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Articles, essays and stories from the pages of The Fatima Crusader Magazine

The Requests of Our Lady of Fatima Are Being Deliberately Hidden

We publish here, for the first time, very important facts about the command of Jesus and Mary to the Pope and the Bishops to consecrate Russia, in this article by Brother Francois de Marie des Anges.

This new documented material was originally published in French, in the February 1990 issue of "La Contre Reforme Catholique" (CRC) a Catholic monthly bulletin published in France. It came in while we were almost ready to put this issue of The Fatima Crusader to press.

Because it is so important for you and the whole world to know these facts, we worked around the clock for almost an entire week to give you an accurate translation of this article and still reach our Press deadline. - The Editor.

by Frere Francois de Marie des Anges

Now that there is developing this campaign, which has come about to try to persuade the faithful devotees of the Blessed Virgin of Fatima that Pope John Paul II "has admirably responded to the requirements of Heaven", we find ourselves confronted with a new phenomenon, which is very impressive. It seems that, since the month of July, 1989, that last seer and messenger of Our Lady of Fatima, Lucia of Fatima, has certified that Pope John Paul II has entirely satisfied the Divine demands.

But a study of the dossier published by Father Fox in 'The Fatima Family Messenger' (CRC 259, published in the month of December) has shown at what point these new documents, presented to make known the thoughts of Sister Lucia, are not very convincing. The pretended declarations of Sister Lucia are reported by only one relative of the seer; Maria do Fetal Neves Rosa. Thus the testimony is not very convincing, besides, the words attributed to the messenger of Heaven are banal, absurd. Regarding the argumentation developed by Monsignor do Amaral, Father Fox and Father Messias Coelho, these three "conspirators of the Fatima-village" (see the January CRC edition, 260) their line of reasoning is weak, inconsistent and negligible.

Regarding the two letters claimed to be from Sister Lucia, one addressed to Maria de Belem (see CRC 257, page 2) the other to Father Paul Leonard. The proposals outlined in these letters remain at least problematic. (see CRC 260, page 12) They do not correspond to the message of Our Lady. In these two texts, the requests of Heaven are falsified. Next month, we will demonstrate this in comparing the claimed response of Sister Lucia to the letter of Rev. Paul Leonard, who questioned her. (See the next issue of The Fatima Crusader.) But before showing how these requests of Our Lady of Fatima today are being hidden by the "conspirators of the Fatima-village", it is important to present certain declarations of Sister Lucia before those related by Father Fox. In this present study, we will expose, therefore, the requirements of Heaven, such as Sister Lucia has recalled them in the course of these past few years, during which she was interviewed by the Apostolic Nuncio, Monsignor Archbishop Portalupi, as well as by friends she has known for a long time. Persons who have been present at these conversations have reported the words of the seer herself and the witnesses are in agreement, permitting us to know with certitude what was the thought of Sister Lucia after the "Acts of Offering" of May 13, 1982 and March 25, 1984. How then could she have "evolved" suddenly to the opposite position this last summer?

SECTION I: The Firm Testimony Of Sister Lucia

In as much as the Popes refuse to accomplish the Divine Will "they follow the example of the King of France in delaying the execution of My Command." Our Lord Jesus Christ complains.

The Interview of March 21, 1982.

In 1982, two months before the coming of Pope John Paul II to Fatima, Sister Lucia had the possibility of explaining to the Apostolic Nuncio of Portugal, how the Pope could and must accomplish the great request of Our Lady of Fatima: The Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

In effect, towards the middle of the month of March the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Sante Portalupi received the order to visit Sister Maria Lucia of the Immaculate Heart in her convent of Mount Carmel. The Nuncio hastened to ask Dr. Lacerda to prepare for this interview and very precisely to establish for the 21st of March the list of questions which he judged opportune to pose to the messenger of Heaven, that is, Sister Lucia.

Mr. Lacerda, a Portuguese jurist, the National President of the Eucharistic League of Men, was always astonished that no one from Portugal had asked the Pope, or had recalled the Pope to the Will of Heaven, in order to obtain from the Pope that Russia be consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as Our Lady had asked. And after so many years Mr. Lacerda insisted that the Nuncio visit Sister Lucia.

On Sunday, March 21st, Archbishop Portalupi and Dr. Lacerda went to the Bishop's Palace of Leiria to have breakfast in the company of Bishop do Amaral, the Bishop of Leiria, Fatima. Dr. Lacerda, in presenting his questionnaire perceived that Bishop do Amaral judged that Pius XII had accomplished the requests of the Blessed Virgin and that it was useless to speak again of the Consecration of Russia. On the eve of the voyage of Pope John Paul II to Fatima the Bishop of Leiria did not wish to importune the Pope.

In the afternoon of March 21st, the two prelates as well as Dr. Lacerda were received into the parlor of Carmel of Coimbra. And they were able to very freely speak with Sister Lucia for two long hours.(1)

At the beginning of this interview, Bishop do Amaral declared to Sister Lucia, "Well at last, sister, Pius XII has consecrated the World, with a special mention of Russia in 1942, and then he consecrated Russia in 1952. All is therefore done. All is finished! Let us remain tranquil." Sister Lucia kept silent and with great energy she made a gesture of denial. She moved her index finger from right to left. With the finger she was then saying: "No the Consecration of Russia is not done as Our Lady wishes."

In the month of December 1982, John Haffert sent to Carmel of Coimbra the written report of the interview of Sister Lucia with Bishop do Amaral and the Nuncio, which he came to know about through the information which Abbe Caillon had communicated to him in a letter dated November 27, 1982. John Haffert desired to know if the responses of Sister Lucia were reported with exactitude. Sister Lucia replied that the account presented in this letter of Father Caillon's was indeed true.

On March 21, the messenger of Heaven explained then how the Pope must act to satisfy the Divine requirements. "So that the Bishops of the world," she said, "be united to the Pope in this Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Pope must either convoke all the Bishops to Rome, or to another place, to Tuy for example. Or else order the Bishops of the entire world to organize, each in his own cathedral, a solemn and public ceremony of Reparation and of Consecration of Russia to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary." And this second solution had the preference of Sister Lucia.

The Pope must therefore fix in advance, the DAY and the HOUR of this Consecration. Sister Lucia remarked that it would be easy for the Bishops to accomplish this Consecration exactly at the same time all over the face of the earth. "It is certain that there are 24 time zones around the world, " she said. "But certain Bishops could make the Consecration at night during the course of a Vigil of Prayer."

Sister Lucia added that, "If the communist governments impeded the Catholic Bishops to make these ceremonies solemn and public, the Prelates could accomplish the Consecration in their private chapels. And if the order of the Pope did not reach certain Bishops because of lack of religious liberty, the good God would understand because He wants the Moral Unanimity of the Bishops, assured Sister Lucia. And He does not obligate the Arithmetic Totality."

