The Pope takes a mass bath in Fatima and calls for an "open door" Church

The prayer has been led by several young people, including a young woman with a disability.

The Pope landed this Saturday morning in Fatima, where he has flown by helicopter from Lisbon, where he is participating in World Youth Day (WYD).

This is the second visit that Francis has made to the Sanctuary, where he already made an express trip of just over 24 hours, on May 12 and 13, 2017, on the occasion of the centenary of the apparitions of the Virgin to the little shepherds.

During his words, improvised and pronounced in Spanish, Francisco focused on the figure of María, the “lady in a hurry” or “apressada” (as they would say in Portuguese) and extolled that she “is never the protagonist, she welcomes everyone and points to Jesus.”

For this reason, he invited the faithful present to keep a brief moment of prayer and reflection, to ask her in silence: “Mother, what are you pointing out to me? What is there in my life that worries you, that moves you, that are you interested?”

In the planned but not delivered speech, the pontiff also made other reflections and invited to take the “path of smallness” against “perfectionism”, while warning of the danger of becoming “disciples of fashion”.

“Friends, let us not be infected by perfectionism, let us not be fooled by mirages, let us not become disciples of fashions. Let us be passionate about real life, because we are called to be artists of existence, not experts in photographic retouching; to color the days we live in with meaning, not to varnish them with appearances”, can be read in the unpronounced speech.

Thus, Bergoglio specifies that the path to “true greatness” is not that of “success, power, wealth and worldly appearances”, but “the path of littleness” because “God always chooses the little ones, who are great for Him; choose the simple”, like “the children of Fatima”.

For this reason, he suggests moving away from the “dangerous temptation” of “perfectionism” and regrets that many young people today suffer from “the weight of not achieving it, of not doing it well, of being inadequate, even badly done”, trying to “beautify themselves by outside, to show himself in good shape” although “inside his heart screams in pain.

“Today it seems that you can only be perfect; you have to show yourself great, efficient and accomplished, and all fragility seems a fault, while the models that the image society inculcates are always resplendent and brilliant. But they are made up and, therefore, they are false,” he warns.

It also invites to pray for peace. “Now, as at the time of the apparitions, there is also war. The Virgin asked that they pray the Rosary for peace. She did not ask for it as a favor, but rather, with maternal solicitude, she indicated: “Recite the Rosary every day to achieve peace in the world and the end of the war.”. So let us unite our hearts, let us pray for peace,” he stressed.

peace in ukraine

The Bishop of Leiria-Fátima, José Ornelas, has expressed his “profound joy” for the presence of the pontiff, for the second time, in Fatima and has joined his prayer “for peace” with which, as he explained, “this Sanctuary is deeply identified, particularly in the face of the war in Ukraine”, and “in so many other sources of conflict in the world that dramatically affect the lives and futures, especially of children and young people”.

He also prayed for children and young people who are victims of “disease, poverty, hunger, conflicts, abuse, injustice and exclusion.”

The Pope has arrived at the Sanctuary of Fátima after traveling a stretch of road in the popemobile from where he has been able to greet the thousands of faithful who were waiting for him and has given his blessing to several babies who have brought him closer to the car. Subsequently, the Pope prayed before the image of the Virgin of Fatima and presented her with some flowers and a rosary.