Thousands of migrants are expected this Friday at the Sanctuary of Fatima, in the international anniversary pilgrimage of August 12 and 13, considered the pilgrimage of emigrants, presided over by the Bishop of Fall River (United States of America), Edgar Cunha.
The celebrations integrate the pilgrimage of the migrant and the refugee, within the framework of the 50th National Migration Week, which began on Monday and ends on Sunday, under the slogan “Building the future with migrants and refugees.” This is the title of the message of Pope Francis for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which is celebrated on September 25.
The National Week of Migration is an initiative of the Portuguese Catholic Work for Migrations, a body of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference that will be 60 years old in 2022.
The pilgrimage begins at 9:30 p.m. with the recitation of the rosary, followed by the procession of candles and the celebration of the word.
On Saturday, at 9:00 a.m., the rosary is prayed and an hour later Mass is celebrated, which includes a word addressed to the sick. The celebrations end with the farewell procession.
During the pilgrimage, the prayer vigil led by the diocesan secretariats of migration, the Catholic communities of the diaspora and the Ukrainian national chaplaincy resumes, reported the Sanctuary of Fatima.
The pilgrimage also includes, on Saturday, the traditional offering of wheat, an action that is repeated for the 82nd time, initiated by a group of young people from the Catholic Agrarian Youth, from 17 parishes of the Diocese of Leiria, who in 1940 offered 30 fanegas of wheat, intended for the manufacture of hosts for consumption in the Sanctuary of Fatima.
Since that year, pilgrims, not only from Leiria, but also from other dioceses in the country, and even from abroad, have been continuing this offertory year after year,” the sanctuary said.
According to data from the Marian temple, last year, “During the celebrations, 569,960 particles were consumed, 820 medium waffles, 60 large waffles and 45 particles for coeliacs”.
On Wednesday, three groups from Poland, two groups from Portugal and another two from Germany and Spain registered for this pilgrimage, as well as pilgrims from Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Israel, Italy and Vietnam, with one group each.
The bishop of Fall River, in the US state of Massachusetts, hails from Nova Fátima, in the Brazilian state of Bahia, and was the first American prelate born in Brazil.
At this time, he presides over one of the most important and significant Portuguese communities in the United States, where a large Azorean community resides,” said the Shrine of Fatima.
Edgar Moreira da Cunha, born in 1953, was ordained a priest on March 27, 1982 at the Igreja de São Miguel, in Newark, in the US state of New Jersey, where an important Portuguese community also resides, mainly from the north and center. .from mainland Portugal, added the sanctuary.
Source: Observadora
