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THE THIRD PART OF THE
SECRET OF FATIMA
Remarks Concerning Its Presentation
By H.E. Bishop Bernard Fellay, June 26, 2000
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published this morning,
June 26, the third part of the secret of Fatima, also called the “third
secret”.
1. The original itself is photographically reproduced, and is accompanied
by a translation. As for us, we do not have any reason to doubt that it
really is the authentic text. It has been placed back in its context,
on the one hand by the reminder of the first two parts, which have also
been photographed or scanned and translated, and on the other hand by
a historical commentary.
This is the text, as committed to paper by Sister Lucia, on January 3,
1944:
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J.M.J.
The third part of the secret
revealed on July 13, 1917 at the Cove de Iria – Fatima.
I write in obedience to
you, my God, who command me to do so through His Excellency the
Bishop of Leiria and through you Most Holy Mother and mine.
After the two parts which
I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above,
we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand,
flashing. It gave out flames that looked as though they
would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the
splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand.
Pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in
a loud voice: “Penance, Penance, Penance!” And
we saw in an immense Light that is God, something similar to how
people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it, a Bishop
dressed in white. We had the impression that it was the Holy Father.
Other Bishops, Priests, men and women religious going up a steep
mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough hewn
trunks, as of a cork-tree with the bark. Before reaching there,
the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half
trembling. With halted step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he
prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way. Having reached
the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross
he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows
at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other
Bishops, Priests, men and women religious, and various lay people
of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross
there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand,
in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs, and with it
sprinkled the souls that were making there way to God.
Tuy, 3-1-1944
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2. The text of the Congregation for the doctrine of the Faith begins
with a quite long historical presentation by Archbishop Bertone, in which
great importance is given to the consecration of 1984 (but not to the
preceding consecrations), together with the affirmation that:
“Sister Lucia personally confirmed that this solemn and universal
act of consecration corresponded to what Our Lady wished…Hence any further
discussion or request is without basis.”
Then comes a very interesting extract from a letter of Sister Lucia to
the Holy Father, dated May 12, 1982, which gives an interpretation of
the Third Secret:
“The third part of the secret refers to Our Lady’s words. ‘If not
(Russia) will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and
persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father
will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated’ (July 13,
1917).”
 “The third part of the secret is a symbolic revelation,
referring to this part of the Message, conditioned by whether we accept
or not what the Message itself ask of us: ‘If my requests are heeded,
Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not she will spread
her errors throughout the world, etc.’.”
“Since we did not heed this appeal of the Message, we see that
it has been fulfilled. Russia has invaded the world with her errors. And
if we have not yet seen the complete fulfillment of the final part of
this prophecy, we are going towards it little by little with great strides,
if we do not reject the path of sin, hatred, revenge, injustice, violations
of the rights of the human person, immorality and violence, etc. (1)”
“And let us not say that it is God who is punishing us in this way.
On the contrary, it is people themselves who are preparing their own punishment.
In his kindness God warns us and calls us to the right path, while respecting
the freedom he has given us. Hence, people are responsible.”
Immediately after this quotation we read the following paragraph, in
complete contradiction with that which had just been said:
“The decision of His Holiness Pope John Paul II to make public the
third part of the ‘secret’ of Fatima brings to an end a period of history
(2) marked by tragic human
lust for power and evil, yet pervaded by the merciful love of God and
the watching care of the Mother of Jesus and of the Church.”
3. After the texts of the secret comes the interpretative section, composed
of the following parts:
1) A letter from John-Paul II to Sister Lucia, informing her of Archbishop
Bertone’s visit in his name, to request more precise explanations from
her.
2) The report on the meeting between Archbishop Bertone, accompanied
by the local bishop, and Sister Lucia, on April 27, 2000.
3) The announcement made by Cardinal Sodano at Fatima on May 13, presented
in the document as the correct interpretation of the secret.
4) A theological commentary. This is composed of three unequal parts.
The first is a reminder of the difference between private and public revelation,
the second, briefer section, speaks of the anthropological structure of
private revelations; the third is entitled an attempt to interpret the
“secret” of Fatima.
It is clearly this last part that interests us. Cardinal Ratzinger begins
with a good reminder of the vision of hell, of sin and of devotion to
the Immaculate Heart. Here are some extracts from what follows:
“Thus we come finally to the third part of the ‘secret’ of Fatima
which for the first time is being published in its entirety. As is clear
from the documentation presented here, the interpretation offered by Cardinal
Sodano in his statement of May 13 was first put personally to Sister Lucia.
Sister Lucia responded by pointing out that she had received the vision
but not its interpretation. The interpretation, she said, belonged not
to the visionary, but to the Church. After reading the text, however,
she said that this interpretation corresponded to what she had experienced
and that on her part she thought the interpretation correct. In what follows,
therefore, we can only attempt to provide a deeper foundation for this
interpretation, on the basis of the criteria already considered.”
