Vatican begins beatification process for Fatima visionary

On Wednesday evening in the cathedral of Coimbra, Portugal, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins CMF, president of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, presided at a Mass marking the third anniversary of the death of Sister Lucia dos Santos on of the Fatima visionaries. Following the ceremony, Cardinal Martins announced that the Holy Father Benedict XVI, had accepted a request presented by Bishop Albino Mamede Cleto of Coimbra and shared by many bishops and faithful throughout the world, waiving the five-year waiting period established by canonical norms (art. 9 of "Normae servandae") and granting that, just three years after Sister Lucia's death, the diocesan stage of the cause for her beatification may begin. Source: VIS