Advent reflections: Antichrist, Fatima, Rome, Ottaviani, Oddi, Ratzinger, Vatican II…

I will be reposting essays and commentary on the topic of antichrist/antichurch/apocalypse as Advent wanes. Go to Mass, go to Confession, look for signs.

From the combox:

Michael @ The Pilgrim Center, San Sebastian de Garabandal says:

Supplemental Quotes in relation to the Third Secret of Fatima:

“The apostasy of the city of Rome from the vicar of Christ and its destruction by Antichrist may be thoughts so new to many Catholics, that I think it well to recite the text of theologians of greatest repute. First Malvenda, who writes expressly on the subject, states as the opinion of Ribera, Gaspar Melus, Biegas, Suarrez, Bellarmine and Bosius that Rome shall apostatise from the faith, drive away the Vicar of Christ and return to its ancient paganism. …Then the Church shall be scattered, driven into the wilderness, and shall be for a time, as it was in the beginning, invisible hidden in catacombs, in dens, in mountains, in lurking places; for a time it shall be swept, as it were from the face of the earth. Such is the universal testimony of the Fathers of the early Church.” – Cardinal Henry Edward Manning, The Present Crisis of the Holy See, 1861, London: Burns and Lambert, pp. 88-90

On 15 July 1946, Catholic historian Professor William Thomas Walsh interviewed Sister Lucia at her convent of the Dorothean Sisters at Vilar, Portugal. This interview clearly demonstrates that Our Lady’s request for the Consecration of Russia will only be fulfilled when the Pope and together with the world’s Catholic bishops consecrate specifically Russia. “Sister Lucia made it plain that Our Lady did not ask for the consecration of the world to Her Immaculate Heart. What She [Our Lady] demanded specifically was the consecration of Russia. Sister Lucia stated more than once and with deliberate emphasis: ‘What Our Lady wants is that the Pope and all the bishops in the world shall consecrate Russia to Her Immaculate Heart on one special day. If this is done, She will convert Russia and there will be peace. If it is not done, the errors of Russia will spread through every country in the world’.”


Professor Walsh asked,
“Does this mean, in your opinion, that every country [including the USA and the VATICAN CITY STATE], without exception, will be overcome by Communism?”
Sister Lucia replied, “Yes.” [this was her precise answer] – William Thomas Walsh, Our Lady of Fatima 4th printing, (1947) p. 226; See also Louis Kaczmarek, The Wonders She Performs, 1986, p. 160

There is the little-known revelation of Our Lady of Fatima to Sister Lucia in the early 1950s. Our Lady appeared to Sister Lucy in May 1952 and said: “Make it known to the Holy Father that I am always awaiting the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart. Without that Consecration, Russia will not be able to convert, nor will the world have peace.”- Il Pellegrinaggio Della Meraviglie, p. 440. Rome, 1960. This same work, published under the auspices of the Italian episcopate, affirms that this message was communicated to Pope Pius XII in June. Also, Canon Barthas mentioned that apparition in his communication to the Mariological Congress of Lisbon-Fatima, in 1967; see De Primoridiis cultus marianae, Acta congressus mariologici-mariana in Lusitania anno 1967 celebrati, p. 517. Rome, 1970. See Frère François de Marie des Anges, Fatima: Intimate Joy World Event, Book Four, Fatima: Tragedy and Triumph, pp. 21 and 37.

Russia has not embraced the Catholic Faith and thus cannot possibly be said to have converted. Father Joaquin Alonso, probably the foremost Fatima expert of the 20th Century, had many interviews with Sister Lucy. In 1976 he wrote: “… we should affirm that Sister Lucia always thought that the ‘conversion’ of Russia is not to be limited to the return of the Russian people to the Orthodox Christian religions, rejecting the Marxist atheism of the Soviets, but rather, it refers purely, plainly and simply to the total, integral conversion of Russia to the one true Church of Christ, the Catholic Church.”- La Verdad sobre el Secreto de Fatima, Fatima sin mitos, Father Joaquin Alonso, (2nd edition, Ejercito Azul, Madrid, 1988) p. 78. English translation by Joseph Cain. Original Spanish reads: “… podriamos decir que Lucia ha pensado siempre que la conversión de Rusia no se entiende solo de un retorno de los pueblos de Rusia a la religion cristiano-ortodoxa, rechazando el ateismo marxista y ateo de los soviets, sino que se refiere pura y llanmente a la conversion total e integral de un retorno a la unica y verdadera Iglesia, la catolica-romana.”

