The Priests

She says not.  
And given that it was a couple of minutes chat on a towel on the beach and that she had no idea it would be be written up at all, let alone inflated into a whole article in an obscure Women's Magazine – largely because she had almost nothing to say – I can believe her.

Tuesday 8th May 2007

We had been given a key to the church so that we could go there and pray whenever we wished.

We cherished these little oases of relative peace and solitude. One night early in the week – I think it was that Tuesday evening – while we were praying privately at Nossa Senhora da Luz, Gerry had an extraordinary spiritual experience. He suddenly became aware of a long tunnel with light at the far end of it. He felt himself enter the tunnel and, as he went deeper and deeper inside, it became wider and wider and brighter and brighter. He had never known anything like this before and he immediately interpreted it as a sign urging us to do absolutely everything within our power to find Madeleine ourselves.

From that moment he was convinced that we did not have to sit back passively, issuing statements and waiting for others to bring her home. We needed to take the initiative. Straight away he shared this revelation with me and tried to explain what it meant to him. We had to start right now to mobilize all the resources available to us.

His ‘vision’ – I don’t know what else to call it – in that beautiful little church had a huge impact on Gerry. It was this experience that laid the foundations of our organized campaign to find our daughter.

Autobiographical Novel by Kate McCann

You have to wonder about Father David Heal and his ethereal presence.  By all appearances he is another product of sensationalism at the hand of First magazine - the same publication who sensationalised the story of Vicky and Louie Boyd, portrayed as key witnesses.  

Original Source: FIRST MAGAZINE -19-25 MAY 2007

MADDIE'S GRANDMA
Don't accuse Maddie's mum of child neglect

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Will Maddies mum ever recover ?

By Jane Johnston Editorial director

We have been following every heart rendering development of the search for little Madeleine McCann who went missing so suddenly in Portugal. Her poor mother Kate has suffered so much pain. Loosing her daughter in a place where she thought her children were safe must have taken her to hell and back.

She has been criticised for leaving Maddie alone while she had dinner with her husband Gerry. But her mother Susan Healy  has come to her defence, saying " They know this was a mistake. But it was not child neglect. The children are the most important things in their lives"

Should we ever leave our children alone? What are your views? And will Maddies poor mother ever stop blaming herself? Lets hope she finds some peace.

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We feel so much for Maddies mum

By Vicky and Louie Boyd

Little Madeleine McCann was snatched from her bed two weeks ago - just before her fourth birthday - while she slept in a ground - floor  holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort of Pria Da Luz. The day before she disappeared. Maddie spent an idyllic afternoon playing in the sun with three -year old Louie Boyd. Here, Louie's mum Vicky shares her story with first

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SOMEONE'S TAKEN MADELINE KATE WAILED OVER AND OVER

Anglican priest Father David Heal arrived with and his wife Pam

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....................

This is where it gets interesting .... Kate McCann's version of the truth.

Night of 3rd/4th May 2007

Meanwhile, desperate for God’s intervention, for ourselves and for Madeleine,

I asked the resort staff if they might be able to find a priest to come and pray with us and support us. I think they tried, but either they couldn’t contact anyone or there was no priest available, so I carried on praying on my own. The pain, terror and the suffocating helplessness I felt are indescribable. There just aren’t the words to adequately convey such torment.

Just after 2am, I spoke to my friend Father Paul Seddon, the priest who had married Gerry and me and baptized Madeleine. He offered me words of comfort and then prayed for our little girl.

madeleine by KATE MCCANN

Wouldn't you think Ms Healy would remember such a memorable incident, an event so important to her faith ?!?  

Not so - apparently ....

Verdi wrote:You have to wonder about Father David Heal and his ethereal presence.  

As I said above, he simply wasn't 'present', etherially or otherwise.

The claim that he was, was a flat-out lie by Guzmaroli, facilitated by Vicky Boyd, whom I must insist was complicit in this fraud - to what degree, we may never know.

It is interesting that upthread, a few posts ago, a CMOMM poster really believed that Father Heal had been actually present there that night - a lie that has lodged in the minds even of some here: "The power of a believable lie".

