The Third Secret and a Pope's Heroic Decision

“In the Third Secret it is foretold, among other things, that the great apostasy in the Church begins at the top.”
- Cardinal Luigi Ciappi, Papal theologian for 40 years to five popes

Benedict's resignation (actually, it was an abdication) wasn't surprising - but the timing was. He formally announced his renunciation of the papacy on Sunday, February 11, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. He made the announcement just a few days before Lent began on Ash Wednesday and in a year proclaimed "The Year of Faith." In effect, the Pope Emeritus gave the Church and the world a 17 day notice. So why did he make the decision to abdicate now?

First of all, with the exception of Benedict's remarks enroute to Fatima in May 2013, the Huffington Post highlights that the idea of resignation had long been on Benedict’s mind.

Benedict, as I keep repeating (because it should be repeated) already knew the Third Secret of Fatima when he became the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Let us also consider that Sr. Lucia said that the Third Secret “is in the Gospels and the Apocalypse. Read them!” Lucia – who as a 10 year old little girl had seen Hell – was so terrified of the Third Secret that she, always so obedient, could not make herself submit it to paper when her bishop finally commanded her to do so in October, 1943. (Think for a moment. What could be worse than actually seeing the demons of Hell and the souls of the damned?) This the bishop did only because Lucia had become very ill, and it was feared she would die. Because Lucia continued to struggle in writing the Third Secret, Our Lady personally intervened in January 1944 to tell her that it had to be done, and then somehow assisted her in writing it.

So how does the Third Secret Vision that was released in the June, 2000 A.D. line up with what is revealed in the Gospels and the Apocalypse?  Simply stated - it doesn’t. There is something missing – and Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus, knows what.

In fact, Benedict XVI knew the Third Secret as far back at 1984 (if not longer, since in his 1984 interview he never did indicate when he read it).  Let’s consider what he, as Cardinal Ratzinger, said at the time, in an interview with Vittorio Messori - which took place after Pope John Paul II made a second “entrustment” to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in March of that year.

Mr. Messori asked Cardinal Ratzinger why the Third Secret had not been made public. Mr. Messori said the Cardinal "dryly" replied, answering: “Because, according to the judgment of the Popes, it adds nothing to what a Christian must know 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 the world. And also the importance of the last times…But the things contained in this Third Secret correspond to what is announced in Scripture and are confirmed by many other Marian apparitions, beginning with the Fatima apparitions in their known contents. Conversion and penance are essential to salvation.” (All emphasis mine.)

Please - hold it right there. Read those words above very, very carefully. Where are any of those “themes” seen in the Third Secret Vision (released in 2000 A.D.) - themes that were specifically stated by Cardinal Ratzinger in 1984 A.D.?

---What in the Vision conveys anything about “the last times”?

---What are the specific dangers that threaten the faith, the life of the Christian, and therefore the world?

---If the Third Secret adds nothing to Divine Revelation (which it could not do since Divine Revelation, aka “the Deposit of Faith,” ended with the death of St. John the Evangelist), then how exactly does it “correspond to what is announced in Scripture and are confirmed by many other Marian apparitions, beginning with the Fatima apparitions in their known contents”?

---Where does Scripture foretell the death of a bishop dressed in white, or the death of a Holy Father (if they are one and the same man)? All of the early popes were martyred, it is true, but Our Lady of Fatima was not showing a vision of the past.

---Does Scripture prophesy the death of this particular man as well as Catholics from all walks of life? If so, has this era now reached all of Chapter 12 of the Apocalypse?

---Does Scripture foretell the two angels who gather the blood of the martyrs and sprinkle it on the souls of those who are still making their way to God, as is seen in the Third Secret Vision? Where?

---What other Marian apparitions (after Fatima and approved by the Church as true) reveal any of these things? We know that Akita, Japan is one – Cardinal Ratzinger said that the message of Fatima and of Akita are essentially the same.  But in 1984, Cardinal Ratzinger said that the Third Secret is also to be found in “many other Marian apparitions.” Which ones? Are they Church-approved apparitions or ones still under investigation?

He also said the Third Secret is found in other Marian apparitions but --- “beginning with the Fatima apparitions in their known contents.” That means Fatima was the first to say and/or show something other Marian apparitions did not. That means Fatima is unique among all true Marian apparitions before 1917. How so?

“…in their known contents.” That’s an unusual way to phrase it. The “known” contents of the Third Secret.  Known to whom? In 1984, the Third Secret Vision had not been released to the public; hence, the reason for Mr. Messori’s questions. Were there “unknown” contents to the Third Secret that Cardinal Ratzinger didn’t yet know? If so, it seems that by 1984, he already read the actual words of Our Lady that accompany the Vision but which were never publicized. It had to be the Text, because Cardinal Ratzinger’s explanation of the Third Secret reveals six themes which the Vision does not.

It’s clear that Benedict XVI has long known the entire contents of the Third Secret. But when the Text was suppressed in 2000, and he became Pope in 2005, Benedict may have been in a true quandary. To release the Text after certain Vatican people denied it, after he “went along” (for whatever reasons), and after avoiding any real discussion over the other, ongoing debate about the collegial consecration of Russia, it would (admittedly) be a great humiliation to publicly explain everything.

But the Pope did do something highly important  (in relation to Fatima) when he said on May 13, 2010 that the Third Secret is spoken. It obviously had been on his mind for a long time, as was his resignation/abdication.

The Third Secret, like the first two, is actually made up of two parts. If we were to outline the Great Secret (which Sr. Lucia herself said given in three distinct parts), we have a sum total of six points. (More on that in a bit.) Recalling that Pope John Paul II said that “the message of Fatima places an obligation on the Church,” and that Pope Benedict XVI said that “We would be mistaken to think that Fatima’s prophetic mission is complete,” below I will quote a healthy-sized excerpt from one of my earlier articles, The Six Themes of the Third Secret of Fatima.   

I promise you, in light of Benedict’s resignation, the upcoming papal election, and the consideration of whether Papa Ratzinger might be “the bishop dressed in white” (described in the Third Secret), the following information will also have us pondering whether the next pope – who will literally inherit a mess – is the one who will make a positive step to fulfill the requests of Our Lady of Fatima. Now, onto the article excerpt I mentioned:

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.” 

The colleague pressed a little further, asking, “The present Pope or the next one?” However, as the interrogator himself attested in a written letter, “To this question, Fr. Schweigel made no reply.”

Only a few years later, Fr. Schweigel would also say that the Third Secret “seems to suppose a victorious, triumphant, but difficult and heroic decision” of a Pope’s.  In considering the purpose of Fr. Schweigel’s  papally-directed mission in questioning Sr. Lucia and in light of the tragic circumstances in which the Church Militant finds itself today, one can reasonably presume that, sometime in the future, a Pope will make a “difficult and heroic decision” under circumstances in which he faces vehement, if not physically violent, opposition to his unique prerogatives in his office as Vicar of Christ when he decides to comply with at least one, if not all, of Our Lady’s unfulfilled requests at Fatima.

Since Our Lady still awaits three particular actions to be made by the Pope and the bishops of the Catholic Church, it appears that Fr. Schweigel’s description of a “victorious, triumphant, but difficult and heroic decision,” made by the present Pope or a future one, lends further insight into Our Lady’s promise, “In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph.”