“I cannot reveal anything about what I have learned at Fatima about the Third Secret, but I can say that it has two parts: the one concerns the Pope. The other, logically – although I should say nothing – should be the continuation of the words: ‘In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved.’” – Father Joseph Schweigl 1952 (Pope Pius XII sent him to interrogate Sr. Lucia on September 2, 1952); Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité, The Whole Truth About Fatima: The Third Secret, Vol. III, p. 710, p. 337-338

We know that Cardinal Ottaviani read the Third Secret and made reference to one of its themes on the 15th of December 1960. In an allocution to the members of the Marian International Academy he declared,
“It suffices to cast a rapid glance at what is happening at this moment in the world, in order to recognize that without the intervention of the Mother of all mercy near the All-Powerful, the world risks becoming pagan once more, a paganism more deplorable than the first paganism, because it is aggravated by apostasy. We are witnessing a veritable deluge of sins, a deluge which leaves behind it a nauseating quagmire, infected by immorality, lies and blasphemy…” – “Documentation Catholique,” 1961, col. 244, (15 December 1960 – Allocution de S. Em. Le cardinal Ottaviani à l’Académie Mariale Internationale)

In 1963 during a public admonition to his spiritual sons amidst the Second Vatican Council Padre Pio said:
“Due to the rampant injustice and abuse of power, we have reached a compromise with atheistic materialism [Communism], a denial of the rights of God. This is the punishment foretold at Fatima … All the priests who support the possibility of a dialogue with the negators of God and with the Luciferian powers of the world [Freemasonry] are mad, have lost their faith, no longer believe in the Gospel! In so doing they betray the word of God, because Christ came to bring on earth perpetual covenant only to men of heart [good will], but did not join with the men thirsty for power and dominion over the brothers … The flock is dispersed when the shepherds ally with the enemies of the Truth of Christ. All the forms of power made deaf to the will of the authority of the heart of God are rapacious wolves that renew the passion of Christ and make the Madonna shed tears … ” – Published in “Avvenire” August 19, 1978; partial quote also in “The Fourth Secret of Fatima” 2006 by Antonio Socci)

“It is therefore completely probable that the text makes concrete references to the crisis of faith within the Church and to the negligence of the pastors themselves [and the] internal struggles in the very bosom of the Church and of grave pastoral negligence of the upper hierarchy …
“In the period preceding the great triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, terrible things are to happen. These form the content of the third part of the Secret. What are they? If ‘in Portugal the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved,’ … it can be clearly deduced from this that in other parts of the Church these dogmas are going to become obscure or even lost altogether. …
“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 Lucia has had on this subject.
“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.” – Father Joaquin Alonso (Official Archivist at Fatima); La Verdad sobre el Secreto de Fatima 1976. See also Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité, The Whole Truth About Fatima – Vol. III, p. 687, 704-705. See also De nuevo el Secreto de Fatima 1982 Ephemerides mariologicae p. 93]

In an interview conducted in November 11, 1984, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) confirmed that, with the Pope’s permission, he had read the Secret and that it concerns, in his words, “a radical call to conversion, the absolute gravity of history, the dangers threatening the Faith and the life of a Christian, and therefore the world. And also the importance of the ‘novissimi’ (the last times).” The Cardinal went on to explain that “if it is not published… it is to avoid confusing religious prophecy with sensationalism. But the things contained in the Third Secret correspond to what has been announced in Scripture and are confirmed by many other Marian apparitions.” – Ecco perche la fede e in crisi in the review, Jesus, p. 79

Continuing his diagnosis, he [Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger] recalls that this “true” Council, “already during its sessions [Vatican II] and then increasingly in the subsequent period, was opposed by a self-styled ‘spirit of the Council’, which in reality is a true ‘anti-spirit’ of the Council. According to this pernicious anti-spirit [Konzils-Ungeist in German], everything that is ‘new’ (or presumed such: how many old heresies have surfaced again in recent years that have been presented as something new!) is always and in every case better than what has been or what is. It is the anti-spirit according to which the history of the Church would first begin with Vatican II, viewed as a kind of point zero.” – The Ratzinger Report: an exclusive interview on the state of the Church (Rapporto Sulla Fede), 1985, by Vittorio Messori, p. 34-35

The Blessed Virgin was alerting us against the apostasy in the Church.” “I would not be surprised if the Third Secret alluded to dark times for the Church: grave confusions and troubling apostasies within Catholicism itself…If we consider the grave crisis we have lived through since the Council, the signs that this prophecy has been fulfilled do not seem to be lacking…” – Silvio Cardinal Oddi, to Italian journalist Lucio Brunelli in the journal Il Sabato, Rome, March 17, 1990

“The Secret of Fatima contains a sad prophecy about the Church and, for this reason Pope John did not divulge it. And neither have Paul VI or John Paul II. It seems to me that what is basically written is that the Pope would convene a Council in 1960 which, contrary to expectations, would indirectly result in many difficulties for the Church.” – Cardinal Silvio Oddi, who was Prefect of the Congregation of the Clergy in the Pontificate of John Paul II and very close to John XXIII during his reign; 30 Giorni, November 11, 1990, p. 69