Today, Bishop do Amaral mentioned these last words of the seer to convince the devoted faithful of Fatima that Pope John Paul II has perfectly accomplished the request of Heaven. On the 16th and 17th of September, 1989 during the Congress of the Friends of Fatima, at Altoetting in Germany.

Bishop do Amaral, in recalling the Consecration of March 25, 1984 declared, "In fact it is not a mathematical numeric totality of the Bishops which is demanded, as Sister Lucia herself explained to me one day, but it is certainly a moral totality of the Bishops." (2) In quoting these words of Sister Lucia without precisely giving the context, Bishop do Amaral, with an extraordinary impudence, mutilates and betrays the thought of the seer. The Consecration of March 25, 1984 did not satisfy either the Most Holy Virgin or the seer, because Pope John Paul II did not order all the bishops of the Catholic world to make a solemn and public ceremony of reparation and consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This article demonstrates this amply.

Father Caillon(3) remarked that during this interview of March 21, Sister Lucia did nothing else but comment and explain that which she had already written to her confessor, Father Goncalves, in 1930. And here are her words, "The good God promises to put an end to the persecution in Russia if the Holy Father deigns to make and orders that equally the Bishops of the Catholic world make a solemn and public act of Reparation and Consecration of Russia to the Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary. And if His Holiness promises by means of the end of the persecution (in Russia) to approve and recommend the practice of the Reparatory Devotion.(4)

The Act Of Offering On May 13, 1982

In the days which preceded the pilgrimage of the Pope to Fatima on the 7th to the 12th of May 1982, Sister Lucia retreated to the Carmel of Fatima. She participated in exercises of the community, but she did not meet anyone in the parlor. She applied herself to editing a memoir which she hoped to put in the Pope's hands and she wished to be sure to put nothing there but the things according to God.

In these same days at the beginning of the month of May 1982, Father Caillon commenced an inquest in Portugal to know the thought of Sister Lucia on the consecration that the Pope had decided to accomplish on May 13 at Fatima.

On May 9, at Porto, Father Caillon encountered Mrs. Pestana of the same family which had a long time ago, in the decade of the 1920s, paid for the room and board of Sister Lucia at the Asilo de Vilar, (that is the place she went to school when she left Fatima). Mrs. Pestana has paid visits to Sister Lucia in the Carmel of Coimbra many times a year. Now on Sunday, May 9, Mrs. Pestana declared to Father Caillon, "Do not expect this time the Consecration of Russia. The Episcopate of the world is not ready."

Then, on May 12, at Fatima, Father Caillon was received by a niece of Sister Lucia, Maria do Fetal Neves Rosa. She also was definite: "Do not expect tomorrow," she said to Father Caillon "for the Consecration of Russia. The Episcopate of the world is not ready."

"Therefore," concluded Father Caillon, "Sister Lucia, before May 13, 1982 had said to her friends of Porto and to her niece in Fatima, that we should not expect the Consecration of Russia on May 13, 1982, because the bishops of the world are not ready. Lucia therefore knew in advance what to expect."(5)

No, the Episcopate of the world was not ready, because Pope John Paul II had not ordered all the Bishops of the Catholic world to accomplish each in his own diocese this public and solemn ceremony of Consecration and of Reparation of Russia to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The Bishops of the Catholic world were simply informed by Cardinal Casaroli in a letter dated April 20, 1982, "That in going to Fatima on May 13 next, the Holy Father wishes to thank the Blessed Virgin for having saved his life, from the attempt on his life on May 13 last year. And he has equally the intention of renewing in spiritual union with all the bishops of the world the two acts done by Pius XII."(6)

It was also planned that Pope John Paul II would have an interview with Sister Lucia on May 12, in the evening, upon his arrival at Fatima. But at the last minute it was cancelled and was rescheduled for the following morning.

On May 13, at 8:00 a.m., when Sister Lucia entered the office where the Pope was awaiting, many persons proposed themselves to offer their services as interpreters. Both Sister Lucia and the Pope were in agreement to not accept these offers and to close the door. They said with the same voice that if they did not understand each other in Portuguese they would speak in Spanish.

The interview between Sister Lucia and the Pope lasted 20 - 25 minutes. The Pope welcomed Sister Lucia with these words, "God has accorded me the grace that I've desired for a long time, to be able to speak with you my daughter.(7)" Sister Lucia was able to put her memoir in the Pope's hands. During this time that she spoke to the Pope one to one, Pope John Paul II promised Lucia to speak of the Consecration of Russia to the Bishops during the Synod of 1983.(8) Then in the presence of her Mother Prioress and of Sister Mary Ines, Sister Lucia questioned the Pope on the process of the beatification of Francisco and Jacinta Marto. The response of Pope John Paul II was evasive. He did not promise anything. He did not give any date. "Pray my daughter," he said; "so that it will be realized during your life and during mine."

On May 13, 1982, at the end of the morning after the great Mass with the final procession and the final goodbyes, Pope John Paul II pronounced his act of offering. He recalled the two acts of Consecration done by Pope Pius XII in 1942, and in 1952. "I am here," he said; "in union with all the Pastors of the Church, by the particular bond by which we constitute a body, a college. In the same manner which according to the will of Christ the Apostles were united to Peter. It is in this bond and this unity which I pronounce these words of the present Act with which I desire to recall one more time the hopes and the anguishes of the Church in the world of this time. It was 40 years ago and then again ten years later that your servant Pope Pius XII, having before his eyes the sorrowful experiences of the human family, had confided and consecrated the peoples which is in a particular manner the object of Your Love and of Your solicitude.

We offer and we consecrate in a special manner the men and the nations which have particular need of this offering and of this consecration."(9)

On returning from his voyage to Portugal, Pope John Paul II made it clearly understood that he did all that it was possible for him to do to respond to the requests of Our Lady of Fatima. During a general audience of May 19, referring to Consecration of May 13, Pope John Paul II affirmed: "I have tried to do all which I could do in the concrete circumstances to show forth the collegial unity of the Bishop of Rome with all his brothers in the ministry and the episcopal service of the world."(10)

Sister Lucia to Bishop Hnilica, ''There Remains Much To Be Done."

At the Carmel of Fatima, on May 14, in the morning after having presided at the concelebrated Mass, Bishop Hnilica was received into the parlor. He was accompanied by Father Luigi Bianchi, as well as by Mrs. Wanda Poltavska, and the two ecclesiastics were able to speak for a long time with Sister Lucia."(11)

"Sister," asked Don Luigi Bianchi: "Yesterday in his act of offering, Pope John Paul II, did he conform to the requests of Our Lady of Fatima to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary?"