Just like other 'believable lies' in this case, e.g.

Mrs Pamela Fenn: "I heard a child older than two years old crying on Tuesday night, for 75 minutes, getting louder and louder all the time"

Mr Martin Smith: "I am sure it was Gerry McCann I saw carrying a blonde child of about four years of age down towards the beach about 10pm on Thursday"  

Nuno Lourenco: "Wojcek Krokowski tried to abduct my daughter at Sagres"

Jon Clarke: "I got a call about 6am on Friday to rush over to Praia da Luz"

...and so on

Publication: Daily Post (Liverpool, England)
Date: May 9, 2007

THE parents of missing Madeleine McCann yesterday made a private visit to church to pray for their daughter's safe return.

The couple walked hand in hand into the church of Nossa Senhora Da Luz (Our Lady of Light) at lunchtime, again clutching Madeleine's favourite soft toy and a picture of the missing three-year-old.

Mrs McCann walked with her head bowed as they entered the church by a back door.

The McCanns have said their Catholic faith has offered them hope and strength during the ordeal which began last Thursday when Madeleine vanished from their apartment on the Algarve.

They prayed with Portuguese members of the congregation.

Shortly after Madeleine's disappearance they also spent time with the local Anglican priest, Father David Heal, whose congregation meets in the same church after the Catholic service.

After 20 minutes, the couple emerged and walked around 50 yards without speaking before getting into a waiting car.

Holy Trinity

by May I

Friday, 17 December 2010

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Listening to an early interview with Janet and Brian Kennedy, Kate McCanns’s aunt and uncle, a helpful priest was mentioned.

The name of the Anglican priest was David…. David? I didn’t remember a David. What I did recall was Father Pacheco, who gave the McCanns the keys to the Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz, most known as the PdL Church, and supposedly left a broken man, weighed down by the burden of Kate’s confession.

Then there was Haynes Hubbard and his wife, who arrived soon after Madeleine's disappearance, befriended the McCanns; to whom they returned the said keys.

I also remembered Paul Seddon, the Catholic priest who married the McCanns; an old golfing pal of Gerry. He was the priest Kate called on the night that Madeleine went missing. They spoke to him on the phone, according to an interview with The Tablet on June 16th, 2007.

It was in this interview the name of Father Pacheco is cleverly linked with Seddon’s name. They talked of him saying the rosary with them a later date; then, the article adds “The Parish Priest also gave the McCanns the keys to the Church so that they could pray there alone in the evenings.”

You see, it doesn’t say it was Father Pacheco, but it certainly implies it was to any reader. Father Pacheco’s statement of Oct 30th. 2007. gives a mixed message: “He (Father Pacheco) gave them the key to the church on the 7th or 8th of May, on the suggestion of John Geraghty, a resident of the parish, so that they could go calmly to church without any pressure. Someone from the Church gave the key to John Geraghty, who then passed it onto the McCanns with Father Pacheco’s permission.”

He does not remember the date upon which the key was returned. However, Father Pacheco later denied that he had made any decision to hand the keys to the McCanns. In an article dated Dec 13th, 2007, by Cecilia Pires, for The Algarve Resident, she writes: “Father Pacheco ensures that “Priest have no power to order anything in our churches. We have an entity for that, which is the Conselho Pastoral, where the catholic community is represented…………….With regards to the key to the Praia da Luz Church that the McCanns were given after Madeleine went missing…..”That was a decision made by the Conselho Pastoral and I only knew about it three days later "”

How many people were members of the Conselho Pastoral and how many were required to make this decision? Could it be that only one person made this decision?

David seems to have been airbrushed from history, often a sign that something interesting lurks.

The Reverend David W Heal was the priest at St Vincent’s; the Anglican name of the same church which was shared with the Catholic congregation.