“Silvio Cardinal Oddi spoke with Sister Lucia in 1985. Afterward, Cardinal Oddi said [regarding the Third Secret] that ‘In my opinion, what is written is that in 1960, the Pope would have convoked a council from which, contrary to his intentions, there would arise many difficulties in the Church.’” – The Fourth Secret of Fatima, 2006 by Antonio Socci p. 123

“The prophecy of Fatima was completely defied! It is a lack of sense, I would say, because according to the interpretation that seems to me most worthy of consideration, the Third Secret – which John XXIII and his successors thought inopportune to reveal – […] regards the ‘revolution’ in the Catholic Church.”
“From a Council convened to throw light on the beauty and profundity of the Christian mystery by presenting the Church as the spouse of Christ, […] so many innovations were born that they appear to constitute a true internal revolution.” – Cardinal Silvio Oddi, Il Tenero Mastino di Dio, Rome: Progetto Museali Editore, 1995, p. 217-218

“The Message of Fatima is a call to conversion, alerting humanity to have nothing to do with the “dragon” whose “tail swept down a third of the stars of Heaven and cast them to the earth” (Apoc. 12:4). […] In her motherly concern, the Blessed Virgin came here to Fátima to ask men and women “to stop offending God, Our Lord, who is already very offended.” It is a mother’s sorrow that compels her to speak; the destiny of her children is at stake. For this reason she asks the little shepherds: “Pray, pray much and make sacrifices for sinners; many souls go to hell because they have no one to pray and make sacrifices for them.” – Pope John Paul II Homily for the Beatification of Jacinta and Francisco at Fatima on May 13, 2000 http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/2000/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_20000513_beatification-fatima.html
[NOTE: “a third of the stars of Heaven” has been traditionally interpreted as fallen clergy; cardinals, bishops and priests who are at the service of Satan]

“I believe that [Third] part of the secret concerns the Church from within, perhaps doctrinal difficulties, a crisis of unity, rebellion. The last sentence my aunt wrote, which precedes the part that is still unknown, says, In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved. Therefore, people elsewhere in the Church might waver on dogma. But this is just speculation.” – Father Jose dos Santos Valinho (nephew of Sr. Lucia) in 2000; Reportage su Fatima by Renzo and Roberto Allegri, Milan 2000

“I believe that there is a connection between that which is announced in the first part of the Secret, which concerns wars and sufferings which would be everywhere, and the second part which concerns the persecutions and a type of breakdown of the faith. Because where the ellipsis (the three dots, “…”) was placed, it means “Here is the third part, which is not revealed” and then the conclusion “In Portugal the dogma of the faith will always be preserved etc.” This suggests to me that there is a relationship between faith and the third part of the Secret. Therefore, it is something that relates to the Church. It is some kind of universal crisis which affects the whole Church and all of humanity.” – Father Jose dos Santos Valinho (nephew of Sr. Lucia); This public statement was made on the 14th of February, 2003 broadcast on the program ENIGMA, which was transmitted prime time, nationwide on RAI, the National TV Network of Italy, The Fatima Crusader, Issue 74, p.76

Raymond Arroyo: One of your jobs here at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is investigating the Marian apparitions that occur in history and in our present age. You, in 2000, released the so-called, “Third Secret of Fatima.” And part of that revelation was that there would be a hail of bullets, the Pope would fall and appear to be dead. The Congregation interpreted that as the assassination attempt on his Holiness, John Paul II. Is it possible – and I’ve gotten many letters asking me to ask this question – is it possible that this could point to a future Pope?
Cardinal Ratzinger: We cannot exclude that this is clear. Normally, the private visions are limited to the next generation, and even Lucia, and all those in Fatima were convinced that in the time of one generation this would be realized. So, the immediate content of the vision is this, I would say. And it is expressed in a vision in an apocalyptic language. It is clear in all the visions, we do not have an historical language, as a report on television, that we have a visionary, symbolic language. We can understand this is indeed an indication of the crisis of the Church in the second part of the last century and in our time. But, even if the immediate sense of this prophecy, this vision is always in the next generations; it has also sense for future times. We cannot exclude – even I would say, we have to wait for, that even in other times we’ll have similar crises of the Church and perhaps also similar attacks to a Pope. – The World Over: Cardinal Ratzinger Interview, Raymond Arroyo with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger the future Pope Benedict XVI [Taken from the official transcript of the interview by EWTN News Director Raymond Arroyo of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, which first aired on EWTN on 5 September 2003. Cardinal Ratzinger was the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, an office to which he was appointed by Pope John Paul II in 1981] https://web.archive.org/web/20190608220749/http://www.ewtn.com/library/ISSUES/RATZINTV.HTM
@ 36:41 and following https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKVO_v2FbtE

“He deceives himself who thinks that the prophetic mission of Fatima is concluded.”[ …] “May the seven years which separate us from the centenary of the apparitions hasten the fulfillment of the prophecy of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to the glory of the Most Holy Trinity.” – Pope Benedict XVI Homily at Fatima on May 13, 2010 http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/pt/homilies/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20100513_fatima.html

Question: Is it reasonable to suggest that Pope Benedict XVI acted in light of (in conformity with and according to) the exact intelligence provided by Our Lady of the Rosary in the Third Secret of Fatima?

