The Vatican still hasn't obeyed Our Lady of Fatima's command

Walt is pleased to share an e-mail just received from Michael Matt, Editor of The Remnant newspaper, on the subject of  the blatant and egregious hypocrisy being shown by Pope Leo and his acolytes and minions in (supposedly) excommuniating the bishops and priests of the Society of St. Pius X, and even the faithful Catholics who in any way "adhere to" or support the SSPX. Like me, for one.

People who live in glass (papal) palaces shouldn’t throw stones. The Vatican likes to brag about how merciful they are but have evidently failed to notice the hypocrisy of brutally kicking faithful Catholics out of the Church without even giving them a fair hearing.

They say they want to listen to the people, but evidently only if the people parrot back to them what the Vatican wanted them to say in the first place.

They say they are synodal and yet behave like rigid idealogues to those who disagree with their new ideas. Most recently, the world looked on in disbelief as the Vatican refused to hear the desperate cries of a million Latin Mass Catholics whose only crime was an earnest desire to keep the Faith of their fathers.

These rigid shepherds demand obedience of their sheep even after they themselves have offered an example of sustained disobedience to God’s law, the laws of the Church, and now even the natural law.

For a hundred years before Fiducia Supplicans detonated -- whereby the Vatican greenlit blessings for homosexual couples -- they had steadfastly refused to obey Our Lady's command to reveal the "Third Secret."

This, by the way, is the same apparition wherein Our Lady said: “More souls go to hell for sins of the flesh than for any other reason.” No wonder a Jimmy Martin-friendly Vatican would ignore Fatima for as long as possible.

Eventually, they trotted out a doctored-up version of her "Third Secret", which even Mother Angelica famously declined to accept as legitimate. And of course, they've refused to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, exactly as she had asked. In fact, the world is still waiting.

Would that the Vatican were as patient with the SSPX as heaven has been with the Vatican. In any case, in our day Pope Pius X’s prophecy has proven to be alarmingly accurate – Modernists have infiltrated the Church.

The good news? They will fail. In fact, they’re failing already. Far from blowing the Traditional Catholic counterrevolution apart, their recent pharisaical crackdown on Latin Mass Catholics is backfiring. The SSPX has forced the Vatican's true agenda into the light, thus helping millions to see the destructive nature of their Revolution.

My new Underground contains a special message to the Catholic clans of the world: Do not lose hope! To beat them at their own game -- and to not be deceived by their forked tongues -- we must develop a better understanding of the Modernist Revolution and what the endgame has always been. (St. Pius X, pray for us.)

God has not abandoned His Church. I am just old enough to remember what the great pioneer traditionalists did when all of this happened the first time around. At that point, the Latin Mass had been “abrogated” and was gone forever. And then 1988 happened!

Keep the Faith and Modernism will be powerless against you. And in God’s good time, the Modernist Pharisees will become yet another set of forgotten footnotes in the glorious history of Christ’s Church. It is just a matter of time. 

In Christo Rege, Michael J. Matt

Click here to see "They're trolling us!", the latest Remnant Underground video.

At last???!!!! Pope Francis to consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as requested by Our Lady of Fatima

To place what follows into context, and to emphasize why this story is so important, I ask you to read (if you haven't already done so) "Russia's war against Ukraine explained by Our Lady of Fatima", WWW 3/2/22.

We posted that the day after the Latin Rite Catholic bishops of Ukraine sent an urgent appeal to Pope Francis, asking him to consecrate Russia and Ukraine "as requested by the Blessed Virgin in Fatima", to bring an end to Russia's war against Ukraine and grant us the period of peace promised by Our Lady.

Here, as reported today by LifeSite News, is the text of the bishops' letter. 

Holy Father! In these hours of immeasurable pain and terrible ordeal for our people, we, the bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Ukraine, are spokesmen for the unceasing and heartfelt prayer, supported by our priests and consecrated persons, which comes to us from all Christian people that Your Holiness will consecrate our Motherland and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. 

Responding to this prayer, we humbly ask Your Holiness to publicly perform the act of consecration to the Sacred Immaculate Heart of Mary of Ukraine and Russia, as requested by the Blessed Virgin in Fatima. May the Mother of God, Queen of Peace, accept our prayer: Regina pacis, ora pro nobis!

I confess to being one of those who have written and spoken ill of Pope Bergoglio, to the point of expressing doubt about whether he is really the pope, the Vicar of Christ. It was my guess that Francis, like all the post-Vatican II popes, would stop short of doing the Consecration of Russia in the manner Our Lady requested in 1917 and again in a private revelation to Sister Lucia in 1929.

Some Catholics have contended that the Consecration has taken place. They refer to an "entrustment consecration" of the world [sic] to the Immaculate Heart of Mary made by Pope John Paul II on 25 March 1984. Sadly, since the Vatican's "Ostpolitik" of those days said we must try to make peace with our Communist enemies, John Paul deliberately avoided mentioning Russia explicitly, "because the Vatican diplomats had urgently asked him not to mention this country because otherwise political conflicts might perhaps arise." 

The late Fr Gabriele Amorth, former chief exorcist of Rome, noted some time ago that the Consecration had not been performed as requested, saying "a specific consecration has not yet been made."

Now... perhaps... we hope and pray... Pope Francis is finally going to do it! In an announcement released today, Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office announced: On Friday 25 March, during the Celebration of Penance at which he will preside at 1700 in Saint Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The same act, on the same day, will be carried out in Fatima by His Eminence Cardinal Krajewski, Apostolic Almoner, as envoy of the Holy Father. 

No further details were provided. LifeSite News says "it remains to be seen if Pope Francis will make the consecration of Russia in union with the bishops of the world, as outlined by Our Lady in 1929."

In 1917, Our Lady of Fatima told three seers, "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 shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world."

Our Lady of Fatima repeated the request in 1929, when she appeared to Sister Lucia saying: "The moment has come for God to ask the Holy Father to make, in union with all the bishops of the world, the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart. By this means, He promises to save Russia."

Let us pray for... and with... Pope Francis, that he will at last do as Our Lady of Fatima asked, and in this way bring us peace to the world.

Russia's war against Ukraine explained by Our Lady of Fatima

On Ash Wednesday, the Catholic Bishops of Ukraine begged Jorge Bergoglio, the man who calls himself "Pope Francis", to consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as requested by the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Fatima. 

It has been reported that Vladimir Putin himself once asked for the Consecration of Russia. Perhaps if this had been done long ago, as Our Lady asked, the Cold War of the 20th century and today's HOT war against Ukraine could have been averted. But it was not done. Here's the timeline. 

In 1917, the Blessed Virgin appeared to three peasant children at the village of Fatima, in Portugal, on the 13th of each month, from May through October. She confided to the child seers a Great Secret, in three parts. On the 13th of July, she told them:

[God] is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, hunger, 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 [Russia] 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.

Twelve years later, on June 13, 1929, Our Lady kept Her Promise to return to announce Heaven's formal request for the Consecration of Russia, in no uncertain terms:

The moment has come in which God asks the Holy Father to make, in union with all the bishops of the world, the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means.

But this command from Heaven fell on deaf ears, and years went by without any progress toward its fulfillment. In a letter to her confessor in May of 1936, Sister Lucia dos Santos, the last of the three seers, wrote about this delay: 

Intimately I have spoken to Our Lord about the subject, and recently I asked Him why He would not convert Russia without the Holy Father making that Consecration. The Lord answered, "Because I want My whole Church to acknowledge that Consecration as a Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so that it may extend its cult later on and put the Devotion to this Immaculate Heart alongside the Devotion to My Sacred Heart."

There is no other means at our disposal to stop the world’s descent into apostasy and chaos than that given to us by Our Lady of Fatima. 