According to reports in Correio da Manhã, Sep 19th, 2009: “The keys to the Church , which members of the parish decided to lend to the couple a few days after Madeleine’s disappearance…. were returned to the Anglican priest…who befriended the couple". However, Hubbard‘s comment on the returning of the keys was ambiguous “I agree that the parish decided to lend them the church keys” . He didn’t reveal it was to him that the couple returned the keys.”

The McCanns were reported to have handed the keys over without saying goodbye to Father Pacheco, so it certainly wasn’t him they were returned to. Even so, Father Pacheco seems to have been severely chastised by his superiors.

He denied taking confessions from the McCanns in his statement, so perhaps he left feeling used and abused. It’s hard to believe any burden he may have carried came from the unlikely event of confessions, but there may have been other reasons.

From what I know of the Catholic Faith, I’m certain that Kate would not have confessed to Father Pacheco. He would have told her that she could not be forgiven unless she confessed what had happened to the authorities.

Confession would have brought risk, not forgiveness. A few Hail Mary’s or a decade on the rosary would not be enough!

Unless she wanted to compromise him.

Russell O’Brian, in his rogatory interview, refers to David Priest -a comma between the words is required- and explains why David’s number, beginning 914, is on his mobile phone, immediately after that of Robert Murat.

It seems David, therefore, was the most likely person to have sought the agreement of the Conselho Pastoral. Was it also not more likely that the keys had passed between Geraghty and Heal? Fiona Payne and Rachael Mampilly/Oldfield comment on the perceived strangeness of Kate’s desperate need to speak to a priest in the midst of this maelstrom and seek to explain it in a vague manner.

It seems that concerns were expressed that the McCanns had called the media and a priest before they contacted the police. El Pais in Dec 07 “For the police, the most surprising thing was that the first concern of the parents was to alert the press before the police themselves. They were also struck by the fact that Kate asked the Ocean Club reception for the village priest’s telephone number.”

Why would they do that?

The following article in First Magazine (with thanks to Pamalan’s site) throws a very interesting spotlight on the involvement of David Heal: “With every squeeze of her daughter’s Cuddle Cat, anguished mother Kate McCann willed her little daughter home. Priest’s wife, Pam Heal helped Kate and Gerry through the early, terrifying hours of Madeleine’s disappearance…. “Someone’s taken Madeleine, someone’s taken Madeleine” she wailed over and over again, said Pam. Kate kept playing with the toy. She said Madeleine had definitely been taken from them because she would never go anywhere without her favourite toy. The night Madeleine disappeared, Kate and Gerry telephoned the local Anglican priest, Father David Heal, asking him to visit them at their apartment…..When he arrived with his wife, 38 year old Kate threw herself into the priest’s arms as she broke down. It took him 3 hours to comfort Kate.”

There are no statements from the Heals in the available PJ files, in spite of their KEY roles in the early hours of Madeleine’s disappearance.

References to the Heals’ involvement refer to the McCanns contacting them on Friday. The Mail, on Sunday reports “Reverend Heal was called to meet the McCann family on Friday.”

Well, that would be partly true, if the Heals had arrived around 10 p.m. and had remained at the apartment for 3 hours. None of the T9 mentions the Heals’ visit in their interviews and they quickly disappear from the media radar.

Father Heal did continue to conduct services at St Vincent’s, although one report suggests that he may have been leaving the next day.

During a service held later in the week Father Heal’s sermon included the following observations “Whatever happens today, whatever happens tomorrow, whatever happens in the days ahead, after this week, life will never be the same again……. We have all been changed and we have all been changed forever.” (Mail on Sunday)

Thanks to The Maddie Case File for newspaper archives. References refer to key and keys. I don’t know if there was more than one.

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Amongst the many people the McCanns wanted interviewed/re-interviewed by rogatory, one was Father Paul Seddon who Kate McCann was anxious to talk to on the night of 3rd/4th May 2007. This is it, for it is he..