With the help of her finger, Sister Lucia indicated, No! Then with both hands she indicated the form of the earthly globe explaining that to accomplish the request of Our Lady it is necessary that each Bishop makes in his cathedral a public and solemn act of consecration. She remarked that Russia was not mentioned by name. Now God wants, "the consecration of Russia and uniquely of Russia, without any addition." Yes, for "Russia is an immense territory, well defined, and its conversion will be noticed thereby giving concrete proof of what one can obtain by the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Sister Lucia explained also what Our Lord had revealed in 1936, which, when she asked Him why He would not convert Russia without His Holiness making that Consecration, Our Lord in effect responded to her, "Because I want My whole Church to recognize that conversion(12) as a triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. So that later on, it may extend its cult and put devotion to the Immaculate Heart beside the devotion to My Sacred Heart."(13)

With Bishop Hnilica, Sister Lucia spoke excitedly about ecumenism, that is to say the return of the schismatics into the Catholic Church. And since the election of Pope John Paul II, Bishop Hnilica had multiplied his approaches to obtain from the Pope the Consecration of Russia, Sister Lucia encouraged him to continue to follow this course of action and she said to him, "There still remains much to do ... DO NOT delay."(14)

In The Summer of 1982, Sister Lucia To Maria Fetal, "They Will Do It But It Will Be Late."

In the summer of 1982, Father Caillon again took his investigation to Portugal.

At Braga he met Father Fernando Leite, a Portuguese Jesuit who, by his many works has largely contributed to make known the life of the Seers of Fatima. He has a holy friendship for Sister Maria Innes, who is a niece of Sister Lucia and Mistress of Novices in the Carmel of Braga. Sister Mary Innes had passed the whole day of May 13 beside her aunt, Sister Lucia. Father Fernando Leite in meeting with Sister Maria Ines could understand the thought of Sister Lucia. And he certified to Father Caillon that Pope John Paul II had not yet perfectly responded to the requests of Heaven.

On August 13 at Fatima, Maria do Fetal told Father Caillon that two days prior, that is on August 11, Sister Lucia had declared to her, "I am old, I am 75 years old, I am prepared to see God face to face. I have given all my texts to the Holy Church. I will die tranquilly. But if you want my advice here it is: The Consecration of Russia, that which Our Lady has requested, has not yet been done.(15) "And Sister Lucia, that day, recalled to Maria do Fetal what Our Lord Himself revealed in the month of August 1931: "They will do it but it will be late."

Mrs. Pestana had gone to visit Sister Lucia on August 15, and Father Caillon perceived that the messenger of Heaven had very exactly repeated to this friend from Porto that which she had declared four days earlier to Maria do Fetal.(15)

The Silence Of The Pope!

On May 13, 1982 at Fatima, while listening to the Pope pronounce his "act of offering", Dr. Lacerda had immediately understood that Pope John Paul II had not effected the Consecration of Russia. That is why he addressed to the Apostolic Nuncio a letter dated July 15, 1982, destined for the Pope, in which he recalled what were the exact requests of Our Lady of Fatima. In the course of the summer of this year 1982, the Apostolic Nuncio, Msgr. Portalupi could himself read to John Paul II this letter of Dr. Lacerda. What therefore, was the reaction of the Pope? He listened to this letter, smiling.

Public Opinion Distraught By The Remarks Of Mrs. Poltavska And Of John Haffert

Since May 13, 1982, Mrs. Poltavska, a friend from childhood of the Pope, (according to Father Laurentin)(16), and John Haffert proclaimed to the world that Pope John Paul II had perfectly fulfilled the requirements of Heaven.

Mrs. Poltavska who, shortly afterwards, was named a member of the Pontifical Council for the Family, reported some surprising words attributed to Sister Lucia, which she claimed to have heard from the mouth of the seer herself.

John Haffert, the General Delegate of the Blue Army, to give credibility to his affirmations, published an alleged interview with Sister Lucia, where the seer herself was reported to have declared that the consecration done by the Pope on May 13, 1982, corresponded well to the requests of Our Lady. And John Haffert declared that this interview was made by a Brazilian journalist.

Sister Lucia Is Constrained To Silence

"In these days which follow May 13, 1982," explained Father Caillon "many persons have tried to be received by Sister Lucia, to know exactly what they must think of the Consecration done by Pope John Paul II at Fatima." In particular a Brazilian advocate, a National Delegate of the Blue Army for Brazil, presented himself one fine afternoon to the Carmel of Fatima, where Sister Lucia found herself still before returning to the Carmel of Coimbra. Receiving this official representative of the Blue Army, Sister Lucia wished to show herself as amiable as possible, but not having any authorization of the Vatican she could not speak on the question in depth. Poor Sister Lucia pronounced several words of encouragement and of hope, etc. The Brazilian lawyer, thinking that one could from this publish a text to the five continents of the world. And this text was in effect reproduced everywhere, misleading public opinion. One must know that Sister Lucia does not have the right to speak on that which refers to the events of Fatima, without the permission of the Holy See.(17)

In fact from the decade of the 1950's, Sister Lucia has little by little been reduced to silence. After the publication of the Apostolic letter 'Sacro Vergente Anno' to the Russian peoples on July 7, 1952, Pope Pius XII seems to have given precise orders to Coimbra, to Leiria and to Lisbon, so that there would not be any more a public outcry asking for this consecration of Russia which they at Rome would want to be considered as already done.(18) Then, under the reign of Paul VI, the voice of Sister Lucia was constantly and totally hushed up. "I am not able to receive visits from anyone except people well known to me" she wrote in 1983 to her nephew Father Valinho. "And I can not, anymore respond to interrogations without the explicit permission of the Holy See."(19)

The Declarations Of Sister Lucia To The Nuncio On March 19, 1983

Knowing that Sister Lucia did not speak clearly her thoughts, and responded only with reserve to all questions, except in the presence of a representative of the Holy See, Dr. Lacerda fought for almost one year to obtain that the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Portalupi, again visit Sister Lucia.

This interview desired by Dr. Lacerda, took place on March 19th, 1983. The Nuncio, together with Father Messias Coelho and Dr. Lacerda were received at the Carmel of Coimbra, where they were able to speak with Sister Lucia from 4:00 p.m.-6:30 p.m.

Dr. Lacerda read the text which he had prepared, to explain according to him what was lacking in the Act of May 13, 1982, to accomplish perfectly the requests of the Most Holy Virgin. Then Sister Lucia presented a declaration. The thought of Sister Lucia agreed perfectly with that of Dr. Lacerda.

"In the Act of offering of May 13, 1982," Sister Lucia said; "Russia did not appear clearly as the object of the consecration. And each bishop did not organize in his own diocese a public and solemn ceremony of reparation and consecration of Russia. Pope John Paul II has simply renewed the consecration of the world made by Pope Pius XII on October 31, 1942. Of this consecration of the world one may hope for certain good effects, but not the conversion of Russia."

The text which she had written down and prepared for this interview of March 19, and which she held and gave to the Nuncio ended as follows:

The Consecration of Russia has not been done as Our Lady requested. I was not able to say it beforehand as I did not have the permission of the Holy See."(20)

But Sister Lucia indicated that that which she had affirmed in this interview she had already written to Pope John Paul II.

