"BY THIS MEANS"
Part II: The Need To Inform The Bishops
by Father Nicholas Gruner, S.T.L., S.T.D. (Cand.)
Contrary to what people might think or expect, even in the
recent past--the bishops, people close to the Pope and even the Popes have not
known clearly and explicitly what the command of Our Lady of Fatima to them has
been. (We should note here however that Pope John Paul II has indicated in 1984
that he knows of this request and that it has not yet been done.)
This above-mentioned lack of knowledge in the bishops and papal
assistants is in large part due to the disinformation campaign that has been
spread by certain people who claim to work for Our Lady of Fatima, but really
do not present Her Message properly.
A Good Bishop Misled By Misinformation
The following is a recent very clear example of this. On Friday
November 29, 1985, Bishop Ganaka, president of the Bishops' Conference of
Nigeria, was invited to have lunch with the Holy Father in the Vatican with
several other bishops that were attending the Synod.
Having attended the International Fatima Rosary Crusade
Symposium on November 24, in Vatican City, Bishop Ganaka there learned for the
first time of the important request of Our Lady asking for the consecration of
Russia.
He was impressed with our presentation and told The Fatima
Crusader that he intended to ask the Holy Father to do this. He also wanted
to show his support to Pope John Paul II for this project. Now Bishop Ganaka
being from Africa is very influential in the Vatican.
Since the Catholic Church is doing so well in Africa these days,
the Vatican officials especially respect the views and advice of the African
bishops. So we know that the African bishop could have done great good for the
Church on November 29, 1985.
Alas! Someone had placed on a table where the bishops were
meeting the Pope that day, a magazine carrying the false news about the
consecration of Russia being done. It would seem that this story was a result
of the 'bogus interview' of May, 1982.
The Fatima Crusader, in Issue No. 20 and again in Issue
No. 22 has demonstrated how false the 'bogus interview' of May, 1982 with
Sister Lucy is. But again, the disinformation campaign apparently won the day.
Seeing this paper, whichever one it was, on the table in the papal apartments,
the bishop lost his confidence in speaking to the Pope about this matter.
Therefore he did not raise the subject.
A Pope Is Misinformed By A Bishop
The following is another example of the disinformation campaign
against Our Lady of Fatima. Archbishop Sante Portalupe, who was Papal Nuncio to
Portugal asked Sister Lucy on March 21, 1982 in the name of the Pope, what the
Pope must do to obey Our Lady of Fatima.
Sister Lucy explained to the Papal Nuncio that the Pope must
choose a date in which he commands the bishops of the whole world to join him
in consecrating Russia. That part of the interview was never transmitted to the
Pope before his trip to Fatima in 1982.
In May of 1982 at Fatima the Pope consecrated the world,
not Russia. He therefore did not fulfill Our Lady's request. Secondly,
he did not command the bishops to join him in this act. This lack of obedience
by the Pope was because the Pope was misinformed.
This Disinformation Campaign Is Not New
In 1952 a Belgian woman received a pamphlet on the command of
Our Lady of Fatima of June 13, 1929. In that pamphlet, the words of Our Lady
were reported as: "The moment has come when God asks the Holy Father ... to
consecrate Russia to Me. God promises to save it by this means."
Unfortunately somebody had removed, in this pamphlet, Our Lady's words which
stated, "together with all the bishops."
The Belgian woman thought she had received Our Lady's words
without any change. Moved by what she read, the woman was not to be deterred
and through her contacts, energy and strong will she was able to reach the
Pope.
She got Pope Pius XII to consecrate Russia on July 7, 1952. Not
surprisingly, she did not tell him that he had to do it with all the bishops of
the world because the words referring to the bishops had been missing from the
pamphlet.
Today You Suffer As A Result Of The Pope Being
Misinformed
Therefore, His Holiness did not ask the bishops to consecrate
Russia with him. As a result we today are all still groaning under the
threat of nuclear war and enslavement to Communism. We have now 50 million
abortions a year.
Instead of an era of peace we are living through a continual
war; a war of Communism against the Church and war on the unborn with 50
million dead victims a year. Indeed we see that Father Caillon rightly labeled
the person responsible for editing out that phrase "in union with all the
bishops of the world," as criminal.
Criminal Journalism
If we can call a man who murders one person criminal, if we can
call people criminal who in the Nazi holocaust were guilty of the deaths of
millions of Catholic Polish people and millions of other Christians in their
concentration camps; if we rightly call them criminal, must we not call
criminal those people who by their deliberate distortion, disinformation or
misinformation on the Message of Fatima will cause whole nations to be put to
the torch?
For whole nations will be annihilated, wiped off the face of the
earth, if the Message of Our Lady of Fatima has not been obeyed and Russia has
not been converted in time by means of this consecration.
Truly the word criminal is just, and Father Caillon, speaking at
the Symposium, spoke correctly in calling this criminal. We must agree, it is
criminal to distort and to not give the words of Our Lady, but rather our own
interpretation which is contrary to the clear words of Our Lady of Fatima.
