On June 13th 1929, Our Lady reappeared to Lucia and after showing her a vision of Christ offering Himself in the Mass and bringing us grace and mercy, said: 'The moment has come in which God asks the Holy Father, in union with all the Bishops of the world, to make the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means'.

Surely this implies that from that very moment, the Third Secret was imminent? Clearly the significance of that moment, has been lost on us. If we could find out what She meant, we might be able to follow the chain of events which was about to give rise to the Third Secret. We should not be intimidated by this mystery, for if Our Lady entrusted it to mere children, it must be essentially simple... So... what was taking place in Russia at the time Our Lady asked for it to be consecrated?

1929 - 43 ... the seeds of apostasy

Our Lady's apparition coincided with the start of Stalin's ruthless attack on both the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). This persecution put intense pressure on church leaders. They could either defend the Church or submit to tyranny, the stark choice was martyrdom, imprisonment: or total apostasy (abandonment of all faith in Jesus Christ). The figures speak for themselves: between 1918 and 1920 it has been estimated that 26 Orthodox prelates and 1,200 priests were slain: by 1941 their hierarchy had been reduced from 130 to 28, their clergy from 50,000 to 500. Between 1917 and 1950 the Catholic hierarchy was reduced from seven to none, the clergy from 896 to 2.1

But while others paid the price for defending the faith, Metropolitan Sergei Stragodorsky (1861-1944) was surprisingly released from prison in 1927 and was soon afterwards acknowledged by the Government as Administrator of the Church of Moscow. His co-operation with the State caused sharp division in the church, and many bishops and priests still in prison considered that the hierarchy had 'sold out' to the atheistic state. In April 1929 came the oppressive 'Laws of Religious Association' followed by Stalin's outright persecution. 2 During this time Sergei 'publicly denied that the Church was being persecuted and became a subservient supporter of Soviet propaganda'. 3 He continued as head of the Church throughout these events until his death in 1944.

The events of 1927 and 1929 were of great relevance to what followed. Sergei presided over a church which was subjected to a persecution more severe than any before, in which all parishes were under State control. Stalin's Russia was one in which it became a crime to defend the Christian Church in any manner whatsoever. Objectively speaking, Sergei's failure to defend the church under such circumstances, by his blood if need be, demonstrated that the seeds of apostasy had taken strong root in this church, which was soon to become a tool in the hands of the Soviet dictator.

In 1917, Our Lady had prophesied that a Second World War would break out if Her requests were ignored. During that War, the seeds of apostasy sown in 1929 became even more firmly established. Stalin was taken completely unawares by the German invasion - which made vast inroads into Russian territory. In this dire emergency, Metropolitan Sergei called on the nation to rally behind Stalin - 'God's chosen leader' - in saving 'Holy Mother Russia'. In a pastoral letter he urged 'all believers to join the struggle for the salvation of the motherland'. 4 Stalin then lifted the restrictions on the Orthodox Church so that it could promote the war as a crusade and inspire patriotic resistance. The Church still had great support from the people - who followed its lead.

To defend his country Stalin next called on the American President to supply arms as 'Lend-lease'. But Roosevelt told the Soviet Ambassador that it was very difficult to obtain the necessary authority from Congress in view of Russia's unpopularity with large groups of Americans "who exercise great political power in Congress" - mostly European expatriates - and suggested that some publicity indicating that freedom of religion was respected in deed as well as in word and that the churches opened would influence the debate in Congress. 5 In other words he spelt out the price Stalin needed to pay for military aid.

The turning-point in the Eastern front came with the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943 - after which the Germans were forced into retreat. Stalin now realized that victory over Germany opened up the prospect of making territorial conquests in Eastern Europe. But first he needed the Allies to invade France in order to draw the German fire-power from the his borders. Hence his repeated calls for a 'second front' in France. But Roosevelt had good political reasons for delaying the invasion. For - unlike Stalin - he was accountable to the people who elected him, and he knew that he could not invade France without the support of the people...and survive the forthcoming Presidential election in November 1944. So he delayed setting a date for the Normandy invasion and in the meantime sent troops to begin an allied invasion of the Italian mainland.

Churchill himself wanted to push this advance if possible through to the Balkans and Vienna, and so prevent the Red Army from taking control of the Eastern European nations. So this Italian invasion had a strategic aim. On September 3rd 1943, the allied force landed in Italy and its government promptly surrendered. Now the allies were the same distance from Berlin as the Red Army. Stalin was in a dilemma. He had to exert pressure on the American's to pull out . . . He consented at last to meet Roosevelt at Teheran to discuss war strategy the coming November.

Also he set up a plan to provide the publicity Roosevelt had indicated. On September 4th, he summoned Metropolitan Sergei and offered the Church new 'freedoms' if it promised to support State policy.6

Sergei agreed, and so Stalin gave him permission to convene a Synod to elect a Patriarch, an office which he had formerly suppressed. It duly elected Sergei7, who was enthroned on September 12th in Moscow Cathedral.8 (Note the extreme haste.) To coincide with his enthronement Sergei had invited the Anglican Primate to send an official delegation to Moscow. So on September 15th the Archbishop of York, Dr. Garbett and two other clergymen flew out, bearing a message from the Church of England.8 The visit culminated in a celebration of the Orthodox Liturgy (the Mass) in Moscow Cathedral, in which Sergei was assisted by Dr. Garbett, attired in his Anglican robes.9

The object of the exercise was revealed by the 'message' issued by the Orthodox Bishops at the time. In it they: 'appealed to Christians throughout the world to do everything in their power to hasten victory over Germany, expressing the hope that by the efforts of Christians in all Allied countries the long-expected second front will at last be established and will bring nearer victory and peace at this favorable time when our own Red Army is victoriously pushing the enemy from our land.' 10

Stalin's concord at with Sergei received favorable press publicity at the time, and was taken as a sign that things in Russia had changed. Thus the London Times commented on September 17th:

"the appointment of the Patriarch and the official welcome given to the Archbishop of York as the representative of another national church may be held to signify the acceptance by Russia of another of the 'four freedoms'- freedom of every person to worship God in his own way everywhere in the world".