Witness statement of Paul Seddon - 16th April 2008

I am the person referred to above and I am a Priest of the Roman Catholic Church, a position that I have held for more than 20 years. During the past 18 months I have exercised my functions as a priest in three parishes in the Manchester area and previously I spent sixteen years as a priest in Liverpool. I have known Kate and Gerry McCann for over 10 years. I met them as a couple at the wedding of my friends Mark and Linda, which I presided over at Easter 1997 in Liverpool. Kate had been invited to the ceremony as Lindas childhood friend and Gerry accompanied her. I remember that after the ceremony I got to know Kate and Gerry seriously for the first time, although I had perhaps already met Kate for short moments on previous occasions as Lindas friend. During the reception I particularly remember Gerry because of the fact that he was wearing a kilt, which gave him an extrovert air and meant that he did not go unnoticed. I also discovered that we shared an enthusiastic interest for golf and we spent a lot of time talking about this. Since then, Kate, Gerry and I became good friends and they continue to be part of the social circle today.

In 1998 I carried out Kate and Gerrys wedding ceremony, again in Liverpool. At that time I already knew Kate and Gerry quite well and had played many golf matches with Gerry. I remember that they gave me a set of golf clubs from St Andrews as a present for carrying out the ceremony. I also baptised their first child, Madeleine, but more than being a priest, I consider myself above all to be their friend.

During the last ten years our friendship has been constant and i have always kept in regular contact wherever they have been. I travelled to Amsterdam to visit them when Gerry was working there, and we see each other at least three or four times a year. I have spent other holiday periods with them including one occasion in Stratford upon Avon after the birth of the twins. During the time they were in Amsterdam I was very ill and was forced to spend six or seven weeks without working. Kate and Gerry gave me much support and phoned me regularly. I ended up becoming a very good friend of the whole family.

The first time I heard of Madeleines disappearance was in the early morning of Friday 4th May 2007.
I received a phone call from Linda who told me what had happened, and I immediately sent a text message to Kates mobile, telling her that my prayers were with them. I received a reply almost immediately and I remember Kate wrote that she felt as if the ?world was about to fall apart?.

At about 1.30 that morning Kate called me in a state of great agitation. I tried to calm her as well as I could saying that Madeleine could have had a bout of sleepwalking and that she would be all right. I remember that Kate was worried by the fact that Madeleine was wearing short sleeved pyjamas and that she could catch a cold. I felt that only a mother could think like that and say such a thing. I could perceive the trauma that Kate was experiencing from her voice. I led with prayers and other situations in my role as priest.

Gerry phoned me on the same night and he also seemed to me to be quite traumatised and at the same time very upset and angry. His Scottish accent, which was normally very slight, became so heavy that his sentences were almost incomprehensible. I spoke to them again the following morning and their state was practically the same. Gerry was worried by the fact that the Portuguese police were focussed upon him and Kate, but I tried to reassure him that that would be a normal procedure and that they were only trying to find out the maximum information possible about Madeleine. I think that Gerry already had a notion of this but felt frustrated. I asked them whether they had any kind of emotional support and they replied that Mark Warner had provided them with a professional counsellor. Later I travelled to Portugal with the aim of offering all my positive support. I arrived on the day of Madeleines birthday, the 12th May 2007 and travelled with a mutual friend, Linda. Once I arrived, it was easy to note that they only needed having their family and friends close. I knew that there was not much that i could do for them, but just the fact of contributing to an occasional smile already seemed to be a big help. I stayed for a week on that occasion, but returned to Portugal for another week in August 2007, again to lend all possible support.

During my stay I helped conduct religious services in the Catholic Church as well as in the Anglican church in Praia da Luz.

When I returned to the UK I tried to leave it to Kate and Gerry to phone in order not to appear too interfering, given that I knew both of them to be very busy. Every time we spoke, they always asked me to pray for Madeleine. I always did this and on one occasion I organised a vigil in Formby that was attended by hundreds of people. From the beginning when Kate and Gerry told me that ?Madeleine had been taken?, however I always had hope that the child could have left (the apartment) alone as she was a very adventurous girl.

On the occasions that I saw and talked to Kate and Gerry since this happened, they reacted with stress and trauma given that what happened to them does not make sense to them and they wish to have Madeleine back instead of all the publicity and press. I have had some difficulties in carrying out my daily tasks because it seems surreal to me that life continues normally while Kate and Gerry are going through this situation.