7 thoughts on “Advent reflections: Antichrist, Fatima, Rome, Ottaviani, Oddi, Ratzinger, Vatican II…”

  1. Correction on the first citation. – Cardinal Henry Edward Manning, The Present Crisis of the Holy See, 1861, London: Burns and Lambert, p. 88-90, p. 79
    ————————————————————————————————————————–
    The following excerpt was taken from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s address to the Chilean bishops on the very Anniversary of the Third Secret of Fatima…
    “The Second Vatican Council has not been treated as a part of the entire living Tradition of the Church, but as an end of Tradition, a new start from zero. The truth is that this particular Council defined no dogma at all, and deliberately chose to remain on a modest level, as a merely pastoral council; and yet many treat it as though it had made itself into a sort of “super-dogma” which takes away the importance of all the rest.”

    “This idea is made stronger by things that are now happening. That which previously was considered most holy—the form in which the liturgy was handed down—suddenly appears as the most forbidden of all things, the one thing that can safely be prohibited. It is intolerable to criticize decisions which have been taken since the Council; on the other hand, if men make question of ancient rules, or even of the great truths of the Faith—for instance, the corporal virginity of Mary, the bodily resurrection of Jesus, the immortality of the soul, etc.—nobody complains or only does so with the greatest moderation. I myself, when I was a professor, have seen how the very same bishop who, before the Council, ad fired a teacher who was really irreproachable, for a certain crudeness of speech, was not prepared, after the Council, to dismiss a professor who openly denied certain fundamental truths of the Faith.”

    “All this leads a great number of people to ask themselves if the Church of today is really the same as that of yesterday, or if they have changed it for something else without telling people. The one way in which Vatican II can be made plausible is to present it as it is; one part of the unbroken, the unique Tradition of the Church and of her faith.”

    “In the spiritual movements of the post-concilar era, there is not the slightest doubt that frequently there has been an obliviousness, or even a suppression, of the issue of truth: here perhaps we confront the crucial problem for theology and for pastoral work today.” – [The translated text of an address by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, given July 13, 1988 (The Anniversary of the Third Secret of Fatima), in Santiago, Chile before that nation’s bishops.] – The Wanderer, June 22, 2000
    https://www.ccwatershed.org/2019/11/07/13-july-1988-josef-cardinal-ratzinger/ See also https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=3032

  2. It was Cardinal Leo Jozef Suenens who exclaimed, “Vatican II is the French Revolution in the Church” and among other unguarded declarations he added “One cannot understand the French or the Russian revolutions unless one knows something of the old regimes which they brought to an end… It is the same in church affairs: a reaction can only be judged in relation to the state of things that preceded it.”
    What preceeded, and what he considered due for abolition, was that wonderful hierarchical construction culminating in the Pope, the Vicar of Christ on earth. He continued: “The Second Vatican Council marked the end of an epoch; and if we stand back from it a little more we see it marked the end of a series of epochs, the end of an age”. Père Yves Congar, one of the artisans of the reforms, spoke likewise: “The Church has had, peacefully, its October Revolution.” Fully aware of what he was saying, he remarked “The Declaration on Religious Liberty states the opposite of the Syllabus.” – Archbishop Marcel-François Lefebvre, C.S.Sp., “Open Letter to Confused Catholics,” English translation, 1986, pdf p. 105, p. 106
    https://ia902603.us.archive.org/4/items/AnOpenLetterToConfusedCatholics/AnOpenLetterToConfusedCatholics.pdf

  3. “The chiefs [bishops], the leaders of the people of God have neglected prayer and penance, and the demon has obscured their intelligence; they have become wandering STARS which the old devil will drag along with his TAIL to make them perish. God will allow the old serpent to place divisions among those who reign, in every society and in every family. Physical and moral agonies will be suffered; God will abandon mankind to itself and will send chastisements which will follow one after the other[…]” – Our Lady of La Salette spoke this Secret to Mélanie Calvatin in September 19, 1846. (Approved Apparition)
    [Melanie found refuge in Italy, and produced her final version of the Secret, together with a full account of the Apparition, in Castellammare in November of 1878. This final version received the approval and imprimatur of Bishop Salvatore Luigi Zola, C.R.L., the Bishop of Lecce in 1879, and Melanie sent a copy to Pope Leo XIII]

