As the pope visits Fatima, sources suggest he may make an announcement
about the third Fatima revelation. Fatima was the focus of intense
religious scrutiny after 1917 when an apparition appeared before three
children that made three prophecies about the next century. Almost 100
years ago the prophecies were made, and they have been a major source
of controversy ever since. Several say the first two revelations were
legitimate, but the third revealed by the Vatican in 2000 was,
according to many, a complete fabrication.
Benedict XVI will be
praying at the Fatima shrine, one of the most commonly frequented
pilgrimages in the Catholic Faith. And with the circumstances behind
the third Fatima revelation, there is much reason for some theorists to
believe that the world will be hearing once again from the prophecies
of Fatima.
For one thing, there is no reason to believe there
would be need to keep the assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II
would need to be secret for so long. If it had been revealed shortly
after the assassination attempt could it have been revealed then? Or
could it have been revealed before and thus allowed for prevention of
the event? In addition to that, there are several points of controvery
listed for the Fatima prophecy. Lucia Santos, to whom the prophecy was
given, took ill and wrote the prophecy on a small piece of paper
estimated to contain around 26 lines of text. Though the secret was
sealed in an envelope, it passed through a few hands, and the sealed
envelope was inspected by a few bishops who took stock of the text.
But when it was revealed, the note that was read aloud was over four
pages long. In addition, the Fatima secret that was read was not
written in the form of a letter, and the original one had been. Also,
it contained no words attributed to the Virgin Mary, which the original
had. And finally, the final secret of Fatima was supposed to contain
information about the apocalypse and the Satanic infiltration of the
Catholic church. No reference to this was in the eventual letter that
was read. It seems strange that these very integral factors were
missing from the text that was eventually read to the people. And many
have speculated that the original secret was purposefully hidden while
a new one was fabricated for some reason.
Could this intense
controversy eventually be straightened out by the visiting of the pope
to Fatima? What could be in the original secret that cannot be
revealed to the world at this time. Originally the secret was supposed
to be read to the faithful in the 1960’s, but many speculate that it
may now never be read. And the disappointment is almost palpable both
from those who follow Fatima and those who are merely curious
onlookers. What message could be so drastically world changing and
terrifying to the public that it must be kept a secret for all time?