Get ready for conspiracy season, opening day is almost here.
Prepare thyself for an onslaught of information, speculation, and defamation over the next few weeks as the Pope prepares to visit Fatima this month.
Speculation about the contents of the famous third secret of Fatima had become such a cottage industry among among some Catholics that they were determined not to let a little thing like the secret being revealed in the year 2000 get in their way. If you have a successful business model, you stick with it I suppose.
It is fair to say that the Pope’s visit to Fatima will, of course, make the famous secret once again a hot topic as it is intensely interesting. However, Antonio Socci’s book “The Fourth Secret” being recently translated into English will only add fuel to the fire.
Socci alleges that there were two third secrets of Fatima. One…
May 6, 2010 at 4:16 pm
EWTN's Mother Angelica was one of those who said she didn't believe we got the whole thing. She's hardly a conspiracy monger. That doesn't mean she's right either – but perhaps reasonable minds can disagree on this point without assuming deliberate lies and cover-up on the part of the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II.
Maybe I'm wrong. But there is much that doesn't make sense to my mind if what was revealed was the entire Third Secret. For example, I cannot figure out why Padre Pio, who had read the Secret, said he wished it could be buried in a deep, black hole, if the contents were simply those which were divulged. Hasn't the Church gone through martyrdoms and suffering before? Why would this information shock St. Padre Pio? That is one of the points that I just cannot grasp.
May 6, 2010 at 4:29 pm
This is precisely why I do not believe in Fatima. It has brought nothing but division and an excuse for conspiracy nuts to rally together against the church.
May 6, 2010 at 7:49 pm
I've read Socci's book. Not exactly a wild eyed, tinfoil hat wearer's missive IMO. It raises a lot of questions.
But anyone depending on Fatima or any other apparition as a basis of their faith is missing the boat big time.
Want to know about God's plan for mankind and how Catholicism fits into it? Read the Catechism and the Bible!
Fatima doesn't count, the Shroud of Turin doesn't count, any apparition or miracle doesn't count. It's all window dressing. Period.
May 6, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Hmm, Maybe Padre Pio said the secret should be buried in a deep, dark hole because he was sick of being asked about it.
I agree with SubVet. Except as a hobby, conspiracy theories are a waste of time, energy and get your attention off what's important. Like reading blogs 🙂
May 6, 2010 at 9:04 pm
Fatima doesn't count, the Shroud of Turin doesn't count, any apparition or miracle doesn't count. It's all window dressing. Period.
Tell that to Gruner's group. They contend that the message of Fatima is on a par with dogma.
May 6, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Perhaps someone should give Art Bell a call tonight…
May 6, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Anneg – St Pio died long before my time. But I think you are on the right track there.
May 6, 2010 at 9:51 pm
I used to read the Fatima Crusader by Fr. Gruner and his team. I don't have a problem with the Fatima apparitions, but the Crusader–front to back–started sounding like a broken record pretty quickly. That's their whole reason for existing, and I get that. I got to the point where I figured if there's something to that "third secret" that we really need to know, God will make sure that we do. I don't have a problem with the Crusader encouraging people to pray the Rosary, either.
Beyond that, I would agree that losing sleep over this issue of the third secret–and some supposed plot by the Vatican to keep us all in the dark and thereby bring about the spiritual ruin of the entire planet–is ridiculous. If we let anything make it impossible to trust God and rest in Him, we're doing something wrong.
And until the Church's Magisterium solemnly declares the message of Fatima to be infallible dogma, I will not treat it as such.
May 8, 2010 at 1:08 am
Wow. I'm really shocked by the casual disregard many of you have for Fatima and the Blessed Mother's warnings.
If you think it's appropriate to call Fatima "window dressing," you're the one who's missing the boat. The reason we have Fatima is because sin in the world is so serious and so common.
I don't know why any of you would feel compelled to trivialize such an important message from such a loving mother.
May 8, 2010 at 1:18 am
Anthony – I remind you that there is absolutely NO obligation to believe in Fatima. We can dismiss it as trivial at our own discretion, using our own thinking minds and discernment. And it does not make any of us less Catholic than you.
I don't think anyone here is criticizing or belittling anyone else for believing in it. I certainly am not. So don't try and make it seem like the rest of us do not listen to the Blessed Mother. I believe she has appeared on many occasions and given many messages and warnings. But not at Fatima, because it doesn't add up.
May 8, 2010 at 4:17 am
Early Riser – The veracity of the Fatima apparitions is supported by the Church, numerous public accounts of the events, and the holy example of the seers. You have NO OBLIGATION to believe in the triangle inequality either, but there is no sense in ignoring what is true.
Additionally, I hope you realize that your belief that all of Fatima was fabricated implies a LARGER CONSPIRACY than any I have heard from Fatima believers.
May 8, 2010 at 4:38 pm
Anthony – I don't believers in Fatima are part of a conspiracy. I do believe that many of them are in need of this apparition to bolster their faith. I am not.
Once again, it doesn't add up. Why were these "secrets" only revealed AFTER they ocurred? Why has this supposed apparition brought nothing but division and conspiracy theorists out to raly against the church? Why would God NOT make his message known through the BVM and allow it to be "hidden"?
Nope. Doesn't add up.
May 10, 2010 at 4:44 pm
Was the Pope lying in 1980 or was he lying in 2000? That would be a smarmy way to phrase the issue, but that is essentially comparable to what you are doing when you phrase the issue as "accept that the entire secret has been revealed or you are calling the Pope a liar."
I am not steeped in Fatima and am sure that I know a lot less about it than you. But long before the publication of third secret, didn't JP2 make reference to horrible things such as oceans swallowing land? Didn't a previous Pope make the same comments? Where are these references in the published third secret? Am I impertinent, a bad Catholic, or calling the Pope a liar to entertain these questions?
I heard you on Catholic radio this morning. What first struck me is how different you sounded from most guests. Most have a careful and charitable attitude, even regarding those with whom they disagree. You sounded more like a Sunday political talk show pundit. You were dismissive of those who think there may be more to the Fatima message than has been revealed. You make a feeble nod, "I think some observers have raised reasonable questions about some apparent discrepancies surrounding previous statements about the secret." But, actually, you used ad hominem and ad hominem by association referring to the "cottage industry" around Fatima being threatened by the release of the third secret. So, if we continue to question, we impliedly call the Pope a liar, and we might just have a profit motive or are being manipulated by those with a profit motive.
So, who is defaming whom?
We are called to obedience, but this is certainly not an area in which we are called to BLIND obedience.
May 11, 2010 at 3:17 am
It is not true that we have absolutely no obligation to believe in Fatima, as the Church has a liturgical celebration of Our Lady under this title. It is an optional commemoration, but it is still on the Roman martyrology. Christ's faithful are called to an ordinary obedience – religiosum obsequium in Lumen gentium, if my memory serves me correctly – with regards to acts of the magisterium that are not 'ex cathedra'. That does not mean we are obliged to believe what anyone involved – even Sister Lucy – said.
May 11, 2010 at 5:21 pm
Joe – I respect and acknowledge Our Lady of Fatima as I would ANY local feast honoring the BVM. In fact, you just can't have enough of them, IMHO. I simply believe the so-called "secrets" are tripe.