Gibson plans Passion follow-up

Mel Gibson's follow-up to his controversial The Passion of the Christ could be about three children who said they saw a vision of the Virgin Mary.

The Mad Max and Lethal Weapon star was deeply moved after secretly meeting one of the trio, Sister Lucia, at her convent in Rome shortly before she died last month at the age of 98.

In 1917, Lucia, then 10 years old, and her cousins, Jacinta and Francisco, won international fame when they said the Virgin Mary appeared to them in a vision at Fatima, Portugal.

The shepherd children said that in the vision the Virgin predicted World War II, turmoil in Russia and a Pope being shot.

She was desperate to see The Passion of the Christ after hearing the Pope had approved it. So last year Mel, a devout Catholic who had long wanted to meet Sr Lucia, secretly had equipment set up so it could be shown at the convent.