The Pope: "It Is Done! It Is Done! We Always Do The Same Thing."

Two months and a half after this declaration of Sister Lucia to the Apostolic Nuncio, on June 8, 1983, at Rome, in St. Peter's Square, during a general audience, Father Caillon posted himself on the passage where the Pope would go by. When John Paul II arrived near the same point where Father Caillon was, Father Caillon showed him his booklet, 'The Consecration of Russia to the Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary'. And he asked him the question, "Most Holy Father, when will you fulfill the request for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary? "It is done! It is done!" replied the Pope. "We always do the same thing."

A woman close to Father Caillon, insisted, "Most Holy Father, when will you make the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary?" He replied, "It is done! It is done! We do the same thing." The woman protested, "No! No! The Consecration is not done, Lucia has declared it!" There was no response, but the face of John Paul II, visibly unhappy and irritated.

"It is done! We do the same thing always." This thesis Abbe Laurentin commenced to propagate in the year 1983. For that which concerns the charismatic renewal and the apparitions and revelations called "private", Father Laurentin is near the Pope as a complacent confidante and he is a counsellor well listened to. Here is what he writes in his book The Ways of God(21), "These two Popes, Paul VI and John Paul II preceeded by Pius XII had obeyed the seer Lucia, in consecrating solemnly the world and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, (31 October, 1942; 7 July, 1952; 21 November 1964 at the Council and May 13, 1982.)"

At The Synod Of 1983, His Beatitude Patriarch James Beltritti Recalls The Requirements Of Heaven.

On May 13, 1982, at Fatima, Pope John Paul II had given his word to Sister Lucia that during the Synod of 1983, he would speak of the Consecration of Russia to the representatives of the Episcopate of the Universal Church.

And in fact on October 16, on Sunday, a little before the Angelus, the Pope announced his intention to renew the Act of Consecration of May 13, 1982 and he would do it almost immediately. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude James Beltritti, estimated that John Paul II had not yet fulfilled the exact request of the Virgin. He advised the Pope and he submitted to him a text which he proposed to communicate to the Synod Fathers.

On October 20, Patriarch Beltritti presented to the Bishops during the course of the meeting of the Synod in the afternoon.

Msgr. Beltritti explained that "neither that Consecration made by the Pope in St. Peter's Square on October 16, 1983, nor the one done on May 13, 1982 could obtain the conversion of Russia." He affirmed "that up to this date October 20, 1983, the Consecration of Russia had not been done as Our Lady had requested and it was useful to profit from the presence in Rome of representatives of the different national Episcopates so as to seek a date which the Holy Father could choose. It is necessary to choose the earliest possible time for the Consecration of Russia in the manner requested by Our Lady"(22).

In 1984, The Request Of Our Lady Of Fatima Is Ignored And Despised!

On February 18, 1984, Pope John Paul II rendered public the text of the letter which he sent to all the Bishops dated December 8, 1983. In that letter, he announced to them that on March 25, 1984, he would renew the Act of Offering pronounced at Fatima on May 13, 1982. "I would be grateful," he said to the Bishops; "if on that day you would join me in renewing this Act at the same time as myself, in a manner that each one of you judges the most apt."(23)

Did Pope John Paul II thereby wish to satisfy the requirements of Heaven?

His intention was another one. "I remain convinced," he had affirmed to the Bishops in his letter of December 8, 1983; "that the repetition of this Act in the course of the Jubilee year of the Redemption, corresponds to the expectation of many human hearts, which wish to renew to the Virgin Mary the testimony of their devotion and to entrust to Her their sorrows at the many different ills of the present time, their fears of the menaces that brood over the future, their preoccupations for peace and justice in the individual nations and in the whole world."

In Le Figaro, (a French magazine) of March 22, 1984 under the title 'The World Consecrated to Mary', Father Laurentin presented to his readers the consecration that the Pope would accomplish on March 25. His article did not contain the least allusion to the revelations of Fatima. It was clear that this consecration on March 25 (even though the Pope was still reminded of this request by Sister Lucia and hundreds of bishops.(24) was not made in order to directly satisfy the requests of Our Lady of Fatima. According to the confidant of the Pope this consecration responded to "a profound experience, which one must have in order for one to understand it." And our "expert" called to mind St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, Cardinal Wyszinski, but, above all not Fatima.

On the other hand in La Croix(25), Robert Ackermann conceded that the consecration of the World to Mary on March 25 is tied in some manner to Fatima, to the Message of the Virgin, to the Seers (Lucia in particular, has insisted on the necessity of the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary)". But he explained, "Russia is not nominated expressly in the prayer composed by John Paul II. And it makes only reference to men and nations which have particular need of this offering and of this consecration. (26)"

In Carmel at Coimbra, on March 22nd, Sister Lucia celebrated her 77th birthday. As in preceeding years, she received that day a visit from Mrs. Pestana. Her old friend offered her good wishes and then she posed a question to her, "Well then Sister Lucia, on Sunday March 25 will it be the Consecration?" Sister Lucia made a sign No, and then she declared, "This consecration can not have a decisive character."(27) Sister Lucia had already read the letter written by the Pope to all the bishops of the world as well as the text of the Consecration. She had noted that, "Russia does not appear clearly as the only object of the Consecration." She judged therefore, this time, that the requirements of Heaven would not be satisfied.

The intention of Pope John Paul II was only "to renew the consecration of the world", Father Kondor underlined, and it was not to consecrate uniquely Russia.

On March 25, 1984, at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, John Paul II pronounced his act of offering to the Holy Virgin. It was only a simple, "affidamento", as the Italians say, a simple confiding and not an act of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Pope had read the text of the Consecration, which he had sent to all the Bishops and he added the words which follow:

"Enlighten especially the peoples of which you await our Consecration and our offering."(28) In the evening, during his goodbye to Our Lady, Pope John Paul II further explained that he had wished to consecrate "All the peoples, particularly those in need of this Consecration. Those peoples for which You (the Virgin Mary) Yourself expect our act of consecration, the act which will confide them to You."(29) In expressing himself thus the Pope recognized that the Blessed Virgin still awaited the Consecration requested. Yes, that is the obvious sense of the words that Pope John Paul II used. The Pope conceded that his act of offering did not fulfill the requests of Heaven. What an avowal!

Father Nicholas Gruner very justly remarked that, "The Pope could have said whose Consecration you have waited for, if he had thought that his Consecration responded adequately to the request of Our Lady of Fatima.

These two little phrases of John Paul II are full of consequences. "The Pope," writes Father Gruner, "by these assertions before Our Lady of Fatima, publicly recognizes the insufficiency of that which he had done that morning. He must therefore, in the future, Consecrate Russia specifically."

