About 70 thousand pilgrims participated, on Saturday night, September 12, in the celebrations of the International Anniversary Pilgrimage at the Sanctuary of Fatima. The event counted with the presence of a cardinal, four bishops, 85 priests, and two deacons. The Celebration of the Word was presided over by Mgr. José Manuel Imbamba, Archbishop of Saurimo and President of the Episcopal Conference of Angola and São Tomé.
In his homily, the prelate warned of challenges of the contemporary world, including spiritual indifference, ethical relativism, lack of commitment to faith, the breakdown of families, the implications of Artificial Intelligence, and the absence of peace. He defended the urgency of prayer and inner silence, emphasizing that the peace the world cannot give begins in the heart that reconciles itself with God.
Mgr. José Manuel Imbamba also evoked the four Popes who pilgrimaged to Fatima, referring to the appeals of St. Paul VI, St. John Paul II, and Benedict XVI, and recalling the canonization of the shepherd children by Pope Francis, accompanied by the appeal to be "sentinels of the morning and builders of peace."
The international dimension of the pilgrimage was visible in the 95 officially registered groups, with 4,633 pilgrims from 26 countries. Portugal had the highest number of registered participants, with 1,375, followed by Poland with 860 and Italy with 463.
