THE DEFICIENCIES OF THE PASTORS AND THEIR CHASTISEMENT

Is the Pope mentioned in the unpublished part of the Secret?  Once again, the most enlightening rule is the conformity of the third Secret to the context of the message. This rule allows us to conclude, with assurance, in the affirmative: Yes, the Holy Father is certainly mentioned in the final Secret of Our Lady, and we can even deduce in what sense.
I. THE ROLE OF THE POPE IN THE SECRET WHICH HAS BEEN REVEALED

The great Secret of Fatima is nothing other than the concise and clear expression of Divine Mercy’s great design for our century, given by the Blessed Virgin Herself. We must reread the text attentively to discover (perhaps to our astonishment) to what extent the Sovereign Pontiff’s role is absolutely decisive for the success of this great providential design. In the twenty-three lines of Sister Lucy’s manuscript,¹ the Holy Father is mentioned five times. Moreover the very structure of the Secret, where the promises and announcement of chastisements are repeated twice in a row, clearly underlines the supreme responsibility of the Holy Father, on whom everything depends in the final analysis. Indeed the requests of Our Lady addressed to the Holy Father are at the centre of the text, like a key phrase:²
First Exposition of the Promises

«If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.»

First Exposition of the Chastisements

«The war is going to end, but if people do not cease offending God, another worse one will begin IN THE REIGN OF PIUS XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that it is the great sign given you by God that He is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and THE HOLY FATHER.»

THE REQUESTS OF OUR LADY, CONDITIONS FOR SALVATION

«TO PREVENT THIS (all the chastisements just described, as well as those that follow and to obtain the fulfilment of the promises), I SHALL COME TO ASK (THE HOLY FATHER) FOR THE CONSECRATION OF RUSSIA TO MY IMMACULATE HEART, AND THE COMMUNION OF REPARATION ON THE FIRST SATURDAYS OF THE MONTH.»

Second Exposition of the Promises

«If My requests are heeded, Russia will be converted and there will be peace.»

Second Exposition of the Chastisements

«If not, Russia will spread her errors throughout the world, provoking wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred. THE HOLY FATHER WILL HAVE MUCH TO SUFFER. Various nations will be annihilated.»
THE POPE, THE FIRST ONE TO WHOM OUR LADY’S REQUESTS ARE ADDRESSED

The two requests of Our Lady of Fatima to the Supreme Pontiff, which are sandwiched in between the twofold presentation of the promises and chastisements, clearly stand out as the primordial condition of salvation. This is the heart of the drama, and the key to the prophecy.

In the apparition of Tuy, the words of Our Lady are even more explicit in this sense:

«The moment has come when God asks the Holy Father to make, in union with all the bishops of the world, the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, promising to save Russia by this means.»

In May of 1930, Sister Lucy wrote to her confessor, Father Gonçalves, the most precise request which the Blessed Virgin Mary charged her to pass on to the Pope:

«The Good Lord promises to put an end to the persecution in Russia if the Holy Father deigns to make, and orders the bishops of the whole Catholic world to make with him, a solemn and public act of reparation and consecration of Russia to the Most Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, if His Holiness also promises, once this persecution ends, to approve and recommend the practice of the devotion of reparation indicated above.»³

«The Good Lord insists that I request the Holy Father to approve the devotion of reparation which God Himself and the Blessed Virgin deigned to request in 1925.»⁴

This shows to what extent the Message of Fatima is eminently ecclesial, not just in the sense that it concerns the whole Church, but especially because the incomparable promises attached to the fulfilment of the heavenly requests are attached first of all to the head of the Church, the Pope himself. It is similar to Paray-le-Monial, where the requests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus were addressed not to the people, but to King Louis XIV.

To be sure, in our twentieth century God has completely entrusted the salvation of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. But the Blessed Virgin – like the Holy Spirit, Whose visible Figure and living Tabernacle She is – cannot act, and does not wish to act in the Church independently of the ministers instituted by Jesus Christ to teach, govern and sanctify the faithful in His name. The fulfilment of the promises of Fatima – incomparable, unheard of promises – depends entirely on the good will of the Pope, who by his apostolic authority must accept and promote the admirable design of mercy proposed by Heaven, but which cannot be fulfilled without his cooperation.