They are both very different. Kate is a reserved person and finds all this exposure and speaking in public very difficult. I think that she has been extraordinary, mainly in doing things like speaking to the European Parliament recently. Gerry is more extrovert and finds it easier to relate to people. My reading of all this is that both have worked very well as a team and that have been successful in the impact that the campaign to find Madeleine has had. I think that they have acted very well in order to maintain their dignity, in the face of more negative publicity and I know that their friends are very proud of them.

I would also like to emphasise that it worries me that Kate and Gerry continue to be considered as arguidos in the case. The fact that it was suggested that they might have something to do with Madeleines disappearance is implausible and in bad taste. This made some members of the press turn against them, resulting in negative publicity. They are just two normal people who want their daughter to return to be with them and are doing everything within their reach to find her. If they thought she was dead they would not continue to search for her. They continue to be focussed upon searching for and finding Madeleine and hope that she will be found.

On Wednesday, 16th April 2008 I was interviewed on DVD between 10.05 and 10.47 by DC 4064 Holliday. I am willing to confirm that my statement is truthful and in accordance with my understanding and belief and that it faithfully reflects what I witnessed. This statement was made by me and is truthful in accordance with my knowledge.


Amen!

madeleine by KATE MCCANN

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Gerry, meanwhile, was running from pillar to post, urging me to remain in the apartment with the twins so that I’d be on hand if Madeleine was found and brought back there. He’d asked Fiona to stay with me. I was in our bedroom, on my knees beside the bed, just praying and praying and praying, begging God and Our Lady to protect Madeleine and help us find her. They had heard many a supplication from me in the past but none so intense, nor so important, as these.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] At 11.52pm, Gerry spoke to my Uncle Brian and Auntie Janet in Rothley, at my request. Janet is a woman of strong faith and I wanted her to start praying for Madeleine as soon as possible.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Meanwhile, desperate for God’s intervention, for ourselves and for Madeleine, I asked the resort staff if they might be able to find a priest to come and pray with us and support us.  I think they tried, but either they couldn’t contact anyone or there was no priest available, so I carried on praying on my own. The pain, terror and the suffocating helplessness I felt are indescribable. There just aren’t the words to adequately convey such torment. Just after 2am, I spoke to my friend Father Paul Seddon, the priest who had married Gerry and me and baptized Madeleine. He offered me words of comfort and then prayed for our little girl.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Next I called my best mate, Michelle. I needed her to get her large Catholic family praying, too.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]  Gerry and I travelled in one police car with the others following in a second vehicle. It was an awful journey. It took twenty, twenty-five minutes, but it felt much longer. On the way I rang a colleague – another lady of strong faith. She prayed over the phone for most of the trip, while I listened and wept at the other end. I will for ever be indebted to her for her help and support at that agonizing time.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]  I cannot overstate how terrifying this was. Had Madeleine been found? Please God. Was she alive? Was she dead? Gerry and I clung on to each other for dear life. I was crying hysterically and praying for all I was worth.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] They said some prayers with us and I remember the minister reading out the passage in St Mark’s gospel which begins: ‘Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God,’ which took me back to my own childhood.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]  Still in the dark as to what was being done to help find our daughter – if anything was being done to find her – Gerry and I prayed together and eventually drifted into a brief and fitful sleep.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]  From the moment Madeleine had gone, I’d turned instinctively to God and to Mary, feeling a deep need to pray, and to get as many other people as possible to pray, too. I believed it would make a difference.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]  Although in the early days I struggled to comprehend what had happened to Madeleine, and to us, I’ve never believed it was God’s fault, or that He ‘allowed’ it to happen. I was just confused that He had apparently not heeded the prayer I’d offered every night for my family: ‘Thank you God for bringing Gerry, Madeleine, Sean and Amelie into my life. Please keep them all safe, healthy and happy. Amen.’ Please keep them all safe. It must be said that when I’d prayed for their safety I’d been thinking: please don’t let them fall off something and bang their heads, or please don’t let them be involved in a car accident. I’d never considered anything as horrific as my child being stolen. But I had kind of assumed my prayer would cover every eventuality. Now, in spite of not knowing where Madeleine was or who she was with, I tried to reassure myself that God was still keeping her safe.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] I’d never considered anything as horrific as my child being stolen. But I had kind of assumed my prayer would cover every eventuality. Now, in spite of not knowing where Madeleine was or who she was with, I tried to reassure myself that God was still keeping her safe.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]  Everybody prayed for Madeleine. A young Portuguese girl presented me with some flowers, as did many of the mums in the congregation. At the end of the Mass, every mother and child came to the front of the church to hug and kiss us. ‘She will be back,’ they told us.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Gerry and I would just like to express our sincere gratitude and thanks to everybody but particularly the local community here who have offered so much support. We couldn’t have asked for more. I just want to say thank you.
Please continue to pray for Madeleine. She’s lovely.
 