    “The TAIL of the devil is functioning in the disintegration of the Catholic world. The darkness of Satan has entered and spread throughout the Catholic Church even to its summit. Apostasy, the loss of the faith, is spreading throughout the world and into the highest levels within the Church.” – Pope Paul VI, October 13, 1977 in a formal address marking the 60th Anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun as quoted in the Milan-based daily Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, p. 7 of its issue dated October 14, 1977

    “The Message of Fatima is a call to conversion, alerting humanity to have nothing to do with the “dragon” whose “TAIL swept down a third of the STARS of Heaven and cast them to the earth” (Apoc. 12:4). […] In her motherly concern, the Blessed Virgin came here to Fátima to ask men and women “to stop offending God, Our Lord, who is already very offended.” It is a mother’s sorrow that compels her to speak; the destiny of her children is at stake. For this reason she asks the little shepherds: “Pray, pray much and make sacrifices for sinners; many souls go to hell because they have no one to pray and make sacrifices for them.” – Pope John Paul II Homily for the Beatification of Jacinta and Francisco at Fatima on May 13, 2000 [NOTE: “a third of the stars of Heaven” has been traditionally interpreted as fallen clergy; cardinals, bishops and priests who are at the service of Satan]
    http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/2000/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_20000513_beatification-fatima.html

    Commentary on Apocalypse Chapter 12 Verse 4 – The TAIL of the dragon draws in its coils one third of the STARS of Heaven and casts them to the earth. This is one third of the clergy. In Arianism (VI. 13), there was great apostasy of bishops and priests; the stars fell from heaven in large numbers. In the Greek schism, a great star, the Patriarch, fell from heaven (VIII. 10); and a star fell from heaven who led the apostasy from the Church into Protestantism (IX. 1). Before the appearance of Antichrist, “one third” of the stars shall follow the dragon. This is a compulsory apostasy shown by the Greek word, which means “to drag by force”. The subsequent phrase, “and cast them to the earth”, specifies this meaning with greater precision. Satan will probably through the evil world-powers of the time exercise such tyranny over the church as to leave the clergy the alternative of submission to the government or martyrdom by death or imprisonment and will enforce the acceptance of unchristian morals, false doctrines, compromise with error, or obedience to the civil rulers in violation of conscience. St. John evidently had in mind the world empires of ancient times, all of which were persecutors of God’s people. The text suggests a use of the apostate clergy, after their own defection, in persecuting the Church. Verse nine clearly states that those who will not brave martyrdom will surrender to Satan. The dragon will have them doing his will. According to Venerable Bede, “Tyconius more suo tertiam partem stellarum quae cecidit falsos fratres interpretatur”. Though Tyconius was a Donatist, his interpretation of the Apocalypse was very popular. Origen likewise expresses this opinion (Lom. iv. p. 306) “qui . . . peccatum . . sequitur, trahitur a cauda draconis vadens post eum”. They probably followed the lead of Methodius, who says of these stars: “And the stars, which the dragon touched with the end of his tail, and drew them down to the earth, are the bodies of heresies; for we must say that the stars, which are dark, obscure, and falling are the assemblies of the heterodox”. The verse seems to allude to Isaias (IX. 15-16). The tail is a symbol of lying and hypocrisy. Through false doctrines and principles, Satan will mislead the clergy, who will have become worldly-minded, haughty, hypocritical, obsequient avaricious sycophants. It seems to forebode a long period of peace, growth and temporal prosperity for the Church, so that many will enter the priesthood from bad motives. They will look to the Church to satisfy their ambition and avarice and will think it easier to gain an honorable position in the Church than in the world. In Catholic countries pious parents often for pride or other unworthy reasons urge their sons unduly to enter the priesthood for the honor there is in it. Such have not the spirit of sacrifice or mortification in the priesthood, and when persecution shall “sift them as wheat”, they shall be found to be chaff. By their lax principles they will infect the laity. They will easily welcome a mitigation or change of doctrine to sanction the lukewarm lives they want to lead. Then will Satan see a rich harvest ripening for himself. The symbolic meaning of the dragon’s tail may reveal that the clergy who are ripe for apostasy will hold the influential positions in the Church having won preferment by hypocrisy, deceit and flattery. In scriptural language, the clergy are stars. Daniel says “And they that instruct many unto justice (shall shine) as stars for all eternity” (XII. 3). And of Antiochus he says: “And it threw down of the strength, and of the stars, and trod upon them” (VIII. 10). This does not mean the martyrdom of pious Jews but rather the forcing of many into idolatry, for he says again, “such as deal wickedly against the covenant shall deceitfully dissemble” (XI. 32), meaning the apostasy of hypocrites. Our Lord says of the faithful: “Then shall the just shine as the sun” (Mt. XIII. 43). In Genesis the patriarchs, heads of the twelve tribes of Israel, are also called stars. And the words of Daniel (VIII. 10) cannot be restricted to the priests only of the Antiochean persecution but surely embrace all martyrs of that ordeal. If the chosen people of the Old Testament are called stars, much more appropriately so the true believers of the Church of Jesus Christ. The great apostasy will then most likely include the laity as well as the clergy. The apostasy of the laity is a constant process of elimination of the lukewarm and indifferent in countries strongly Protestant or non-Catholic. But in Catholic countries, these non-practical members are not expelled from the Church. The voluptuous, the drunkards, the impure who commit crimes and abuses against marriage, the fornicators, the proud and avaricious, the lukewarm and indifferent and all who are not ready to suffer everything