Death of the last Fatima visionary.

Coimbra -- The death was announced February 13, 2005, of Sister Maria Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart; she was 97 years of age. Born Lucia dos Santos in 1907, she was the oldest and only survivor of the three shepherd children who received visions of Our Blessed Lady at Fatima in 1917. She was generally regarded as the spokesperson for the little group. Portugal declared a national day of mourning and lowered its flags to half-staff for her funeral.

Lucia entered religious life with the Sisters of St. Dorothy in 1925, transferring to the discalced Carmelites in 1946. She died peacefully at the Carmelite convent of St. Teresa in Coimbra. Her body will eventually be taken to the shrine at Fatima where her two fellow visionaries now rest. Francisco and Jacinta Marto, Lucia's cousins, both died young; they were beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2000.

In a letter to the Bishop of Coimbra, Pope John Paul stated:

"With profound emotion I learned that Sister Maria Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart, at the age of 97 years, was called by the heavenly Father to the eternal dwelling of heaven. She has thus reached the end to which she has always aspired in prayer and in the silence of the convent....

"The visit of the Virgin Mary, which little Lucia received in Fatima together with her cousins Francisco and Jacinta in 1917, was for her the beginning of a singular mission to which she remained faithful until the end of her days. Sister Lucia leaves us an example of great fidelity to the Lord and of joyful adherence to his divine will.

"I remember with emotion the various meetings I had with her and the bonds of spiritual friendship that, with the passing of time, were intensified. I have always felt supported by the daily gift of her prayer, especially in the harsh moments of trial and suffering. May the Lord reward her amply for the great and hidden service she has done to the Church.

"I love to think that the one who has received Sister Lucia in the passing from earth to heaven has been precisely She whom she saw in Fatima so many years ago. May the Holy Virgin accompany the soul of this devoted daughter of hers to the happy encounter with the divine spouse...." (Zenit, Nat. Post, www.fatima.org, 14 Feb., 2005)

Sister Lucia had further visions of Mary and the Child Jesus in later years. These are related in the two memoirs she wrote during her years with the enclosed order. It is, however, for the revelations at Fatima that she is best remembered. There were purported to be three "Secrets", confided to the children by Our Lady. The first two, well-known generally for decades, concerned the vision of hell and the forecast of the outbreak of a second World War.

For years controversy has swirled around the "Third Secret". In May 2000, the Vatican revealed its interpretation of this prophecy, centring on the assassination attempt on the Pope in May 1981. The following year John Paul, visiting the Fatima shrine, inserted one of the bullets with which he had been shot in the Virgin's crown, in gratitude for her preserving his life.

According to Canadian priest Fr. Nicholas Gruner of The Fatima Center in Fort Erie, the "Third Secret" of Fatima was never fully revealed; nor was Russia consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as Our Lady had requested.

The Vatican claims that both of these were done, and published Sr. Lucia's acquiescence to this on Dec. 20, 2001. She had been interviewed in Nov. 2001 by Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, then Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, when she confirmed that "everything has been published; there are no more secrets." The Fatima Center, meanwhile, insists that the full true secret of Fatima has died with Sister Lucia and insists she had been under a "gag order" from the Vatican since 1960.