Pope to consecrate Russia to Virgin Mary inspired by century-old Fatima prophecy

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Pope Francis announced Tuesday that he will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, fulfilling a 1917 vision purportedly revealed to Portuguese children that such a blessing would usher in a period of world peace.

The consecration will take place on March 25 and will be done at Saint Peter's Basilica. The blessing will coincide with the Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord, a Catholic feast day.

The pontiff wrote on Twitter, "On Friday 25 March, during the Celebration of Penance at 17.00 in Saint Peter's Basilica, I will consecrate #Russia and #Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. #PrayTogether #Peace."

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Pope Francis made the connection to the Fatima prophecy explicit, with high-ranking officials in the Vatican stating that an identical blessing will be given from the famous Portuguese town at the same time as the pope's consecration.

Director of the Holy See Press Office Matteo Bruni said in a statement to Vatican News, "The same act, on the same day, will be performed in Fatima by Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, papal almoner."

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On July 13, 1917, the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to a group of shepherds in Fatima, Portugal, to whom she gave three secrets to be revealed to the world.

The trio, a group of child shepherds, claimed to have been visited six times by the Virgin Mary. The children described three visions they say were given to them – one of hell, one of the end to World War I, and a final vision of an unnamed pope being killed by gunfire, as well as angels sprinkling blood of Christian martyrs on the deceased.

However, a clause of the second vision has remained under scrutiny – a request to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The apparition allegedly told the children that a consecration of Russia would stop the nation's "errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecution of the Church." 

If the consecration did not happen, the apparition claimed "the good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be destroyed."

Catholics have debated for decades both the validity of the Our Lady of Fatima apparitions and whether this specific consecration was performed.

Pope Pius XII consecrated the entire world in 1942, and followed it with a similar blessing in 1952, this time for "all the peoples of Russia." In 1964, then-pope Paul VI renewed the Russian consecration during the Second Vatican Council. Pope John Paul II also composed a prayer of "entrustment" for Russia in 1981.

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Pope Francis' consecration will take place on March 25 and will be done at Saint Peter's Basilica. (Reuters)

Rivers of blood and tears are flowing in Ukraine," Pope Francis has said of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. "It is not merely a military operation, but a war which sows death, destruction and misery. The number of victims is increasing, as are the people fleeing, especially mothers and children."'

Shortly after the outbreak of hostilities last month, Pope Francis made the extraordinary papal gesture of going to the Russian embassy in Rome to express his concern about the war.

The pope's exhortation echoed that of more than 280 Russian Orthodox clergy, who signed an open letter urging for an end to the "fratricidal war" in Ukraine, as of Sunday.

"We mourn the ordeal to which our brothers and sisters in Ukraine were undeservedly subjected," the letter read, according to a translation in The Christian Post.

Fox News's Jon Brown contributed to this report.