LISBON: The Marian pilgrimage to Fatima this year will be held virtually due to Covid-19 restrictions, announced Cardinal António dos Santos Marto of Leiria-Fátima. Cardinal Marto, whose diocesean area covers the pilgrim site, asked Catholics to spiritually conduct the eight-day pilgrimage that started on March 14. Throughout the year thousands of Catholics travel to Fatima in Portugal, where the Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared to three shepherd children in 1917. The eight-day pilgrimage attracts crowds from around the globe but the nature of the pilgrimage was changed to safeguard the common good of people’s health, Cardinal Marto said in a pastoral letter.