Over at Catholic Exchange there is a series of articles written by Dorothea and Wolfgang Koch about Fátima. They are focusing upon the artwork of the Dominican Friar Fr. Thomas McGlynn who sculpted the statue of Our Lady of Fátima that adorns the facade of the original Basilica in Fátima.

There is, however, a fact of Fr. McGlynn’s life that is not very well known.* When the Carmelites of Coimbra, Portugal published their biography of Sr. Lúcia, they revealed to the world a previously hidden fact.

When Fr. McGlynn was working with Sr. Lúcia (then Sr. Dores), he mentioned to her that he was going to Rome and will meet with the Holy Father (Pius XII). She asked him if he would give a letter to the Pope on her behalf, but requested to keep secret the fact of the letter. He agreed. She wrote the letter and gave it to McGlynn, who, in turn, gave it to the Holy Father

The letter was a request to enter the Carmelite Order, which Pius XII granted. Sr. Lúcia highly displeased Bishop José da Silva by this act. As she did nothing wrong, however, the Bishop was able to facilitate her entrance to the Carmel in 1948.

Here is the story from the Carmelites’ biography. I cannot recommend this book enough: get a copy!!

*In my opinion, this reason is due to a lack of wide dissemination of the Carmelites’ biography.