The 86-year-old prayed the rosary with around 200,000 pilgrims in Fatima (Picture: Rex/Getty)

Pope Francis has visited a revered Catholic shrine in Portugal known for apocalyptic prophesies of hell, peace and Soviet communism that have found new relevance with Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The 86-year-old prayed the rosary with around 200,000 pilgrims in Fatima, where the Church says the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children in 1917.

The Vatican had said Francis would pray for peace in Ukraine while there, but he skipped a highly-anticipated speech expected to be the centrepiece of the occasion.

He has shortened several speeches or veered off-script since the trip started on Wednesday, including one put down to having trouble with his glasses.

But Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni dismissed concerns over the pope’s eyesight, saying Francis ‘always addresses firstly the people he meets, as a shepherd, and speaks accordingly’.

The Argentine pontiff often deviates from his prepared remarks, even more when speaking in his native Spanish.

Fatima Bishop Jose Ornelas made a prayer for Ukraine explicit in his remarks.

‘We associate ourselves to Your Holiness’ prayer for peace, for which this sanctuary is profoundly identified, thinking in particular of the war in Ukraine and so many other conflicts in the world,’ he said.

Pope Francis delivers final remarks to pilgrims and members of the faithful at the end of his prayers in Apparitions Chapel at the Sanctuary of Fatima (Picture: Getty)

Francis visits the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima on August 5 (Picture: ABACA/Shutterstock)

The event took place on the fourth day of the Pope’s Apostolic Journey to Portugal for World Youth Day 2023 (Picture: ABACA/Shutterstock)

The pope greeted dozens of people individually as an aide slowly pushed his wheelchair through the crowd, stopping often to kiss babies and comfort the sick (Picture: ABACA/Shutterstock)

Francis met a group of Ukrainian students at the Universidade Catolica Portugesa in Lisbon (Picture: Vatican Media/IPA/SplashNews.com)

Francis later greeted dozens of people individually as an aide slowly pushed his wheelchair through the crowd, stopping often to kiss babies and comfort the sick.

He then made his way back to a helicopter transporting him to the next event on his five-day trip to Portugal, where he has been presiding over World Youth Day celebrations.

Fatima has captivated Catholics since the children’s first reported vision of the Virgin Mary on May 13, 1917.

According to tradition, Portuguese siblings Francisco and Jacinta Marto and their cousin Lucia said the Virgin Mary appeared to them six times and confided to them three secrets.

Pope Francis visits the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima (Picture: ABACA/Shutterstock)

The first two described an apocalyptic image of hell, foretold the end of World War I and the start of World War II, and portended the rise and fall of Soviet communism.

The third was known only to Lucia and the popes, and intrigued the world for more than three-quarters of a century, inspiring books and cults convinced it was the timing of the end of the world.

In 2000, the Vatican said it was a prediction of the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul on May 13, the same day of the first reported apparition in 1917.

The children were between seven and 10 years old at the time. Francisco and Jacinta died several years later and were declared saints in 2017.

Lucia became a nun and died in 2005 at the age of 97. Efforts are underway to make her a saint too.

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The 86-year-old prayed the rosary with around 200,000 pilgrims at the revered Catholic shrine of Fatima in Portugal.