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]  The words of solace and inspiration, the embraces, prayers, flowers and pictures from the children kept coming, week in, week out. Madeleine was never forgotten and neither were we.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]  Mothers and their children hugged and held us, placed rosary beads in our hands and spontaneously offered prayers out loud for Madeleine and for us.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] We had been given a key to the church so that we could go there and pray whenever we wished.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]  So many people were supporting us in so many different ways, from the high-profile donations of the reward consortium to the quiet prayers and unsung practical acts of friends and strangers alike.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]  There were a couple of ‘visionary’ experiences in particular I took very seriously. One of them had come through prayer which, at the time, gave it even greater credibility in my eyes. I begged the police to look into these.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] During the couple of hours we spent at the shrine, we were able to attend one of the Masses being celebrated and were also allowed some time to pray privately in one of the small chapels. Before leaving, we lit five candles outside the Chapel of Apparitions, one for each member of our family. I kissed Madeleine’s candle and prayed with all my heart that Our Lady of Fátima would keep her arms safely around our daughter.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]  In the meantime, hope and comfort were at hand from an unexpected source. It was on Sunday 27 May that Clarence first mentioned the possibility that we might be invited to the Vatican (or ‘accepted’ there) to meet Pope Benedict XVI. The ‘relevant people’ in Rome, he told us, had already been making the necessary preparations. I didn’t dwell on whether this was unprecedented, as it was later described, or even unusual. I just remember thinking how important and wonderful this would be for Madeleine. For a Catholic, meeting the Pope is about as close as you can get to meeting God, and we certainly needed His help. I truly believed that if I was able to speak to the Pope, my pleas for Madeleine’s safe return would be channelled more efficiently and effectively to Heaven. I also believed that this meeting might lead to many more Catholics offering prayers for Madeleine. Surely if God received a bombardment like this, Madeleine would be returned to us?

   [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] I said what I had planned and needed to say. Nothing earth-shattering: I simply thanked him for allowing us to be there and asked him to pray for Madeleine’s safe return.

:bad:   [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] A wave of nausea. Immediate tears. Was she dead? Had she been found? We had been here before and couldn’t believe this was happening all over again, but there we were, holding on to each other in the back of a car, crying, shaking and praying. Please God, let it be good news. Please God, let Madeleine be all right.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] On our final morning, the lady who’d been interpreting for us arranged for us to meet the minister of Islamic affairs, who happened to be her father-in-law. I was keen to talk to an Islamic religious leader to seek the support and prayers of the Muslim community.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] We explained that we lived in Leicester, a multicultural city where many people of different faiths had been praying for Madeleine, and told him how important this was to us. I asked if he would urge the Muslim people here to pray for her, too, and for all missing children. He promised us that he would, adding that he was certain we would be reunited with our daughter.