It cannot be denied that in the Message of Fatima, the responsibility confided to the Holy Father is immense, dizzying: either wonderfully to the good, or terrible and disastrous. For it can be exercised for better or for worse: «I will give you the keys to the kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven.» (Mt. 16:19) The Pope need only open the gates to the torrent of graces and blessings overflowing from the Sacred Heart of Jesus onto all souls, on Christendom and all the Church – through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, according to the design of infinite mercy from the Father of all good things. Jesus is the well. The Immaculate Heart of Mary is the canal. But it belongs to the Church, and in the first place the successor of Peter, to open the gates.

What a crushing responsibility! But it clearly does not suppress in any way our own responsibility – the responsibility of each of the faithful, who, once they have learned Heaven’s requests, must strive to put them in practice in their own life.

Yet, Christ willed that His Church be hierarchical, and even the sum total of all the individual wishes of the members of Holy Church cannot replace this act of obedience by the Head. For it is this meritorious act, an act of burning faith and filial confidence, this act of courage by the supreme authority, ordering all the bishops also to conform to the commands of Heaven – it is this act of the Sovereign Pontiff that God requests and waits for, and He will not change His plan…
THE CONCLUSION OF THE SECRET:
FROM THE POPE ALONE WILL DELIVERANCE FINALLY COME

«In the end My Immaculate Heart will triumph.

«THE HOLY FATHER WILL CONSECRATE RUSSIA TO ME, and she will be converted and a certain period of peace will be granted to the world.»

Just as He is faithful, God is inflexible in His commands. He does not change His designs to cater to the capriciousness of men. No, He will not change His plan. He absolutely wills the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as a preliminary condition for its miraculous conversion. Sister Lucy was astonished to hear this from Our Lord:

«I asked Him why He would not convert Russia without the Holy Father making this consecration: Our Lord answered, “Because I want My whole Church to recognize this consecration as a triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so as to extend its cult and place devotion to this Immaculate Heart alongside the devotion to My Divine Heart.”»⁵

Even before the conversion of Russia and peace for Christendom, it is this consecration of Russia by the Pope and all the bishops of the Catholic world which will constitute the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Just as He willed that the Sacred Heart of His Son triumph in the heart of King Louis XIV, that it be honoured publicly in his palace, and through him in all the courts of Europe as well – in the same way God wills today that the Immaculate Heart of His Most Holy Mother be venerated by the pastors of His Church, as the Pope orders all the bishops to accomplish with him all the acts of devotion requested by Heaven. Let them consecrate Russia to Her Immaculate Heart, in an act of public and solemn faith in Her universal mediation, proclaiming before the whole world their complete trust in Her all-powerful intercession.

From the above, it can be said without exaggerating: the salvation of the world is in the hands of the Vicar of Christ, and completely depends on his exact and prompt obedience to the desires of the Queen of Heaven. The salvation of many souls or their loss; war or peace; the worldwide expansion of atheistic communism or the conversion of Russia; the exaltation of the Church or an apostasy devouring and consuming the living cells of its body – everything depends first of all on him, and in the final analysis on him alone.
THE POPES WILL UNDERGO THE CHASTISEMENT OF THEIR DISOBEDIENCE

The other three references to the Holy Father in the second Secret are found in the two paragraphs announcing the chastisements which will fall on the Church and humanity, if they rebel against God’s plan.

First of all, Our Lady dates the beginning of the great chastisement by referring to the Pope: «In the reign of Pius XI…», She says. And we have seen that this expression, far from being erroneous or insignificant, was surely deliberate: it underlines the responsibility of the first Pope to receive the requests of Fatima, and the first to decide to pay no attention to them.⁶

Next, in two places in the Secret, Our Lady foretells the sufferings of the Holy Father. However, it is important to interpret this prophecy correctly. Here once again, a later revelation sheds light on the meaning pf the Secret of 1917: the revelation of August 1931, which is so important, but curiously enough, passed over in silence by the majority of commentators on the Message of Fatima.