In 1942, at the height of World War II, Pope Pius XII was prevailed upon to make a consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This was not done in response to the Fatima request and did not correspond to the stipulations given by Our Lady of Fatima. Ten years later, in an apparition to Sister Lucy in May 1952, Our Lady said: 

Make it known to the Holy Father that I still await the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart. Without that Consecration, Russia cannot be converted, nor can the world have Peace.

Any consecration to Our Lady can bring honor to Her Immaculate Heart and much-needed graces in our lives, but only the Consecration of Russia in the precise manner directed by Our Lady of Fatima can bring the definitive graces needed to prevent the continuance of the just chastisements that loom over us, namely persecutions, martyrdom, and the annihilation of whole nations.

In a revelation to Sister Lucia in August 1931, Our Lord made a frightening reference to the fate of the King of France, whom He had asked, through Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque to consecrate France to His Sacred Heart, promising thereby to deliver France from its enemies. That request was given in 1689. Three successive kings of France chose to ignore Our Lord's request, until 100 years later – to the day! – the French monarchy was definitively subverted and overthrown, and Louis XVI, who was reigning in 1789, suffered greatly at the hands of the revolutionaries – in humiliations, in prison, and finally on the scaffold of a guillotine.

"Make it known to My ministers," Our Lord told Sister Lucia in 1931, "that given they follow the example of the King of France in delaying the execution of My command [for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary], they will likewise follow him into misfortune."

What we are seeing now, in Russia's barbaric invasion of Ukraine, is the terrible price that must to be paid, by Ukraine today and perhaps the whole world tomorrow, for ignoring Heaven's command for the Consecration of Russia. 

Every one of the post-Vatican II popes have read the Third Secret of Fatima -- Our Lady's warning of what would happen should Her request go unheeded -- but none has seen the absolute necessity of obeying! 

Pope John-Paul II made another consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1984, but for fear of offending the Communists did not do so in union with all the world's bishops, and did not mention Russia by name.

Similarly, when Russia commenced its latest attack on Ukraine, Francis went to see Russia's ambassador (rather than summoning the ambassador to see him!) and has yet to mention Russia by name, let alone consecrate that nation, for fear of offending our Russian Orthodox "separated brethren"... and of course President Putin.

The miraculous graces necessary to bring peace to Ukraine and the world will only be given to us when Our Lady's Fatima request is heeded. Will Pope Bergoglio listen? Will he respond to Heaven's command? If he doesn't... if this war becomes a world war... destruction and death will befall entire nations, including "the bishop in white" referred to in what the Vatican says is the Third Secret of Fatima. As much as Mr Putin, it will be on Francis. 

Further reading: The Secret Still Hidden, by Christopher Ferrara, and other books about Our Lady of Fatima, the Third Secret, and the End Times, will be listed this weekend on our sponsor's online bookstore.

Notre Dame in flames: part of the Great Chastisement?

One of the most famous Roman Catholic cathedrals in Paris -- in the world, really -- has been severely damaged by a horrendous fire which raged through the building most of yesterday. The blaze toppled the spire and destroyed the roof, but much of the interior survived and the structure remains intact. That so much of the building was destroyed is a tragedy. That so much, including the organ and almost all of the priceless treasures and relics -- including the Crown of Thorns -- can be restored, is a miracle.

A tragedy and a miracle, occurring simultaneously, at one of the most holy sites of Western Christendom. How can that be? What does it mean? Is God trying to tell us something?

For traditional Catholics, this truly awful (in the true sense of the word) event, occurring as it did in Holy Week, the last week of Lent, can only be regarded as a clear sign of God's displeasure with His Church and His people. The mainstream Catholic Church in France is moribund. The great cathedrals and basilicas are visited almost exclusively by tourists. The parish churches are all but empty. The vast majority of nominal Catholics go to church only to for baptisms, marriages and funerals, an many ignore even those sacraments. The majority of Catholic Christians, even if they keep the Faith in their hearts, have turned their back on the Church.

God is displeased, to put it mildly, so He and His Blessed Mother (after whom the great cathedral is named) have given us yet another warning. The fire at Notre Dame can and should be seen as another installment of the Great Chastisement of which Our Lady spoke when She appeared at Fatima in 1917.

On October 13, 1917, in the moment before the great Miracle of the Sun, the Blessed Virgin said, "People must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend Our Lord any more for He is already too much offended." Our Lady warned of the gravest consequences if this warning is not heeded. The greatest consequence and ultimate chastisement for unrepentant souls is the eternal punishment of hell. It was in order to prevent the eternal damnation of souls redeemed by the Blood of Our Divine Savior Jesus Christ that His Most Holy Mother came to Fatima.

But the Blessed Virgin's request that people "amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins" was not heeded. Our Lady of Fatima told Blessed Jacinta that "wars are punishments for sins of the world." It was revealed to the holy priest Père Lamy that World War One was a punishment specifically for “blasphemy, the desecration of marriage and Sunday labour". In the apparition of July 13, 1917, Our Lady warned that "The war is going to end; but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the reign of Pius XI." And so it -- World War II -- came to pass.

But we must remember that World War II was only the beginning of the threatened chastisements. If people do not repent and amend their lives then more severe chastisements will follow. The threatened punishment of the world "by means of war, famine, persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father" is a far more general prophetic warning that has only been partially fulfilled. Whether or not it will take place is contingent on the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of Our Lady's requests.

Our Lady revealed to Sister Lucia the sign that would indicate the onset of the impending chastisement. “When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that He is going to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father." An "unknown light like this one, perhaps?

But the physical chastisement of which Our Lady warned -- the endless wars and natural disasters bringing about the "annihilation of nations" -- is not the most frightful aspect of the chastisement foretold in the Secret of Fatima. Even more frightful is the spiritual chastisement foretold in the Secret.

The persecution of the Church that will take place will be like none other that has ever taken place in all the history of the world. That which is seemingly impossible will take place, yet it is foretold in the unpublished part of the Third Secret and in Sacred Scripture. According to the late Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi, "In the Third Secret it is foretold, among other things, that the great apostasy in the Church will begin at the top."

We have been warned that partisans of the Devil will occupy the Roman Curia under a Masonic antipope! The late Father Malachi Martin stated that he read the Third Secret of Fatima in early February 1960. Our Lady's words, he said, foretold a future "pope" -- an imposter who would usurp the See of Rome while being completely under the control of the Devil. Thus will arise a counterfeit "Catholic" Church -- a counter-church, an anti-church -- the "dragon, whose tail swept down a third of the stars of Heaven and cast them to the earth" (Apocalypse 12:4) -- i.e. one third of the Catholic hierarchy under the leadership of a heretical antipope.

Father Martin said these "partisans of the devil" -- the "third of the stars of Heaven" -- masquerading as "Catholic" clergy are secret members of a sect consecrated to the Devil. They will gain control over the Vatican apparatus, he warned, and establish the "Catholic" branch of the established and compulsory religion of the New World Order. True Catholicism will be outlawed, and the remnant of faithful Catholics will be subjected to the most ferocious persecution that there will have ever been in the history of the world.

Father Paul Kramer wrote that Catholics will not be welcome in the new "Civilization of Love". The exclusivism of their dogmas will cause them to be viewed as dangerous "fanatics" and "terrorists" -- a mortal threat to the ecumenical unity and "peace" of the New World Order. Thus, the real Catholic Church will be treated as an outlaw organization, and a threat to world peace.

The Church's status will therefore be as it was during the Roman persecutions, when She was viewed as a subversive and criminal organization. There will be laws enacted to punish non-conformist practitioners of "outmoded" pre-conciliar forms of religion that threaten world "peace"’ (the neo-pagan ecumenical order of the Civilization of Love) by their divisive attachment to dogmatic exclusivism which leads to inquisitional "persecutions" and religious wars and crusades. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? And yet these anti-Catholic sentiments were already "trending" decades ago.

