Annual Fatima pilgrimage more successful than ever anticipated

The annual Fatima pilgrimage which took place on Saturday, 12 May 2012 proved to be more successful than anticipated and surpassed target pilgrims set. A target of 1500 pilgrims was set as a target for this year’s pilgrimage as last year 1200 pilgrims participated in the pilgrimage. However some 2200 pilgrims walked the pilgrimage this year. This is truly amazing and exciting as the messages of Fatima are spread wider.

There is no doubt that the heightened media coverage of this event, not just in the Catholic media but also in secular media assisted in awareness of this pilgrimage. It was clear that there were many first time pilgrims this year. Thanks to Radio Veritas that now reaches a broader audience on Medium Wave we were able to reach more people. The assistance and support of the Portuguese media can also not go unnoticed as they too extensively published and supplied information on the pilgrimage.  

This pilgrimage is the sixth that has taken place in succession with the first pilgrimage that took place in 1991 with only 80 pilgrims led by the parish youth group at the time. The pilgrimage on foot celebrates the apparitions of Our Lady to three shepherd children in the hamlet of Fatima in Portugal.

On the 13^th of May 1917 the Mother of Jesus, our Lady, first appeared to three poor shepherd children. During these apparitions, that took place over the next 6 months, our Lady under the title of “Our Lady Queen of the Rosary”, appealed for prayer, especially by praying the Rosary and conversion and peace in the world.

Since these apparitions, millions of people have changed their lives positively and come to practice the messages of Fatima. Because these apparitions took place in Portugal, the Portuguese have a special devotion to Our Lady of Fatima. The Portuguese community is one of the largest immigrant communities in South Africa and are predominately Catholic.  

This pilgrimage commences at the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, in Malvern East, Johannesburg and ends, after a four kilometer walked pilgrimage when the rosary is prayed, with Holy Mass at the Schoenstatt Shrine in Bedfordview, Ekurhuleni.