the world can inflict on them will certainly be drawn into apostasy by the dragon’s power. This may be the “revolt” of which St. Paul writes, complete apostasy from God, as is under way now through the persecution of Communist governments. The prophets condemning the works of the priests and false seers before the Babylonian Captivity point out the prevalent evils that might cause an extensive apostasy from the Church, if they obtained entrance. In the prophecy of Malachias (I. 7, 8, 12), we find priests and people offering God contemptible gifts that are worthless to themselves. There were priests who neglected to preach the truth (II. 7, 9) or to admonish the sinner by a good example (II. 9) but rather sought popularity by being lax and the slaves of human respect. Spiritual havoc is wrought, if priests and people live in sin boldly yet hold themselves blameless not minding the denunciations of their wickedness by the Church and not willing to understand the true meaning of God’s chastisements (II. 17). If there are hypocrites among the priests, when Antichrist appears, they will apostatize as in the days of Antiochus (Dan. XI. 32). All those will apostatize who are “without faith”, i.e. unfaithful, unjust and untrustworthy; they desecrate sacred things (Soph. III. 4). Those priests also will follow the dragon who surrender to the wishes of such people as want to hear “pleasant things” (Isa. XXX. 10). And those will fall away who fear for their own interests and will not remonstrate against evil practices in the Church (Amos. V. 13); likewise those who work zealously, preach well and administer the sacraments, but for hire, money and popularity; those, furthermore, who fulfill their duty with external exactness but have no heart or charity in their work (Is. I. 11-15; LVI. 2-3). Ezechiel gives as a principal reason for expulsion from the Church neglect of duty in many ways out of carelessness or fear (III. 18-21). Deceit, pretense and impurity shall be expelled from the Church (Jer. XXIII. 11-17). If there are bishops who practice favoritism (Mal. II. 9) or who love presents and “take bribes” (Amos V. 12) or who abhor upright priests who dare to tell the truth (V. 10) or who call deceitful and flattering priests “great” (Is. XXXII. 5) or who slander others for their own gain or revenge (XXXII. 7); they are followers of the dragon. If bishops give judgment, favors and honors for bribes, presents, flattery and friendship (Mich. III. 11), abhor candidness, and pervert truth and right (III. 9), they corrupt the priests by rewarding sycophancy and by punishing sincerity and will apostatize (Jer. XXIII. 2). This is expressed more clearly by Ezechiel (XXXIV. 2-6): “Woe to the shepherds of Israel that fed themselves . . . you ruled over them with rigor and with a high hand” . . . fff. If bishops weakly give sanction to false principles, and priests praise them to be in their good graces, and the people love laxity, they will all apostatize (Jer. V. 31). The above were some of the sins and vices enumerated by the prophets as the causes for which the judgments began at the house of God in the Old Dispensation (Jer. XXV. 29). But God would probably not permit many of such evils to become prevalent very extensively in the Church. This seems to be the promise of the prophet of Jeremias (XXIII. 4). Yet that promise may not be fulfilled until after Antichrist. In the rise of Arianism, the Greek Schism and before Protestantism, many of the above evils did seem to exist. They may therefore become widespread again in some nations in which the Church has not been purged and from them spread to other nations. And certainly, where they do exist at the time the judgment begins, they will cause great apostasy. In His Church, our Lord demands a higher standard than in the Synagogue, and so the principal causes for apostasy of the clergy may be revealed in chapters II. and III., especially in III. 1-6, which shows a state of mortal sin in the bishop, and in III. 15-22, which reveals a state of tepidity, loss of zeal, charity and the spirit of penance and sacrifice. The apostolic democracy founded by our Lord may have given way to an absolute monarchy, in which the episcopate rules with oriental despotism. The priests may be reduced to a state of servility and fawning sycophancy. The rule by reason, justice and love may have been supplanted by the absolute will of the bishop, whose every act and word are to be accepted without question, without recourse to fact, truth or justice. Conscience may have lost its right to guide the actions of priests and may stand ignored or condemned. Diplomacy, expediency and other trickery may be upheld as the greatest virtues. And the honesty and simplicity, straightforwardness and truthfulness exemplified by our Lord and the apostles may be frowned down. Hypocrisy and pretense may become the surest roads to advancement. Nothing can demoralize the Church so fast and so far as the knowledge that faithful work and strict attendance to duty count for little and that studied diplomacy in playing up to the members of the episcopacy gains everything. Some eminent cardinal may be particularly outstanding in his efforts to stem the tide of demoralization of bishops and priests. Satan will know, and the world-powers will know, that he is the likely choice for the papacy, and that if elected, he will convoke a general council and exercise his supreme jurisdiction to inaugurate measures of reform. Satan knows that his own hopes of a rich harvest of souls will then be dashed to the ground. Hence he must avert the election or have the pope assassinated when elected. The judgment is about to begin “at the house of God” (1 Peter IV. 17). The influence of the dragon will everywhere aim to subject the Church to the state. This persecution is thus a political subjugation, and one third of the bishops and priests will be ripe for apostasy. Satan’s intention is to subject the newly-elected pope also to the purposes of the World-powers or to plot his death. He may contrive an assurance of safety and immunity from harm for the cardinals to convene for the election the more easily to take the pope-elect prisoner. The dragon will want to intimidate the new pope into non-interference—to let affairs run and develop as heretofore. In that way would he “devour the son”, absorb the papacy and alone direct and rule the world. – Rev. Herman Kramer, The Book of Destiny, pdf p. 251 – 254 (1955)