Catholics will be told that they may avoid the chastisement, with its persecution and martyrdom, by embracing "Catholicism v.2", by "engaging" with the "new and improved" Church, the "new Rome" which will be in communion with the Great Ecumenical Church that will unite all religions. Pope Francis increasingly reveals to wondering Catholics his Big Idea -- Drawing All Faiths Together, because "we all worship the same god" (which is heresy). Drawing All Faiths Together... DAFT!

Father Kramer concludes that those who will have the grace and fortitude to hold fast to their Catholic Faith will refuse to abandon the true traditional Catholic religion. For this refusal they will be regarded as incorrigible fanatics and obstinate schismatics. They will be universally despised as the enemies of the Civilization of Love, and they will be blamed for the failure of the New World Order to achieve universal peace, love, unity and harmony. Their fate is depicted in the vision of the Third Secret: for their refusal to embrace the false religion of ecumenism and religious liberty, the Pope, clergy and Catholic faithful will be systematically hunted down and brutally exterminated.

In 2000, Pope John Paul II declared that "the message of Fatima imposes an obligation on the Church." In view of the incalculably catastrophic consequences of non-compliance with Heaven's request, Bishop Rudolf Graber declared that to ignore the message and the requests of Our Lady of Fatima is tantamount to a "crime against humanity."

The desecration of Catholic churches and sanctuaries by pagan worship and the mingling of the true religion with false religions is the signal that the chastisement will take place in the immediate future. The desecration of the sanctuary, of God's Holy Place -- by turning it into a mere tourist attraction, for instance -- is a sacrilegious and blasphemous act of impiety that demands immediate punishment in strict justice.

The real lesson to be taken from the fire at Notre Dame de Paris is that God cannot be patient any longer in the presence of the sacrilegious abominations that are now being perpetrated in Catholic churches and sanctuaries. It is for just this kind of sin that He declares: "Therefore I also will deal with them in My wrath: My eye shall not spare them, neither will I show mercy...nor will I have pity: I will requite their way upon their head." (Ezechiel 8:18, 9:10)

VIDEO: Cardinal Burke: The smoke of Satan has entered the Church

In "Vatican attempts to silence tradition-minded Catholic prelates" (WWW 7/11/18) Walt reported on recent attempts by the Vatican Secretariat of State (Peter the Roman, Prop.) to silence Bishop Athanasius Schneider and Cardinal Raymond Burke for daring to speak out against those responsible for today's crisis in the roman Catholic Church. (Hello, Pope Francis!)

Limitations of space prevented me from giving more than a suggestion of what these two prelates had done to deserve (which they didn't!) the Vatican's not-so-subtle warning that they'd better shut up about the apostasy, homosexuality, and heresy rampant today in the highest echelons of Holy Mother Church. What they did was call attention to the poisoned fruits of Vatican II, about which the Blessed Virgin Mary warned us in the Third Secret of Fatima, which was entrusted to Sister Lucia and has yet to be revealed in its entirety by the Vatican, for reasons which are now apparent.

Today Walt is pleased to share an address given by Cardinal Burke on 19 May 2017 at the fourth annual Rome Life Forum, organized by Voice of the Family, and originally posted on LifeSite News. In this talk, the prelate explains what Pope Paul VI meant when, near the end of his papacy, he said, publicly, that "through some fissue, the smoke of Satan has entered the Church". Running time, 32 minutes.



Today, the smoke of Satan is still there, denser and more choking than ever. Two of those who are being choked are Bishop Schneider and Cardinal Burke. Good Catholics, pay attention to what these two prelates are saying, before they are silenced forever. It is up to us, the remnant who cling to the Traditional Faith handed down to us by the Apostles and doctors of the Church from Our Lord Jesus Christ, to do all we can, through prayer and action, to bring about the victory of grace and the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Amen.

VIDEO: "Peter the Roman" ready to take over from Pope Francis

Sunday is my day to catch up on my reading on topics religious, especially the parlous state of Holy Mother Church. First on my list today was "Curia Stories: The Comeback of the Cardinal Secretary of State", by noted Vaticanista Sandro Magister, in his blog, Settimo Cielo, 14/1/18. [Kudos to Matthew Sherry, who does the English translation, for coming up with the excellent pun in the headline! Ed.]

The article is about Pietro Cardinal Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, or, in political language, the No. 2 man in Rome, after Pope Francis. Of Cardinal Parolin, Sig. Magister writes, "He flies high. So high as to be now the only candidate for succeeding Francis with a serious chance of being elected pope."

If Pope Francis was validly elected -- a matter of considerable debate for many reasons -- he is the 111th pope to have headed the Roman Catholic Church. If he dies or purports to resign, and Cardinal Parolin is chosen to succeed him, he (Parolin) would be No. 112. "Pietro" is Italian for "Peter". And Cardinal Parolin is a Roman. Is he, then, "Peter the Roman"?

"Peter the Roman" is the last pope mentioned in the Prophecy of Saint Malachy (1094-1148), renowned as a great prophet. In 1139, while on his way to the Vatican to assume the post of papal legate for Ireland, he fell into a trance and saw a line of papal reigns stretching from the successor to Innocent II and extending through the centuries to the last of the line, identified as "Peter of Rome" or "Peter the Roman".

When he committed his vision to paper, Saint Malachy assigned short Latin descriptions to each pope. These mottoes usually refer to a family name, birthplace, coat-of-arms, or office held before election to the papacy. Some of the phrases are multiple prophecies, written with ingenious word play. According to his prophecy, John Paul II was No. 110. Benedict XVI is No. 111. The motto given for him is "Glory of the olive". To explain this, those who believe in the Prophecy draw a connection between Benedict and the Olivetan order. Benedict chose his papal name after Saint Benedict of Nursia, founder of the Benedictine Order, of which the Olivetans are one branch.

The next line in the Prophecy is "In persecutione extrema S.R.E. sedebit." which means "In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will sit." forms a separate sentence and paragraph of its own. While often read as part of the "Peter the Roman" prophecy, some interpreters view it as a separate, incomplete sentence explicitly referring to additional popes between "glory of the olive" and "Peter the Roman". Whether it refers to Benedict or Francis or Peter the Roman, there can be no doubt that Holy Mother Church is today being persecuted as never before. Every year of this century has seen hundreds, even thousands of Catholic Christians imprisoned, tortured and martyred for the Faith.

We come now to the last lines of the Prophecy of Saint Malachy. "Petrus Romanus, qui pascet oues in multis tribulationibus: quibus transactis ciuitas septicollis diruetur, & Iudex tremẽdus iudicabit populum suum. Finis."



Peter the Roman, [who] will pasture his sheep in many tribulations, and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills [Rome] will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The End.

The final pope, Peter the Roman, will likely be the Antichrist whom students of prophecy have long foretold. Satan, taking the form of a man named Peter, will gain worldwide allegiance and adoration. Even the very elect -- the leaders of the Church and all but a small remnant of the faithful -- will be deceived. And then will come the destruction of Rome, something like the vision attributed to Sister Lucia in what the Vatican alleges is the Third Secret of Fatima. And then will come "the dreadful Judge" who will judge the people. Let us not say we were not warned.

Pope Francis canonizes Fatima Seers Jacinta and Francisco Marto

Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the first Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima, Portugal. On 13 May 1917, and on the 13th of each month thereafter through October 13th, Our Lady of Fatima appeared to three shepherd children -- Jacinta Marto, Francisco Marto and Lucia dos Santos -- to bring to the world, through the three seers, Her Message of repentance and conversion. She requested the consecration of Russia, by name, to Her Immaculate Heart, and warned that if Her Message is not heeded, entire nations will be annihilated and billions of souls lost.

