Sister Lucia of Fatima Blesses the People of Timor-Leste

Dr José Ramos-Horta, Timor-Leste Nobel Peace Prize Co-Laureate, and Foreign Affairs Minister, had a rare meeting today with Sister Lucia, the last of the two sisters and a brother, to whom Virgin Mary made a series of apparitions in 1917.

Since the 40's Sister Lucia, 96, has been living in an old monastery in the Portuguese city of Coimbra that houses the order of the Carmelita Sisters.

Dr Ramos-Horta is the only East Timorese ever and one of the very few people in the world to have had such a meeting with the reclusive nun. The meeting was arranged at the request of Dr. Ramos-Horta who was attending a Ministerial Meeting of the Community of the Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) held in Coimbra July 17-18. The meeting was cleared by the Vatican and arranged at short notice via the Vatican Embassy in Lisbon.

According to Dr Ramos-Horta, Sister Lucia pledged her prayers for the well-being of the people of Timor-Leste. Sister Lucia handed over to Dr Ramos-Horta a very special rosary for the Church of Timor-Leste which he said he will hand over to Bishop Basilio Nascimento upon his arrival in Dili. Dr Ramos-Horta is expected to arrive July 23rd.

The meeting between the two personalities lasted a full hour and at the end Dr Ramos-Horta said, "I am very grateful that the Vatican so graciously and quickly arranged the meeting with Sister Lucia. I was very surprised to meet a very lucid and talkative lady.

I thought I was going to find a frail old lady. She looked quite well for her age. Even more surprising was to find out that she knew all about Timor-Leste and has been following the events in our country for many years. Sister Lucia promised to continue to pray for the people of Timor-Leste".