Manuel Nunes Formigão Júnior (; 1 January 1883 – 30 January 1958) was a Portuguese

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest. Formigão was one of the first people to look into the phenomenon of the apparitions of

Our Lady of Fátima Our Lady of Fátima (, ; formally known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Fátima) is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus, based on the Marian apparitions reported in 1917 by three shepherd children at the Cova da Iria in Fátima, Portu ...

, having been the clergyman sent by the Diocese of Leiria in 1917 to question the three little shepherd children Lúcia dos Santos and

Francisco and Jacinta Marto Francisco de Jesus Marto (11 June 1908 – 4 April 1919) and Jacinta de Jesus Marto (5 March 1910 – 20 February 1920) were siblings from Aljustrel, a small hamlet near Fátima, Portugal, who, with their cousin Lúcia dos Santos (1907–2 ...

to ascertain the veracity of the apparitions. He later became the founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Reparation of Our Lady of Fatima, in 1927. Formigão was the first promoter and the most prolific early writer on the Fátima apparitions, and dedicated himself to the construction of its theological and ideological interpretation, which the senior hierarchy of the Catholic Church officially acknowledged and disseminated from 1930. Ernesto Sena de Oliveira,

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Bishop of Coimbra The Diocese of Coimbra () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Coimbra, Portugal. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Braga. From 1472, the bishop of Coimbra held the comital title of Count of Arganil, being thus called Bishop- ...

, considered Formigão the "most fitting, most efficient and most decisive instrument of divine providence to bring into high relief the events at

Cova da Iria Cova da Iria is a quarter in the city and civil parish of Fátima, in Portugal. Most of the reported apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to three shepherd children from the town took place here in 1917. This neighborhood is considered a ...

Manuel Gonçalves Cerejeira Manuel Gonçalves Cerejeira, GCC, GCSE, GCIH (29 November 1888, Lousado, Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal – 1 August 1977, Benfica, Lisbon, Portugal) was a Portuguese cardinal who served as Patriarch of Lisbon from 1929 to 1971. He was t ...

, Cardinal-Patriarch of Lisbon, described him as "the great apostle of Fátima". The cause for his

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon ca ...

was officially opened in 2000. He is

venerated Veneration (; ), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions. Veneration of saints is practiced, ...

in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, having been officially recognised as having lived a life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is the translation of a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs. The phrase is used by the Roman Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman a ...

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

in 2018 and he is now referred to as "

Venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...

". On 28 January 2017, Formigão's remains were reinterred, from the Fátima local cemetery, in a mausoleum in Casa de Nossa Senhora das Dores (of the Congregation of the Sisters of Reparation); a

Requiem Mass A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is u ...

was celebrated in the Basilica of the Holy Trinity for the occasion, presided by the Bishop of Leiria-Fátima, António Marto.

"Miracle of the Sun" witness

On 13 October 1917 Formigão witnessed the

Miracle of the Sun The Miracle of the Sun (), also known as the Miracle of Fátima, is a series of events reported to have occurred miraculously on 13 October 1917, attended by a large crowd who had gathered in Fátima, Portugal, in response to a prophecy made by ...

and described it "As if like a bolt from the blue, the clouds were wrenched apart, and the sun at its zenith appeared in all its splendor. It began to revolve vertiginously on its axis, like the most magnificent firewheel that could be imagined, taking on all the colors of the rainbow and sending forth multicolored flashes of light, producing the most astounding effect. This sublime and incomparable spectacle, which was repeated three distinct times, lasted for about ten minutes. The immense multitude, overcome by the evidence of such a tremendous prodigy, threw themselves on their knees." — De Marchi, John. ''True Story of Fatima'', Catechetical Guild Educational Society, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1956
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Formigao, Manuel Nunes 1883 births 1958 deaths 19th-century Portuguese people 20th-century Portuguese people 19th-century Portuguese Roman Catholic priests 20th-century Portuguese Roman Catholic priests Our Lady of Fátima People from Tomar Portuguese venerated Catholics Venerated Catholics by Pope Francis