    Commentary on Apocalypse 12 Ver. 4 – His TAIL drew the third part of the STARS: a great part of mankind. This is spoken with an allusion to the fall of Lucifer from heaven, with the rebellious angels, driven from thence by S. Michael. — According to Pastorini, this passage refers to the angels whom Lucifer drew after him by sin to the earth. Menochius interprets it of those bishops and eminent persons who fell under the weight of persecution, and apostatized. – And the dragon stood before the woman, &c. The devil is always ready, as far as God permits him, to make war against the Church and the faithful servants of God. The woman, the Church, brought a man child, or rather many men children, stout and valiant in the profession of the true faith, able to resist and triumph over the attempts of the persecutors in all nations, not of themselves, but by the grace and power of Jesus Christ, their protector, who is able to rule all nations as it were with a rod of iron, to frustrate all their attempts, and turn their hearts as he pleaseth. – Haydock Bible Commentary, pdf p. 547. [This Catholic commentary on the New Testament, following the Douay-Rheims Bible text, was originally compiled by Catholic priest and biblical scholar Rev. George Leo Haydock (1774-1849). This transcription is based on Haydock’s notes as they appear in the 1859 edition of Haydock’s Catholic Family Bible and Commentary printed by Edward Dunigan and Brother, New York, New York.]

    Commentary on Apocalypse 12 Verse 4 – The TAIL of the dragon represents the cunning hypocrisy with which he succeeds in deceiving a large number of people and pastors a third part of the STARS. Arianism led away many bishops, priests and peoples. The pretended Reformation of the sixteenth century claimed still larger numbers but these cannot be compared to the numbers seduced by Satan in the days of Antichrist. The dragon stands before the woman ready to devour the child that is brought forth. In other words, the powers of hell seek by all means to destroy the Pope elected in those days. – Rev. E. Sylvester Berry, The Apocalypse of St. John (1921), p. 123

    “[…] Many cardinals, many bishops and many priests are on the road to perdition and are taking many souls with them. Less and less importance is being given to the Eucharist. You should turn the wrath of God away from yourselves by your efforts. […]” – Selected excerpt from the Message of Our Lady of Garabandal, June 18, 1965 [Delivered 5 months and 20 days before the closing of Vatican II] (Yet to be Approved Apparition)

    (emphasis added with caps.)

  4. It is very tiring to analyze once again guesses about the content of this third secret. After all, the 3rd Fatima Secret was posted online in April 2010 https://www.traditioninaction.org/Questions/B352_Secret.html; has a positive graphological analysis by Dr. Begoña Slocker de Arce https://moimunanblog.com/2017/03/24/confirmada-la-autenticidad-del-tercer-se-reto-de-fatima/
    The course of events in the Church and the world confirms its authenticity.
    Since the 3rd secret was published in April 2010, Pope BXVI could not ignore this fact and therefore made this safety-related statement in Fatima on May 13, because he did not know what the response of this publication would be: “He deceives who thinks that the prophetic mission of Fatima is concluded . ”
    Instead, his words: “May the seven years which separate us from the centenary of the apparitions hasten the fulfillment of the prophecy of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to the glory of the Most Holy Trinity.” – they are in fact a prophecy given by Pope Benedict XVI in his homily at Fatima on May 13. Every Roman Pope was a catechon. BXVI was the last pope and was removed to trigger the sequence of events described in the Apocalypse. All this was foreseen in God’s eternal plans – Our Lord Jesus Christ watches over his Church.
    P.S.
    I really liked this title given to the Blessed Virgin by Cardinal Ottaviani: “… [T]he Mother of all mercy near the All-Powerful” – thanks for quoting this statement.
    Dec. 18, commemoratio of Our Lady of Expectation, SAINT THOMAS Mount, Chennai, Madras, Kerala, India

    1. There are experts who consider the text you presented above to be a forgery as the original Third Secret was written in January of 1944.

