SW News: During a meeting today with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Pope Francis authorized the dicastery to promulgate the decree concerning the canonization process of one of the Fatima visionaries, Sister Lucia dos Santos. The Pope recognized the heroic virtues of the nun, granting her the title ‘venerable’.

Lucia was born on March 22, 1907, in Aljustrel, Portugal. On May 13, 1917, when Lucia was just ten years old, she and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto witnessed the first apparition of the Virgin Mary. The apparitions continued on the 13th day of each subsequent month for six months. Lucia Marto's cousins, Francisco and Jacinta, fell ill and passed away during the Spanish influenza pandemic in 1919 and 1920, respectively. A few years after their death, Lucia professed her first vows with the Institute of the Sisters of St. Dorothy to become a nun. on May 31, 1949, she made her profession as a Discalced Carmelite. Sister Lucia remained in the Carmelite Convent of Santa Teresa in Coimbra until her death on February 13, 2005.

On the third anniversary of Sister Lúcia's death, which was on February 13, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he would waive the usual waiting period of five years prescribed by canon law in order to begin the process of beatification for Sister Lúcia. Sister Lúcia was bestowed with the title of Servant of God on February 13, 2017, marking a significant advancement in her journey toward canonization.