13 to October 13, 1917.
Lucia, who was 10 years old at the time of the Marian apparitions in 1917, died at the age of 97. Two other children, Jacinta and Francisco, were canonized in 2017. Both of them, who left this world at the age of 10 and 11 respectively, were elevated to the sainthood with the title of ‘the youngest saints who are not martyrs’.
Sister Lucia, who passed away in 2005, started the naming process in 2008. Pope Benedict XVI also granted a relaxation of the church rule that the naming process can only begin on the fifth anniversary of a death. The initial phase of the nomination process, which concluded in 2017 alone, received more than 15,000 documents, including letters and testimonials.
On May 13, 1917, the Holy Mother first appeared to the children Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia in Fatima praying the Rosary. Then the Holy Mother appeared on the 13th of every month asking them to repent and pray for the conversion of the world. The last appearance was on October 13.
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