Sister Lucia, last living witness of Fatima, dead at 97

Lisbon, Feb. 14, 2005 (CNA) - Sister Lucia, the last surviving witness of the three children to whom the Virgin Mary appeared at Fatima, Portugal, died Sunday at the age of 97.

Her passing occurred on the 13th day of the month, which was always the day on which the historic apparitions of Mary took place.

According to the Portuguese news agency Lusa, Sister Maria Lucia of the Immaculate Heart, born in 1907 as Lucia de Jesus dos Santos, died of old age at the Carmelite convent of St. Teresa of Coimbra in central Portugal, at 5:25pm local time.

The local bishop, Antonio Cleto, will officiate at the funeral rites at the Cathedral of Coimbra. The bishop of Leiria-Fatima will also be present.

Sister Lucia will be buried at the same Carmelite convent that had been her home since 1948 and where she was visited by Pope John Paul II during one of his visits to Portugal.

Her life

Lucia was born on March 22, 1907, in a town near Fatima where, at the age of ten, she saw the Virgin Mary for the first time at Cova de Iria, while she was with her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Martos, who both died at a young age.

Lucia went to elementary school in the town of Vilar, near Oporto in northern Portugal, and in 1928 she moved to the Spanish town of Tui, where she lived for several years.

In 1946 she returned to Portugal and two years later entered the Carmelite convent of St. Teresa of Coimbra, where she made her first profession in 1949.

Pope John Paul II beatified Francisco and Jacinta Marto in 2000 in a celebration attended by more than 700,000 people. Their cause for canonization is currently under consideration.

Sister Lucia wrote two books, one entitled “Memories” and another entitled “Calls of the Message of Fatima.”

(Catholic News Agency, Feb 14, 2005)

Fatima visionary's death 'deeply moved' Pope

Pope John Paul II has said he was deeply moved when he heard that Carmelite Sister Lucia dos Santos, the last surviving Fatima visionary, "was called by the heavenly Father to his eternal dwelling place".

Sr Lucia died in the Carmelite cloister in Coimbra, Portugal, on Sunday at the age of 97.

"I remember with emotion the various meetings I had with her and the bonds of spiritual friendship that intensified with the passing of time," Pope John Paul said.

"I always felt supported by the daily gift of her prayers, especially in difficult moments of trial and suffering," the pope wrote in a message to Bishop Albino Mamede Cleto of Coimbra.

"May the Lord repay her abundantly for the great and hidden service she gave the church," the pope wrote in the message, released on Tuesday at the Vatican.

The Portuguese girl was only 10 years old when she and her two younger cousins claimed they saw the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima in 1917.

(Catholic News Agency, Feb 15, 2005)

Last Fatima Virgin witness dies

The last surviving witness to whom the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared in a series of apparitions in Portugal in 1917 has died aged 97.

Sister Lucia de Jesus dos Santos died at the convent where she had been living since the 1940s, the Roman Catholic Church said.

She was one of three shepherd children who claimed they spoke to the Virgin Mary near Fatima town over six months.

The apparitions turned Fatima into one of Catholicism's most revered sites.

The Virgin Mary is said to have revealed prophecies of key 20th Century events, including the end of World War I, the start of World War II and the rise and fall of Soviet communism.

The Church believes the third "secret", not unveiled until 2000, foretold the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul on 13 May 1981, the anniversary of one of the 1917 apparitions.

The Church announced that Sister Lucia died at her Carmelite convent at Coimbra in central Portugal on Sunday.

"She had been weak for several weeks and had not left her cell," said Coimbra Bishop Albino Cleto.

Her body is due to be laid out in Coimbra's cathedral before her funeral on Wednesday.

Prophecy speculation

Sister Lucia was just 10 when she and her two younger cousins, Francisco Marto and his sister Jacinta, are said to have seen the Virgin Mary above an olive tree near the central town of Fatima.

She was the only one who claimed to have heard clearly what the Virgin Mary said.

While her cousins both died within three years of the apparitions ending, during the flu pandemic, Sister Lucia went on to write down what she had been told.

The first two parts of the prophecy were known for decades and interpreted as predicting the world wars.

But the third prophecy was kept secret and sparked much speculation about its content.

When the Vatican revealed its interpretation of the vision, the Pope credited the Madonna of Fatima with his survival following the 1981 attempt on his life by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca in St Peter's Square.

The Pope made several visits to Fatima - along with pilgrims from all over the world - and first met Sister Lucia during a trip in 1991.

He travelled to Fatima in 2000 to beatify Francisco and Jacinta, and steps are expected to be taken to beatify Sister Lucia as well.

(BBC News: Monday, 14 February, 2005)