KATE McCann yesterday asked people to "pray like mad" for her missing daughter Madeleine during a church service to mark the one-year anniversary of her disappearance.
She stood up during the 30-minute service at the Anglican parish church of St Mary and St John, in Rothley, Leicestershire, and thanked the community for their support over the last year.
The tearful mother said she and her husband Gerry could not
have got through their ordeal without their help.
She told the congregation to "keep praying, pray like mad" for the four-year-old.
The couple left holding hands and clutching bunches of flowers.
During the special service, led by the Rev Rob Gladstone, prayers were said for Madeleine and for other missing children.
Speaking afterwards on behalf of the family, Madeleine's great uncle, Brian Kennedy, said: "We would like to thank all the members of the churches here in Rothley and also those who are of no particular church for joining us today to remember the world's missing children and especially, of course, our own Madeleine.
"This is a difficult week and we have had many kind messages from residents here and from around the country, which have been a great help.
"We have invited people of all the many faiths here to pray for these children and their families in their own places of worship on the various days they keep and we would like them to know how much their prayers are appreciated."
He described the service as "uplifting" and said he thought it had been helpful and comforting to the McCanns.
Kennedy's wife, Janet Kennedy, said: "We wanted it to be a service not just for Madeleine but for missing children all over the world."
Speaking about Kate McCann's message during the service, she said: "I am not sure how she mustered the strength to do so."
Ministers from a number of churches joined in the service.
The same prayer said at the six-month anniversary service for Madeleine was repeated again yesterday, and a poem about courage was read.
Leaflets on how to back the EU-wide child alert system for which the McCanns are pushing were also given out.
Well-wishers from all over the local area, and further afield, gathered at the church.
The little girl vanished from her bed in her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, southern Portugal, at around 9.15pm on May 3 last year. The parents' lawyers have advised the McCanns not to return to Portugal because they remain arguidos, or formal suspects, in their daughter's disappearance.
Portugal's top detective has insisted that police were still gathering evidence in the case following reports that officers were on the verge of exonerating the McCanns.
Alipio Ribeiro, national director of the Policia Judiciaria (PJ), told Portugal's Lusa news agency that officials had not decided whether to bring charges or drop the investigation.
He said: "At this stage nothing has been determined regarding possible charges or closing the case.
"The PJ continues to gather and analyse all available evidence."
The Portuguese weekly magazine Expresso reported on its website that the PJ were preparing to drop the accusations against the McCanns.
The full article contains 543 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
