ROME-MOSCOW WATCH -The Secret of Fatima: More to Come?

Despite repeated official Vatican denials, the rumor that some aspect of the "Third Secret" of Fatima has still not been revealed continues to spread. Is it groundless, or could there be something to it?

ROME -- News has just emerged that Sister Lucia dos Santos, the last surviving Fatima visionary, several weeks ago sent Pope John Paul II a letter reportedly warning him that his life is in danger.

According to Vatican sources, the letter, claiming that events spoken of in the "Third Secret" of Fatima had not yet occurred, was delivered sometime after September 11 to John Paul by the bishop emeritus of Fatima, Alberto Cosme do Amaral.

One source for the story, which was reported on in the Italian press yesterday and today, is Italian priest Father Luigi Bianchi.

Bianchi claims to have met Sr. Lucia dos Santos last week at her cloistered Carmelite convent in Coimbra, Portugal. (She is not allowed to speak with anyone who has not received prior permission from the Vatican, so it is not immediately clear whether Bianchi received that approval, circumvented the need for it, or did not actually meet Sister Lucia as he maintains.)

"She told me she is very worried about the international situation," Don Bianchi told Italian journalist David Murgia. "She said we have entered a crucial time for the Church and for the world -- and that the only salvation is prayer."

The letter is said to contain this warning: "Soon there will be great upheaval and punishment." And it reportedly asks the Holy Father to pray because "your life is in danger."

The current bishop of Fatima, Serafim Ferreira de Sousa, when questioned by journalists, did not deny that Sr. Lucia had sent a letter to the Pope, but said "there are no letters from the seer that express fear for the life of the Pope."

Sources have also suggested that Sr. Lucia's letter encourages the Pope to fully reveal the Third Secret. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who presented the interpretation of the Third Secret on June 26, 2000, said yesterday that the recent rumours of a letter are only the continuation of, "an old polemic fed by certain people of dubious credibility," with the objective of "destabilizing the internal equilibrium of the Roman Curia and of troubling the people of God."

One of the people who seems to fit Cardinal Ratzinger's description, arguably, is a Canadian priest, Fr. Nicholas Gruner, head of the Fatima Center, who has been suspended “a divinis” by the Vatican. Fr. Gruner has long maintained that the "third secret" was not fully revealed by the Vatican and has publicly pressured Rome to release the full text.

Gruner claims that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is conducting a "campaign of mystification," revealing only parts of the secret. This "does not conform to the truth," Gruner says.

Regarding the life of the Pope, Don Bianchi is worried. "Lucia said that he is the target of the enemy, that his life is in danger and we need to pray for him," Bianchi said.

Sr. Lucia is reported to have also said to the Italian priest that the third secret has not yet been revealed in full.

In an interview with Murgia, Fr. Bianchi speculated on the possibility that the Vatican did not reveal the full secret "to avoid creating panic and anxiety in the population; to not scare them."

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and indeed John Paul II himself, have interpreted the assassination attempt on the Pope in 1981 as the realization of the warnings of the third secret.

But Don Bianchi says otherwise. "The message doesn't speak only about an attempt on the pontiff, but speaks of 'a white bishop who walks amongst the ruins and bodies of murdered men and women,'" Bianchi said. "This means that the Pope will have to suffer greatly, that some nations will disappear, that many people will die, that we must defend the West from becoming Islamicized. That is what is happening in these days."

Sr. Lucia, when asked by Fr. Bianchi what could be done to stop the terror that is increasing in the world, is said to have taken the rosary in her hand and said: "This is the only 'weapon' we have."

See the Ten Commandments as revealed to Moses by God Exodus 20:3-17 in a non-Catholic (such as KJV) Bible.

Out of curiosity, why have you indicated that we are to look at a non-Catholic version? What is the difference between Catholic and Protestant versions relative to the 10 Commandments?

A comparison of the Ten Commandments in Catholic and Protestant Bibles
Verse	KJV	Douay Rheims (Catholic)
Exodus 20:2-3	2: I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3: Thou shalt have no other gods before me.	2 I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.
4-5	4: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;	4 Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. 5 Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them: I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me:
6-7	6: And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 7: Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain	6 And shewing mercy unto thousands to them that love me, and keep my commandments. 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the name of the Lord his God in vain.
8	8: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.	8 Remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day.
9-10	9: Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:	9 Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works. 10 But on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work on it, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates.
11	11: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.	11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them, and rested on the seventh day: therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.
12	12: Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.	12 Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be longlived upon the land which the Lord thy God will give thee.
13	13: Thou shalt not kill.	13 Thou shalt not kill.
14	14: Thou shalt not commit adultery.	14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15	15: Thou shalt not steal.	15 Thou shalt not steal.
16	16: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.	16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17	17: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.	17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house: neither shalt thou desire his wife, nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his.

