Francisco Marto

Francisco Marto was born on 11 June 1908 in the hamlet of Aljustrel, in the parish of Fátima in the district of Santarém, central Portugal. He was a son of the farmer Manuel Pedro Marto and of Olímpia de Jesus, and he grew up in a devout rural Catholic household typical of the Serra de Aire. Like many children of the region he helped tend sheep. He was the older brother of Jacinta Marto (born 1910) and a first cousin of Lúcia dos Santos. Later memoirs, especially those of Lúcia, describe him as a quiet, somewhat reserved boy who enjoyed playing a simple reed flute and who was less talkative and less assertive than his younger sister. He received little formal schooling.

In 1916 the three children reported that an angel, later identified in their accounts as the Angel of Peace or the Guardian Angel of Portugal, appeared to them near Aljustrel and at the Loca do Cabeço, teaching prayers of adoration and reparation and encouraging sacrifice. Between May and October 1917, Francisco, Jacinta, and Lúcia stated that they had seen the Virgin Mary at the Cova da Iria, a pasture belonging to Lúcia’s family. According to their testimony the apparitions occurred on the thirteenth day of each month, except in August, when the children were detained by the civil administrator of Ourém and the reported apparition took place on the nineteenth at Valinhos. Francisco later explained that he saw the Lady but did not hear her speak; Lúcia communicated the messages to him. The events drew growing crowds and official scrutiny. On 13 October 1917 a large gathering at the Cova da Iria reported unusual solar phenomena, later called the Miracle of the Sun, which became central to the public history of Fátima.

After the apparitions Francisco’s piety took a distinctive form. He spoke of wanting to console Our Lord, whom he believed was saddened by the sins of the world, and he spent long periods in prayer, often before the tabernacle in the parish church. He received his First Holy Communion. The children undertook penances, some of which their parents and later ecclesiastical investigators regarded as severe for their age. Francisco did not claim to have heard the Virgin’s words himself and was less involved in repeating the messages than Lúcia, but he accepted the requests for prayer, especially the rosary, and for sacrifices offered for the conversion of sinners and for peace. The First World War was then still underway, and the reported messages included a call for the consecration of Russia and warnings of further suffering if people did not convert—elements that later shaped worldwide Fatima devotion.

In the autumn of 1918 the influenza pandemic known as the Spanish flu reached the Fátima area. Francisco fell ill and never fully recovered. His health declined through the winter of 1918–1919. He died at home in Aljustrel on 4 April 1919, not yet eleven years old, and was buried the following day in the cemetery of the parish of Fátima. In March 1952 his remains were translated to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary at the shrine of Fátima, where they rest near those of his sister Jacinta, who died in 1920. The bishop of Leiria formally approved the Fatima apparitions as worthy of belief in 1930. Francisco and Jacinta were beatified by Pope John Paul II on 13 May 2000 at Fátima and canonized by Pope Francis on 13 May 2017, also at Fátima. They are commemorated liturgically on 20 February and are among the youngest persons canonized by the Catholic Church who were not martyrs.