Over 270,000 pilgrims gather in Fátima shrine after Pope Leo's election

They came from all over the world to visit one of Catholicism’s most famous shrines. 

Over 270,000 pilgrims gathered at the sanctuary of Fátima in Portugal on Monday, to celebrate the first reported apparition of the Virgin Mary to three shepherd children on 13 May 1917. 

The Catholic Church believes the Virgin Mary visited the children six times and divulged the Three Secrets of Fátima, a series of prophecies, to them.

This year, Catholic devotees also prayed for newly elected Pope Leo XIV and for global peace.

"I imagine that Leo XIV will soon visit this shrine, which is the centre of Marian spirituality, not only in Portugal, but throughout the world", said Father Juan Carlos López.

Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis, visited Fátima twice. In 2017, he canonised two of the shephered children for the 100th anniversary of the Virgin Mary's apparitions. He returned to the shrine during his trip to Portugal for the 2023 World Youth Day.

This year's pilgrimage takes places after Pope Leo's first Sunday address as pontiff in St. Peter's Square, during which he called for peace in Ukraine and Gaza.

“I too address the world's great powers by repeating the ever-present call ‘never again war'", Leo said from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica.

"He is the Pope that the Holy Spirit has chosen to manage the Church in these difficult times and I believe he will do it very well", Father Juan Carlos López said from Fátima.

A total of 6.2 million people visited the Fátima shrine in 2024. 

The original statue of the Virgin of Fátima will travel to Rome in October, to celebrate the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality, the cult of the Virgin Mary. It will be the statue's fourth travel to the Vatican.