But as Cardinal Mindszenty shows, it was all an elaborate deception: 'The news of this reconciliation between the regime and the Church was spread throughout the world. Abroad this concord aroused hopes that the Communists were beginning to accept democratic principles and were on the road to "bourgeois" respectability. In reality, nothing of the sort was taking place.The Church did not have its internal freedom restored but was subordinated to a government bureau. In other words it was straight-jacketed into the system of the atheistic state.'11

A recent biography of Stalin, based on Soviet archives, reveals the political motive for this deception:

'Suddenly on September 4th, 1943 ...Stalin decided to receive the church leaders. The next day Pravda reported the meeting and announced that Metropolitan Sergius would convene the Council of Bishops to elect a new Patriarch. Stalin took the step for two reasons. First because he recognized the patriotic value of the Church. The second reason was connected with the international situation. He was preparing for the summit conference at Teheran at the end of the year and it was his intention to press again for the opening of a second front and also to seek an increase in aid. He decided it was time to make a public gesture to demonstrate his loyalty to the Church. He believed the West would acknowledge that signal and that it would evoke the desiredresponse.'12

...That response became evident at Teheran a short time later, when Roosevelt finally set the date for 'D-Day'. Stalin then 'took Roosevelt in hand' and persuaded him to withdraw his troops from Italy. Since he had already been assured by his advisor Harry Hopkins that Stalin had absolutely no ambitions in Eastern Europe, he agreed. But we now know that Hopkins was a paid Soviet agent.13 So in time the U.S. troops were withdrawn from Italy, leaving the Red Army free to occupy Eastern Europe. The kingpin of this success was, as we have shown, the use of the Russian Orthodox Church to deceive other churches and thus the world.

'By 1960 it will be clearer'

In the era of the Cold War the Soviet leaders extended the role of their Church. In 1958, the Russian Orthodox Church became the king-pin of a 'front' Christian Peace Conference designed to infiltrate the churches of the West with Soviet propaganda. Taking part in the 'Christian Peace Conference' were the Eastern block churches leaders, their 'fellow-travellers' in the Protestant churches of the West, and the usual 'innocents at large'. Naturally the deceptions planned by such a body were limited by the fact that it was clearly an offshoot of Moscow. So the whole organization took refuge in the World Council of Churches. In 1960 Metropolitan Nikodim - the same man who arranged the infamous 'Vatican-Moscow agreement' preventing the Council fathers from criticizing Russia - negotiated the entry of the Russian Orthodox Church into the World Council of Churches. Within a short time the other Eastern block churches involved in the Christian Peace Conference had also joined.. Soon the World Council of Churches had the same leaders as the Christian Peace Conference.14 So the Christian Peace Conference forms an effective link between Moscow and the ecumenical movement. As the objective of the World Council of Churches is 'uniting the churches', Russia was now in effective control of a movement to unite the churches. The danger to the Catholic Church was clear: the World Council of Churches might involve it in its own schemes for unity - and so undermine it. Was this why Our Lady once told Lucia that She wanted the Secret to be disclosed by 1960 at the latest, as then it would be 'clearer'.?

Footnotes:

1 A Summary of Catholic History by N.C. Eberin Italy, and its Government
2 The Cambridge History of Russia and the Soviet Union (CERSU): Cambridge University Press 1982, page 131
3 'Sergei' in the Encyclopedia of Religion: Macmillan and Press 1987, pages 174,175
4 Memoirs by Cardinal Mindszenty: Macmillan New York 1974, page 316
5 Roosevelt and Churchill by Joseph Lash: Ande Deutesch 1977, page 437
6 ibid page 315 in conjunction with Discretion and Valor by Trevor Beeson and other BCC members: Fontana Books, Glasgow 1974; page 62
7 CERSU page 131
8 Memoirs by Cardinal Mindszenty: Macmillan New York 1974, page 315
9 Cyril Forster Garbett - Archbishop of York by Charles Smyth: Hodder and Stoughton 1959, pages 299, 300
10 ibid pages 300 - 307 this chapter deals at length with the Moscow visit Keesing's Contemporary Archives, September 11th - 18th 1943 (page 5989)
11 Memoirs by Cardinal Mindszenty: Macmillan New York 1974, page 315
12 Stalin: Triumph and Tragedy by Dmitri Volkogonov: Wiedenfield & Nicolson 1991, pages 486 - 488
13 Free Agent by Brian Crozier: Harper Collins 1963, pages 1,2
14 Christian Peace Conference (Conflict Studies No. 91) by Lazlo Revesz: Institute for the Study of Conflict, London; pages 65 and 68.

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