A leading
Portuguese bishop has told the parents of Madeleine McCann that he is willing
to negotiate their daughter's release.
The Bishop of the Algarve, Manuel
Neto Guintas, today offered to act as an intermediary between the McCanns and
their daughter's abductor if needed.
Bishop Guintas
appealed to the "heart and mind" of the abductor to bring the
four-year-old back. His appeal came as the McCanns marked yet another painful
milestone in their daughter's disappearance: it has been three weeks exactly
since the four-year-old was stolen from them as she lay sleeping.
Bishop Guintas said:
"Madeleine must be reunited with her parents as soon as possible. They are
going through terrible pain and I am willing to help in whatever way I can.
![](M2007/image022.jpg) |
Gone but not
forgotten: The McCanns praying for their own miracle - the return of their
beloved daughter Madeleine |
"If it comes to the point that a go-between is needed to negotiate her
release, then I am very happy to do that."
The bishop told a
Portuguese religious newspaper that he had written to the McCanns to offer his
support "in whatever form they required".
The bishop, who is
well known for his outspoken opinions and frequent media appearances.
Yesterday the McCanns
visited the famous Fatima shrine as they
continued their desperate prayers for their daughter's safety.
Madeleine was
snatched three weeks ago from her parents' apartment in Praia da Luz, a resort
just outside the town of Lagos on the Algarve.
When her mother Kate
visited Fatima, she held her missing
daughter's toy and a wellwisher's rose. All she had in her heart was hope.
But as she lit the
candle for Madeleine at one of the holiest sites in Europe,
Kate McCann was keeping that hope alive in the only way she could.
She stood side by
side with her husband Gerry at the Shrine of Fatima and prayed for a miracle.
Gently, she placed a kiss on the candle and left it among hundreds of others at
the Portuguese basilica.
Then she travelled
back to Praia da Luz to continue her agonising wait.
The couple's brief
pilgrimage to Fatima yesterday came on Day 20
of the search for Madeleine, another 24 hours without the news for which they
have been waiting.
![](M2007/image023.jpg) |
Determined: Gerry
McCann and wife Kate in Portugal |
. They have made a pilgrimage to the famous Portuguese shrine at Fatima to pray for a miracle
The McCanns joined
thousands of other pilgrims at the shrine in central Portugal, renowned as the site
where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared 90 years ago, and revered by
fellow Roman Catholics across the world.
Mary is said to have
shared three visions here with three shepherd children - a vision of hell; a
prediction of the Russian Revolution, the spread of Communism and the Second
World War; and the attempted assassination of a pope, taken to be a reference
to the shooting of Pope John Paul II in 1981.
No one had to ask the
McCanns what miracle vision they had in mind.
The couple arrived
after a four-hour drive from Praia da Luz and were escorted into the basilica
square. Their faces are familiar in Portugal and scenes that unfolded
around them were almost Biblical.
![](M2007/image024.jpg) |
In the spotlight: The
McCanns prepare to face the world |
Crowds parted to let
them pass. Then a multitude of well-wishers, TV cameras and applauding pilgrims
pursued them around the square before they disappeared to a private chapel to
pray alone.
After nearly an hour
they emerged to light their candle and place it with the others, along with
four more that various pilgrims had thrust into their hands.
Manuel Ines, who had
travelled to Fatima specifically to meet the
McCanns, held his 17-month-old great grandson aloft and invited them to kiss
him. Young Daniel duly received a kiss from the couple before they were swept
off to join a public Mass.
Here, in the Chapel
of Apparitions, they sat near a framed photograph of Madeleine, left several
days ago by an unknown pilgrim.
![](M2007/image025.JPG) |
Gerry and Kate McCann
at church again |
Monsenhor Luciano
Guerra, Rector of the Shrine, offered prayers for their daughter - and added a
message in Portuguese for families everywhere: "Let us pray to the Lord
for all the parents who do not have time to play with their children. Let us
summon the three little shepherds, for all the children that are away from
their homes, especially little Madeleine, so that Our Lady can keep these
children in her care."
He prayed for help
for those investigating Madeleine's disappearance, "so that this tragedy
can come to an end". And in a message to any abductor he added: "Let
us pray so that these vultures can be enlightened and converted."
Fatima is one of the places the McCanns have long wanted to visit, and they were
originally planning to fit in a trip during their holiday. How they must have
yearned to have been able to enjoy it as an anonymous family of five. This was
the first time since Madeleine, four, vanished that the couple have left Praia da Luz together,
except to give statements to police.
A family spokesman
told us: "Kate is anxious to get back as soon as possible because she
feels a strong connection to Madeleine there and a connection to the search.
"It's very hard
for her to leave. But they were very pleased to come here. Their faith is very
important to them and this was a profoundly moving and important spiritual
visit for them at this time.
"The fact that
so many people are praying for them and for Madeleine is enormously uplifting.
They take strength from every single prayer."
•Police have taken
fresh statements from suspect Robert Murat's girlfriend. Michaela Walczuch and
her husband Luis Antonio - with whom she still lives in a nearby town - were
taken for questioning at police headquarters in Portimao.
Police sources said
they were being treated as witnesses.
![](M2007/image026.JPG) |
Four-year-old Madeleine has been missing for three weeks
exactly today |
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