The commemoration of the first apparition of Our Lady of Fatima to the three shepherd children —Jacinta, Francisco, and Lucia—, celebrated this May 13, has transcended the borders of Portugal. The British network BBC has dedicated a report to the events that occurred in the Cova da Iria in 1917, especially highlighting the so-called Miracle of the Sun, which took place on October 13 of that same year.
The testimony of a witness
In its article, the BBC includes the account of Francisco Ferreira Rosa, who claimed to have witnessed that phenomenon. In an interview granted to the broadcaster in 1992, Rosa stated: «All I saw were the planets in the sky, of many colors. It was a miracle. Then it seemed to rain flowers from the sky, like a snowfall. And then the Sun began to spin faster and faster, like a wheel of fire. It lasted about half a minute. At the end, it was spinning very fast.» The witness added that, although he was not afraid, many people were frightened to see the Sun spinning that way, and concluded: «When something like that happens, one needs to believe and have faith.»
Impact on the press and culture
The event was covered by the Portuguese newspaper O Século in its edition of October 15, 1917, with the headline: «Amazing things: How the Sun danced at noon in Fatima.» Decades later, writer Francis Johnston, in his book «Fatima: The Great Sign» (1980), estimated that about 50,000 people gathered at the site that day. The BBC notes that it is still debated whether it was a miracle, a collective hallucination, or a meteorological phenomenon, but emphasizes that «the effect» of that day remains profound among the population.
The Third Secret of Fatima
The report also addresses the revelation of the Third Secret of Fatima, composed of three parts. The first two were made known early on, but the third remained hidden until May 13, 2000, during the beatification of Francisco and Jacinta. Written in 1944, the secret was to remain sealed until 1960, and successive Popes refused to reveal it. Finally, the Vatican made it public, describing the vision of «a bishop dressed in white» which they attributed to the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981. The BBC reports that about 500,000 people gathered in Fatima that year, although the revelation was met with some disappointment by some, as reflected by The New York Times when it compared it to «announcing that Elvis has really died.» Despite conspiracy theories speaking of world wars or apocalyptic events, the Vatican maintained its official interpretation.
Original source: www.noticiasaominuto.com (published on May 13, 2026)
Photo: Łukasz Dańczak on Unsplash
