Dicastery for Evangelization
Section for Fundamental Questions regarding Evangelization in the World
PRESS RELEASE
The original statue of Our Lady of Fatima in Rome
for the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality on 11 and 12 October 2025
On the occasion of the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality, scheduled for 11 and 12 October, the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima will be in Rome. The famous image of the Virgin, known by the faithful all over the world and symbol of the “Hope that does not disappoint”, on the occasion of the Holy Mass in Saint Peter’s Square on Sunday 12 October 2025 at 10.30, will be present among the participating faithful, further enriching this moment of prayer and reflection. Entry to Saint Peter’s Square, on the occasion of the Eucharistic celebration, will be free of charge and no entry ticket is required. Enrolment to participate in the Jubilee event is already possible online (until 10 August 2025).
It will be the fourth time that the Statue has left the Shrine of Fatima to come to Rome: the first was in 1984 for the Extraordinary Jubilee of Redemption of 1984, when on 25 March Saint John Paul II consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; the second was during the Grand Jubilee of the Year 2000, and the third in October 2013, on the occasion of the Year of Faith with Pope Francis.
“The presence of the beloved original statue of Our Lady of Fatima will allow everyone to experience the closeness of the Virgin Mary”, emphasized the pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, Archbishop Rino Fisichella. “It is one of the most meaningful Marian icons for Christians all over the world who, as the Holy Father highlights in the Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee, Spes non confundit, venerate her as ‘the most affectionate of mothers, who never abandons her children’. Indeed, in Fatima the Virgin told the three little shepherds what she continues to assure each of us: ‘I will never leave you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the path that will lead you to God’”.
‘This statue leaves the Shrine of Cova da Iria only exceptionally, and only at the request of the Popes”, commented the Rector of the Shrine of Fatima, Fr. Carlos Cabecinhas “In this jubilee time, Our Lady of Fatima is the woman of Paschal joy, even in the painful times in which the world lives. Once again, the ‘Lady dressed in white’ will be a pilgrim of hope and, in Rome, she will be with the ‘bishop dressed in white’, as the shepherd children of Fatima affectionately called the Holy Father”.
The sculpture, work of the Portuguese artist José Ferreira Thedim, who created it in 1920, is usually preserved in the chapel of the apparitions of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. In fact, in that place, from the month of May until October 1917 Our Lady appeared six times to the shepherd children Lucia dos Santos, aged 10, Giacinta Marto, aged 7, and Francesco Marto, aged 9. The statue is 104 centimetres high and was carved from a cedar tree in Brazil, based on the indications given by the three little shepherds. It was solemnly crowned on 13 May 1946 and the bullet that struck John Paul II in the 1981 assassination attempt was later embedded in the crown.
PRESS OFFICE - JUBILEE 2025
Dicastery for Evangelization
Section for Fundamental Questions regarding Evangelization in the World press@iubilaeum2025.va
