As various
controversies and scandals continue to swirl throughout the Church leaving
every faithful Catholic to determine the proper internal and external response
to this crisis, we must take care to resist two serious and related
temptations.
The first
is the tendency to lose proper perspective on the current state of the Mystical
Body of Christ by placing undue focus on particular effects of the crisis (e.g.
clerical sexual abuse, low vocations, poor catechisis, dissent, etc.) or a
limited view of the geographic region affected (e.g. "it's only an American
problem but Rome will soon save us"). This temptation can also manifest itself
in a willingness to accept (or even fight for) a situation or condition which
is more representative of an earlier stage of the problem than an actual
solution.
The second,
related issue is a temptation to jump into the same pit as the modernists by
implicitly relegating the supernatural order below the natural. This tendency
can exist when temporal actions take priority over prayer and sacrifice, or the
physical aspects of a priest's immoral behavior are given greater emphasis and
consideration than the spiritual. To slip into such an error and engage
dissident clerics on strictly rational or naturalistic grounds is a road to
certain defeat and plays directly into the devil's hands. Particularly in a
naturalistic culture whose dangerous philosophy, driven by an idolatry of
"progress" and "discovery", has invaded the Church (the "worldly thinking"
identified by Pope Paul VI), it can be difficult to maintain a proper Catholic
perspective.
Sometimes
when one is caught up in the battles and ugliness of the American version of
Catholicism, it's useful to look up out of the trenches and take inventory as
to the true causes, scope and objectives of the greater struggle. Such an
opportunity was afforded to this writer when the postman delivered a copy of
The Devil's Final Battle — a book which gives a perspective unlike
any other.
A
Catholic View of History
"Suppose,
dear friend, that Communism was only the most visible of the instruments of
subversion to be used against the Church and the traditions of Divine
Revelation ... I am worried by the Blessed Virgin's messages to Lucy of
Fatima. This persistence of Mary about the dangers which menace the Church is a
divine warning against the suicide of altering the Faith, in Her liturgy
... A day will come when the civilized world will deny its God, when the Church
will doubt as Peter doubted. She will be tempted to believe that man has become
God ... In our churches, Christians will search in vain for the red lamp where
God awaits them, like Mary Magdalene weeping before the empty tomb, they will
ask, 'Where have they taken Him?' ... I hear all around me innovators who wish
to dismantle the Sacred Chapel, destroy the universal flame of the Church,
reject Her ornaments and make Her feel remorse for Her historical past."1 (emphasis mine here and
throughout)
In one of
the most amazing statements to come out of the last century, these were the
words of then Vatican Secretary of State Msgr. Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope
Pius XII, as recorded by his biographer Msgr. Roche. Not only is communism
clearly identified as an "instrument of subversion to be used against the
Church" but a grave warning is issued regarding the spread of naturalism ("the
Church will doubt as Peter doubted. She will be tempted to believe that man has
become God") and the alteration of the Catholic Faith, particularly with
regards to "Her liturgy." Additionally, each of these things were tied to "the
Blessed Virgin's messages to Lucy of Fatima."
The Fatima
apparitions occupy a special significance in the history of mankind — a
significance which continues to this very day. Throughout history, certain key
occurrences have been greatly influenced, even dictated by supernatural factors
— so much so that any analysis which does not take such factors into
account is incomplete or inaccurate.
The story of a dozen men emerging from an
upper room to bravely face persecution and certain death while proclaiming the
Truth of Our Divine Savior in multiple languages is incomplete without the
divine assistance of the Holy Ghost.
The story of a general conquering his
adversaries, gaining control of the Roman Empire and ushering in an age of
freedom for the Church is incomplete without the heavenly instructions
delivered to him in a dream.
The story of an entire nation enslaved by
pagan idolatry and Satanic human sacrifice converting to Catholicism by the
millions in a span of a few short years is incomplete without the Blessed
Virgin's visit to a poor peasant and a miraculous gift She bestowed upon the
country.
