On his Apostolic Journey to Portugal this summer in honor of the approaching World Youth Day, Pope Francis will visit the Sanctuary of Fatima once more.
The Holy See Press Office's Matteo Bruni officially announced it in a statement on Monday.

According to the announcement, Pope Francis will visit Lisbon from August 2–6, 2023, for World Youth Day. He will also pay a visit to the Shrine of Fatima on August 5, accepting the invitation of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities of Portugal.

The Holy Father will travel to the Marian shrine, which attracts millions of visitors each year, for the second occasion in his tenure as Pope.

Previously, on May 12–13, 2017, the Pope paid a visit to the shrine to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Cova da Iria. On that occasion, the Pope prayed for an end to the wars which were damaging the world.

A little more than 100 years ago, in what was then an impoverished rural community near Fatima, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three Portuguese children.

Pope Francis will preside over the World Youth Day in Lisbon for the fourth time; he previously presided over WYDs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2013, in Krakow, Poland in 2016, and in Panama City, Panama in 2019.

Pope Francis has chosen "Mary arose and went with haste" (Lk 1:39) as the theme for this year's World Youth Day. This is the bible quote that opens the account of the Visitation when Mary meets her cousin Elizabeth following the angel's announcement to the Blessed Mother that she would be the mother of the Son of God.