ZAGREB, May 13, 2018 – Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović during the night between Saturday and Sunday attended Mass in the Portuguese shrine of Fatima where, as she said, in her thoughts “she was with everyone in Croatia.”
“I am grateful to the Portuguese president for inviting me to the 101st anniversary of the apparition in Fatima. These are special moment for me, moments when we think about ourselves, but most of all about others. Moments when we look deep down into ourselves, into things we’ve done right and into the things that we need to do better,” Grabar-Kitarović told Croatian press after leaving the shrine.
“Tonight in my thoughts I was with all of you in Croatia, in my prayers I was also with you,” she added.
Fatima, a town located some 100 kilometres from Lisbon, is one of the well-known Catholic Marian shrines in Europe, where three local shepherds reported the apparition in 1917.
The mass in the shrine to the Virgin Mary at Fatima was held in commemoration of the 101st anniversary of its recognition by the Catholic Church as a pilgrimage site.
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said it was an honour to have the Croatian president attend the event.