The story of outnumbered Western European
fleets achieving its first major naval victory against Mohammedan hordes at
Lepanto is incomplete without the strong Faith of a Dominican Pope and the
fervent devotion to the Most Holy Rosary he vigorously spread in the preceding
years.
The story of a Catholic nation, once the pride
of Christendom, succumbing to modern temptations and suffering a revolution
whose shock waves continue to be felt throughout the world is incomplete
without the revelations of His Sacred Heart given by Our Lord to a cloistered
nun.
And the story of a era which began with
systematic atheism torturing and killing the faithful by tens of millions and
continues to this day with a decimated Church unable to counter the
unprecedented holocaust of abortion and pleading with a secular world to be
recognized as a "contributor to culture," is woefully incomplete without Our
Blessed Mother's visit and message to three shepherd children in Fatima,
Portugal.
The
Visit, the Miracle and the Message
In the
fateful year of 1917, a few short months before the Bolshevik Revolution would
take hold of Russia and strangle the known world with violence, terror and fear
under the name of "communism", Our Lady of Fatima revealed to Sister Lucy the
necessity of "that nation's" Consecration to Her Immaculate Heart and the
consequences of failing to do so.
Rather than
offering an analysis of the socio-political factors that contribute to war, Our
Lady simply stated that war was a punishment for the sins of mankind. Rather
than proposing a solution involving multi-national cooperation and dialogue,
She stated the remedy was to be found in the establishment of worldwide
devotion to Her Immaculate Heart. Rather than discussing possible natural
solutions, She ordered supernatural ones: devotion to Her Immaculate Heart,
daily recitation of the Most Holy Rosary and the Devotion of Five First
Saturdays for Reparation.
Since that
time, particularly after the commencement of World War II, the messages of
Fatima have become for some more of an embarrassment and liability than a
promise of divine assistance. The two specific requests which ended up causing
the most problems were the instructions to release the final part of the
message of Fatima (the Third Secret) and the request that the Pope and world
bishops consecrate Russia to Her Immaculate Heart.
Given a
newfound urgency over the past twenty years, as campaigns to revise the
messages of Fatima have gone from official silence and distraction on the
subject to open and excessive attacks, the level of conflict between those in
the current Church hierarchy and Our Blessed Mother's simple message to three
children has become the stuff of Hollywood movies — some of its elements
seeming too outrageous to be true:
A secret entrusted to the Church for revelation in
1960, at the dawn of a revolutionary council, and kept a secret for four more
decades only to be partially released in a manner lacking in consistency,
leaving millions of Catholics scratching their heads and described even by
skeptic atheists as "suspiciously underwhelming."
A diplomatic policy of "tolerance" and "dialogue"
towards other governments and religions which prevents the Holy Father from
mentioning a single word ("Russia") for risk of political fallout.
A cloistered nun in her 90's prevented from speaking
to anyone on the subject of Fatima, but supposedly lending her approval to
those attacking her character.
An organization faced with hundreds of clerics
engaging in the most repulsive perversions known to mankind dedicating its
efforts and resources to persecute those priests and individuals not accepting
their revisionist version of Fatima or their "new orientation" in general.
Even the
best efforts to resign Fatima to the past and separate the message from the
event are doomed to failure. It's impossible to have generations of Catholics
raised on the story of Fatima — a simple and beautiful story of a Mother
who so loved Her children that She came to earth and offered them a message of
hope and means to achieve it — then ask them to forget or allow to be
revised the message that accompanied it, challenging the whole purpose of the
visit and Miracle of the Sun. With churches, schools and religious associations
named after Our Lady of Fatima, with the authentication of the apparitions by
the Church, with the insertion of a new feast day into the liturgical calendar,
with a string of successive Popes expressing their devotion to Her and with the
beatification of two of the seers, the efforts to rewrite this important
message cannot and will not last. For if those "inconvenient" parts of the
message of Fatima are not authentic or worthy of belief, then why are the calls
to prayer and penance? Or if none of the messages can be trusted, why
authenticate the apparition or spread devotion in the first place? As even EWTN
pointed out:
"The
Declaration of Jacinta and Francisco Marto as Blessed on 13 May 2000 represents
the next to last stage in the Church's official recognition of their holiness.
