Part III: A Plea to Our Shepherds

       There is one last question about the Secret which never fails to cause interminable controversies: should it be revealed publicly or not? To put it another way: if Sister Lucia, following the wishes of the Blessed Virgin, indicated that the Secret should have been revealed in 1960, why have the Popes not done so?

       Once again, in our opinion there are two extremes. On the one hand, there is no need to change the clear testimony of Sister Lucia that on January 2, 1944, Our Lady said that the Secret ought to be opened and disclosed to the faithful in 1960. This is what a good many Fatima authors have done, in an attempt to "cover" for the Pope, as it were. With the best of intentions, they want to protect the Holy Father from the potential accusation that he has "failed to disclose the Secret". Thus we read in many publications that the Secret "was destined for the Pope alone", or "was not intended to be disclosed publicly". The intention is good, in our opinion, but there is no basis in fact for these claims. We know that when Bishop da Silva received the Secret he could have read it at once; therefore the Secret was not exclusively addressed to the Pope. Would the Holy Father, who is so fearlessly devoted to the truth, really want us to "fudge" on the facts, just to protect his own name?

       The other extreme lies with those people who care only about the Secret, and not the real requests of Our Lady which are addressed to all of us. Some have even used the non-disclosure of the Secret as a pretext for denying Our Lady of Fatima's message. Such people are driven by curiosity rather than genuine devotion. This is manifestly not what Our Lady asked.

Do Not Accuse the Holy Father

       There is no need for us to take an accusatory attitude towards the Holy Father for not yet revealing the Secret. Clearly, the Secret speaks of some very serious events. Now nobody likes to be the bearer of bad news. How many of us, if we knew that our spouse, or a member of the family, was afflicted with a serious or terminal disease, would have the heart to say it so flatly, without trying to soften the blow in some way? Not, of course, that the Church is going to die; far from it! The gates of hell will never prevail against her. Nevertheless, a deadly cancer is eating away at the mystical body of Christ. That cancer is Modernism. It is not surprising that the Holy Father, broken-hearted, hesitates at having to give us the bad news.

       The Secret of Fatima is undoubtedly a serious warning. But it is also a salutary, loving and maternal warning of the Mother of God. Has not the time come to reveal it openly to the world, if only so that the many false mystics and false prophets afflicting the Church be silenced?

A Plea to Our Shepherds

       The Second Vatican Council has rightly insisted on the prophetic element in the Church; is it not therefore time to let the Queen of Prophets speak? The same Second Vatican Council has spoken eloquently on the role of Mary, Mother of God and Mother of men, "in the mystery of Christ and the Church"; would not revealing Her final Secret show the Church's unconditional recognition and trust in the Mother of the Church?

       Armed with this salutary warning from the Mother of God, would the bishops not be in a much better position to preach the vigorous message of repentance everywhere, organizing solemn ceremonies and liturgies of expiation and atonement everywhere? Would it not be a source of inspiration to the episcopal conferences, and an immense source of grace and merciful love for the world? Is it not possible even now, that through the revelation of this terrible but salutary warning, moving the bishops to preach a crusade of prayer and penance, "God may yet change His mind and turn from His fierce anger, so that we perish not?" (Jonah 3:9)

       Since we undoubtedly already have many priests and bishops among our readers, they will perhaps wonder: what can we do? There is much they can do. The first thing is to preach the full, vigorous Fatima Message to their own flocks, encouraging the Rosary and First Saturday devotions for everyone. This is the first and most important area where each bishop and priest can do incalculable good. For the principle of authority in the Church is still individual: the bishop in his diocese, the pastor in his parish. The faithful also can do much to help save the souls of all those God puts on their path through life.

       At the level of the episcopal conference, individual bishops can try many different initiatives, with which God will inspire them, to inform their brother bishops about this important message, and organizing a crusade of prayer, with solemn liturgies of atonement. They can also, very quietly and discreetly, communicate with the Holy See, urging the definitive solution, the consecration of Russia, as well as the prudent revelation of the Secret, joined to a crusade of prayer and repentance. Indeed on a more practical level, those priests with linguistic skills, who have been impressed with this presentation, may want to translate it into French, Italian, Spanish or German, so that it will be truly available to all the bishops. In this, as in every other area of the apostolate, we welcome volunteers; indeed this is essential to Our Lady's cause.

       The Immaculate Mother of God, as St. Maximilian Kolbe reminds us, has indeed received from God the promise of victory over satan. She seeks souls entirely consecrated to Her and become in Her hands a force to conquer satan, and to become under Her direction an effective means for establishing the Kingdom of God.

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