      FINALLY, SISTER LUCY WRITES THE SECRET
      (JANUARY 2-9, 1944)
      On Christmas eve, Sister Lucy wrote to Don Antonio «that although she had tried several times, she was unable to write what had been commanded her, and that this phenomenon was not due to natural causes…» Through another communication we know that by Christmas day she still had not been able to write what had been asked of her.55

      Finally, however, on a date we do not know, Sister Lucy managed to overcome the interior obstacle that for two and a half months had prevented her from writing the text of the famous Secret. On January 9, 1944, she wrote to Bishop da Silva:

      «I have written what you asked me; God willed to try me a little, but finally, this was indeed His will: (the text) is sealed in an envelope and the latter is in the notebooks…»56

      So the final Secret was written before January 9, 1944. And, wonder of wonders, Sister Lucy regained her light and peace with the certainty that Bishop da Silva’s order indeed corresponded to God’s will. How did she know? Father Alonso does not tell us.

      JANUARY 2, 1944: AN APPARITION OF OUR LADY
      At this point we must follow the account of Canon Martins dos Reis. He informs us of an immensely significant event: it was the Virgin Mary Herself who came in an apparition, to finally dispel the seer’s darkness and put an end to her painful trial. Our author writes:

      «Before this apparition of the Mother of God, at the infirmary of Tuy, three times the seer had attempted to write the Secret in order to obey the order of Don José Alves Correia da Silva, but she was never capable. Only after this vision was she able to do so without the slightest difficulty, and at the same time was liberated from the great perplexity she found herself in, due to the different attitudes of the two prelates (Bishop da Silva and Archbishop Garcia y Garcia.»57

      In another one of his works, Father Martins dos Reis reproduces a photograph of the room where this apparition took place, with this caption: «Infirmary of Tuy. The bedroom where Sister Lucy was staying: at the bottom, her modest iron bed against the wall, before which Our Lady appeared to her to tell her to write the famous Secret… in conformity with what had been asked of her.»58

      Although Father Alonso adds no additional details, he too makes a veiled allusion to the event. He writes:

      «Moreover, how are we to understand Sister Lucy’s great difficulty in writing the final part of the Secret when she had 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.»59

      Let us mention one final detail, pointed out by Father Alonso: it was in the Chapel of Tuy, where Sister Lucy had received such important divine communications since the spectacular Trinitarian Theophany of June 13, 1929, that the third Secret was written.60 – Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité “The Whole Truth about Fatima” – Volume III, Chapter II, Part II, pdf p.39
      https://fatima.machado-family.com/vol3/#calibre_link-445
      ——————————————————————————
      January 3, 1944 – Our Lady speaks to Sister Lúcia in the convent chapel and directs her how to write it down. At around 4:00 in the afternoon in the chapel of the convent, before the Tabernacle, Lúcia asked Jesus to make known His will: “I then felt a friendly hand, maternal and affectionate, touch my shoulder.” And the Mother of God said to her: “Be at peace, and write what I have commanded you, but not, however, that which has been given to you to understand its meaning,” that is, the words of Our Lady explaining the meaning of the Vision. On August 17, 2014, Italian journalist Antonio Socci, author of the book “The Fourth Secret of Fatima”, 2006, reported in an explosive column “Il Libero” that the Convent in Coimbra (where Sister Lucia lived and died in 2005) released a new biography of Lúcia called “A Path under the Gaze of Mary”, 2013” (“A caminho sob or olhar de Maria”, 2013). The biography was written by Lúcia’s fellow Sisters and also includes some of Lúcia’s unpublished writings. In one of these writings, Lúcia explains both how Our Lady assisted her to write down the Third Secret due to her anguish over the contents, and the frightening nature of the “hidden” text (still not released by the Vatican). We also learn from this previously unpublished account that while Sister Lúcia wrote the text of the vision on January 3, 1944, she did not have permission to write the explanation of the Vision until (or shortly before) January 9, 1944, again, proving the existence of two texts.
      https://www.antoniosocci.com/novita-apocalittiche-da-fatima-lultimo-mistero-il-silenzio-delle-suore-ma-chi-tace/

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