The Six Themes of the Third Secret of Fatima

(Part II of “Pope Benedict XVI Reveals:
The Third Secret is Spoken”)

---Please Note: Below is a brief excerpt of a 2010 article, which has since been expanded as a chapter in my book, "Fatima: The Signs and Secrets" (available through Amazon in both paperback and Kindle).
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When Pope Benedict XVI made a reserved admission that the Third Secret of Fatima is both spoken and shown, his words also served as a tactful invitation to re-examine the “whole truth about Fatima” and its “Great Secret.”


Although the Pope confirmed on May 11, 2010 what faithful Catholics familiar with Fatima have long understood – i.e., that the Third Secret of Fatima is, indeed, an explicit and grave verbal Message from the Mother of God - the media (especially the Catholic “mainstream”) continue to ignore what should be this decade’s top news story (which can only be topped by the wonderful announcement that the greatly hoped-for collegial consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart has finally taken place). As Part I of this essay pointed out, “Pope Benedict XVI submitted a crucial piece of evidence that there is more to the Third Secret, when he unexpectedly admitted that “Beyond…the vision…it [the Third Secret] is spoken.”

The Third Secret
and Its Two Parts
In fact, when the Pope said the Third Secret is spoken and shown, his words correlate with other proofs that this last Secret is comprised of two parts. To cite only one example, this essay will momentarily turn to what was said decades ago by Fr. Joseph Schweigel. This priest, upon his return from an important mission given to him by Pope Pius II to question Sr. Lucia about unfulfilled parts of the Fatima Message (the Third Secret, the consecration of Russia, etc.) ,was momentarily questioned by a curious colleague about the Third Secret. Fr. Schweigel responded in the following manner:

“I cannot reveal anything of what I learned at Fatima concerning the Third Secret, but I can say that it has two parts: one concerns the Pope. The other, logically-although I can say nothing-would have to be the continuation of the words: 'In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved.'"


Six “Themes” of the Third Secret
What must never be forgotten is that the last Secret of Fatima, like the first Two Secrets, is intended by God to be publicly disseminated to the entire Church and likewise followed, for it also is given for the salvation of souls living in these days of great peril. To insist on the release of the Third Secret and the other two things for which the Virgin Mary asks is neither a matter of satisfying mere curiosity or of overly sentimental piety; these are matters of obedience to God Himself, Who sent the Immaculate Virgin Mother to Fatima with an apocalyptic warning and the means to avoid it.

To grasp the general idea “of what” the Third Secret consists, it is entirely appropriate to attentively review an earlier disclosure by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, made almost twenty-one years before he became the Pope.

In a 1984 interview with Vittorio Messori, Cardinal Ratzinger was asked if he had read the Third Secret of Fatima. When he answered, “Yes, I have read it,” it was then inquired as to why the Secret had still not been released. A careful examination of the future pope’s answer reveals a total of six “themes” to the Third Secret:

“Because, according to the judgment of the Popes, it adds nothing (literally: “nothing different”) to what a Christian must know concerning what derives from Revelation: i.e., a radical call for conversion; the absolute importance of history; the dangers threatening the faith and the life of the Christian, and therefore of the world. And then the importance of the 'Novissimi' [the last events at the end of time]. If it is not made public - at least for the time being - it is in order to prevent religious prophecy from being mistaken for a quest for the sensational (literally: 'for sensationalism'). But the things contained in this 'Third Secret' correspond to what has been announced in Scripture and has been said again and again in many other Marian apparitions, beginning with the Fatima apparitions in their known contents. Conversion and penitence are the essential conditions for ‘salvation.’”

Since Cardinal Ratzinger spoke of the “Novissimi” (the last events at the end of time), one might ask: “Might these six themes of the Third Secret direct our attention to one or more of the ‘six signs’ of the last times, given by Christ Himself?

