Pope heads to Portugal’s Fatima shrine

On Saturday, Pope Francis will pay a quick visit to the shrine of Fatima in central Portugal as part of a large Catholic youth celebration.

The 86-year-old pontiff, who landed in Lisbon on Wednesday, will fly to the village 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of the Portuguese capital by helicopter.

He will recite the rosary with sick and disadvantaged adolescents at a shrine established on the site of the Virgin Mary’s apparition to three shepherd children in 1917.

Francis is also set to give an address at the shrine before returning to Lisbon, where he will conduct a vigil at the seaside Parque Tejo on Saturday evening.

Church organizers anticipate that one million faithful will attend the vigil in a park created for the event on a former waste site.

Massive throngs are also anticipated in Fatima to witness Pope Francis, who visited the place in 2017 to commemorate the centennial of the purported apparitions.