SECTION II:

The Consecration of Russia is Not Yet Done

In the months that followed this act of offering of the 25th of March, 1984, the principal experts of Fatima, except perhaps Father Geraldes Freire, were unanimous in saying that the Consecration of Russia had not yet been done as Heaven had requested.

This was the conviction of Father Antonio Maria Martins, the Portuguese Jesuit who has contributed to renewing the history of Fatima for approximately 20 years by publishing numerous documents which up to that time had been unpublished. Let us read what he wrote in his book, Fatima and the Immaculate Heart of Mary: (Fatima e o Coracao de Maria).

"Despite the consecration made at Fatima in 1982 and then that one made by the Pope in union with all the bishops in St. Peter's Square in 1984, it does not seem that it will obtain the conversion of Russia because he did not fulfill all of the requirements of Our Lord. In effect, according to the documents, the conversion of that nation will follow a Consecration of Russia - and not of the world, even though that includes Russia - made by the Pope in union with all the bishops of the world on one determined day.

"This seems to be the sentiment of the seer according to the testimony of persons who have spoken with her after the act of the Holy Father."(30)

With regard to Father Messias Coelho, Director of Mensagem de Fatima, on the eve of the 25th of March (1984), he had announced: "The Consecration of Russia: will not be done this time.''(31) Then following the act of offering of the Pope in Mensagem de Fatima, Father Stein noted (32) "We have not yet attained the end proposed by the Mother of God," because "the prophecy of the conversion was restricted to one country: Russia" and "in the economy of the Message of Fatima" the consecration of Russia represents "the efficacious sign and without delay" of the conversion of a country. A consecration of the world cannot be in any case, "the sign" of the conversion of Russia.

Stein demonstrated how unreasonable and dangerous was "the optimism of those who base themselves on the phrase which John Paul II has added to the official text, 'illuminate in a special manner the peoples which you are awaiting our consecration' to persuade oneself that the Pope had accomplished the Divine Will."

Father Joseph de Sainte Marie was also quite categoric, quite definitive. A short time before his death, in a brief article Fatima, the Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary,(33) he affirmed there that this act of March 25, 1984, did not represent anything but "a step towards the act which will finally fulfill the requirements of the Virgin of Fatima specially for the following two reasons: that it is Russia by name and in particular, not the world in general even with a mention - always discreet - of Russia which must be consecrated and it must be by the Pope and by all the bishops with him. It is that which up to this moment has not been done - if today as in 1942 the bishops are invited by the Pope to unite to his act of consecration, it is nevertheless understood this is about a consecration of the world that it concerns. But it is not what the Holy Virgin is asking for. And it is definitely not that which She has asked for at Fatima.

"The consecration of Russia not of the world in general, the consecration made collegially by the Pope and with the totality of the bishops, these two points do not raise any further questions. One could say that they should never have raised any questions, as the texts are clear on this subject."

Father Reginald Simonin, a French Dominican very well informed on the history and Message of Fatima, even if he could not give up his partisan spirit based on his well known deference for Pope John Paul II. He too proclaimed vigorously that the sovereign Pontiff had not yet fulfilled the Divine Will.

In the month of February, 1985, members of our CRC group led by Brother Christian encountered Father Simonin at Fatima who had been more or less officially charged by the Sanctuary to welcome the French pilgrims and to make available to them the Liturgical ceremonies including confession. On the 11th of February in the morning, when Brother Christian presented himself to Father Simonin, this very dignified old man manifested his "total disaccord" with our Father, Abbe de Nantes. He did not accept that one could manifest the minimal criticism with regard to Pope John Paul II and the Second Vatican Council. He was therefore against the idea of having to celebrate a Mass for a group of CRC. Finally, however he accepted, but later he let it be said that he would have to refuse to give Communion to the brothers and sisters ... of Abbe de Nantes!

However, we testify that during the Mass which he celebrated at the "Capelinha" for the pilgrims of the Catholic Counter Reformation, in his sermon he affirmed very clearly and repeated several times that the Consecration of Russia had not yet been accomplished as had been asked by Our Lady. He vigorously denounced those persons who pretended that the Pope had effected the Consecration of Russia on the 25th of March, 1984. In certifying this he held that one must have entire confidence in Pope John Paul II, that one day will come when the Holy Father will make this Consecration, when he decides it is opportune and that it is he who must decide, etc.

Father Simonin had just published a study on "the stages of realization of the requests and the promises of Our Lady of Fatima."(34) This article by Father Simonin arrived at this conclusion: "One last step remains to be accomplished for the complete realization of the Message of Fatima and the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary announced since 1917. Or more exactly there are two steps ... Because beside the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Sister Lucia asked on the part of the Blessed Virgin the approbation by the Holy See of the Devotion of the Five First Saturdays. This has not yet been done. It is necessary to say that this has not yet been realized by any Pope and we do not know why."

During this pilgrimage to Fatima in the month of February 1985, our group went to Aljustrel, near the well of the dos Santos home. Sister Mechtilde, of the Divine Heart spoke with a niece of Sister Lucia and perceived that the relatives of the seer were well convinced that the consecration of Russia has not yet been done.

The Pope "The Consecration ... We Do It Every Morning"

On the first of August, 1984 at Rome during a general audience, Father Caillon placed himself in the front row in order to be able to address several words to the Pope. "Most Holy Father," he exclaimed, while Pope John Paul was passing in front of him, "on the 24th of November 1983, you asked me to leave you my address because I had been intimately involved in the question of the Consecration of Russia ..." "Now it is useless", the Pope replied to him, opening his arms, "because the consecration is done ... we cannot Consecrate Russia apart by itself. We have consecrated all of the nations and we have added a special mention for the nation which Our Lady was expecting the consecration."

Six months later, Father Caillon again engaged the Pope in conversation on the Consecration of Russia. One morning in the month of April 1985 after having concelebrated Mass with him, Father Caillon said, "Most Holy Father, I have just returned from Portugal. Do you not realize that the Consecration of Russia has not been done as Our Lady wishes it?" The Pope smiled and declared "The Consecration is done. We do it every morning."

In 1985 The Recasting of The Blue Army:

In the month of July 1985, the title of the magazine of the French section of the Blue Army The Appeal of Our Lady for Peace in the World and the Conversion of Russia was transformed into The Appeal of Our Lady, the Worldwide Apostolate of Fatima.* This change revealed the new orientation imposed on the Blue Army by the highest Roman authorities.

*"L'Appel de Notre-Dame pour la paix du monde par la conversion de la Russie" was changed to "L'Appel de Notre-Dame, apostolat mondial de Fatima".

At Rome in the course of Autumn 1985, Cardinals Ratzinger and Sin together with Bishop Luna worked to prepare a Theological Symposium which was to be held at Fatima in September 1986. Officially these prelates were occupying themselves with promoting a "truly efficacious" apostolate of Fatima. They sought, so they said, to give to the Blue Army a "well balanced devotion". In reality they had but one end, to obtain the support of millions of the faithful of the Blue Army in favor of the policy of John Paul II, the policy of opening, of collaboration and of understanding with the East (that is with the Communist dictators of the Kremlin). For this it was of primary importance to convince them that the Consecration of Russia had already been done and done well!

