300,000 flock to Fátima

An estimated 300,000 Catholics from all over Portugal and other parts of the world descended on the International Shrine of Fátima last weekend for the celebrations in honour of Our Lady of Fátima. The traditional homily during midnight mass, this year led by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, was the culmination of the religious celebrations at Cova de Iria on the anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin Mary to three local shepherd children on May 13, 1917.