The following formal request, which is the right of every faithful Catholic to make, in matters pertaining to Ecclesiastical governance and the good of souls, was sent to His Holiness on May 11, 2001 by the Society for the Consecration of Russia; Wellington, New Zealand. It is an appeal of reason and the heart to our common spiritual Father for the full truth to be given to all faithful Catholics after the June 26, 2000, release of only part of the Third Secret.

       Your Holiness, you instructed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to publish the ‘Third Secret of Fatima’. However, Cardinal Ratzinger and Archbishop Bertone have responded to that instruction by publishing only one part of the ‘Third Secret’ which consists of two parts.

       Most Holy Father, we humbly request that you release the full text of the two-part ‘Third Secret’ of Fatima.

Species Facti

       That which is known as the ‘Third Secret of Fatima’ is contained in two manuscripts.

Manuscript #1 begins with the words of Our Lady: ‘In Portugal the dogma of the faith will always be preserved, etc. ...’ This manuscript comprises only one sheet of paper. On this single sheet are to be found 20 - 25 lines recording a verbal prophecy given by Our Lady. This manuscript has not been published, its contents remain to this day unknown to the world at large.

Manuscript #2 comprises four pages containing 62 lines written by Sister Lucy describing the vision shown to her by Our Lady. Manuscript #2 has been released by Archbishop Bertone.

In Jure

       Pope John Paul II instructed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to publish the Third Secret of Fatima.

In Facto

       In response to the instruction to publish the Third Secret of Fatima, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), in the persons of Cardinal Ratzinger and Archbishop Bertone, published only part of it.

       Of the two parts of the Third Secret, viz. Manuscripts #1 and #2, they published only Manuscript #2. On the occasion of that publication they affirmed, contrary to the facts, that there is only one manuscript. They are quoted in The Message of Fatima, paragraph 8, (26 June 2000) as stating: ‘There is only one manuscript, which is here reproduced photostatically.’

       What was then reproduced photostatically was Manuscript #2, only, viz. four pages comprising 62 lines, written by Sister Lucy describing the vision shown to her by Our Lady.

       Manuscript #1 remains yet to be published.

       The assertion of Cardinal Ratzinger and Archbishop Bertone that there is only one manuscript is mistaken. It is known world-wide that there is a manuscript containing the words: ‘In Portugal the dogma of the faith will always be preserved, etc. ...’

       These words do not appear in the reproduction of Manuscript #2 issuing from the CDF. The necessary conclusion is that Manuscript #1 awaits still to be published.

       Very few persons ever saw Manuscript #1, but there is abundant testimony to its existence.

       Cardinal Ottaviani, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, revealed, on Feb. 11/1967, while delivering an address on behalf of Pope Paul VI in preparation for the Fifth Mariological Congress and the Twelfth International Marian Congress, that he had read the Third Secret and that it was written on a single sheet of paper.

       He is reported as saying:

‘And then, what did she (Sr. Lucy) do to obey the Most Holy Virgin? She wrote on a sheet of paper, in Portuguese, what the Holy Virgin had asked her to tell ...’

       Father Joaquin Alonso, the official investigator and archivist of the Fatima apparitions, writes in his book La Verdad sobre el Secreto de Fatima, at page 60:

‘Lucy tells us that she wrote it on a sheet of paper. Cardinal Ottaviani, who has read it, tells us the same thing: "She wrote it on a sheet of paper ..."’

       The Whole Truth about Fatima, by Frère Michel, Vol.III, p. 481 quotes the former Auxiliary Bishop of Leiria-Fatima, Bishop Venancio relating how he:

‘... took the great envelope of the Secret and tried to look through it and see the contents. In the bishop’s large envelope he discerned a smaller envelope, that of Lucy, and inside this envelope an ordinary sheet of paper with margins on each side of three quarters of a centimetre.’

       In the light of all the above, the petitioners request that the manuscript not yet published be forthwith published.

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