By Marcin ZatykaLisbon: It is like a tremendous coincidence or a classic movie with a happy ending that a young blind Spanish pilgrim who regained her sight during the World Youth Day (WYD) celebrations in Lisbon. The incident occurred at the time and location where the world’s attention has been focused for the past few days.
More than a century after the Fatima apparitions, the Catholic Church in Portugal is currently witnessing a remarkable new story during Pope Francis’ visit to the Marian shrine as part of the World Youth Day, which took place last month. From a medical standpoint, it has been challenging to explain the recovery of a nearly fully blind young adult from Spain up until this moment. The largest meeting of young Catholics in the world included a 16-year-old participant who claims to have regained her sight close to Fatima.
Ivo Santos, the parish priest of Evora de Alcobaca: Jimena claimed to have regained her sight and to be able to see the altar, the tabernacle, and her friends.According to Father Ivo Santos, the parish priest of Evora de Alcobaca, a little community in the west of Portugal, where the Madrid adolescent was healed, the surprising recovery occurred 40 kilometers away from one of the well-known Marian shrine frequented by more than 5 million visitors annually.
On August 5, 2023, Pope Francis met with one of the largest gatherings of young people in one European location, which will be remembered in the annals of the Catholic Church. Around 1.5 million people gathered in Lisbon’s Tejo Park for the prayer vigil that marked the conclusion of World Youth Day. In a secularised Europe, such a big number may be regarded as unusual.
World Youth Day, which was planned in the Lisbon metropolitan region, was a true occasion for the church to rejoice. Young people are frequently exposed to it, and some have had their lives affected by faith. The Lisbon WYD also demonstrated the involvement of several Portuguese Catholics in the event. We had been planning for this occasion for the past four years in our 4,000 parishioners. Several hundred locals, mostly young folks, took part.
The 5th of August will forever be remembered in Evora de Alcobaca. This is due to the surprising healing of Jimena, a 16-year-old Spanish girl who had attended the local parish’s World Youth Day event. Could you perhaps explain the details of this change, which swiftly gained attention in the Iberian media?
More than 600 Spanish girls, primarily from Pamplona and Madrid, visited our church, including Jimena. Additionally, there were as well young women from Malaga and Murcia, two other Spanish cities. They all arrived as members of the Opus Dei Prelature’s planned groupings. They were supporting her since, shortly after awakening more than two years ago, she abruptly lost practically all of her vision. During the Portuguese WYD, before the early Saturday morning Mass, Jimena arrived for the confession along with one of her friends. She then went to Holy Mass, the final Eucharistic celebration in our parish for the World Youth Day groups, where she was accompanied by her friends who were helping her both physically and spiritually. She received Holy Communion at the conclusion of the Eucharist, and shortly following, while crying out, Jimena claimed to have regained her sight and to be able to see the altar, the tabernacle, and her friends. She became aware that they were older…
The interior of the church where Jimena’s healing occurred.What was going on in the local church at the time? Did anyone else, outside Jimena and her closest friends, realise that such an unanticipated and quick healing had occurred?
The event unfolded shortly before the groups travelled to Lisbon for a vigil involving around 1.5 million young people and Pope Francis. Few first comprehended what had occurred when a girl seated on the second bench abruptly started to sob with delight. After the Mass, Jimena read the novena devotion to Our Lady of the Snows and then declared that she had regained her sight at a lectern close to the altar. Before traveling to Portugal, the girl prayed for recovery. On the ninth day, the final day of reciting this prayer, the unexpected cure happened precisely. The fact that Our Lady of the Snows’ feast day coincided with that day is peculiar.
Ironically, Our Lady of the Snows is both the patron saint of those who suffer from eye diseases and World Youth Day too. The WYD’s symbols also feature her portrait and the cross that Pope John Paul II gave to young people. You may argue this story is full of coincidences.
It is accurate. Before the Lisbon WYD, these emblems toured the entire country of Portugal. In our church, which is devoted to Saint James, the patron saint of Spain, they also visited our parish a few weeks ago. Another indication is the fact that the girl who was healed here is from Spain.
According to Cardinal Juan Jose Omella, President of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, Jimena’s healing was “a huge event; let us say a miracle for the young girl”. How accurate do you believe the statement to be concerning this phenomenon?
It is an interesting circumstance. Even though it will undoubtedly be examined for years before the Church acknowledges it, we should still think of it as an extraordinary occurrence. A medical exam must be completed before anything else. It will be done to demonstrate that a 16-year-old girl from Madrid had her eyes permanently healed. At our church, I think something extraordinary occurred. Here, not in the shrine of Fatima, where Pope Francis where staying at that time. In the first reports, some media associated Jimena’s healing to that famous sanctuary.
Why did an error occur?
There were numerous Spanish pilgrimage groups visiting Fatima at the time. On the other hand, this shrine is not too far from our parish. It might have served as a sort of reference for those who are unfamiliar with Portugal.
One of the prayers of the WYD in Lisbon.How did the WYD go in Evora de Alcobaca parish? How did Jimena and her pals feel about the present day?
In gatherings, entertainment, and prayer. These girls requested me to expose them to the Blessed Sacrament the day before Jimena’s healing. They spent an hour praying together on Friday night. The teen recovered some hours later.
Young people from every country in the entire world, with the exception of the Maldives, attended the Lisbon World Youth Day, according to statistics provided by the Portuguese Church. They went out across three dioceses in Portugal, serving parishes. What do you think about the parish meeting?
Both the local church and the youth who spent a week in Evora de Alcobaca found it to be a very positive experience. The Spanish girls, whom we warmly welcomed, gave a very good testimony of their faith and lived joyfully.
Are you shocked that towards the conclusion of WYD, a girl who had lost 95% of her sight was healed in a little Portuguese village outside of Lisbon?
Yes, it is only reasonable to make the connection to the 1917 apparitions in Fatima, which occurred close by. The odd incident also involves several very young people, and people’s initial responses are generally highly doubtful. We may state that in the case that took place in Evora de Alcobaca, some individuals are reserved for this phenomenon while others mock it. The people who have called me in the past few days have made various light-hearted jokes and have viewed Jimena’s recovery with pessimism. Similar responses were being made more than 100 years ago in the nearby Fatima.
Has there ever been a case in Evora de Alcobaca that is scientifically impossible to explain?
Not this sort. In the ten years I have been serving as a parish priest here, there have not been any instances where someone with a major impairment miraculously recovered her health. The only exceptions have been a few cases of conversions. A very unusual incident was Jimena regaining her sight at the conclusion of the World Youth Day in Lisbon.
Cover Picture: The healing of Jimena happened in a church in the Portuguese village Evora de Alcobaca.
Because of obvious and security reasons, parents of Jimena declined media permission request to publish her photo.
This article was published in “Przewodnik Katolicki” weekly magazine, n. 35/2023. The article is reprinted here with permission.
Marcin Zatyka holds a PhD in international relations, besides being a political scientist, and a journalist. He’s a Correspondent for the Polish Press Agency in Portugal and Spain. He has published, among others, in ABC, Diario de Noticias, Folha de S. Paulo and in The Warsaw Voice.