Madeleine parents pray for her

Sitting side by side, Gerry and Kate McCann, holding presents, flowers and a single set of rosary beads, listened as Monsignor Luciano Guerra led the prayers for the missing four-year-old at the Marian shrine of Fatima.

Speaking in Portuguese, he told the congregation: "Let us ask for the three little shepherds so that all the children that are away from their homes, especially little Madeleine, that Our Lady can keep those children in her care."

In Fatima, 20 days after Madeleine was abducted, Mr and Mrs McCann, the latter wearing yellow and green ribbons in her hair, were showered with kisses and hugs as they slipped into the back of a Mass in time for the "sharing of the peace".

They prayed in private for almost an hour in the Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows, before emerging to stroll in front of the Basilica.

Hundreds of well-wishers broke into spontaneous applause as others offered them gifts and messages.

They stood in front of a collection of giant candles to say a prayer before walking into a covered area surrounding the Chapel of Apparition, past a picture of Madeleine inside a green frame.

Speaking after the couple left the shrine for a private lunch a family spokesman said: "Kate and Gerry were very pleased to come here to Fatima, they have long wanted to visit the sanctuary, their faith is very important to them and this was a profoundly moving and important spiritual visit for them at this time."

He thanked people for the flowers, good wishes and prayers they had given the McCanns.

The shrine, a four-hour drive from the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz, is the site of a series of alleged visions of the Virgin Mary to three shepherd children, including two young girls, in 1917.