I understand, that is in fact what the Vatican said was its interpretation when they released the secret (hence why it didn't need to remain a secret). I'm the one who is off the reservation but to me it just doesn't make much sense. Why paint a picture of a Pope walking through a city of corpses and all around him being shot and stabbed if the prophecy was really about the Pope (and only the Pope) being assaulted? And why even focus on this minor issue (he didn't die and wasn't even really incapacitated)? That assault on the Pope will really be a minor footnote in history, so why would the Virgin Mary appear on earth to reveal it in such cryptic and apocalyptic terms? And why keep that one super secret for all those years anyway? Because it really sounds bad, doesn't it? Then they say "but it's okay, it's just the Pope getting wounded and then being alright, nothing to worry about". Hmmm, something seems off here.
So is all the carnage supposed to be symbolizing the death of spirituality amongst the laity and even the clergy? If you view it in that context then perhaps it makes some sense but then wouldn't that mean the Pope's wounds in the prophecy are also spiritual in nature? Why would you interpret his wounds as physical and all the others as purely spiritual? To me it makes no sense.