One day in November, 1985 at the end of a conference, Father Caillon was able to address several words to Cardinal Ratzinger. "Do you know" he said, "that the consecration of Russia has not been done?" "But yes", protested the Cardinal, "it is done. We have addressed this question to the best experts."(35)

And later on, Father Caillon asked him "these best experts, who are they?" Ratzinger responded: "This is covered by the secret of the Holy Office"!

In this Autumn 1985, Cardinals Ratzinger and Sin removed the Portuguese experts from the list of those invited to the projected Symposium to be held the following year. It was clear that Father Laurentin and Father Fernandez were to be the principal speakers. During the summer of 1986 Soul magazine, the official publication of the American section of the Blue Army began its campaign of denegrating The Fatima Crusader and Father Nicholas Gruner who were publishing the authentic message of Our Lady.

We wrote therefore in our CRC, "After having renounced speaking about the Third Secret, after having ceased to recall the Holy Father to the Consecration of Russia, after having abandoned even the appearance of anti-Communism, the Blue Army now undertakes to deny Fatima to bend it to the requirements of the superior authorities."(36)

The Symposium of 1986: The Inconsistant Argumentation of Father Laurentin:

At the symposium of Fatima in September 1986, Father Laurentin would announce and even better (try to) demonstrate that the popes had done all that they could to realize the request of the Virgin. He had but one desire: to arrive at this conclusion. No, truly, there was now nothing more to protest and therefore, he pretended that "the popes had attempted eight times to accomplish the consecration" and he certified that "if one considers the totality of these consecrations, if we add together all the good 'elements' contained in each of these we have obtained a sufficient total, a satisfying total".

Father Laurentin carried beside a preemptory argument; "Russia is in the process of converting." Yes, it is written out in full in his report still unpublished entitled The Hearts of Jesus and Mary According to the Magisterium." The elite of the young generations reared in atheism are refinding Christianity by a kind of groundswell the conversion of Russia has already begun'. The most powerful atheistic propaganda was not able to succeed in extinguishing Christian faith. Even more, in these last years, conversions are increasing in the younger generations even though they have been raised in the most radical atheism. Tatiana Goritcheva and many others witnessed to this as well. How many are there? We do not have any means of evaluating it to 2 or 3 zeros, near 100,000, a million, etc. But they are conscious of being the seed of an irreversible spring."(37)

Father Caillon sojourned at Fatima during the whole time of the Symposium but he was excluded and he was even with violence pushed back outside the places of the Blue Army. What extraordinary impudences on the part of the organizers of the Symposium. They knew well that Father Caillon would advance irrefutable arguments proving that the Consecration of Russia had not been done. They therefore had decided to reject him to chase him away and to proscribe him so as to impede the truth from being known. They were constrained to forbid him access to the conference room.

But during the course of the Symposium, Laurentin and Fernandez were not able, however, to totally ignore the enquiry which this admirable priest had conducted with tenacity over the years, to know the thought of Sister Lucia on the Consecration of Russia. In their talks they mention it at different times, reporting even in part the declarations of Sister Lucia with objectivity.

Before the whole Symposium, very precisely Thursday the 18th of September, 1986, Father Laurentin ate with a niece of Sister Lucia, Maria do Fetal. During this meal she did not cease to repeat to him "the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is not yet accomplished.(38) I can affirm this to you because Sister Lucia has told this to the whole world.(39) And Maria do Fetal explained: "to respond to the request of Our Lady one must not camouflage, under a jumble of diplomatic precautions, the fact that it refers to the Consecration of Russia and only of Russia ... When one baptizes a child we call him by his name. It is necessary that one day Russia appears clearly as the unique object of that consecration."

Therefore, following his stay at Fatima, Laurentin could no longer ostensibly ignore the thought of Sister Lucia. "Since the beginning of the actual Pontificate of John Paul II", he wrote during the month of December 1986, "Lucia, the seer of Fatima, and the bishops of Portugal asked John Paul II to renew the consecration of the world (and above all of Russia) by(40) the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This consecration has not yet been accomplished thinks Sister Lucia the seer. And that is why the conversion of Russia promised by this consecration has not yet taken place."(41) In the same way Father Fernandez conceded that "according to Sister Lucia, neither the Pope nor the bishops and Christians in general (?), have done that which Our Lady requested to obtain the conversion of Russia and the peace of the world: To Consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart and promote the practice of the Communion of Reparation on the Five First Saturdays".(42)

At Fatima Father Laurentin had conversed with Father Antonio Maria Martins. This Portuguese Jesuit had suggested to Laurentin that the Pope perhaps would be able in 1988, in the millennium year of the baptism of Russia, to finally respond to the exact request of Our Lady, that is to say to Consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

After the closure of the Symposium, members of it went directly to Rome where they were received by the Pope. On Monday the 22nd of September, in a speech which the Pope addressed to them, he recalled the acts of Consecration which he had done in 1982 and 1984 but he made no allusion to the requests of Our Lady of Fatima, not to Russia, nor of any consecration which remained to be done. The Pope spoke of "reparation" but without mentioning "the Reparatory Devotion" of the Five First Saturdays of the month.(43) John Paul II followed this meeting with a private audience with Father Laurentin for one hour without witnesses.

May 1987 The Confession Of Laurentin: "Sister Lucia Is Not Satisfied ... It Is An Enormous Question"

Several months later members of our Falange* had the possibility of publicly questioning Father Laurentin on the projects and intentions of Pope John Paul II.(44)

* EDITOR'S NOTE: Falangist is a young person who is well trained by Father Georges de Nantes in Theology, economics and politics.

On Tuesday, the 19th of May 1987, Laurentin was invited and accepted an invitation by "Centrale Catholique des Conferences" to a debate which had been publicly announced. He was therefore constrained to reply to the questions of the Falangists who were present at this meeting.

First Question: Do you think that the Pope will take the opportunity during the Christian millennium of Russia and perhaps of his voyage to Moscow to accomplish the request of Our Lady of Fatima? In effect even after the 13th of May 1982 as well as after the 25th of March 1984, Sister Lucia has been forced to make it known that the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart has not been fulfilled as the Virgin requested".

And Laurentin affirmed: "She did not wish to make it known because she is very reserved but it is true that she is not satisfied. She has said so to her intimate friends. I have spoken with people who know her well. She has said so in terms that were very respectful but she is not satisfied ... that is an enormous question ..."

The second question of a Falangist: "In the Encyclical 'Redemptoris Mater' Fatima is not cited except one time as a place of Pilgrimage at the same level as others? Moreover 70 years after the apparitions, the Third Secret has not yet been revealed. The Consecration of Russia has not been done ..."