  [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] I pulled out my mobile phone and began to text six devout family members and friends (quietly, in my head, I thought of them as my ‘prayer group’): ‘Please pray for Madeleine.’ I returned to the meeting room. Somebody texted back: ‘Of course. Everything OK?’ The lack of a response was probably enough of an answer.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]  There would be endless tears, out-of-control hysteria and feverish sessions of prayer. And there would be several visits to ‘my rocks’ – a quiet part of the beach away from the promenade.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Outside the room, I was praying – begging prayers. I was beginning to come unstuck. But if I thought the police had finished with me, I was mistaken. Before long I was ordered back into the room to join Gerry for round three

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] We went to church, often several times a day, for Masses, vigils, private prayer and reflection.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]  It was an awful day. Every hour, I’d see her standing there in her new uniform, smiling at me. I cried, I prayed and I held my husband and children tightly. We could make things right for her. If only we could get her back we would work through anything and everything she’d endured. We would make sure that her life was as full and as happy as it should always have been.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Then we walked down to Nossa Senhora da Luz for half an hour of private prayer, with the press pack still in pursuit.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] We stayed on for the Anglican service at 9.30am, led as usual by Haynes. He and the rest of the worshippers present that morning wrapped us in kindness and support. We thanked them and urged them not to lose sight of what was important – Madeleine – and to keep her in their thoughts and prayers.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] It was almost 5am when we finally got to bed. Extra prayers tonight.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Gerry’s foot kept pressing down harder on the accelerator as he instinctively tried to put a safe distance between us and the car that was practically touching our bumper. I urged him to slow down. The most important thing was to stay in control and to try to blank out the craziness all around us. It didn’t matter how quickly we got there. It didn’t matter if we were pursued all the way to the airport. It did matter that we stayed alive. I’d said so many prayers over the last four months but I’d never anticipated having to beg the Lord to protect us on the A22.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] At 1am on Wednesday, 27 February 2008, Gerry and I were woken suddenly from our sleep. The room appeared to be shaking and a photograph of Madeleine toppled over on my chest of drawers. We were terrified. Our immediate thought was that somebody was trying to kill us. Maybe a bomb had gone off, or perhaps a gang was trying to break into our house. Gerry got out of bed and went to check on Sean and Amelie before having a good look around, inside and out. I prayed for our safety.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] We asked all those who wished to remember Madeleine, and missing children everywhere, to light a candle and say a prayer at 9.15pm.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, wrote a special prayer for Madeleine and urged everyone to redouble their efforts to pray for her safe return.
 
:bad: Sean and Amelie have been a huge source of comfort to me. I have no idea how I could carry on if they weren’t here. How parents who have lost an only child continue, I do not know. Seany is a big soft ‘Mummy’s boy’ which is nice. He is very gentle and generally just lovely. Amelie is a real character but so sensitive and ‘in tune’ . . . She often says how much she likes you, Madeleine,‘my sister’, and what she’s going to give you of hers when you’re back. I heard her saying a prayer for you today, too.

:bad: From children we’ve had prayers they’ve composed themselves or pictures they’ve drawn for Madeleine.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] And yet there have been so many people like this, supporters who print and distribute posters, organize cake sales to raise money for the fund, produce handmade books full of lovely messages and prayers and send the most thoughtful gifts for Madeleine.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]  I do not blame God for Madeleine’s abduction. The abductor is responsible for that. What I do wrestle with, though, is the inexplicable fact that despite so many prayers, almost total global awareness and a vast amount of hard work, we still do not have an answer. My aunt quotes a saying: ‘Pray as if everything depends on God. Work as if everything depends on you,’ and I truly believe this is what we’ve done.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] I’ve never in my life prayed for anything or anyone so much, or in so many different ways. Thousands of other people, maybe millions, have prayed.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] There is one thing of which I am confident: I believe wherever Madeleine is, God is with her. And during my calmer moments, I also believe that in God’s time, we’ll get there. A couple of years ago I was saying a prayer for Madeleine with the twins and remarked that it had been a long time since we’d seen her. ‘No, Mummy,’ said Amelie. ‘It’s just a teeny-weeny time.’ She was right, of course: a few years is a drop in the ocean compared to a lifetime.
Gerry has certainly struggled over the last year with his faith. While he still believes in God, he is no longer convinced of the power of prayer. In his words, ‘If prayer worked, we would’ve had Madeleine back a long time ago.’ He’s also mentioned to me, on more than one occasion, that nowhere in Christ’s teachings does it say you’ll reap your reward on this earth. Gerry has always believed that everyone possesses God-given talents which we should use to the best of our ability, he recognizes the benefits of the church community and he continues to insist that something good has to come out of this whole experience.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Writing this book has been emotional and exhausting. I hope and pray it helps us to find Madeleine and to uncover the truth.