«Later on by means of an intimate communication, Our Lord complained to me, saying: “They did not wish to heed My request!… Like the King of France, they will repent and do it, but it will be late. Russia will have already spread her errors throughout the world, provoking wars, and persecutions of the Church. The Holy Father will have much to suffer.”»⁷

There are other texts of Lucy, and we shall see them later on, insisting on this chastisement of the papacy, comparable to the chastisement that befell King Louis XIV and his successors for not obeying the requests of the Sacred Heart, passed on by St. Margaret Mary. However, we have said enough on this subject to draw the obvious conclusion about the content of the third Secret.
II. THE THIRD SECRET ANNOUNCES THE DEFICIENCIES OF THE PASTORS

THE POPE FREE OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE APOSTASY IN THE CHURCH?

The inference is simple: if the Holy Father is named five times in the part of the Secret which has been disclosed, as the first one responsible for the salvation or chastisement of Christendom, how is it conceivable for him to have no responsibility for an infinitely more serious catastrophe, a spiritual one, which therefore depends on his direct and immediate power?

It might be possible for a schism or heresy in one part of the world, tearing part of the flock away from the Church. But the fragment of the Secret which we know, as small as it is, does not permit us to suspect this kind of trial. It suggests instead a near universal apostasy. And in this case, how could such an apostasy happen except with the knowledge of the Pope, in direct dependence on his supreme responsibility as Guardian of the Faith? How can “the dogma of the Faith’’ come close to disappearing without a lapse on the part of him whose principal duty is precisely to preserve intact the deposit of Faith within the Church?

In short, if the second Secret indicates discreetly but firmly the overwhelming responsibility of the Popes in the temporal chastisements which fall on Christendom, is it not unthinkable that the third Secret predicts the crisis in the Church without indicating the cause? Since Her prophecies which contain threats are always conditional, Our Lady of Fatima never predicts a chastisement without mentioning the responsibility of those who draw it on themselves: it is sinners who go to hell; and the Pope, bishops and faithful, by turning a deaf ear to Her requests, bring on the scourge of communism and its aftermath. If then the apostasy makes its way into the Church, how can the Shepherds not be responsible? The good shepherd does not let the wolf penetrate into the sheepfold and ravage the flock. And as Sister Lucy said to one of her nephews in the priesthood: «The sheep follow their Pastor when he knows how to lead them and guide them on the good path.»⁸
PARALLEL CHASTISEMENTS

Moreover, one fact stands out before our eyes: the parallel and simultaneous development of the two series of chastisements: the temporal ones striking the nations and the Church, but from without, and the spiritual chastisements which wound the Church from within, by the loss of Faith.

Now we know that it is one and the same act of the Sovereign Pontiff, finally consecrating Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary – «but it will be late», very late – which will put an end to those dark years and decades of communist domination and apostasy within the Church. This underlines the fact that the two chastisements have the same cause: the obstinacy of the shepherds in not paying attention to the requests of Our Lady, their refusal to enter once and for all into the ways of God: «To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart.»

This is also what the internal logic of that part of the Secret which has been revealed leads us to believe: the Queen of Prophets, predicting that an unprecedented spiritual chastisement would fall on the Church, also explicitly announced the causes of this apostasy.
IN PORTUGAL… AND AT ROME?

The very first sentence of the third Secret undoubtedly supplies us with some additional evidence.

From beginning to end, the great Secret has a worldwide scope: it speaks of nations, the Pope, and the Universal Church. There is nothing particularist about it. The third part of this Secret deals with the «preservation of the dogma of the Faith». For a Roman Catholic, these words call to mind the Apostolic See and its organs – today, the “Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith” – which has the precise duty, not only to preserve intact in its infallible magisterium the sacred deposit of Divine Revelation, but to defend it and zealously ensure that only the purest Catholic Truth is taught by all the pastors and professed by all the faithful of the Church. If we consider them carefully, the eleven known words of the third Secret are stupefying: «In Portugal the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved» etc. In Portugal… and at Rome? The little phrase deliberately revealed by Sister Lucy does not tell us. If the third Secret mentions Rome and the Pope – which is extremely probable – it is in the continuation of the text, which predicts the apostasy.
THE THESIS OF FATHER ALONSO:
«GRAVE SHORTCOMINGS OF THE UPPER HIERARCHY»

The opinion of Father Alonso, expressed on many occasions and with increasing firmness right up until his death on December 12, 1981, must hold our attention here. In 1969, he thought that the third Secret of Fatima predicted the crisis of Faith within the Church. But in 1976, in The Secret of Fatima: Fact and Legend, he added another element of the highest importance to his exposé:

«It is therefore completely probable that the text (of the third Secret) makes concrete references to the crisis of faith within the Church and to the negligence of the pastors themselves.»⁹ He speaks further of «internal struggles in the very bosom of the Church and of grave pastoral negligence by the upper hierarchy»,¹⁰ of «deficiencies of the upper hierarchy of the Church.»¹¹

Surely Father Alonso did not put down such serious words in black and white without carefully considering the whole impact. On this point the evolution in his thinking is noteworthy: he can hardly be accused of being an a priori “integrist”. In 1967, he had gone along with the declaration of Cardinal Ottaviani concerning the third Secret:

«It is a Secret addressed to the Holy Father» (he wrote at that time) and it would be impertinent and useless to hypothesize about its content.» He added: «Moreover, everything leads us to believe that this final Secret does not contain any new themes but simply a pressing appeal along with a grave admonition to today’s world to practice penance and interior conversion through the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.»¹²

In 1976, he had totally changed his mind. Now we are sure that in the meantime he had seen Sister Lucy often; we know that, during his work on the critical edition of the documents on Fatima, he had opportunities to question her on several occasions. As the official expert appointed by Bishop Venancio, would he have adopted this new position on such a burning question without being certain of at least the tacit accord of the seer? He gives us reason to believe that he knows much more about the subject than he is able to say:

«… Does the unpublished text speak of concrete circumstances? It is very possible that it speaks not only of a real crisis of the faith in the Church during this in-between period, but, like the secret of La Salette for example, there are more concrete references to the internal struggles of Catholics or to the fall of priests and religious. Perhaps it even refers to the failures of the upper hierarchy of the Church.

«For that matter, none of this is foreign to other communications Sister Lucy has had on this subject.»¹³

These lines have a precious value for us, for two reasons. For in addition to the solid induction of Father Alonso, which he established using numerous bits of evidence – «I have the texts,» he declared –, they indirectly reveal to us the thoughts of the seer herself, such as they appeared in all clarity to a theologian without any prejudice. Indeed if Father Alonso had been mistaken about the content of the final secret, we can be sure that Sister Lucy – who had no qualms about refuting fantastic theories on several occasions – would have found a way to let him know.
III. NOW EVERYTHING IS EXPLAINED

If the third Secret predicts not only a near universal apostasy, but also reveals the grave shortcomings of consecrated souls – priests and religious – but especially the highest members of the hierarchy and the Sovereign Pontiffs themselves, giving concrete but easily understood details –, this would suddenly explain an impressive collection of diverse and independent facts concerning the mysterious Secret. Without this key, these facts would remain for us for so many incomprehensible enigmas.
THREE MONTHS OF INSURMOUNTABLE AGONY

In the first place, we see how the very contents of the Secret held back Sister Lucy’s pen, preventing her for several months from writing down the text in spite of the express order of her bishop.¹⁴

«Moreover (Father Alonso writes), how are we to understand Lucy’s great difficulty in writing the final part of the Secret when she has already written other things that were extremely difficult to put down? Had it been merely a matter of prophesying new and severe punishments, Sister Lucy would not have experienced difficulties so great that a special intervention from Heaven was needed to overcome them.»¹⁵

«But, if it were a matter of internal strife within the Church and of serious pastoral negligence on the part of high-ranking members of the hierarchy, we can understand how Lucy experienced a repugnance that was almost impossible to overcome by natural means.»¹⁶

As a matter of fact, Sister Lucy surely realized that by writing these twenty or so lines, she was inaugurating an event which would have a formidable impact in the history of the Church and the world. For in the school of the Most Blessed Virgin, Lucy was used to judging all things in the light of God: thus in her eyes war, cataclysms and famine, the spread of the communist Gulag to the whole planet, the annihilation of several nations – all these things are infinitely less serious than the apostasy within the Church herself and the apostasy of her Pastors.

