GENERAL NOTICES
1.1. Given that the Organisation of the Meeting is not responsible for any expenses related to travel assistance, healthcare, repatriation and any other expenses, you should consider, if you see fit, to subscribe a travel insurance policy before leaving for Portugal.
1.2. When preparing the suitcases, one should write in the respective label the following information: the number, name and address of the hotel/house where will be lodged, as indicated on the voucher. This is so that, in the event of a loss of luggage, its recovery may be made easier.
1.3. It is very important to travel with and have the voucher to present it in the first contact with the Organisation of the Meeting. This may be either (1) in Fatima, directly in Hotels, for those who arrive by own means or organised by the respective supra-regions; or (2) at the air terminals in Lisbon or in Porto for those who arrive to the city on the same day and have requested transportation to Fatima, or (3) for those who arrived one or more days before, in the cities where they have instructions to present themselves at a specific time on 16 July, and then take road transport to Fatima.
1.4. The 16 July is the welcoming day in Fatima, in the hotels, and the first meal served is dinner, starting from 7:00 p.m. As such, it is very important that you arrive at the hotel as early as possible. We count on your cooperation for this purpose.
1.5. In the hotel, you will receive a Kit with various items, which you can appreciate over time. However, the most important and immediate thing to do is to put on the identification badge and collect the meal voucher for the dinner on 16 July, which is the only meal served on that day.
1.6. Inside the Kit, which is distributed in the hotels to each Couple and Spiritual Counsellor, is the ‘participant’s guide’, which should be read carefully, as soon as possible, given the important warnings and recommendations that are provided there for all moments of the Meeting. It should not be mistaken with the liturgical guide, which is in the same book but on the opposite side.
1.7. The dinner, for which the respective meal voucher must be presented in the Kit, should be brief so that there is time to be present at the concentration, next to the Cruz Alta, at 8:30 p.m. – location indicated on the map – with the badges put on and with the coloured kerchiefs, also distributed in the Kit, around the neck so that we could begin the long-awaited Opening ceremony. You should, if possible, arrive a little earlier at Cruz Alta.
1.8. Remember that at the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity no one will be allowed to enter for the opening ceremony if they are not wearing the identification badge. This is important for a number of reasons, including safety and security. This individual identification badge must be worn by each participant from the first to the very last moment of the Meeting.
1.9. As from the first moment of the Meeting, the timetable will be rigorously respected, so everyone should be aware of the necessary punctuality.
2 – NOTICES TO THE CLERGY
2.1. All ordained ministers must bring the identification card (celebret) to Fatima in order to be recognised as such.
2.2. Priests and Deacons must bring with them an alb and a cincture.
2.3. In the Kit distributed in the hotels, all the ordained ministers will find a white stole with the symbol of the Meeting that will be used in all the liturgical celebrations where it is necessary.
2.4. The stoles will all be equal and indistinct and, as such, the Deacons must make their own adaptation with a pin that should be brought for that purpose.
2.5. The Shrine of Fatima will provide the Bishops with the necessary vestments for the various celebrations of the Meeting.
2.6. On the first day, 16 July, for the opening ceremony of the Meeting, it will not be necessary for the ordained ministers to take the alb and stole to the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, given that the ceremony does not include any liturgical celebration.
2.7. On the other days, there will always be the Holy Mass at the times defined in the program distributed.
2.8. The Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity is where most of the activities will take place during the week and, with the exception of the closing ceremony on 21 July, will be the place where all the Eucharistic celebrations of the Meeting will be celebrated.
2.9. The Presbytery of the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity has only 120 seats. As such, out of the 400-ish presbyters who concelebrate each celebration, only about 100 will be able to sit in the presbytery next to the Bishops. The rest will have to sit in the front rows of the Assembly as indicated by the local order service.
2.10. It will be indicated to each priest the day and the celebration, where he may, if possible, sit in the presbytery. We will try to have every priest sit in the presbytery in at least one Eucharistic celebration of the week. It is not, however, guaranteed that this will be possible, depending on the number of Bishops who may be present in each celebration.
2.11. All ordained ministers must gather in the sacristy to put on their liturgical vestments, up to 15 minutes before each celebration. It will not be guaranteed access to the presbytery to those who do not respect this minimum advance.
2.12. Only the ordained ministers who will sit in the presbytery will be part of the procession to the altar at the moment of entry. The rest should start entering on their own, 15 minutes before the celebration, to kiss the altar and head for the first rows lines of the Assembly.
2.13. The ordinary form of the Roman Rite will always be used in every celebration. All priests are urged to bring the abbreviated missal of their own language so that they can accompany the common parts of Holy Mass.
2.14. Only the last liturgical celebration, on 21 July, the day of the closing of the Meeting, will be celebrated in the Prayer Area of the Shrine. On that day, the ordained ministers must present themselves at 10.15 a.m. at the latest, behind the chapel of the apparitions, in order to have access to the liturgical vestment of the sanctuary and to participate in the procession and celebration of the Eucharist. They must carry with them their respective alb, cincture and stole that will use in the celebration.
2.15. At the Adoration Vigil from 19 to 20 July (Thursday to Friday) it is necessary to guarantee the service of confession in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary from 11:00 p.m. and throughout the night. With the generosity of those who administer the gifts of God, priests are urged to make themselves available to confess in the languages in which they can do so.
