Today’s painful milestone follows
several days of intensive press and
television interviews by the couple, who
have mounted a 12 month global campaign
to ensure Madeleine does not become just
another statistic on the list of
disappeared youngsters. The pair
continue to lobby for a Europe wide
alert system for missing children.
But
there are signs they may now try to
return to some kind of normality, if
only for the sake of their other
children, three-year-old twins
Sean and
Amelie.
“We take it day by day,” said Mr McCann, 39. “We will do what’s right for ourselves and the twins.”
Mrs McCann said: “It’s a difficult day, but ... you kind of think it’s just another day, really. I don’t think we’ll know until the morning what feels right.”
Friends and supporters of the McCann’s
are planning to light candles , lights
and lanterns around the country between
9.15pm and 10pm tonight - the time Kate
and Gerry McCann say their daughter, -
just a few days shy of her
fourth
birthday, was abducted from their
holiday
apartment
in the Portuguese
resort of
Praia da Luz.
The
group Helping to Find Madeleine has
urged people to “light the way home” for
the her and already
Everton Football
Club has said it will shine its
floodlights into the sky. Mrs McCann is
an Everton supporter and one of the last
photographs taken of her daughter showed
her in the club’s blue shirt.
The 40-year-old GP said: “We think lighting a candle or lantern is a lovely idea. We are very grateful to everyone who remembers Madeleine at this time.”
Mr
McCann’s brother John and other
relatives are travelling to Praia da Luz
on the couple’s behalf, and will attend
a vigil in the Algarve town’s
Church of
Our Lady of Light. Here photographs of
Madeleine have been displayed near a
candle which has been kept lit for
almost a year. Mrs McCann has written a
message for the congregation which will
be read out by her brother.
Madeleine’s parents have not been back to Portugal since being made official suspects in her disappearance last September.
Meanwhile the
Archbishop of York
has
written a prayer to mark Madeleine’s
disappearance from the
Ocean Club
apartment, where she and the twins had
been left for the evening by Mr and Mrs
McCanns.
Dr
John Sentamu says a daily prayer for
Madeleine and keeps a candle burning
next to a picture of her.
His prayer reads: “Father God, we pray for Madeleine McCann, keep her safe and take away her fear and anxiety.
“May
your holy angels guard and protect her.
We pray that she may be reunited with
those who love her. Give hope to all her
loved ones and hear our cry for her safe
return.”
* The McCanns have appealed for anyone with evidence to call their private investigators on 0845 8384699.
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