When Our Lord prophesied to His apostles the destruction of Jerusalem (which occurred in 69 A.D. but also serves as a figure-type for the end of the world), He said:

“These things which you see, the days will come in which there shall not be left a stone upon a stone that shall not be thrown down. And they asked him, saying: Master, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when they shall begin to come to pass? Who said: Take heed you be not seduced; for many will come in my name, saying, I am he; and the time is at hand: go ye not therefore after them. And when you shall hear of wars and seditions, be not terrified: these things must first come to pass; but the end is not yet presently. Then he said to them: Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there shall be great earthquakes in divers places, and pestilences, and famines, and terrors from heaven; and there shall be great signs.” [13] Those last (bolded) words of Our Lord’s are the last six events of the end times.

Consider, then, the six themes found in Cardinal Ratzinger’s disclosure about the Third Secret’s contents...

---Continued in Fatima: The Signs and Secrets" (available through Amazon in both paperback and Kindle).

The Third Secret of Fatima is Spoken

What Pope Benedict XVI Revealed:
The Third Secret is Spoken


---An excerpt from a chapter in my book, "Fatima: The Signs and Secrets" (available through Amazon in both paperback and Kindle). Originally published as an article in my column, Secrets of the Catholic City in the July 2010 issue of Catholic Family News, it was both a 'follow-up' and a greatly expanded version of my original blog post of May 27, 2010.)
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Three simple but remarkable words in Pope Benedict XVI’s recent and surprising commentary on Fatima reveal that there is more to the Third Secret than a startling but inexplicable Vision. A careful examination of the Pope’s response to a question, asked and answered in Italian, show that - not once, but twice – His Holiness made clear that the Third Secret is also spoken. [487]


Flying en route to Portugal on May 11, 2010, Pope Benedict made a crucial revelation to a group of journalists, the press corps of the papal entourage. As is the usual practice, Vatican protocol asks correspondents who will travel with the Pope to submit their questions - days in advance. [488] 


Of all the inquiries, the Pope chose to answer only three, all of which were formally presented by Vatican spokesman Fr. Frederico Lombardi. On the same day, the complete question-and-answer session (an exchange made and published in Italian) was quickly transcribed by journalist Gian Guido Vecchi for Corriere della Sera. [489]
 

As it turned out, the last of these pre-selected questions was actually a three-part inquiry about the Fatima apparitions and the Third Secret, the last of three distinct parts of “the Great Secret” given by the Virgin Mary to three shepherd children on July 13, 1917 - 93 years ago.


In comparing the various English renditions of the on-board press conference, one will find a few inaccuracies or mis-translations. To a certain degree, this is understandable, as any translator would attest. On the other hand, some things lost in translation are too important to lose.


What follows, then, is my literal translation [489] from Italian-to-English of the Fatima/Third Secret question and the incredibly relevant section of the Pope’s response (all following emphasis mine):


[Author’s translation begins, with all emphasis mine]: “Holiness, what significance have we today for the apparitions of Fatima? And when you presented the text of the Third secret (sic), in the Vatican Press Office, in June 2000, it was asked if the Message could be extended [“broadened” or “widened”], beyond the attack on John Paul II, also to the additional [or “other”] sufferings of the popes? And is it possible, in your opinion [or “according to you”], to frame also in that vision the sufferings of the Church of today for the sins of the sexual abuse of minors?”


Pope Benedict XVI’s Response: “Beyond this great vision of the suffering of the pope, which we might in essence attribute to John Paul II, there is indicated the reality of the future of the Church which [will] gradually develop and demonstrate [itself]. Namely [also rendered as either “That is” or “In other words”] it is true that beyond the moment indicated in the vision, it is spoken, it is shown [there is] the necessity of the passion of the Church which, naturally [or “of course”], is reflected in the person of the Pope, but the Pope is in the Church, and therefore it is the sufferings of the Church that are announced…” [End of author’s translation]

---Continued in  "Fatima: The Signs and Secrets" (available through Amazon in both paperback and Kindle).