It also provides a further confirmation of the authenticity and value of the
Message of Fatima."2
The
embarrassment shown towards the Fatima message is much like that shown by
modern Churchmen to the teachings of past Popes and saints. Churches are named
after them, they are invoked in prayers, and their beatifications are carried
out, but their teaching and beliefs are disregarded as outdated, sacrificed to
the insatiable gods of "development". This lip service paid to the Catholic
heritage fails when extended to Fatima. The words of the Blessed Virgin cannot
be "developed", reinterpreted or rephrased in a more "pastoral" manner. She
either said them or She did not, and one cannot separate the visit or the
miracle from the message. The revolutionary blitzkrieg to remake the Church
according to the needs and desires of "modern man" faces a disastrous roadblock
in Fatima — a subject which haunts the ecclesial innovators more than any
other. Although Vatican officials would prefer not to be regarded as in
opposition to Fatima, their tactics can be seen in no other way.
Presenting the Case
The
Devil's Final Battle serves three main purposes. The first being an
overview, not just of the Fatima message and controversy, but of the Church
crisis as a whole. As opposed to works which limit the scope of analysis to a
short period of time or limited geographic region, this analysis covers
numerous events over the past several centuries.
Never
before have so many issues been presented in such a cohesive manner. From the
papal warnings against liberalism and modernism to the new attitudes and
tactics employed at Vatican II; from the detailed masonic plans to subvert the
Church to the admissions of seminary infiltration given by former communists;
from the philosophies that dominated the Catholic revolution in the 1960's to
the clerical homosexual scandals today; from the failure to release the Third
Secret at the requested time to the Fatima revisionist propaganda campaign,
this book ties it all together.
The second
purpose is to frame an indictment against high-ranking Churchmen who, through
their words and actions, have thwarted the message of Fatima and prevented Our
Lady's requests from being fulfilled (in particular, the release of the Third
Secret and the collegial consecration of Russia).
This book
doesn't hesitate to name names and detail specific charges against the accused,
presenting the case to the judgment of the Church's highest authority.
As the
Abbé de Nantes learned years ago (and Fr. Nicholas Gruner more
recently), such a judgment on these matters is not likely to happen anytime
soon, but a faithful Catholic is left with no other recourse as he has no
authority to pass judgment upon his superiors. No apparition can replace the
Catholic Faith or the infallible Magisterium (in fact, deviations from either
are grounds for rejecting an apparition's authenticity), neither can it be used
as a justification or an excuse for schism or usurping the authority reserved
for the Holy Father. As the claims in the Fatima message are in no way contrary
to the Catholic Faith and concern themselves with specific events and
devotions, spreading the message should not be treated or regarded as an act of
subversion (as an aside, since it unfortunately still requires repeating, let
readers also be reminded that to voice concerns about or even bring forward
specific charges against one's superiors is not to judge them).
The final
purpose of the book is a call to action, outlining what every Catholic can do
to spread the message of Fatima and counter its revision. Appropriately enough,
the first and foremost action is prayer and to follow those parts of the
message that pertain to each and every one of us. It does no good to accuse
others of not being faithful to the message of Fatima when one, through his own
neglect of prayer and devotion, is doing the same.
Apocalyptic Ramifications
At first,
the title of the book seemed a little out of place. Why would a book about the
message of Fatima and ecclesial corruption focus on the apocalyptic battle
between good and evil? Although the title initially struck this writer as
inappropriate, nothing could be further from the truth. By treating the
controversy of Fatima as merely a "Church hierarchy" or a "modern philosophy"
issue, one falls into the same traps identified in this article's opening
paragraphs.
Citing the
battle between good and evil, it is not the author of this book or persons of
dubious credibility unnecessarily exaggerating the critical nature of Fatima.
Such apocalyptic references have been offered by several reliable sources.