To be sure, the Church has the promises of eternal life, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against her. The infallibility of the Pope will never be compromised. For it is certain that never will any Pope be able to teach error in the exercise of his infallible magisterium, whether ordinary or extraordinary. Nevertheless, the shortcomings of the Pastors in the areas where they are not infallible can still have the most disastrous consequences. Through their fault, the faithful can lose their Faith, resulting – along with the frightful injury done to God by this collective apostasy – in the eternal loss of millions of souls. This is where the third Secret is connected with the first one, concerning the vision of hell. And in this aspect, in its insistence on the responsibilities of Church leaders, the third Secret undoubtedly seemed to Lucy the most terrible one, and above all the most difficult to transmit. For Lucy was a humble religious, accustomed at all times to looking on her superiors as the authentic representatives of God. Now that she found herself suddenly ordered by Heaven to communicate such severe warnings to them, such sharp reproaches regarding their conduct, it was an extremely painful mission for her.

We have already seen how on June 12, 1941, Our Lord commanded her to pass on a similar message to the bishops of Spain. For more than a year, Sister Lucy hesitated, and could not bring herself to inform the Bishop of Tuy. As we recall, it was a severe admonition concerning the internal disorders of the Church in Spain, for which the bishops were responsible. They were expected to apply the remedies and use firmness in doing so. If they failed to do this, they would draw down a chastisement on their country once again.¹⁷

We ought to reread this whole chapter of the history of Fatima, which undoubtedly places us in the atmosphere of the third Secret. For we know that the numerous revelations and divine communications received by Sister Lucy throughout her life were always in close connection with the great prophetic Secret of 1917, coming only at the providential hour to make more explicit a particular a request of Our Lady. Thus it is clear that the message to the bishops of Spain was directly related – being an application to a particular instance – of the themes developed in the third Secret on the subject of the universal Church.
SOME REVEALING ADMISSIONS

We know that the third Secret explicitly concerns the Pope, from several indications in the writings and statements of Sister Lucy.

On March 2, 1945, she wrote to Father Aparicio, her former confessor, who was then a missionary in Brazil:

«Do they pray for the Holy Father over there? It is necessary to pray unceasingly for His Holiness. Days of great affliction and torment still await him.»¹⁸

Father A. M. Martins, who quotes this text, notes down judiciously: «An unconscious reference to the crisis in the Church?»¹⁹ Indeed we see in this a proof that the sufferings of the Holy Father mentioned by the Secret cannot be identified – as many commentators think – with the afflictions of Pius XII during the Second World War. No, in 1945 Sister Lucy shows us that the great tribulations of the papacy are still to come. If the third Secret is precisely the prophetic announcement of these tribulations, the reflection of Sister Lucy and her pressing invitation to pray unceasingly for the Holy Father is perfectly understandable.

Here is another echo of the private disclosures of Sister Lucy: we know that Father Schweigl, once he decided to go to Portugal to conduct a detailed investigation on Fatima, was entrusted by Pius XII with a secret mission concerning the seer. On September 2, 1952, he interrogated Sister Lucy at the Carmel of Coimbra. Although the Holy Office did not authorize the publication of this interrogation,²⁰ on his return to the Russicum Father Schweigl confided this to one of his colleagues who questioned him on the Secret:

«“I cannot reveal anything of what I learned at Fatima concerning the third Secret, but I can say that it has two parts: one concerns the Pope. The other, logically – although I must say nothing – would have to be the continuation of the words: In Portugal the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved.” Regarding the part that concerns the Pope, I had asked (our witness continues): “The present Pope or the next one?” To this question Father Schweigl made no reply.»²¹

If Pope Pius XII already had, through Father Schweigl, a veiled indication of the subject matter of the third Secret, this would explain many things. Among other things, it would explain the mission of Cardinal Ottaviani in May 1955, his meeting with Sister Lucy and the fact that he questioned her on the third Secret. Perhaps it would also explain why in 1956 or the beginning of 1957, Rome demanded the transfer of this document to the Holy Office. It would also explain why Pius XII, already knowing enough to surmise the gravity of the events predicted in the Secret, preferred to wait, putting off till later the awesome decision to read it.