2.16. It is furthermore recommended that priests who, during the Meeting, are informally approached to attend in confession, do so without prejudice to the general dynamics of the Meeting.
3 – TO THOSE WHO REQUESTED TRANSPORTATION FATIMA
3.1. Only those participants who requested it in due time and whose requests are duly registered by the Meeting Organisation are entitled to road transportation from Lisbon or Oporto to Fatima.
3.2. In order to benefit from the road transportation to Fatima, from the cities where they are, Lisbon or Oporto, it is necessary to present the respective voucher where information about the transfer is made available.
3.3. The voucher must be printed on paper. There will be no possibility of printing vouchers at the buses departure points.
3.4. For those arriving in Portugal by plane or by train on 16 July, there will be a staff from the Organising Team in the various terminals who will forward the participants to the respective buses as they arrive.
3.5. Those who arrived before 16 July to Lisbon or Oporto must present themselves at the place and time of that day, as indicated in the voucher, where there will be a staff of the Organising Team, duly identified with vests, to help the participants to get on the buses that will take them to Fatima.
3.6. Please note that the indications on the place and time of departure of the bus for Fatima made available on the voucher must be strictly followed. As these indications vary according to the address of the participant’s accommodation in Fatima they may, therefore, differ from the information given to other couples who may have travelled together to the city.
3.7. Please note that the Organisation does not guarantee transportation to Fatima to those who have not presented themselves at the place and time indicated on the voucher for this purpose.
3.8. Attention is drawn to the participants who will arrive at Lisbon or Oporto by train who must read their vouchers carefully, because in some cases, depending on the time, they may have to go by their own means to the city airport to catch them the bus bound for Fatima. For this purpose, there are public transports, namely the metropolitan, that connect the rail and air terminals of the city.
3.9. At the entrance to the bus to Fatima, it will be necessary to read the barcode of the transportation voucher to identify the participant and his place of destination. We therefore kindly ask you to have this document easily ready to expedite the reading of the barcode and allow a smooth entry into the buses.
3.10. Upon arrival at Fatima, the bus will stop at a park near the Paulo VI Centre where a staff of the Organising Team will enter the bus. This person will accompany the participants through the distribution route of the hotels.
3.11. Participants should only leave the bus when the number and name of their hotel are announced.
4 – TO THOSE WHO REQUESTED TRANSPORT ON THE LAST DAY FROM FATIMA TO THE CITIES
4.1. Only those participants who requested it in due time and whose requests are duly registered by the Meeting Organisation are entitled to road transportation from Fatima to the cities.
4.2. The number and time of departure of the bus from Fatima to Lisbon or Oporto are inscribed on the back of each participant’s badge.
4.3. It is essential to present the badge at the time of entry into the bus from Fatima so that it can be properly checked.
4.4. Participants leaving Fatima on buses at night or at dawn, meaning before 8:30 a.m. on 21 July, must be aware of the instructions that will be given to them by the couple responsible for the house on the day before departure and which will be posted on the dashboard of the respective hotel or house on 20 July.
4.5. Participants departing from Fatima after 8:30 am on 21 July must take their respective bus to the city at park 12 of the Shrine. Park 12 is located next to the Paul VI Centre, where the EXPO tent is. Participants must use their own means or the internal transport that will circulate in Fatima, as indicated on the map of the dashboard of the house/hotel.
4.6. The network of the internal transport network of Fatima will be different on the last day, to facilitate the displacement of the participants with luggage to the place of departure of the buses indicated in the previous point. For that reason, it is advisable to consult the updated map of the internal transport of Fatima that will be placed on 20 July in the dashboard of each house/hotel, with the new lines of internal circulation in Fatima.
4.7. In park 12 of the Shrine of Fatima, where all duly-numbered buses will be before the time of departure, there will be a staff of the Organising Team. This person will help to direct the participants to their respective buses.
4.8. Buses will depart from Fatima sharply at the scheduled time: As such, participants should be present themselves 20 minutes before the departure time, in said park 12, where the bus will be prepared to leave.
4.9. It is important that no one misses the flight or the train in the destination city, which is why no delays of travellers can be tolerated from the Fatima departures to the cities of Lisbon or Oporto.
4.10. The Organisation is not responsible for any inconvenience that any participant may have if missing his respective bus because of not showing up at the time and at the place of his departure!
4.11. Buses heading to Lisbon airport will stop at Terminal 1, so participants who have their flights from Terminal 2 must exit and take the internal airport shuttle.
4.12. All other participants who travel to Lisbon without a flight scheduled for 21 July will be dropped off at Estação do Oriente where there are several public transportation alternatives to the city centre (train, underground, buses and cabs). Exceptionally, due to operational reasons defined by the Organisation, participants may be left at the Lisbon airport.
4.13. All participants going to Oporto will be dropped off at the city airport. If a participant is leaving Oporto by train from Campanhã train station, he has to leave at the airport by his own means and arrange public transportation (underground or cab) to get to the train station. In these cases, the bus departure times from Fatima will take into consideration the necessary time for this displacement between the Airport and the train station.