During the
beatification ceremony of Jacinta and Francisco Marto on May 13, 2000, Pope
John Paul II refers to Chapter 12 of the Book of Apocalypse twice — first
citing verse 1:
"According to the divine plan, 'a woman clothed with
the sun' (Apoc. 12:1) came down from heaven to this earth to visit the
privileged children of the Father."3
Needless to
say the first part of that verse ("And a great sign appeared in heaven...")
could also have connections to Fatima. The Pope then refers to verse 4:
"The message of Fatima is a call to
conversion, alerting humanity to have nothing to do with the 'dragon' whose
'tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth'
(Apoc. 12:4)."4
Catholic
commentaries have traditionally interpreted the "stars of heaven" in this
passage to refer to the Cardinals, bishops and priests of the Catholic Church.
And finally, Sister Lucy Herself cites a trustworthy source on the matter:
"She (the Blessed Virgin Mary) told me that the
devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Virgin. And
a decisive battle is the final battle where one side will be victorious
and the other side will suffer defeat. Also from now on we must choose sides.
Either we are for God or we are for the devil. There is no other
possibility."
Haunted by Fatima
While there
are a few instances in which The Devil's Final Battle entertains
speculation not directly following from the sources provided, its basic and
essential arguments are supported by an overwhelming amount of evidence. This
evidence (mostly from the mouth of the now elderly nun chosen by the Mother of
God to deliver Her message to the world) is why Fatima has and will continue to
haunt those Churchmen who reject its message and the supernatural virtues it
represents. This message will not go away. The pleasant story of a loving
Mother visiting three simple children cannot be shaken free from the vision of
hell, the terrifying miracle of a sun appearing to crash towards the earth, the
untimely death of two of the three children or the dire warnings of war,
persecution and destruction for the Church and the world.
As the 20th
century came to a close, a dedicated attempt was made to keep Fatima from
continuing to haunt the Church authorities and subsequent Pontiffs. Every
effort was made to keep the "unpopular" aspects of Fatima from following the
Church into the new century. This was revealed by Vatican Secretary of State
Angelo Cardinal Sodano:
In an
interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Cardinal Sodano
responded by pointing out that the Fatima message involved "the popes of the
20th century." Now that the century had concluded, he explained, the Holy
Father saw no reason to delay public disclosure. Also, he said, in light of
historical developments, "the symbolic visions contain nothing that is now
mysterious."5
and reiterated by representatives of the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith who in their non-binding interpretation on the
matter, specifically related Fatima to the last century at least fourteen
times, offered the shockingly overoptimistic and naïve observation that:
"The
decision of His Holiness Pope John Paul II to make public the third part of the
'secret' of Fatima brings to an end a period of history marked by tragic
human lust for power and evil..."6
No amount
of press releases, public relations campaigns or secret interviews will change
the fact that Our Blessed Mother came to warn Her children against horrible
tragedies — tragedies which are not completely part of the past and
involve events much more significant and real than those which certain Church
authorities would have us believe.
If we truly
believe in Our Lady of Fatima, we must also believe in Her message — Her
entire message:
"You
have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to
establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is
done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war will end; but
if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the
pontificate of Pius XI. When you see a night illuminated by an unknown light,
know that this is the great sign given you by God that He is about to punish
the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine and persecutions of the
Church and of the Holy Father.
"To
prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to My
Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. If My
requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not,
she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions
of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to
suffer; various nations will be annihilated. In the end, My Immaculate Heart
will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me, and she will be
converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world. In Portugal, the
Dogma of the Faith will always be preserved, etc. ..."7
FOOTNOTES:
- Msgr. Roche, Pie XII Devant L'Histoire, p.
52-53.
- http://www.ewtn.com/fatima/beatification as of
10/2/2002.
- Pope John Paul II, "Homily of His Holiness Pope
John Paul II - Beatification of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, Shepherds of
Fatima" Vatican Web Site (www.vatican.va) (Fatima, Portugal - May 13, 2000).
- Ibid.
- "A Secret Unveiled", Catholic World Report (June
2000).
- Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, The
Message of Fatima.
- (Fatima in Lucia's Own Words, Postulation
Centre, Fatima, Portugal (May 1976 English Edition), p.162 - Text applies to
the message received during the apparition of July 13, 1917).
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