“‘To save souls’ has emerged as the key word of the first and second
parts of the ‘secret’, and the key word of this third part is the threefold
cry: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!’ (3)
…”
“And so we come to the final question: What is the meaning of the
‘secret’ of Fatima as a whole (in its three parts)? What does it say to
us? First of all we must affirm with Cardinal Sodano: ‘… the events
to which the third part of the secret of Fatima refer now seem part of
the past’. Insofar as individual events are described, they belong to
the past. Those who expected exciting apocalyptic revelations about
the end of the world or the future course of history are bound to be disappointed.
Fatima does not satisfy our curiosity in this way, just as Christian faith
in general cannot be reduced to an object of mere curiosity…”.
“I would like finally to mention another key expression of the ‘secret’
which has become justly famous: ‘My Immaculate Heart will triumph’. What
does this mean? The Heart open to God, purified by contemplation of God,
is stronger than guns and weapons of every kind. The fiat of Mary,
the word of her heart, has changed the history of the world, because it
brought the Savior into the world – because, thanks to her Yes,
God could become man in our world and remains so for all time. The Evil
One has power in this world, as we see and experience continually, he
has power because our freedom continually lets itself be led away from
God. But since God himself took a human heart and has thus steered human
freedom towards what is good, the freedom to choose evil no longer has
the last word. From that time forth, the world that prevails is this:
‘In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart; I have overcome
the world’ (Jn 16:33). The message of Fatima invites us to trust in this
promise.”
In summary, the third secret would seem to predict the sufferings of
the Church during the XXth century and in particular of the present Pope
and of his attempted assassination. What remains?
“What remains was already evident when we began our reflections on
the text of the ‘secret’: the exhortation to prayer as the path of ‘salvation
for souls’ and, likewise, the summons to penance and conversion’. ”(4)
As for the apocalyptic elements in the third secret, inasmuch as particular
events are represented, they supposedly henceforth belong to the past.
What are we to think of all this?
A. We think that the message of Fatima, as it is presented above, has
had its effectiveness profoundly changed: namely for the conversion of
sinners. For Our Lady’s threatening and anguished appeal, an appeal for
conversion, an appeal to do penance, is no longer linked to the threat…since
the terrible events are supposed to already belong to the past.
B. It is to be noted that the texts of the first two secrets presented
in the Vatican document are drawn from Sister Lucia’s Third Memoir (of
August 31, 1941), and not from the Fourth Memoir, dated December 8, 1941,
which contains the famous expression: “In Portugal, the dogma of the
Faith will always be preserved.” Despite the fact that Sister Lucia
declared at the time that this sentence indicated the meaning of the Third
Secret, it is not found in the secret. It is only with respect to the
choosing of texts that this sentence is made mention of as a note, although
it is an important indication for the understanding of the vision given
in the third part of the secret.
Otherwise put, the reference to an internal crisis (“the dogma
of the Faith”) within the Church has disappeared. It is only exterior
attacks that are now seen, and these are reduced to the atheistic communists
who have henceforth disappeared…
C. How far we are, in this global presentation of the message of Fatima,
from what Sister Lucia has said elsewhere:
“A diabolical disorientation that invades the world and deceives souls”,
in a letter of April 12, 1970 to Maria Teresa da Cunha;
“It is painful to see such a great disorientation, and in so many
persons who occupy places of responsibility!” in a letter of September
16, 1970 to Mère Martins;
“The devil is in the process of entering upon a decisive battle with
the Virgin, and as he knows that which most offends God and enable
him in little time to gain the greatest number of souls, he does everything
he can to gain souls consecrated to God…” in a meeting with Father
Fuentes on December 26, 1957.
There is no mention of the prayer of the Rosary as means of salvation.
This makes us think that not everything that Sister Lucia knows is in
this secret.
As a conclusion, we could bring to mind these words of Sister Lucia to
Father Fuentes, on December 26, 1957, at the same time as we hope that
Heaven deign to look favorably upon recent acts concerning Fatima.
“The Blessed Virgin Mary is very sorrowful, for nobody considers
her Message as important, neither the good, nor the bad. The good continue
along their course, but without taking notice of the message. The bad,
not seeing at the present time God’s punishments fall upon them, continue
a life of sin, without caring about the Message. But believe me, Father,
God is going to chastise the world, and this will be in a terrible way”.
(1) Emphasis added. Note that there is nearly total contradiction
between that which is written here and the interpretation now given by
the Vatican: the third secret concerns the past.
(2) Emphasis added.
(3) Emphasis added.
(4) Cardinal Ratzinger. Ibid.
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