Pope Francis is presiding Friday over a special prayer for Ukraine that harks back to a century-old apocalyptic prophesy about peace and Russia that was sparked by purported visions of the Virgin Mary to three peasant children in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917.
Francis has invited bishops, priests and ordinary faithful around the world to join him in the consecration prayer Friday afternoon. And to hammer home its universal nature, the Vatican has translated the text of the prayer into three dozen languages. Retired Pope Benedict XVI plans to participate and an envoy of Francis is celebrating a simultaneous Mass at the Fatima shrine itself.
