The International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima will be made available to parishes in South Carolina during the month of October.
During a congress for youths in Fatima, Portugal, in 1946, participants took a statue of Mary from display in the Cova de Iria and made a pilgrimage to Lisbon. When they stopped in towns along the route, people would gather to pray. Along the way unexplained phenomena occurred, inspiring people’s devotion. After the statue was returned to the Cova, people asked to have it brought to their communities. It was decided that a new statue made by the famous sculptor Jose Thedim would be used as a pilgrim statue. On May 13, 1947, the new statue was blessed and named the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
The Statue Committee asks that the statue visit as many locations as possible within the month, with the statue staying at each location no longer than one to two days. Val Kelly of Hilton Head Island is the visit coordinator in the Diocese of Charleston.