Fatima National Pilgrimage

For many of the years since October 1982, the World Apostolate of Fatima England and Wales has organised an annual pilgrimage to Fatima, in July, usually flying from London Heathrow, although they were by coach in the early days.

The original pilgrimages were organised by George Donovan, past president of the WAF in this country, and Mike Daley, and then Terry Walsh was the pilgrimage organiser for several years. Fr John Edwards SJ led some of the pilgrimages before Fr George Dangerfield was appointed spiritual director for a short period prior to the 1996 pilgrimage. Canon Gerry O’Brien and Mgr Tom Fallon accompanied several of the pilgrimages at this time.



In 1997, Mgr Fallon became the spiritual director of the World Apostolate, and was closely involved in the pilgrimage until his death in September 2011, when Fr Gerard Kelly of St Francis church in Handsworth, Birmingham took over. Mike Daley organised the pilgrimage for over twenty years, and has been assisted by Brigid McKenna in Birmingham, who took over from Joan Walker after her death.

Canon Jason Jones, the new WAF England and Wales Spiritual Director, will be organising future pilgrimages.

On this pilgrimage, you will experience the beauty and presence of Our Lady in her wonderful shrine, a place filled with peace, light and the spirit of prayer, and will visit the holy places associated with it: the village of Aljustrel where the shepherd children lived, the Loca da Cabeco where the Angel appeared to them leaving the Eucharist suspended in the air above a chalice, and the parish church, where the children were baptised and the statue of Our Lady smiled at Lucia. 

You will experience a touching candlelight Rosary and procession of Our Lady round the great square, and on  the moving international Mass, when the original statue of Our Lady, accompanied by priests and bishops, is processed to the altar and back, carried shoulder high on a bier covered with flowers, while the people sing beautiful Portuguese hymns in her honour. 

You will also be given information about the different requests in Our Lady’s message and how we can respond to her appeals for the salvation of souls. It is for this reason that her message has been so highly commended by the popes.