If some Communists had said these things we would know that we
could ignore them because they don't believe in Fatima. But when a person who
professes to be Catholic and furthermore professes to be an Apostle of Our Lady
of Fatima for many years deliberately distorts the Message of Our Lady then
this is truly criminal and doubly so.
It must be stopped, by our prayers and by disseminating the
truth. With the help of God and with your help, we shall stop it before it is
too late.
We Must Publish The Truth To The World
By the above three examples not only do we see the importance of
reporting the words of Our Lady clearly and without distortion, but we also see
the importance of publishing the words to the public. Remember, it was not the
Curia officials around Pope Pius XII who got the Pope to consecrate Russia in
1952. It was due to a lay woman who picked up a pamphlet that had been
published to the general public that got word through to the Pope to tell him
of this request of Our Lady of Fatima.
According to Father Caillon, there are still people around Pope
John Paul II who are misinformed as to what the requests of Our Lady of Fatima
are. In the light of past experience as well as the present misinformation
campaign, it is important, therefore, that the full and exact Message of Our
Lady of Fatima be given to the general public.
Jesus Wants You To Know
Let us remember that Pope John Paul II has said at Fatima, "The
Message of Fatima is addressed to every human being." Next let us recall that
God wants His whole Church to acknowledge the consecration of Russia as a
triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
How can this desire of Jesus be realized? How will His whole
Church know that the conversion of Russia is a result of the consecration of
Russia by the Pope and the bishops to Mary's Immaculate Heart? It is obvious
that the Church must be told before the conversion of Russia takes place that
it is only "by this means" that Russia is converted. In other words it
is part of Jesus' plans for the triumph of the Immaculate Heart -- that His
command to the Pope and the bishops be widely broadcast before the command
obeyed.
Therefore, when this predicted conversion of Russia takes place,
it will be clearly seen by all Catholics to have been a result of this act of
obedience by the Pope and the bishops that Russia is converted. It must not be
attributed to Cardinal Casaroli's Vatican-Moscow Agreement nor attributed to
the false reasoning of some pious people who claim that it is by their prayers
that Russia is converted.
Conversion Of Russia Only "By This Means"
The conversion of Russia is purely an act of Grace gratuitously
given despite our merits and our prayers. We don't deserve it but God will give
it through the merits of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, not through our own
merits. And God wants it to be seen clearly then, that when the conversion of
Russia and peace is given to the world, it is not through any merits of our
own, not through any human policies, practices, etc., but only by means of this
act of consecration which gives full credit to the merits and intercession of
the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Therefore, it is important for the public, especially members of
Christ's Church, the Catholics, to be informed before the consecration takes
place that it is only "by this means" that Russia is converted.
They must know it is "by this means" that peace is given
to the world. They must know that it is not anything else which has caused
world peace and the conversion of Russia. Therefore, it is important for the
truth of this matter to be published NOW.
Remember
It was through publishing about it in the past that the Pope
came as close as he did on July 7, 1952, to consecrating Russia. But due to the
misinformation fed to the chosen lay person, that is, due to the 'criminal'
negligence of that leaflet publisher who did not publish the whole
truth, Pope Pius XII did not make the Collegial Consecration as commanded by
God. And we, as a result of that publisher's negligence, remain in the mess
that we are in today.
From the bad example of those who misinformed the Pope in 1952,
and again in 1982, as well as those who misinformed Bishop Ganaka in 1985, we
can see clearly the necessity for ensuring that the whole truth be
published, not only in private letters intended only for bishops' eyes but also
in magazine, newspapers, and pamphlets, etc., intended for reception by the
general public. If the publisher of that pamphlet in 1952 had only published
the whole sentence of Our Lady -- what a difference we would have today.
A Very Important Service
By now it should be obvious to everyone that The Fatima
Crusader, by publishing the whole truth of this matter, despite the
opposition of misinformed (and/or false) brethren, fulfills a most essential
role in bringing peace to the world and saving our lives and souls from
Communist aggression.
It is only by publishing the full truth and thereby eventually
causing exact obedience to the command to the Pope and the bishops to
consecrate Russia that peace and salvation will be achieved for hundreds of
millions of souls.
Clearly, it is not an exaggeration to say that since The
Fatima Crusader is the only large circulation publication that makes these
facts known, its work is a tremendous service to the Church and the world.
Until many other publications take up this responsibility, many souls indeed
are dependent on this magazine for this soul-saving truth to be made known.
Communist Russia Kept In Power By Disinformation
Today close to half the world's population is subjected to
Russia because of disinformation, misinformation, given out in 1952. Russia
continues to spread its errors, continues to hold in subjection over one
billion, 500 million people. If the Pope and the bishops were clearly informed
and if the objections and false reasonings against Fatima were clearly exposed,
then we are certain the Pope would do it.
If the Pope and the bishops would not do it out of a sense of
duty, they at least would certainly do it to please the Catholic public. Just
as the woman in the parable of the unjust judge did not cease asking for
justice even though the judge feared neither God nor man, but she eventually
received justice due to her perseverance.
