On December 26-28, 2025, the youth and vocation ministry team of the Conventual Franciscan Delegation in Portugal hosted a “winter camp” retreat in Fátima. This intensive and meaningful event took place immediately after Christmas and offered the participants a time for silence, spiritual growth, prayer and fraternity.
The retreat was guided by Friars José Carlos CERDEIRA MATIAS and Andrea Paolo SCALVINI. Ten young people from various backgrounds participated. Some came from the Conventual Franciscan communities in Coimbra and Lisbon. Some were associated with the friary in Viseu, which is now closed, but still continues its active relationship with young people. Others came from Fátima and its surrounding areas. This diversity of backgrounds deeply enriched the group.
The members of the Fátima winter camp were accommodated at a retreat house run by the Secular Franciscan Order. It was a simple yet welcoming place that fostered a humble and fraternal lifestyle. The retreat program balanced periods of prayer with times for walking, listening, and sharing in order to avoid overloading and to leave room for interiority and connection.
The highlight of the winter camp was a spiritual pilgrimage inspired by the Little Shepherds of Fátima. The participants took part in a meditative Stations of the Cross at the sites of the Marian apparitions, namely, the Hungarian Calvary, the Loca do Cabeço, the villages of Aljustrel and Fátima Velha, and the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima. In these places, they were invited to reinterpret the Passion of Christ in light of the wounds of today’s world: war, violence, injustice, loneliness, and the silent suffering of so many people. During the pilgrimage, the Little Shepherds were not distant figures from the past, they emerged as authentic teachers of peace who show us a simple and radical path of faith.
The young people particularly enjoyed the periods of Eucharistic adoration and silence, which fostered a personal encounter with the Lord. One young woman wrote in her evaluation: “During adoration, I felt such a great and profound love that everything around me seemed to stop: in that moment, there was only me and Jesus.”
The Sisters of the Alliance of St. Mary, whose mission is to spread the message of Fatima, made a valuable contribution to the winter camp. Through their charism and profound knowledge of the spirituality of Fatima, they guided the young people with talks that helped them delve deeper into the life of the Little Shepherds and the message of peace entrusted to Fatima.
The winter camp concluded with the participants attending an international Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima. They were joined by Friar Tiago FIGO FREITAS who is currently living at the Sant’Antonio Dottore Friary in the San Massimo neighborhood of Padua, Italy, while he studies theology. They also visited the nearby “Casa das Candeias” [House of Candles- a mini museum/exhibition space dedicated to the Little Shepherds of Fátima].
The winter camp experience left the young people with a desire to continue their spiritual journey together and gave them a renewed perspective on their faith and their own lives.
Fátima once again proved to be a place that speaks to young people and helps them discover that peace begins in the heart and grows in the simplicity of the Gospel.
Friar José Carlos CERDEIRA MATIAS
