Bruni explained to the journalists that during this “long moment of silence” Francis prayed in the chapel and in the fourth mystery of the Rosary prayed in the shrine, where the same request was central.
Francis preferred to improvise and not read the speech he had prepared of his own volition in the Shrine of Fatima in Portugal, “as a pastor before the faithful he has,” the Vatican orator explained to the media after Francis had skipped this impromptu speeches.
“The Pope decides to change his speech as pastor to the faithful before him,” explained Bruni, who clarified that it was not a question of a vision problem.
This Wednesday, the Pope traveled to Lisbon to take part in World Youth Day (WYD). Three times the Pope chose to skip or not read the prepared speeches, including this Friday’s Stations of the Cross, while also this Saturday he did not read the prayer to the Virgin that a petition for peace was being planned and expected.
Francis arrived in a popemobile at the esplanade of the Shrine, where he was received by 200,000 people, mostly Portuguese faithful, many families who had given their children to the Pope for blessed accidents and who had spent the night here.
The Fatima apparitions are closely linked to pontificates and conflicts, as revealed by Sister Lucy many years later. The Virgin announced the end of World War I, the beginning of World War II, and called for the “conversion” of Russia.
Because of this, a prayer or mention of the wars, and Ukraine in particular, was expected.
With information from Efe