Laurentin was more than hesitant! "It is a very complex question" he said. "I checked all the eight consecrations that the Popes have done from Pope Pius XII in 1942, they have renewed 8 times, the consecration ...

"I think that the Pope remains concerned about the reservations of Sister Lucia and that - even though he has already done more than a Pope usually can do (!) - I think that he desires to do another thing and always in a sense of a Consecration of Russia. What will he do, I don't know ...

"To condemn the Pope because he has not done that which he must is very pretentious in relation to ... when one sees ... and not only because he (the Pope) knows the written text but he knows the texts that the Vatican is the only one to have and he has spoken for 20 minutes with Sister Lucia. Pope Paul VI had avoided her. He had not wished to speak to Sister Lucia. He had sometimes fear by timidity. (?) Sometimes he was afraid to be in front of people. John Paul II has spoken to her and he has well listened to her. (?) He has taken it into account ... it is necessary to pray so that the Pope receives all the lights ... all the intentions ... pray for the desire, the project of the Virgin, and pray for the Pope who is Her good servant that He realize the Virgin's project."

Third question of a Falangist: "After the Ecumenical meeting at Assisi where they have not called upon the Blessed Virgin Who alone could give peace to the world, can we not perhaps speak today of a certain hiding of the message given at Fatima?"

Let us listen to the response of Father Laurentin. Here is revealed the secret and mysterious mission which the Pope has confided to him several months previously. "Well," he said, "Yes that depends ... finally personally ... I would say ... I myself have progressively discovered the message. I have already published something about it. I will publish more later. I will try to do this conscientiously. It is a little bit unfortunate that Fatima be an affair of groups a little too closed, and me and that which I have published on Fatima I would try to enlarge, to make Fatima understood more widely perhaps at the price of a presentation of Fatima which avoids a certain number of particularisms of politicizing if one wishes ... do you see ... because effectively it is perhaps unfortunate that Fatima be a sign of contradiction. Do you see ... this great message which has convinced so many Popes deserves a better treatment, I believe more. It is rather difficult for me to enter into the message of Fatima. This latitude (?) of Portugal ... this culture and finally there are things very different (!?) but little by little I understand and I would try to make myself understood outside of the emotions (of those who are) 'anti' and outside of the emotions (of those who are) particularists".

Such was the work which Pope John Paul II had given to Laurentin. But it was a work very difficult to realize and Abbe Laurentin has never published his report entitled Les Coeurs de Jesus et de Marie Selon le Magistere (The Hearts of Jesus and Mary according to the Magisterium). He fears too much our criticism. He knows very well that as soon as it will be issued the CRC will denounce and unveil the pernicious character of his argumentation.

The typewritten report of Laurentin on The Hearts of Jesus and Mary According to the Magisterium was in our possession since the month of October 1986 and Frere Michel had already announced that "what he has acknowledged by his errors, his incoherencies and his inconsistencies of arguments advanced ... the report of Father Laurentin would not justify the refusal by which our Pastors oppose the requests of Heaven and which, day by day become more criminal."(45)

The Little Voice Coming from Carmel of Coimbra

In the month of September 1986 Father Caillon took advantage of his voyage to Portugal to follow his enquiry to always better know and understand the thought of Sister Lucia.

Father Caillon had met with Father Messias Coelho. According to Father Coelho, Lucia explained very clearly that Russia will not be converted following a consecration of the world.

At Porto on the 12th of September 1986 Father Caillon visited Mrs. Pestana.(46)

Well during the time he questioned her about the consecration of Russia, this intimate friend of the seer stood upright and forcefully declared: "If you wish, I can swear to you with my hand on the Gospel: the consecration of Russia is not done ..." She had acquired this certitude during the course of her interviews with Sister Lucia.

Mrs. Pestana presented then to Father Caillon the brochure: Mensageria de Jesus para a consagracao do mundo ao Imaculado Coracao de Maria (The Messenger of Jesus for the Consecration of the World to the Immaculate Heart of Mary) which had been given to her by Sister Lucia so that she could understand why the request of Our Lady of Fatima was still not satisfied. In this brochure, Father Umberto Pasquale a Salesian priest who had for a long time corresponded with Sister Lucia demonstrated how the requests of Our Lord to Alexandrina Maria da Costa are different from those of Our Lady of Fatima.(47)

"The mission of Alexandrina", explained Father Umberto Pasquale, "had been to obtain the consecration of the Church and of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The mission of Sister Lucia is to obtain the conversion of Russia by its Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary made by the Pope and all the bishops of the world in union with him."(48)

Sister Lucia had given this brochure to Mrs. Pestana to read so that she would recall that Our Lady of Fatima had not asked on the part of God except for only one consecration, that of Russia and only of Russia.

At the beginning of this year, 1987, in giving an account of the enquiry which he had conducted in Portugal, Father Caillon affirmed what follows:

"Now, even if Sister Lucia were to die suddenly - let us recall that she is 80 years old - her friends who know exactly her thought will never permit that one could pretend that the Consecration is done."

"They ask sometimes: 'who is the judge, the Pope or Sister Lucia.' Certainly Sister Lucia has always been very respectful of all the authorities of the Church. But Sister Lucia is evidently the only one to know that which Our Lady said to her and the only one who is able to transmit authentically the message to who must receive it. That seems to me, to be profoundly clear.

"After each great Consecration attempt in 1942, 1952 and 1964 there have been people, sometimes very highly placed, who have believed and said that the Consecration has been done but the little voice coming from Portugal said No. In the same way, after the great attempt of 1984, there were people who believed and proclaimed that this time it was done and well finished. But the same little voice coming from Carmel of Coimbra again said No.(49)

Laurentin Excuses the Pope and Accuses Lucia:

This 'little voice coming from Carmel of Coimbra' was for Father Laurentin an obstacle, an embarrassing difficulty, and a strong contradiction.

In Chretiens-Magazine(50) in the month of March 1987, the confidant of the Pope, Father Laurentin, tries to justify Pope John Paul II in his refusal to accomplish the Consecration of Russia: "She (Sister Lucia) thinks", wrote Father Laurentin, "that despite so much zeal and rebeginnings; the request of the Virgin has not been realized. Is she right? Her hesitations, her variances raise questions." And thus Laurentin perfidiously calumniates the seer. He dares sustain that the requests of the messenger of Heaven has varied in the course of years. Here (Laurentin) takes up exactly the thesis of Dhanis against the credibility of Sister Lucia. But what credit can one give to the sayings of Father Laurentin when one knows that Brother Michael had discovered in only three pages of this article not less than ten major errors.

We will mention here only two:

This theologian who says of himself that he works 'conscientiously' quoted the text which Sister Lucia communicated to her confessor Father Goncalves on the 12th of June 1930 ... in omitting the essential: the mention 'of Russia' ... we give here below the citation with bold characters and within parenthesis that part of the sentence omitted by Father Laurentin: "with regard to Russia, if I am not mistaken, the good God promises to put an end to the persecution in Russia if the Holy Father deigns to make and orders the bishops of the Catholic world to equally make a solemn and public act of reparation and of consecration, (OF RUSSIA) to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and if His Holiness promises by means of the end of this persecution to approve and to recommend the practice of this reparatory devotion ..."

