Pope John Paul II is already changing Vatican policy toward communist regimes. However, the Cardinal Secretary of State, Cardinal Casaroli, has been very closely involved in implementing the Vatican-Moscow Agreement, and his influence is so powerful as to still cause the bad effects of this agreement to be felt by all. This Vatican-Moscow Agreement must be repudiated. What is needed also is a prolonged and renewed call by Church officials at every level to heed all the specific requests of Our Lady of Fatima, including Her call for personal conversion; the daily Rosary, and the consecration of Russia to Mary's Immaculate Heart.

Father Jerzy Popieluszko was recently kidnapped and murdered near Torun, Poland, by Polish secret police. Father Jerzy was courageously and openly anti-communist. His murder continues to dramatically demonstrate that the Catholic Church and Communism are irrecon­cilable. The Vatican-Moscow Agreement must be repudiated and Russia must be explicitly consecrated solemnly and publicly by the Pope and all Catholic Bishops to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Then the murder of priests and lay people by Communist regimes will cease entirely because Russia will by this means be converted by God to the Catholic faith. As Our Lady said, when Her requests are granted there will be peace.

       Although the Vatican has not repudiated the Vatican-Moscow Agreement, it would seem that Pope John Paul II has already done so. This can be seen from Issue #16 where his public and continued criticisms of the Communist Regimes in Russia and Albania were sustained so much that eventually even some 'Catholic' papers picked up the story. But most people did not realize its Significance. Pope John Paul II at Ottawa, Canada, told the Canadian bishops to break the conspiracy of silence which continues to surround the persecution of the Catholic faithful in Communist countries.

       Nevertheless, this is not enough to correct a condition in the Church that has gone along now for over 20 years. That is because it still seems to be the policy of the Secretary of State under Cardinal Casaroli, which is, indeed, the most powerful position in the Vatican after that of the Pope.

       The policy of 22 years has been felt, and continues to be felt, all the way down to the diocesan and parish levels. To understand how this works, we must realize how bishops are appointed. Priests are nominated by their fellow priests to their religious superiors, the bishops. The bishops choose from among those nominated, to make their own nominations, which are then forwarded to the Papal Nuncio of the country. The Papal Nuncio of the country circulates the names of those priests nominated by the bishops to the other bishops in the region. After getting back the opinion of other bishops, he forwards the nominations to Rome with the comments and observations of the Papal Nuncio. Now we can see that the Nuncio has a decisive position in determining which priests will be chosen as bishops. He can, possibly, not even forward some nominations to Rome, because he considers them unsuitable. Now the Papal Nuncio's immediate boss is the Cardinal Secretary of State. As long as the Vatican-Moscow Agreement is the official policy of Cardinal Casaroli and the Secretariat of State, then the whole Church continues to be affected. Because each Papal Nuncio realizes that for him to advance, he must please his immediate boss, the Secretary of State. Therefore, he realizes that he must not help, in any way, a priest become a bishop, if that priest is better informed and courageously speaks out against Communism. This is because, obviously, such a priest, having been made bishop, will have more scope and influence and would upset the Soviet rulers, and, thereby, bring upon the Church the danger of Soviet reprisals. This is precisely what the Vatican officials, by the Vatican-Moscow Agreement, have sought, at the terrible price of silence, to avoid. Thus, we can see that the bishops chosen are going to be soft on Communism - or at least be woefully ignorant of its dangers and its perfidious nature. The bishops who know better about Communism will be 'prudent' enough to remain silent, otherwise, they would not have been allowed through the selection process described above. Nevertheless, God, despite the weaknesses of human nature, still governs the Church and allows some courageous and informed bishops to be appointed. But, until enough bishops are found to stand up and tell the people the truth, most of the faithful will, it would seem, not be roused to vigilance, prayer, penance and obedience to Our Lady of Fatima.

Our Lady, Through The Fatima Crusader,
Speaks Out

       We, for our part, wish to imitate Our Lady, as Pope John Paul II described Her at Fatima in the following words:

       "Can the Mother Who with all the force of the love that She fosters in the Holy Spirit and desires everyone's salvation keep silence on what undermines the very basis of their salvation? No, She cannot.

       "And so, while the message of Our Lady of Fatima is a motherly one, it is also strong and decisive. It sounds severe. It sounds like John the Baptist speaking on the banks of the Jordan. It invites to repentance. It gives a warning. It calls to prayer. It recommends the Rosary. The message is addressed to every human being."

       In the public trust which Our Lord and Our Lady have placed us, as well as the confidence and support that you, our readers, continue to give us, does not allow us to avoid the sometimes painful duty of proclaiming the truth to you. This duty can be painful because it also calls down upon us the persecution of our own persons by enemies of God, and by people who are well meaning, but, nevertheless, use evil means to seek to stop the truth from being known). We, too, like Our Lady, through the power of Her prayers, cannot but cry out, when we see the very basis of your salvation undermined.

WHAT THEN CAN YOU DO?

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