Yesterday, at the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, Pope Francis canonized Blesseds Jacinta and Francisco, making them the youngest non-martyrs ever to be declared saints by the Roman Catholic Church. "We declare and define Blessed Francisco Marto and Blessed Jacinta Marto as saints," said the Pontiff, as relics of the young shepherd children, encased in two thin golden crosses, were placed in front of the famed statue of Our Lady of Fatima, the "lady dressed in white" as the siblings and their cousin, Lucia dos Santos, described Her.

Francis didn't say much about the actual Message of Fatima, perhaps because a key part of it, the Third Secret of Fatima, has been suppressed by the Vatican, in spite of having been written down by Sister Lucia (Lucia dos Santos became a nun) for publication not later than 1960, at which time, she said, its meaning would be clearer. The Pope looked frail and nervous throughout the ceremony. Perhaps he was fearful that Our Lady would reappear to chastise him and his predecessors for failing to heed Her warning.

Sister Lucia herself told Father Augustin Fuentes, the postulator of the causes for beatification of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, on 26 December 1957 at Coimbra, Portugal, "the Most Holy Virgin is very sad because no one has paid any attention to Her Message, neither the good nor the bad. The good continue on their way, but without giving any importance to Her Message. The bad, not seeing the punishment of God actually falling upon them, continue their life of sin without even caring about the Message. But believe me, Father, God will chastise the world and this will be in a terrible manner. The punishment from Heaven is imminent."

Paris attacks: the exhausted reply of an exhausted Church

I just saw an insightful analysis by Christopher Ferrara on the tepid and politically correct response of Pope Francis to the Islamic terrorists' attacks in Paris. "Confronted with the mass murder and mayhem conducted by agents of the Islamic State in the very heart of the very nation known as 'the eldest daughter of the Church'", he writes "Pope Francis professed perplexity as his initial reaction: 'I am moved and I am saddened. I do not understand, these things [sic] hard to understand.'"

Mr. Ferrara goes on to ask why it should be hard to understand "that this false religion, the perpetual enemy of Christ and His Church, has spawned modern Muslim warriors who vow to conquer Europe and ultimately Rome itself even if they have to blow themselves up to further their cause?

"Islam is a religion invented by a man of violence, whose influence has expanded exclusively by violence. To this day Islam is maintained by violence even in 'moderate' Islamic states, where the penalty for conversion to Christianity is death."

Click here to read the entire article, including very trenchant quotes from Hilaire Belloc, on the Fatima Perspectives webpage.

Who killed Father Gruner?

Assiduous readers of WWW will know that Walt was, or is an admirer or Father Nicholas Gruner, the Fatima Priest. For all of his 38 years in the Roman Catholic priesthood, Father Gruner worked tirelessly to promote the Full Message of Our Lady of Fatima, beseeching Popes from Paul VI onwards to release the entire Third Secret -- suppressed by the Vatican to this day -- and consecrate Russia to Our Lady's Immaculate Heart, by which act a time of peace can be brought to this troubled world.

At the end of April 2015, Our Lord Jesus Christ called Father Gruner home to be with Him and His Blessed Mother. The statement from the Fatima Center, posted here on WWW, did not mention the cause of Father Gruner's death. In fact it was a massive coronary, suffered while he was, as usual, working at his desk.

There were some -- friends of Our Lady as well as Her enemies in the highest echelons of the Church -- who wondered if Our Lady's Apostolate, founded by Father Gruner, would survive his passing. Walt is pleased to report that the work is being continued under the direction of his niece, Miriam Dias, ably assisted by the Fatima Center management team, and faithful followers such as John Vennari and Christopher Ferrara, who you can see in this video "Remembering Father Gruner".



The next major event on the Fatima calendar is the Save Washington DC conference, to be held on September 22nd-24th in [They already figured it out! Ed.] The highlight of the conference will be a procession and demonstration (with permission of the DC police) to be held on the 23rd, to coincide with the visit of Pope Francis to the White House. Click here for details of what's going to happen and how you can be part of it.

But I digress. The question at hand is: Who killed Father Gruner? For the answer, I have the word of two of my agents, who worked with Father on and off for a quarter of a century, that he was counting on Pope Francis, a man of evident devotion to Our Lady, to perform the Consecration of Russia, in the manner the Blessed Virgin requested. See "Pope Francis: a traditional Catholic's view".

Did Pope Francis do so? Sadly, the answer is a resounding NO. What he did, in October of 2013, was to "entrust" (not "consecrate") "the world" (not Russia, by name) to the Blessed Virgin (but not to Her Immaculate Heart). See "SHOCKING! Pope Francis did NOT 'consecrate' 'the world' to the 'Immaculate Heart of Mary' after all!"

Why the Holy Father shied away from doing as Our Lady asked -- not even going as far as his predecessors -- is known only to him, and (presumably) God. What my agents tell me, though, is that Father Gruner was profoundly disappointed by the Pope's failure to do what had been so fervently prayed for, hoped for, and even expected. It is no stretch, I think, to say that Father Gruner died of a broken heart. Who broke it? Pope Francis!

Medjugorje not authentic, says Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith

Gianluca Barile, in his blog, Diario di un Vaticanista, reports that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has reached a negative conclusion regarding the authenticity of the reported Marian apparitions at Medjugorje.

Walt has never mentioned the supposed visitations of the Blessed Virgin to half a dozen Bosnian "visionaries" because their claims were rejected way back in 1991 by the bishops of what was then Yugoslavia. However, a special papal commission continued to investigate the matter. The commission's findings were reportedly discussed at a meeting of the CDF held yesterday in Rome. According to Sig. Barile, the CDF agreed with that commission’s conclusion that there is no evidence of supernatural activity at Medjugorje.

The CDF is said to have essentially supported the stance taken by the bishops in 1991. They will reportedly recommend that pastors should not sponsor or support events that presume the reality of the visions claimed by the Medjugorje "seers". However, they will likely urge recognition of Medjugorje as a special "place of prayer", in light of numerous reports of intense spiritual experiences enjoyed by visitors there. Pilgrimages to Medjugorje will not be forbidden, provided that they do not centre on the alleged apparitions.

So this extremely hot potato -- many thousands of Catholics believe in Medjugorje -- will be tossed to Pope Francis, who will make the final judgment on the subject.

Meanwhile, faithful Catholics await the Holy Father's action on the authenticated and approved apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima. As explained in "Fatima Essentials", the general Message of Fatima is not complicated. Its requests are for prayer, reparation, repentance, and sacrifice, and the abandonment of sin.

In each of Her apparitions, Our Lady stressed the importance of praying the Rosary. She asked the seers, and through them all of the faithful, to pray the Rosary every day for peace. Another principal part of the Message of Fatima is devotion to Our Lady's Immaculate Heart, which is terribly outraged and offended by the sins of humanity. We are lovingly urged to console Her by making reparation.

Our Lady of Fatima said that if people did not stop offending God, He would punish the world severely by means of war, famine, persecution of the Church, and persecution of the Holy Father. To prevent these chastisements, Our Lady offered a remedy: the Consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the Five First Saturdays. If Her requests were heeded, she told the seers, there would be peace. If not, Russia's errors would spread throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions against the Church, the Holy Father to suffer much, martyrdom of the good and the annihilation of various nations.

But there was more. On 13 July 1917, Our Lady confided a Secret to the three shepherd children who saw Her. This Secret was meant for all Catholics, but was to be revealed later -- in 1960, at the latest -- when (she told Sister Lucy later) it would be better understood. Many Fatima scholars, including the late Father Nicholas Gruner+, believe that the Third Secret, which remains concealed by the Vatican, foretells the loss of faith and great apostasy which the Church now suffers.

