Mon, 14 Feb 2005
CBC News
LISBON, PORTUGAL - The young Portuguese girl who witnessed several apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the town of Fatima back in 1917 has died at the age of 97, reported Portuguese media Sunday.
Sister Lucia de Jesus dos Santos, a Roman Catholic nun, had been ill for several months. She died at the Convent of Carmelita near Lisbon, say radio reports.
Sister Lucia de Jesus dos Santos in Fatima, Portugal, May 13, 2000. (AP photo)
She and her two cousins, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, claimed that Mary appeared before them on six occasions foretelling major world events such as world wars and the 1981 attempted assassination of Pope John Paul.
Dos Santos wrote two memoirs.
The Catholic Church built a shrine in Fatima, a popular pilgrimage site for more than 100,000 annual visitors.
Fatima is especially dear to the current pope who has visited the site three times. He met dos Santos during his 1991 visit to Portugal.
Pope John Paul believes the Virgin of Fatima saved him from death on May 13, 1981, the day a Turkish gunman shot him in St. Peter's square. May 13 is also the date the Virgin Mary first appeared to the three children back in 1917.
A funeral is planned for dos Santos on Tuesday.
Francesco Marto died in 1919 at the age of 10. His sister Jacinta died in 1920 at the age of nine. Both died of respiratory diseases.
CBC News
LISBON, PORTUGAL - The young Portuguese girl who witnessed several apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the town of Fatima back in 1917 has died at the age of 97, reported Portuguese media Sunday.
Sister Lucia de Jesus dos Santos, a Roman Catholic nun, had been ill for several months. She died at the Convent of Carmelita near Lisbon, say radio reports.
Sister Lucia de Jesus dos Santos in Fatima, Portugal, May 13, 2000. (AP photo)
She and her two cousins, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, claimed that Mary appeared before them on six occasions foretelling major world events such as world wars and the 1981 attempted assassination of Pope John Paul.
Dos Santos wrote two memoirs.
The Catholic Church built a shrine in Fatima, a popular pilgrimage site for more than 100,000 annual visitors.
Fatima is especially dear to the current pope who has visited the site three times. He met dos Santos during his 1991 visit to Portugal.
Pope John Paul believes the Virgin of Fatima saved him from death on May 13, 1981, the day a Turkish gunman shot him in St. Peter's square. May 13 is also the date the Virgin Mary first appeared to the three children back in 1917.
A funeral is planned for dos Santos on Tuesday.
Francesco Marto died in 1919 at the age of 10. His sister Jacinta died in 1920 at the age of nine. Both died of respiratory diseases.
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