Fatima Pilgrimage Sees Hundreds of Catholics on the Streets
Pilgrims walking in the pilgrimage with our Lady of Fatima
Thirty years since the first Fatima pilgrimage took place – pilgrimage 2022 was just as successful
After two years of lockdown due to the covid pandemic, the annual Fatima pilgrimage hosted by the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Malvern East, Ekurhuleni took place on Saturday, 14 May 2022. Led by Parish priest Fr Andrew Knott OMI, hundreds of mainly Catholics took to the Johannesburg streets at 18h00 and completed an on-foot 2-hour pilgrimage. This year marks 30 years since the first pilgrimage which took place in 1992 with only about 50 young people from the parish youth group at the time.
The pilgrimage on foot celebrates the apparitions of the Mother of Jesus to three shepherd children in the hamlet of Fatima in Portugal. The first of 6 apparitions took place on the 13th May 1917. During these apparitions, Mary under the title of “Our Lady, Queen of the Rosary” appealed for prayer, conversion and peace in the world.
“Since these apparitions, millions of people have changed their lives positively and come to practice the messages of Fatima,” explained co-convenor of the pilgrimage, Manny de Freitas. Because these apparitions took place in Portugal, the Portuguese community has a special devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima.
The altar where Mass was celebrated after the pilgrimage
As a departure from previous years, not only did St Joseph join the pilgrimage in the form of an additional statue, the route was different from previous pilgrimages. This year the pilgrimage started at the church and concluded at the church with Holy Mass.
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