The Fatima Message -- the full Message, including the Third Secret -- is the most important warning and call to repentance sent to us from Heaven in the last century. The apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima have been authenticated by the Church and declared worthy of belief. Here is The Third Secret of Fatima is Still Silenced, produced by the Fatima Center.

African Cardinals strongly oppose "German strategy" on divorce and same-sex "marriage"

Sister Lucia, the seer of Fatima, wrote that "In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved etc". In the ongoing debate about the significance and meaning of the "etc", almost everyone (except Agent 3) has overlooked the fact that, at the time Sister Lucia wrote that part of the Third Secret of Fatima, "Portugal" included a number of overseas territories and colonies, including Angola and Moçambique, rather large chunks of southern Africa.

Walt was thinking about this today while reading "Synod. Africa’s Hour", a report by Sandro Magister on the recent meeting in Ghana of the presidents of that continent’s episcopal conferences. The African prelates -- Robert Cardinal Sarah and four other cardinals, along with 45 bishops -- voted unanimously to oppose "the strategy of the Germans" on divorce and homosexual unions, and thus preserve the dogma of the Faith which the Europeans (including Pope Francis) seem ready to repudiate.

What is the strategy of the of their modernist colleagues from France, Switzerland, and especially Germany, who gathered a few days earlier at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome? Sig. Magister explains it this way: "Given that the maximum objectives of the blessing of second marriages and of homosexual couples appear to be out of reach, this 'strategy' would consist of opening loopholes that could be expanded later, naturally while affirming in words that there is no intention to change anything about doctrine."

From the remarks of Cardinal Sarah, Sig. Magister chose these quotes to summarize the Africans' contrary sentiments. Cardinal Sarah called on his colleagues to not be afraid:
- "of reiterating the teaching of Christ on marriage";
- "to speak at the synod with clarity and with just one voice, in filial love of the Church"; and
- "to protect the family from all the ideologies that want to destroy it, and therefore also from the national and international policies that impede the promotion of positive values."

Strong stuff! But will the modernists and the "gay mafia" embedded [geddit? Ed.] in the Vatican listen? Is the Pope Catholic? Be careful. The second is a trick (or tricky) question!

Search for MH370 being quietly scaled down

Walt doesn't have much time for conspiracy theories. I'm not a "birther". I don't believe Roosevelt knew about Pearl Harbor in advance. And I do believe the Americans really did land on the moon. (I saw it on TV so it must be so!) However, there are conspiracies to keep us from knowing the truth about certain things, such as the Third Secret of Fatima, which remains hidden deep in the archives of the Vatican. And then there's the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

If you haven't heard anything about the search for the plane -- or at least pieces of it -- that's because the US military doesn't want you to hear about it, and the Australian government, which is organizing the search in waters to the southwest of that continent is going along with their good friends and allies. Millions of dollars are being spent -- more than Australia could afford on its own -- looking for a needle in a haystack. And they're looking in the wrong haystack! Walt says it's deliberate!

Agence France Presse reports that Australian officials said today that the hunt for MH370 will not be expanded beyond its current search area "unless there are specific new leads". Back in April, 13 months after the plane vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, it was announced that the search zone would double in size, to cover 46,300 square miles in a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean. But now the Australian-led Joint Agency Coordination Centere says "In the absence of credible new information that leads to the identification of a specific location of the aircraft, governments have agreed that there will be no further expansion of the search area."

What makes the JACC think they're going to find anything way out there, far off Australia's west coast? The zone was supposedly determined by analyzing data from satellite signals which indicated the plane went down in the Indian Ocean after mysteriously diverting. To be in the area being searched, it would have had to be off its planned course by about 140 degrees. It would also have had to turned some 50 or 60 degrees to the southwest from the course it was on when last observed by Malaysian radar!

When last "seen", the plane was near the west coast of Malaysia, heading west-northwest (WNW), not southwest (SW). Seems to me it would make more sense to follow the last observed heading, which would have taken the plane in the general directin of the Bay of Bengal, Sri Lanka and the southern tip of India. That area is watched closely by the US military from its huge base on Diego Garcia, a flyspeck in the middle of the Indian Ocean leased to the US by the Brits.

The conspiracy theory which Walt finds least plausible is that the Americans somehow hijacked MH370 by remote control, and flew it to Diego Garcia to be "repurposed" for use in the Middle East. A similar theory says the hijackers were Chinese -- as were most of the pax on board -- and flew it to somewhere in southeast Asia or western China.

Walt thinks the more likely explanation is that a USAF or US Navy fighter intercepted MH370 when their radar tracked it way off course, and shot it down either deliberately or "by accident". That would be consistent with US military SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) -- shoot first and ask questions (such as identity) later. Covering up such mistakes in hopes that they will be forgotten is also SOP.

Walt is not alone in giving credence to this explanation. See "MH370 - Just fancy that!", posted here just before Christmas 2014, and "MH370 officially 'an accident'; take the money and STFU", a month later.

So... if the JACC wants a lead, there it is. In case they don't understand the message, Walt will put it in three words: Ask the Americans!

Third Secret of Fatima document genuine, BUT...

In today's "Vatican Insider" blog of La Stampa, noted Vaticanista Andrea Tornielli reports that a respected Portuguese paleographer has confirmed the authenticity of the document said to containn the famous Third Secret of Fatima. But, he notes, questions remain as to whether the "vision of the bishop in white" text released by the Vatican in 2000 is the complete document.

Professor Maria José Azevedo Santos, of Coimbra University, examined the document, which is held in the archives of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and proclaimed it "a genuine, true document, written by Sister Lucia" (the principal Seer of Fatima). Although the document is not signed, Doctor Santos said that the handwriting clearly matched other writings known to be in Sister Lucia's own hand.

The document became the focus of controversy immediately on its publication in 2000. The version shown and "interpreted" by since disgraced Cardinal Bertone described a vision of a bishop dressed in white, seen being killed by soldiers in front of a cross on top of a hill. The text contains no words of Our Lady of Fatima to explain the vision.

Cardinal Bertone said the Third Secret belonged to the past, and implied that the vision referred to the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II. The late pope said he recognized himself as the "bishop dressed in white" who was killed, but did not even attempt to explain how, if this was the case, he was still alive. Cardinal Ratzinger, as he then was, told journalists there was no "official explanation".

However, when he visited Fatima in 2010 as Benedict XVI, the "Pope Emeritus" was more cautious in his comments, suggesting strongly the possibility of the prophesy not yet being complete. For more on this astonishing volte-face, see "Vindication: The Latest Chapter in the Story of Fatima", which references the best book on the controversy, Christopher Ferrara's The Secret Still Hidden.

You can buy The Secret Still Hidden from the Fatima Shoppe ($9.95) -- tell them Walt sent you -- or read it free online.

Just how sick is Pope Francis?

Vatican watchers are starting to gossip about the health of Pope Francis. Is some kind of problem being covered up? The Vatican is, after all, quite expert in hiding the truth, not just about the Third Secret of Fatima, but about the medical problems of the Holy Father's two predecessors.

Pope John Paul II was visibly severely afflicted with Parkinson's Disease. His palsy was painfully obvious, yet the Vatican kept denying it until it was impossible to do so any longer. Even in his last days, when JPII was no longer in public view, we were told he was celebrating Holy Mass in his bedroom. But his doctor's official report, published later in Acta Apostolicae Sedis, indicated that he had a fever of 40 degrees Celsius and was rendered essentially unconscious by blood poisoning.

Then there was Pope Benedict XVI, elected at a rather advanced age but, according to the same Vatican sources, in remarkably good health for a man in his mid-80s. Such good health, we could see, that he was unable to walk down the aisle of St. Peter's but had to be transported on a wheeled platform. After his resignation, the "pope emeritus" explained that he had given up the office because of his poor health, flatly contradicting the official party line.