We might also reread the declarations of Sister Lucy to Father Fuentes in December 1957.²² We will not find a single word there which does not fit perfectly well with everything we have said about the most probable content of the third Secret. On the contrary, the anguished thought of the crisis of the Church which was approaching, and the grave defects of the Shepherds, seems to be underlying everything she said in this conversation, from beginning to end.
WHY THE SECRET WAS NOT DISCLOSED

«The content of the third Secret must account for why it was not disclosed by Popes John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II.» This is one of four certain facts which we have solidly demonstrated at the beginning of our investigation.²³

Since none of the hypotheses expressed up to now really satisfies this requirement, there is hardly any need for insistence to understand why the Popes, since 1960, have always obstinately refused – for different reasons which we will examine in a special chapter – to disclose this prophecy announcing… their own shortcomings and the tragic consequences which were to follow for the Church.

It is equally easy to understand why Cardinal Ottaviani, who tried in the name of Pope Paul VI to justify, for better or worse, the failure to disclose the Secret, declared insistently that the famous Secret «was intended for the Holy Father».²⁴ It was a half-truth… or a half-lie: intended exclusively and explicitly for the Pope? Certainly not! But directly concerning the Pope? Without any doubt.

Father Alonso understood quite well to what extent the content of the Secret, and this alone, prevented the Popes from revealing it. In his last article on the Secret of Fatima, written just a few weeks before his death, while he prudently gave the appearance of justifying Rome’s silence, he wrote these remarkably clairvoyant lines:

«An inopportune revelation of the text would only have further exasperated the two tendencies which continue to tear the Church apart: a traditionalism which would believe itself to be assisted by the Fatima prophecies, and a progressivism which would have lashed out against these apparitions, which in such a scandalous manner would seem to put the brakes on the conciliar Church’s forward progress… Pope Paul VI judged it opportune and prudent to delay the revelation of the text until better times. Pope John XXIII declared that the text did not refer to his pontificate… And the following Popes did not consider that the moment had come to lift the veil of mystery, in circumstances where the Church has still not overcome the frightening impact of twenty post-conciliar years, during which the crisis of the Faith has installed itself at every level.»²⁵

Stupefying words: revealing Our Lady’s prophecies, the Fatima expert explains to us, would come to clearly vindicate the defenders of tradition and uphold them in their struggle, and on the contrary, restrain and disavow the supporters of the “Conciliar Reform” to the point of infuriating them against Fatima.

Now the question arises: how long will our Pastors choose to please the enemies of the Blessed Virgin by remaining faithful to the “conciliar orientations” on which they fall back – and which have led the Church to her ruin – rather than humbly place their trust in the Queen of Heaven’s prophecies, which are unquestionably opposed to the innovators? How long will they put off obeying such urgent requests of their Mother and Mistress, the Queen of Apostles, all-powerful Mediatrix of grace and mercy for the Church and the world?
THE THOUGHT THAT HAUNTED THE THREE SEERS:
PRAY, PRAY MUCH FOR THE HOLY FATHER

One constant concern of the little seers was to try to pray unceasingly for the Holy Father on whom the contents of the third Secret shed new light.

We know that after July 13 and the revelation of the great Secret, they began to offer their sacrifices and prayers for the Holy Father, especially Jacinta, who «was very impressed by certain things revealed in the Secret», as Lucy tells us.²⁶

«When we were in prison (Lucy tells us), what made Jacinta suffer most, was to feel that their parents had abandoned them. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she would say: “Neither your parents nor mine have come to see us. They don’t bother about us any more!” “Don’t cry”, said Francisco, “we can offer this to Jesus for sinners.” Then, raising his eyes and hands to Heaven, he made the offering: “O my Jesus, this is for love of You, and for the conversion of sinners.” Jacinta added: “And also for the Holy Father, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”»²⁷

Later on, after the threats of the Administrator, who let them believe he would kill them, Jacinta began crying:

«I went over and drew her close to me (says Lucy), asking her why she was crying. “Because we are going to die without ever seeing our parents again, not even our mothers!” With tears running down her cheeks, she added: “I would like at least to see my mother.” “Don’t you want, then, to offer this sacrifice for the conversion of sinners?” “I do want to, I do!” With her face bathed in tears, she joined her hands, raised her eyes to Heaven and made her offering:

«“O my Jesus, this is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners, for the Holy Father, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary!”»²⁸

In her account of their imprisonment at Ourem, which was so terrifying for children that age, Lucy relates another incident which shows that they were continually thinking of the Holy Father, just one month after the Secret was revealed:

«As the Blessed Virgin had told us to offer our prayers and sacrifices also in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we agreed that each of us would choose one of these intentions. One would offer for sinners, another for the Holy Father and yet another in reparation for the sins against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Having decided on this, I told Jacinta to choose whichever intention she preferred. “I’m making the offering for all the intentions, because I love them all.”»²⁹

THE VISION OF THE HOLY FATHER INSULTED AND PERSECUTED

«One day (Lucy says), we spent our siesta down by my parents’ well. Jacinta sat on the stone slabs on top of the well. Francisco and I climbed up a steep bank in search of wild honey among the brambles in a nearby thicket.