Take special note of the first and second commandments.

Done. No Catholic worships Mary, so can you explain the point of this?

Also Revelation 22:18-19 "For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book: and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."

Have we added to the book of Revelation?

Read Revelation 17. The woman is the one-world religion consisting of apostate churches, headed up by the False Prophet.

Are you suggesting Mary is the woman of the one-world religion? Either way, reread Revelation 12:1-13. Especially verse 13. Who is the woman, and who here is persecuting her?

I only tell you this out of love, for I would hate to see anyone who hopefully loves Jesus Christ foremost, be lost for bowing down to false idols, and who risks being deceived by the antichrist.

Who is this antichrist?

God bless,

patent +AMDG

I came across this article almost by accident. (That I have internet access at all is something of a miracle.)

I know Sr. Luzia loves the Holy Father truly and perfectly. I know that she, her convent, and many other Carmels pray daily and repeatedly for the Holy Father's safety since the attempt on his life. I know dear Bishop Alberto Cosme do Amaral to be the perfect person to carry a letter from Sister to the Pope. I have confidence in Cardinal Ratzinger to safeguard the Church from excesses.

As far as the Third Secret is concerned I think Mother Angelica said it well when she observed that the Third Secret was being revealed appropriately. From the way she said it one could take her to mean that the Third Secret had been faithfully revealed -- and yet there could be more to it.

Apart from the Fatima Secrets and other possible correspondence from Sister Lucia, we know that a host of people have wanted to harm our Pope. We all know well Ali Agca's attempt on his life. We also know that plots to kill the Holy Father and blow up St. Peter's have been foiled several times.

All signs point to Libyan elements of Al-Qaeda or related terrorist cells having been given the green light to begin bringing terror to Italy, destruction to the Vatican, and death to Pope John Paul II. (Libyan aircraft have been violating Italian air space time and again in what appears to be a test of radar and defense preparedness.) Against this Evil I pray with everything within me.

Clearly since 9/11 we should pray for many, many things not least of which is praying for the Pope's health, safety, and life. I also pray for a breakthrough so he may travel very soon to Moscow.

Let's not forget that the Catholic Church continues to exist in north Africa though besieged and oppressed. Among the faithful from Egypt through Libya and into Algeria are some of the bravest Christians you could ever meet. Not one of them will let anything happen to our Pope if they can do something to stop it.

The Sin Against the Holy Spirit of which the Lord spoke is to witness manifest holiness with one's own eyes, and to call it evil. Anyone who can look upon the manifest holiness of the Pope, of innumerable Catholic missionaries, of Catholic martyrs for the Faith, of the tens of millions of gentle, heroic nuns and priests through the centuries, and call it evil, "idolatry," "satanism," "whore of Babylon," etc., should tremble for the spiritural peril he is in.

I think there are three mistakes here, and they may or may not be serious, but are worth considering.

The first is the supposition that "holiness" is something manifest, in the sense it is obvious, or can be seen. Acutally, holiness, in people, is a matter of the heart and is quite invisible, and many Scriptures indicate that what appears to be holy, can be very deceptive.

The second is the interpretation of the unpardonable sin in the passage where Jesus says, (Mat. 12:31) "Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men," follows the casting a devil out of a blind dumb man who immediately was able to see and speak. This was an obvious demonstration of Divine power (the power of the Holy Spirit) which the Pharisees attributed to the devil. This was the unpardonable sin, attibuting the power of God to Satan.

Finally, even if all the example you gave as obvious demonstrations of holiness are true, it is not individuals that those who believe the Catholic Church is the church of the Anti-christ refer to, but the religious structure or organization. Oviously, that means some individuals in that organization must also be "evil" (and certainly there have been some who were in evil in the church in the past).

Whatever one's view, if they really believe their version of Christianity, (or any other religion) is correct, they must, if logically clear in their thinking, believe other religions and denominations are partly or completely heretical.

Only some religions believe this is license to kill the heretics, and no variety of Christianity beleives that. Nevertheless, those who believe strongly, will argue strongly. I think that's good, especially when they are arguing against me.

Hank

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