Which brings us to Francis. His audiences scheduled for November 15th were cancelled because -- according to the official Vatican network -- he had a cold. Other media raised the ante a bit, calling his problem "the flu", but that could be just a difference of terminology between North American usage and that of Europe. Whatever it was, it kept him home from work, so to speak.

Now comes news that the Holy Father cancelled a private audience which was to have been held on December 5th. (If you're going to follow the link, ignore the headline. The news about the cancelled meeting comes in the second sentence of the text.) A statement from Vatican spokesthingy Father Federico Lombardi claimed that Francis was "fatigued." How so? Well, it seems the Pope had attended meetings with cardinals that morning and the previous afternoon. You would think that schedule not abnormally onerous, but who knows?

What we do know is that the statement was given by the same Father Lombardi who was, errr, economical with the truth when he spoke of the health of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Father Lombardi said there was "no cause for alarm". Forgive us, Father, but we've heard that before. Of this you can be sure: when the Vatican denies what would otherwise be a minor matter, they are almost certainly hiding something major!

Why Pope Francis consecrated his Pontificate to Our Lady of Fatima

Just over a month ago, Walt predicted (as did many traditional and "mainstream" Catholic bloggers) that Pope Francis would finally do something concrete to honour the request of Our Lady of Fatima for the Consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart. See "Pope Francis to move on Third Secret of Fatima?"

What the Blessed Virgin asked for is not difficult or expensive. She told the late Sister Lucia that a simple prayer for the conversion of Russia, by name, would suffice. The ceremony should take about five minutes, or ten minutes, tops. But it must be done publicly and solemnly, by the Pope, with all the other bishops joining him in their own dioceses at the same time.

You would think that would be simple enough to do, and worth doing considering the benefits promised by Our Lady -- a period of peace of prosperity and the salvation of millions who would otherwise perish. But no pope, from Pius XII through Benedict XVI has had the, errr, gumption to do it in the way Our Lady asked.

A couple of popes have come close. Pius XII and John Paul II both consecrated "the world". But they knew -- and Sister Lucia said -- that wasn't enough. All the bishops must join in, and Russia must be mentioned by name! But this runs contrary to the ostpolitik -- friendly dialogue with the Church's Communist enemies -- promoted by Cardinals Casaroli, Sodano and Bertone, former Vatican secretaries of state.

Even worse (for them), heeding the Blessed Virgin's warning in the Third Secret of Fatima would precipitate a cleansing of the Church, a dismissal from power of the Freemasons, apostates and heretics who now hold high offices in the hierarchy, and a much-needed correction of the numerous errors of Vatican II. The Message of Fatima is therefore bad news to the liberals, apostates and heretics who now hold high offices in the hierarchy.

That's why those "fallen stars" (see Chapter 12 of the Apocalypse), led by the disgraced  Bertone, have been campaigning for years to consign the Message of Fatima to the dustbin of history. They characterize Our Lady's prophecies as "old news", and Her vision of "the bishop clothed in white" as referring to the attempted assassination of John Paul II -- over and done with. But Benedict XVI, who read the Third Secret, said the Message is even more relevant now than before.

We do not know if Pope Francis has yet read the text of the Third Secret -- the words of Our Lady which the Vatican still refuses to reveal to us. But it is evident the Holy Father believes in the need for repentance and reform to which the Blessed Virgin calls us. That is why, within weeks following his election, the Pope asked the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon -- twice -- to consecrate his new papacy to Our Lady of Fatima.

And, even though Cardinal Policarpo is thought to be in the "modernist" camp of Cardinal Bertone, the prelate did what the Pope asked. Addressing the Portuguese bishops in their 181st Plenary Assembly, he announced the Pope’s request for this consecration and he expressed his own desire that “all the episcopal conference [would join] itself to the realization of this request.” The Portuguese bishops accordingly decided to make this collegial act at the conclusion of the Mass of the International Anniversary Pilgrimage on May 13th, the 96th anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady of Fatima.

The international pilgrimage was presided over by Archbishop Orani Tempesta of Rio de Janeiro, and drew crowds of well over half a million during the two-day celebrations, with more than 37,000 pilgrims walking to the holy site from various places in the Iberian peninsula. 37 bishops and 290 priests also participated.

At the end of the Mass, Cardinal Policarpo led the bishops in consecrating Pope Francis' pontificate to Our Lady of Fatima.  The prayer of consecration began thus:
“Most Holy Virgin, we, the Bishops of Portugal and this crowd of pilgrims, stand at Your feet, on the 96th anniversary of Your apparition to the little shepherds, in this Cova da Iria, to fulfill the clearly expressed wish of Pope Francis to consecrate to You, Virgin of Fatima, his ministry of Bishop of Rome and Universal Shepherd.”

The Cardinal went on in this prayer of consecration (lasting about six minutes) to ask Our Lady of Fatima for all the graces of discernment and courage that the Holy Father will need to “overcome, in charity, the trials that the renovation of the Church will bring him.”

The text of the consecration prayer needs to be read carefully, with full attention to the exact words used, and to the words that were not said.

Notice that Cardinal Policarpo made no mention of the specific content of the Fatima Message and Our Lady’s requests. The impression the Cardinal gave was that Fatima was a call to prayer as a means of "conversion". But whose conversion? What sort of prayer? And why would it take an apparition of Our Lady and a spectacular public miracle -- the Miracle of the Sun -- to get only a general exhortation to pray? Surely the Blessed Virgin wants more of us, and of the leaders of the Church!

Nor did Cardinal Policarpo mention the Consecration of Russia as a condition for the conversion of that nation and the ensuing period of world peace. Russia is most assuredly not converted and world peace seems a present impossibility, barring a miracle. But it is precisely such a miracle that Our Lady has promised, if Her conditions are met.

But that's what Heaven wants. The Pope and the bishops, together, must consecrate Russia, by name, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Nothing less will do. Let us pray that this month's consecration of the papacy of Pope Francis is a first step in that direction.

We can be encouraged by the sense of urgency implicit in Pope Francis' having asked for the consecration of his papacy not just once, but twice. Presumably this was to ensure that Cardinal Policarpo would actually do it! And the Holy Father asked not just for consecration to Our Lady, but to Our Lady of Fatima!

What could have prompted Pope Francis to take such drastic action? (I have chosen the words carefully. the Pope's request was certainly drastic compared with the timid efforts of his predecessors.) Walt is convinced that the Holy Father must have read the Third Secret before he telephoned Cardinal Policarpo. And obviously he believes Our Lady's warning. So should we!

Further reading: “The Unsinkable Message of Fatima” by Christopher A. Ferrara, Esquire.

Pope Francis to move on Third Secret of Fatima?

Walt found it passing strange that Father Nicholas Gruner, founder director of an Apostolate dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima, should have been so positive about the election of Pope Francis. Successive popes from Pius XI to Benedict XVI have been perplexed by the Third Secret revealed by Our Lady to the late Sister Lucia. The closer it got to 1960 -- the year by which Our Lady said the Secret must be revealed -- the more nervous the Vatican got.

Fatima experts, such as Walt's old buddy Christopher A. Ferrara, Esquire, believe that the Third Secret foretells the apostasy and corruption which stain the mainstream Roman Catholic Church today. We can call the collapse of the Church and the departure from the True Faith the poisoned fruits of Vatican II. But Pope John XXIII, who instigated the Council, read the secret and in his wisdom (?) set it aside, saying the Blessed Virgin must have been talking about somebody else or some other time.

That's been the Vatican party line ever since. We've seen more than half a century of lies and cover-ups orchestrated by the Vatican Secretaries of State, notably Cardinals Casaroli, Sodano and the evil Bertone. And all of the post-Conciliar popes have toed the line. That includes Paul VI, who famously said that, through Vatican II, "the smoke of Satan has entered the Church"...but did nothing about it.

