Portugal ? Pope Benedict XVI traveled to the famous shrine of Fatima on Wednesday, recalling the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II and other “sufferings” of the church, which he has said included the clerical sex abuse scandal.

Benedict didn’t refer directly to the crisis a day after issuing his most explicit admission of the church’s own guilt. But he did remind priests and seminarians gathered at a vespers service that they must remain loyal to their vocation and help one another when “there is a certain weakening of priestly ideals.”

He thanked them for their dedication — “often silent and certainly not easy” — and urged them to seek out new recruits for the priesthood.

Benedict traveled to Fatima to mark the anniversary of the date — May 13, 1917 — when three Portuguese shepherd children reported having visions of the Virgin Mary. He will celebrate a Mass here today to mark the anniversary of the visions and the 10th anniversary of the beatifications of two of the shepherds.

John Paul was also shot in St. Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981 — a coincidence that led him to believe that the Virgin’s “unseen hand” had “rescued him from death in the assassination attempt,” Benedict said in a prayer at the shrine.