(ANSA) - Rome, May 12 - Pope Francis flew out from Rome on
Friday to become the fourth pontiff to visit Fatima in a trip
coinciding with 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Mary to
the 'little shepherds'.
In the Portuguese town, Francis will oversee the canonisation
of two of the three children who claimed to see several visions
of the Virgin Mary 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.
She is on the road to beatification.
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.
Paul VI visited Fatima in 1967, John Paul II went three
times, in 1982, 1991 and 2000, and Benedict XVI visited in 2010.
Francis sets off
Pontiff to oversee canonization of two shepherd children