Similarly the lay people, if they only knew that they are being
denied fundamental justice by the lack of obedience of the Pope and the
bishops, would without doubt persist in asking the Pope and the bishops to
obey, and would eventually obtain their request.
We Must Insistently Ask
We have a right to ask the Pope and the bishops to fulfill their
duty. And it is their duty. It is not just a pious exercise. They are obliged
as we have demonstrated in The Fatima Crusader, to obey this command of
Our Lady of Fatima. They are obliged, and we have a right and may even have an
obligation to insist that they fulfill their duty.
For example, when a lawyer takes on a client, he cannot accept a
client and then not defend his cause. A few years ago a lawyer was hired and
his advice and presence were needed, not in court but in another situation. On
a Saturday, this lawyer had already pre-scheduled a golf game. It was to him a
very important golf game but the client was perfectly within his rights to tell
his lawyer, "You are my lawyer and this is, so to speak, my day in court and
you have an obligation to be present. I am not interested in whether or not you
are going to have your golf game." The lawyer realized his obligation and took
care of his client first.
Similarly, a doctor, when he accepts a patient, has an
obligation to try to heal that patient. By the very acceptance of that patient,
he has undertaken the duty of trying to cure and trying to help that patient in
whatever moral way he can give him help. And so if a doctor says, "Well, I'm
too busy today," we would say that if the patient needs his help and would die
otherwise, that doctor is being criminally negligent, for he is not fulfilling
his duty.
Bishops Have Accepted This Responsibility
And so, before a man becomes a Pope, or before a man becomes a
bishop, he is asked if he accepts the position. He is not just made a
bishop, he accepts the office of Pope or bishop. He thereby accepts the
responsibilities to each one of us that go with the position he has undertaken.
He then has a duty not only to God but also to each one of us - namely to help
us save our souls.
To do his duty to God and to us and to do his duty to the common
good which includes doing what he can to bring about peace in the world, he is
bound to obey the command to consecrate Russia. Now God has given it into the
Pope's hands and into the bishops' hands to give peace to the world to avoid
the annihilation of nations, if they will obey this command of His to
consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary before it is too late.
They, therefore, have an obligation to us, they have an
obligation to the common good, they have an obligation to the Blessed Virgin
and to God Himself to obey this command. We have a right to insist that they
fulfill their duty towards us. God can insist with them that they fulfill their
duty towards Him. We have a right to ask them respectfully and insist that they
do their duty and obey the command of Our Lady of Fatima before it is too late
for all of us.
Our Souls Endangered
Not only our lives, not only our freedom, not only are our homes
and our families endangered, but even our eternal salvation is endangered. This
danger exists as long as this act of obedience is not fulfilled by the Pope and
the bishops. It will be much harder to save our souls under a Communist regime
when the whole world is enslaved by Communism. We will have no place to run to
or turn to for help except to God. When the Communists arrive here we will be
asked to deny Christ, to accept the reign of the Communist party or its
successor, the Antichrist. We will find ourselves either becoming great Saints,
heroic martyrs, or we will be giving up our Faith and denying Christ and very
possibly dying in that state and going to hell for all eternity for that sin.
And so it is not just for the motive of saving our temporal
well-being. It is not just our freedom that is at stake. It is not just
avoiding the pains of dying or suffering hardships and tortures in Communist
prisons and psychiatric wards that we are concerned about. It is much more! It
is spiritual death for all eternity in hell that is at stake. That is why it is
so urgent that this command given through Our Lady of Fatima be obeyed.
Most Important Intervention
This command was given by the Most Holy Trinity Itself to the
Pope and the bishops in that solemn vision of June 13, 1929. The Message of Our
Lady of Fatima and the command for the consecration of Russia is the most
important intervention in human history since Christ walked on the face of the
earth.
In 1951 an Encyclical of Pope Pius XII said that the world today
is worse now than before the flood. Today with 50 million babies murdered by
abortion each year with the support of the government and by the tacit approval
of the silent majority, the world is indeed much worse. Their innocent blood
cries to heaven for vengeance.
Truly the world deserves chastisement. Nevertheless, God would
grant the conversion of Russia and world peace to us today if we obtained the
consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the manner commanded
through Our Lady of Fatima. Those who despise this request by ignoring it, or
even worse, by obstructing it, are made more guilty and therefore more
deserving of punishment than their other sins have already merited for them.
You Must Help
Thus it is necessary that you, dear friend of Our Mother Mary,
do what you can to spread the whole truth throughout the world. We depend on
your continued support to publish Our Lady's Message to the uninformed and
misinformed souls across the globe.
As you know from previous issues, The Fatima Crusader is
the only magazine of wide circulation which proclaims this essential part of
the Message clearly, unambiguously and completely. Also support the radio
program Heaven's Peace Plan to continue to publish these things and make
known Our Lady of Fatima's requests.
Therefore, do what you can. Tell your friends and neighbors
about this. Give them a copy of The Fatima Crusader, which clearly tells
them what God has commanded through Our Lady. All of us can and must do more
NOW before it is too late.
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