The 'little shepherds' of Fatima, Francisco and Giacinta, will be made saints on May 13, Pope Francis announced at a consistory Thursday, setting the date for around 30 canonisations. On May 13 Francis will travel to Fatima and will oversee the canonisation ritual, the Vatican said. The pontiff held the consistory for cardinals to vote on several causes for canonization, including the two children who claimed to see several visions of the Virgin Mary at Fatima, Portugal, in 1917.
The pair, Francesco Marto and Jacinto Marto, died before they reached adulthood.
Their cousin, Lucia Santos, who also said she witnessed the apparitions, became a nun and lived to the age of 97.
The shepherd children said the Madonna revealed three secrets to them, the last of which was only made public in 2000.
The secrets were interpreted as relating to Hell, World War I and World War II, and the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981.
The cause of Lucia Santos, who died in 2005, is on the path towards beatification.
The other canonization causes set for approval are: Martyrs of Natal, Brazil: Andrea de Soveral, Ambrogio Francesco Ferro, diocesan priests, along with Matteo Moreira, a layman, and 27 companions, martyrs; Cristbal, Antonio, and Juan, of Mexico, young martyrs; Faustino Mguez, Spanish Piarist priest, and founder of the Calasanzian Institute of the Daughters of the Divine Shepherdess; Angelo da Acri, Italian professed priest of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor.
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