The Message of Fatima does not just concern the ruination of the Church. Our Lady warned of wars and other catastrophes -- manmade and natural -- which would result in the annihilation of millions of souls. Unless, that is, the Pope (in union with all of the bishops, acting together at the same time) fulfilled a very simple request. She asks them to consecrate Russia (specifically) to Her Immaculate Heart. If that is done, She promises, Russia will be converted to the Faith and become an instrument of peace.

Because of the Vatican's policy of Ostpolitik (devised by the Secretariat of State, not by any pope), not one of the popes who have known of Our Lady's request have dared to do as She asks. During World War II, Pius XII attempted a consecration of "the world". John Paul II performed another act of consecration of the world in 1984, but on 25 March of that year admitted in a prayer to the Blessed Virgin that the consecration of Russia remained undone.

Fast forward to 26 June 2000, when the then Secretary of State, Cardinal Sodano, released his "interpretation" of the Third Secret of Fatima, with an introduction by Cardinal Bertone. Cardinal Ratzinger (as he then was) followed Sodano in pronouncing the Fatima prophecy "a thing of the past". The intent of this tale about "the bishop dressed in white" was clearly (in Mr. Ferrara's words) "to consign Fatima to the dustbin of history".

Strangely enough, after he became Benedict XVI, Pope Ratzinger reversed himself. On 11 May 2010, en route to Portugal for a visit to the Fatima shrine, the Holy Father rejected "the universally disbelieved Sodano/Bertone 'interpretation'". (Ferrara's words)

Rather, said Benedict, the Third Secret prophesies what is happening in the Church today, and predicts future events in the Church which are still developing day by day. "The greatest persecution of the Church does not come from enemies outside, but arises from sin in the Church." Sin in the Church... the smoke of Satan... just as Paul VI said!

Not three years later, Benedict XVI found himself physically and mentally incapable of resisting the enemies with in the Church any longer, and threw the torch to whoever might be his successor. Perhaps it was through divine intervention that Cardinal Bergoglio was chosen, for it turns out that Pope Francis is a friend of Our Lady of Fatima. One of his first acts, the day after his election, was to go to pray at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore.

We do not know what the Pope said to the Blessed Virgin or what She made him understand. But this week we learn, from Vatican Insider (written by leading Vaticanista Andrea Tornielli) that the Holy Father has asked José Cardinal Policarpo, Archbishop of Lisbon, to dedicate his pontificate to Our Lady of Fatima!

Cardinal Policarpo confirmed the Pope’s request at a meeting of the Portuguese bishops’ conference. He said that the Pontiff had twice asked him to make the consecration. The cardinal suggested that the entire bishops’ conference could join in the act of consecration.

This is an extremely significant move by the Holy Father. It shows that he believes in the Fatima Message, and acknowledges the correctness of what Benedict XVI said, that the Message of Fatima is still valid today.  (Tornielli says the prophecy could apply not only to the Church's struggle against the totalitarian regimes of the East, but the paedophilia scandal as well.)

What will be Pope Francis' next step? Could it be that he will finally command all the world's bishops to join him in the Act of Consecration of Russia that Our Lady of Fatima requested? Let us pray so, because that is Heaven's Key to World Peace.

Further reading: "A Prelude to the Consecration of Russia?" by Christopher A. Ferrara, Esquire.

Recommended blog: Fr. West's Catholic Blog, and in particular "Queen Esther and Our Lady of Fatima - Homily for Thursday of the First Week of Lent"

The two Commandments even the Pope couldn't enforce

The words "I quit" were barely out of Pope Benedict's mouth when cries of "Why?" ["Perche?" Surely. Ed.] Were heard throughout what we used to call Christendom. It didn't take long for Vaticanistas to start reading the entrails, but understanding what really precipitated the Pope's resignation will -- like miracles -- take a little longer.

The last 48 hours has seen three events which, taken together, may add up to an explanation. (Note the use of the indefinite article.) From Walt's perch in the belfry of St. Valentine's Church, the tips of three icebergs can be seen. (Or could it be three tips of one huge berg?)

I. German attorney Ernst von Freyberg has been named president of the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), which is the proper name of the Vatican's bank. The appointment will be among the last of Benedict XVI's reign. The announcement (on page 2 of L'Osservatore Romano of 16/2/13) also says "the other four members of the board of supervision maintain their positions."

Also confirmed in their positions were the four prelates who comprise the commission that presides over the IOR. They are cardinals Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran, Odilo P. Scherer, and Telesphore P. Toppo. But wait (I almost hear you say), that's only three. The fourth, who also happens to be keeping his position as president of the commission, is none other than Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State.

So what, I definitely hear you ask. Well... The anonymous writer of the report in Chiesa asks if it were truly necessary to renew the members of the commission of cardinals right on the heels of the announcement of the Pope's resignation. Wny not wait, he wonders, for the election of the new pope, who in any case will have the power to change the commission if he so wishes.

II. There has been another significant personnel change, involving Bertone's Secretariat of State.

Monsignor Ettore Balestrero, an undersecretary of the Vatican's Foreign Ministry since 2009, was this week issued with Kevlar vestments and a steel (not the gun but the cute hat) and sent to Colombia as the new Papal Nuncio (ambassador). Colombia is not the end of the Catholic world, but it's 1000s of miles from Rome, which seems to be the point.

The Vatican's senior spokesthingy, Father Federico Lombardi, said today that the transfer had been in the works for months, and had nothing whatever to do with item III on Walt's list, which is...

III. The leak to the Rome daily La Repubblica of the contents of a confidential report into the Vatileaks scandal. Three cardinals -- Julian Herranz (Spanish), Salvatore De Giorgi (Italian), and Jozef Tomko (Slovak) -- were asked by Pope Benedict to investigate the leaking last year of a series of Vatican documents which seriously undermined his papacy.

The leaked papers included private letters to the Pope complaining of corruption and cronyism in the awarding of Vatican contracts. Allegations of money-laundering at the Vatican's bank -- there's the connection -- were reignited.

Who was behind all this? Was it just crooked financiers bent on enriching themselves with the Church's money? Sadly, no.

According to the Rome newspaper, the cardinals reported to the Holy Father several factions within the Vatican, including "a cross-party network united by sexual orientation", were breaking commandments, including the sixth (Thou shalt not commit adultery) and seventh (Thou shalt not steal).

The stealing mentioned was in reference to "mismanagement" at the IOR, and the sixth commandment is often referenced when speaking of homosexuality.

La Repubblica said the 300-page report alleges the gay network convened in a handful of locations in and around Rome, including a sauna, a beauty parlor, university housing being used by a provincial Italian archbishop, and a villa. "For the first time, the word homosexual was pronounced," the newspaper said, referring to a meeting when the cardinals reported their findings to the Holy Father.

Could this be true? Really?! Let's ask Father Lombardi. Oh. He says we shouldn't expect anyone from the Vatican to confirm or deny the allegations. "We're not going to run after all the speculation, the fantasies or the opinions that will be expressed on this issue," he said in a statement published by the Guardian. "And don't expect the three cardinals to give you interviews, either, because they have agreed not to answer [questions] or give information on this issue."

In fact, Father Lombardi won't even admit that the report exists. Kind of like theThird Secret of Fatima.

Hank Williams sings about Armageddon

Agent 88, who lives in the Far (and mysterious) East, reports that the sun rose as usual this morning. Therefore I expect to see it rise over the treetops of Fort Mudge in another hour or so. The world hasn't ended today. Lifetime .pct. 986.

But that doesn't mean we should stop thinking about it. As the preacher says, it's got to happen sometime! II Peter 3:10 tells us:
The day of the Lord shall come as a thief, in which the heavens shall pass away with great violence, and the elements shall be melted with heat, and the earth and the works which are in it, shall be burnt up.