«After a little while, Jacinta called out to me: “Didn’t you see the Holy Father?” “No.” “I don’t know how it happened, but I saw the Holy Father in a very big house, kneeling by a table, with his head buried in his hands, and he was weeping. Outside the house, there were many people. Some of them were throwing stones, others were cursing him and using bad language. Poor Holy Father, we must pray very much for him.”

«One day (Lucy continues), two priests recommended us to pray for the Holy Father, and explained to us who the Pope was. Afterwards, Jacinta asked me: “Is he the one I saw weeping, the one Our Lady told us about in the Secret?” “Yes, he is.” “The Lady must surely have shown him also to those priests. You see, I wasn’t mistaken. We need to pray a lot for him.”»³⁰

Some experts believed that this mysterious vision applied to Pope Pius XII. But it is more probable that this prophetic vision concerns the future. Does it perhaps concern the Pope who will finally decide to fulfil the requests of Our Lady, beginning with revealing Her final Secret to the world? If Sister Lucy experienced a real agony before writing it down, we can imagine the terrible sufferings of the Pope who would have to reveal it. It is also certain that when the Supreme Pontiff renounces the compromises, silence and concessions dictated by a too-human prudence and decides to act vigorously, in conformity with his duty as Vicar of Christ – that is, first of all as the fearless defender of the deposit of Faith, no longer hesitating to denounce by name the heretics who poison his flock – he will provoke the furor of his enemies, he will also have to bear the insults and hatred of his own misguided children, who for a long time have been serving the Enemy. He will be insulted, he will be pelted with stones, and he will be cursed. Yes, at that time more than ever, «the Holy Father will have much to suffer».
THE VISION OF THE WAR AND THE HOLY FATHER IN PRAYER

«Another time (Lucy writes), we went to the cave called Lapa do Cabeço. As soon as we got there, we prostrated on the ground, saying the prayers the Angel had taught us.

«After some time, Jacinta stood up and called to me: “Can’t you see all those highways and roads and fields full of people, who are crying with hunger and have nothing to eat? And the Holy Father in a church praying before the Immaculate Heart of Mary? And so many people praying with him?”

«Some days later, she asked me: “Can I say that I saw the Holy Father and all those people?” “No. Don’t you see that that’s part of the Secret? If you do, they’ll find out right away.” “All right! Then I’ll say nothing at all.”»³¹

This second prophetic vision, like the first, has undoubtedly not yet been fulfilled. The horrible war in question is undoubtedly the future war we are threatened with. As for the Holy Father «praying before the Immaculate Heart of Mary», we may believe that he is the Pope mentioned in the Secret: «In the end… the Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me.» Did Our Lady perhaps reveal to Her little confidante what a tragic situation we would be in when the consecration of Russia, requested so insistently by Heaven since 1929, would finally take place? «They will do it, but it will be late», Our Lord told Sister Lucy.

Only the disclosure of the third Secret, and fulfilment of the events predicted, will give us the whole truth about these visions of Jacinta. Be that as it may, the lesson Lucy wished us to draw from these accounts is simple, and more relevant and urgent than ever: we must pray, pray much and offer sacrifices for the Pope. Although in her Memoirs the seer could not reveal the reasons for her insistence – which undoubtedly directly depend on the revelations in the third Secret – she at least wished to set before us the moving example of her little cousin. Along with concern for saving sinners from hell, the thought of the Holy Father was what preoccupied her the most, surely because she knew of events that we did not – she knew what dangers, temptations and finally what terrible persecutions the Holy Father would have to put up with and suffer before the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

«This gave Jacinta such love for the Holy Father that every time she offered her sacrifices to Jesus, she added: “And for the Holy Father”. After the Rosary, she always said three Hail Marys for the Holy Father.»³²

