Watched this guy regularly in the 50s. Always wondered why he never was bumped up to archbishop and Cardinal status. He was definitely both 100% Catholic doctrine and likable by the public....I suppose being likeable was his problem.
As a kid in Catholic School we were told of the miracle of Fatima but the secrets were kept secret. The Dominican Sisters all had their theories, mostly involving the upcoming judgement day.
I don’t know if it was real....or a phenomena of nature and weather and 70000 ignorant Portuguese peasants staring into the sun (not a good practice).
There was a Lourdes shrine somehow transplanted in the NY metro area....we went there when my sister was dying of leukemia in the late 50s. Seems they transplanted some of the Lourdes water from France and folks with ailments went there for the cure. There were racks of crutches and wheel chairs etc, supposedly left by cured people. My sister took the water....my sister died within the year as the doctors couldn’t perform the cure either.
Calling me a skeptic would be an understatement ( skeptical of miracles....and divine intervention....not Gods existence)
If this is what you think, then you have insulated yourself from the facts. Everyone within about 30 miles of Fatima witnessed the same thing. And it lasted much longer, and was far more terrifying than the Hollywood movie shows. As for being "ignorant"--there were many professional men with doctorates present, who saw the same events. And even ignorant peasants can tell when they have been soaked to the skin, and are perfectly dry fifteen minutes later. How many of the people cured by Jesus were not "ignorant peasants"? How many of the apostles were not "ignorant peasants"?
BTW: "Peasant" is not a synonym for "baboon."