Are you ready? Seeing then that all these things are to be dissolved, what manner of people ought you to be...? II Peter 3:11.

OK, I won't preach at you. But I'll share a really obscure old song by Hank Williams Sr. (aka Luke the Drifter), called "The Battle of Armageddon".



For those who collect old vinyl -- maybe even old 78s -- I understand this was on the "B" side of a not-so-great hit called "Window Shopping".

The Battle of Armageddon, the final cataclysm that ends the world as we know it, was not just foretold in Holy Scripture. Our Lady of Fatima almost certainly talked about the last days in the Third Secret of Fatima, which still has not been fully revealed by the Vatican.

As Holy Mother Church "celebrates" the 50th anniversary of Vatican II -- the council that did such serious damage to the Catholic Church -- Walt would like to remind his Catholic readers of something that was said by the seer Malachi Martin, in a radio interview with Art Bell in 1998.

"The [central element of the] real Third Secret is...awful. I have no authority to [reveal it]. I can't make that decision... It would have such dire effects, on much more than Christians. The Cardinal who showed it to me had been present at a meeting with Pope John XXIII to outline to a certain number of Cardinals what should be done with the secret. He, John XXIII, thought it would ruin his ongoing negotiations with Khrushchev and the Kremlin."

Note from Walt: Please read "How the Vatican sold out to Communism".  Back to Malachi Martin...

"On October 11, 1962, at the opening of Vatican II at St. Peter's, John XXIII derided most contemptuously the people who he called 'the prophets of doom,' and there was no doubt in our minds that he was talking about the prophecy of Fatima. He was against that. What is in the secret...horrible! ...essentially, the onslaught of natural powers...terrible catastrophes, chastisements, and that's not the essence of the 3rd secret; it's not the frightening one."

"I have no authority, no angel has tapped me on the shoulder, I may be putting my foot in my mouth... Besides, it's a question of shock, of frightening people, of polarizing society. I can't do that... This will fill up the confessionals on Saturday evening. It will fill up the churches with worshippers striking their breasts."

Click here to read these and other excerpts from the Art Bell radio interview with Malachi Martin.
Further reading on Armageddon: "What if the Mayans were out by a month?"

Why the butler did it: "for the good of the Church"

The butler did it! Or so the Vatican alleges. Paolo Gabriele, a reserved family man and devout Roman Catholic, who worked in Pope Benedict XVI’s apartments in the Apostolic palace, serving the pontiff meals and helping him dress, was indicted on Monday, along with another employee.

The two are accused of pilfering documents from the Holy Father's private apartment, in an embarrassing scandal that has exposed at least a small part of the corruption and struggle for power at the highest levels of the Vatican. Devotees of Our Lady of Fatima have been saying for decades that this "rot at the top" of the Church is at the heart of the Third Secret of Fatima -- the Great Secret that the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Bertone, told us was disclosed in full in 2000.

Sr Gabriele has been charged with grand theft. If convicted, he could be sentenced to six years in prison. During the investigation, the Vatican insisted that the butler acted alone. Many Vatican-watchers chose to take that story cum grano salis, as should be the case with every utterance from Father Lombardi and other Vatican spokesthingies.

And sure enough, Monday's indictment also orders the trial of Claudio Sciarpelletti, a computer expert in the Secretariat of State, the department run by, errr, Cardinal Bertone. office charged with aiding and abetting the butler. If Sr Sciarpelletti did what he is charged with doing, one must ask, would he have done so on his own, or would someone -- someone higher up -- have put him up to it.

And what about the butler? During the investigation, Sr Gabriele admitted he had been meeting with a journalist for some time, slipping him sensitive papers, including letters to the Pope. Why would he do that? For money? Or for some other reason...

He told the inquiry he never received payment for the documents, but felt he was acting for the good of the Church and as an agent of the Holy Spirit. In his testimony, Sr Gabriele said, "I saw evil and corruption everywhere in the Church." He went on to say that he felt the Pope was not sufficiently informed of such matters, and "I was sure that a shock, perhaps by using the media, could be a healthy thing to bring the Church back on the right track."

But Sr Gabriele talked to others besides the journalist. He confided in a man he called his "Spiritual Father," referred to in the indictment only as "B" -- "B" as in "Bertone"? -- and gave him copies of the incriminating papers. But "B" told investigators he destroyed the documents. Sure. Wouldn't want those to fall into the wrong hands, like the hands of enemies of... hmm... whom?

Sr Gabriele was described by friends and acquaintances as a pious man and good father, a discreet man held in high esteem. Notwithstanding his prior good character, he was was held in a tiny "safe room" ["cell", surely! Ed.] in the Vatican police station for two months during the investigation. He was finally let out in July, but remains under house arrest in his Vatican apartment. There he will stay until the commencement of the trial. Unless, God forbid, some unfortunate accident should befall him. There are precedents...

For a longer and deeper analysis, read "The Pope's Butler on Trial. But the Investigation Is Proceeding 'In Various Directions'" by noted Vaticanista Sandro Magister. Sr Magister points out that one of the leaked documents bears the placet of none other than our old friend (but no friend of Our Lady of Fatima) Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone.

What has Cardinal Bertone got on Benedict XVI?

The Catholic Faith -- the traditional faith handed down to us through the Apostles and great doctors of the Church -- is full of mysteries. That's what the priest used to tell us when we asked a difficult question, like the nature of the Holy Trinity. "It's a mystery..." is what he'd say.

The Church Herself is full of mysteries too. One of them is why Pope Benedict XVI keeps Cardinal Bertone on as his Secretary of State in spite of Bertone's obvious incompetence, manifest apostasy, and the Vatileaks scandal swirling around him. It's like a president or prime minister retaining a cabinet minister who's been caught out once too often and should have fallen on his sword (in this case his crozier) ages ago.

Instead of building the gangplank off which the prelate might be expected to walk, the captain of the good ship Vatican has just confirmed Bertone's position as First Mate. On Wednesday, the Vatican released a letter from the Holy Father to the cardinal, in which he said: "I wish to express my profound appreciation for your discreet support and your enlightened counsel which I have found of particular help in recent months.... Having noted with regret the unjust criticism raised against you, I want to renew the expression of my personal faith in you... which remains constant."

This ringing endorsement comes following the arrest of Paolo Gabriele, the pope's butler, which climaxed ten terrible days in May, during which the head of the Vatican bank was also fired and a new book alleged cronyism and corruption in a Holy See riven by conflict between plotting cardinals. Vaticanistas can't figure out if Cardinal Bertone is the plotter or the plottee. Benedict's statement seems to suggest that the pope believes the latter.

Unless of course Bertone has some sort of inside knowledge which, if made public, could embarrass or even destroy Benedict's pontificate. For instance, that Benedict, when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, not only colluded in but directed the conspiracy to bury forever the Third Secret of Fatima, widely believed to predict corruption and apostasy in the very highest places in the Vatican.

Church experts say the "Vatileaks", involving embarrassing details about officials Bertone has appointed or removed or projects he has promoted, suggested a concerted effort to force him out of his job. If he's made to go, he won't go alone, and he won't go quietly. At least, that's what Walt thinks, and that would explain the pope's unctuous expression of support.

Vaticanistas suggest a rival "diplomatic wing" including Bertone's predecessor, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, is involved in the plot against the secretary of state. Bertone likes to portray himself as a theologian and canon law expert, not a diplomat. He has been unpopular in some quarters for what is seen as an authoritarian style and his closeness to Italian politicians.

Meanwhile, Benedict relies on his secretary of state to run the daily business of the Vatican and its embassies abroad while he devotes much of his time to doctrinal issues and writing a three-book study of Jesus Christ. Sort of like the piano player in a brothel. "I don't know what goes on upstairs but I have the greatest confidence in the madam."