Shortly before he died, Francisco said to Jacinta and Lucy: «It won’t be long now before I go to Heaven. When I’m there, I’m going to console Our Lord and Our Lady very much. Jacinta is going to pray a lot for sinners, for the Holy Father and for you. You will stay here, because Our Lady wants it that way. Listen, you must do everything that She tells you!”»³³

When the Blessed Virgin told her that soon she would leave for the hospital and that she would suffer much there, Jacinta said to her cousin:

«… I’ll be there suffering all alone! But never mind! I’ll suffer for love of Our Lord, to make reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the conversion of sinners and for the Holy Father.»³⁴

A few months later, in July-August of 1919, the prophecy of Our Lady was fulfilled. Jacinta went to the hospital of Vila Nova de Ourem. Lucy could only visit her twice. She says:

«I found Jacinta joyful as ever, glad to suffer for the love of Our Good God and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for sinners and for the Holy Father. That was her ideal, and she could speak of nothing else.»³⁵

When she returned to Aljustrel, Jacinta continued to think often about the events announced in the Secret:

«Don’t be afraid, she told Lucy, in Heaven I’ll be praying hard for you, for the Holy Father, for Portugal, so that the war will not come here, and also for all priests.»³⁶

Finally, a few months before her death, shortly before she left for Lisbon, Lucy asked her:

«What are you going to do in Heaven?» «I’m going to love Jesus very much, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary too. I’m going to pray a lot for you, for sinners, for the Holy Father, for my parents and my brothers and sisters, and for all the people who have asked me to pray for them…»³⁷

Although Lucy is always discreet when referring to herself, she shows us that she shared the intentions of her cousin. When she was overwhelmed by visitors and pilgrims who came to interrogate her and ask her to pray with them:

«I repeated my usual prayer from the depths of my heart: “O my God, this is for love of You, in reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the conversion of sinners and for the Holy Father.”»³⁸

Similarly in the immensity of her sorrow at the death of her father:

«My God! My God! I exclaimed in the privacy of my room. I never thought You had so much suffering in store for me! But I suffer for love of You, in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the Holy Father and for the conversion of sinners.»³⁹

Lucy even goes so far as to write:

«… There was not a prayer or sacrifice we offered to God which did not include an invocation for His Holiness.»⁴⁰

This preoccupation, which is so surprising for such young children, is perfectly understandable if the third Secret mentions explicitly – and with details striking to the imagination – possible defects of the Supreme Pontiffs and the persecutions they will have to undergo later on (because of these failings). Moreover we find explicit mention of these tribulations that the Popes would undergo in the dramatic prophecy of Our Lord to Sister Lucy at Rianjo, in August 1931:

«Make it known to My ministers that, given they are following the example of the King of France in delaying the execution of My request, they will follow him into misfortune. It will never be too late to have recourse to Jesus and Mary.»⁴¹

What misfortunes is Our Lord referring to? Undoubtedly it is the third Secret which provides the answer.

Source : The Whole Truth about Fatima, Volume 3, Chapt V, from Frère Michel.

My Comment : According to my researchs, almost half of the Fatima 3rd Secret is about the Pope, in short our Lady warns the Pope above all, as confirmed also by Frère Michel in the Chap V of his famous book “the Whole Truth about Fatima”, I came to the same conclusion.

If Pope John XXIII refused to reveal the Secret, indicating that the Secret does not concern his Ponfiticate, it’s probably because the secret is quite dark, quite pessimistic at best, with a timetable beginning in 1960 until the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of our Lady so the words of our Lady certainly did not match the legendary optimism of the good Pope who was just announcing a new Council (1959), hoping a new Spring in the Church but Fatima is a Public Prophecy and not a Private revelation, therefore Popes are primaliry responsible and the Year 2017 could be the last year of a possible Consecration to avoid  the punishment of the 3rd Secret vision and to not end like the King of France.

Below a video of John Salza that I consider Personnaly as one of the Greatest Fatima Expert today, John is a former freemason, he met Father Gruner in 2010 and he is in my opinion his worthy successor, more soon.

 

PS : John, Il tuo italiano è molto buono, molto migliore del moi 🙂

 

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