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Bit of an over-spill there!

I might merge the two threads in due course.

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The God that I believe in is not a god of intervention in human affairs. Otherwise how on Earth do you explain when bad things happen to good people? It seems that Kate thought volume of prayers was the answer or even variety of source of the prayers.

Sunday 5th May 2007

I also felt a compulsion to run up to the top of the Rocha Negra. Somehow, inflicting physical pain on myself seemed to be the only possible way of escaping my internal pain. The other truly awful manifestation of what I was feeling was a macabre slideshow of vivid pictures in my brain that taunted me relentlessly. I was crying out that I could see Madeleine lying, cold and mottled, on a big grey stone slab. Looking back, seeing me like this must have been terrible for my friends and relatives, and particularly my parents, but I couldn’t help myself. And all this needed to come out. I dread to think what it might have done to me if it hadn’t.

As the sun set on another day and still there was no news, Gerry gave a further statement to the waiting press. Again I went outside and stood with him, my arm linked through his, but left him to read out our message. There wasn’t a great deal we could say: we thanked everyone in Portugal and the UK, said we were pleased that the FLOs were now working with the Portuguese police, appealed for any information that might lead to Madeleine’s safe return and thanked the media for respecting our privacy, especially Sean and Amelie’s.

That evening the local Catholic priest, Father José Manuel Pacheco, who had returned to Luz, came across to our apartment to introduce himself and offer his support. My first impression was of a very cheery chap. Nothing wrong with that, but at the time his smiling face seemed out of place in the grief-laden atmosphere of our apartment.

madeleine by KATE MCCANN

So, he was a very cheery chap. Not as cheery as you and Gerry, laughing and holding balloons and flowers, the day after your daughter 'disappeared'.

I'm wondering how he managed to communicate - semaphore?

REPEAT!

Translation of Father Pachecos Statement to the PJ 30th October 2007

Jose Manuel Conceicao Pacheco

The first time he had contact with the McCann's was on 5th May at about 19.00. This was a personal contact with them in the Ocean Club at their apartment, but not the apartment Madeleine disappeared from. They were accompanied by members of the holiday group.

This was an important meeting for the McCann's and which had not been possible to the fact that they were busy. He knows that on the fateful night the McCann's requested the presence of a priest, but he was only informed the following morning.

On the 5th, the theme they talked about was the disappearance and he gave all possible spiritual comfort and they prayed together. They also agreed that the couple would go to the church the following day to attend a mass.

He also prayed with the McCann's on the 6th and 8th May in their apartment.

He gave them the key to the church on the 7th or 8th May upon the suggestion of John Geraghty, a resident of the parish, so that they could calmly go to the church without any media pressure. Someone from the church gave the key to John Geraghty, who then passed it on to the McCann's, with Father Pacheco's permission.

He does not remember the date upon which the key was returned.

Other contact with the McCann's took place at the end of mass when he would comfort them.

He would also meet with the McCann's after they returned from their trips and remembered they were animated when they returned from Morocco as they thought they would Madeleine there. He also comforted Kate when the news of a child buried in Arau broke, as she revealed great nervousness and anxiety, thinking that the child had died.

When questioned, he said he never heard their confessions, perhaps because they only spoke English.

He never talked to them alone.

He states that they showed great suffering to the loss of their daughter.

He adds that a parish bulletin was published giving spiritual, moral and human support to the couple and to other missing children.

Busy? Must have been when there was a lot going on behind the scenes, you know, when they didn't have the time nor inclination to search for their own precious daughter - the girl!

No point I guess when you already know - because you were there ....