While our "expert" (Laurentin) mentions the great revelation of the summer of 1931 he adds in the text of Sister Lucia - and without warning his readers - the following parenthesis (priests and bishops) this was to deform and to misrepresent the terrible warning which Our Lord intended primarily and uniquely for the popes.(51) We cite here the text mentioned by Laurentin with his addition which we will put in bold characters: "Tell My ministers (priests and bishops) that they follow - ... the exact text is (sic) being given that they follow the example of the King of France which delays in execution of My request, they will have to follow them also in affliction but it will never be too late to have recourse to Jesus and Mary." *

*Editor's Note: For the real text, not the false version as given by Laurentin, see page 57.

These monstrous falsifications of the Divine revelations permit Father Laurentin to conclude his article in recommending obedience and submission to John Paul II: "If she (Sister Lucia) has the prophetic charism to transmit the request of Our Lady there is nothing to prove that she has, like the popes, a charism of interpretation to decide on their realization ... One must therefore have confidence in the Pope who is better informed, more enlightened, and more fervent than we are. We should not make pressure on him but we must pray that Our Lord clarify his decision."

And thus Laurentin believes that Pope John Paul II is better informed and more enlightened than the messenger of Heaven ...

25th of April 1987 Sister Lucia Remains Silent Due to Respect for the Holy Father

In 1987, to celebrate her 80th birthday Sister Lucia received all her family in the parlor of her convent in Coimbra. Not on the 22nd of March which fell in the middle of Lent but on the Saturday of Easter, the 25th of April.

Among the numerous persons who were there, many raised questions but Sister Lucia tried to not respond. It came the turn of a certain cousin who lives at Fatima. She is married, the mother of a family and who above all knows very well what one must ask and in what terms it must be said. This cousin wished to hear from the mouth of Sister Lucia of Fatima herself if the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary had been truly done conforming to the requirements of Our Lady. The reply arrived clearly, like a cannon ball and in a sudden manner: 'No' The cousin added: 'It seems that the Holy Father believes that the consecration of Russia is done.' At that point Sister Lucia neither replied yes or no."(52) According to the testimony of her family members, Sister Lucia remained silent "out of respect for the Pope". She stayed silent and lowered her head.

The Proceedings of Father Caillon

In Portugal in the month of March 1987, Father Caillon met, at Guarda, Father Messias Coelho. The Director of Mensagem de Fatima certified to him that the Consecration of Russia had not been done as it had been requested by Our Lady: because "Heaven wants that Russia appear clearly as the unique object of a collegial consecration."

Such was also the thought of Cardinal Gagnon.

In the Spring of 1987 Father Caillon wrote to us: "I have seen for a long time Cardinal Gagnon. He is firmly convinced that the consecration of Russia has not been done. But he says that it is not easy to approach the Holy Father.(53)

At the same time, Father Caillon having become the National President of the World Apostolate of Fatima (in France) presented himself to the Pope. "Most Holy Father", he said to him, "I am Father Caillon ... Can you not consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary during the Marian year? It will be the millennium year of the Baptism of Russia." "I have already consecrated Russia three times," exclaimed the Pope and he walked away. Then retracing his steps and taking the hands of Father Caillon in his own he whispered in his ear "Pray for Russia as I pray for Russia".

At Rome on the 12th of November 1987, Father Caillon ate with Msgr. Sejorne of the Secretariat of State. He assured Father Caillon that Pope John Paul II recognized him perfectly: "the Pope is amused," he said to him, "to see you send to him by different channels, the text concerning the consecration of Russia of which he now possesses a great number of copies."(54)

The Retraction of Cardinal Gagnon

During the summer of 1987, Cardinal Gagnon spoke with Pope John Paul II about the requests of the Virgin during a meal. "Before everyone present at table there (secretaries, etc.) he spoke again about the Consecration of Russia. The Pope smiled, he did not get annoyed but he evaded the question. One has the impression that he wished to remain master of the situation. He did not want any one to take his place in the government of the Church.(55)

Several months later Cardinal Gagnon wished to go to Portugal to visit Coimbra and he asked the Pope for permission to leave Rome for several days. John Paul II asked him, "But why therefore, this voyage to Portugal?" "Because, to see Sister Lucia," Cardinal Gagnon explained. "Oh, No!" John Paul II replied. "Don't bother, the Consecration is already done. It's finished. What has been done, is all that can be done."(56)

The Pope had decided that the voice of Sister Lucia would not anymore go beyond the grills of the Carmel of Coimbra.

In consequence on April 15, 1988, Cardinal Gagnon addressed a letter to Father Nicholas Gruner of denial concerning the declarations recounted by Father Caillon. The Prelate denied to have affirmed publicly that the requests of Our Lady of Fatima had not yet been honored by the Pope. In publishing these denials in The Fatima Crusader, Father Gruner remarked that Cardinal Gagnon never contradicted explicitly the assertions of Father Caillon.

May 1988, The Message of Cardinal Dadaglio, "Fatima is 'No' to War"

At Fatima on May 13, 1988, Cardinal Dadaglio, the Major Pentiteniary, to which the Pope had confided the direction of the central committee of the Marian Year, presided at the Liturgical Ceremonies of the International Pilgrimage. There he preached the millennarianism of John Paul II; "Comforted by the presence of the maternal solicitude of the Virgin Mary," he said in his homily in the great Mass on May 13. "We are taking the road towards the Jubilee of the birth of Christ in the Year 2000. The goal of this Marian Year which ought to last, regarding its commitments and its fruits, beyond the official date of its conclusion ...

"The message of Fatima", he exclaimed, "realizes the transformation of roads, creating the civilation of love' ... Fatima is a 'no' to war, to hatred, to the multiple attempts against life and the liberty of persons and of peoples. It is an invitation to contribute. To establish the reign of God in the world, so that peace, truth, justice and love increase and become values appreciated by the conscience of individuals and peoples in order to create also other bonds of fraternity, of respect and of harmony between men and nations."(57)

Briefly, on the 13th of May, 1988 the message of the Virgin was totally hidden. It was made a travesty of by this envoy of the Pope, the great preacher of Masdu and of perestroika.

Cardinal Dadaglio then went to Coimbra to meet with Sister Lucia, but at the time nothing was reported of this interview. Without a doubt, it wasn't a very warm meeting.

Disquieting News

During the spring of 1988, there were some disquieting things.

"Behold", writes Father Caillon, "here is what I know from a person who sees Sister Lucia regularly. The consecration of Russia is not done, but the Pope believes that he has done it. Merely he is convinced he has done everything which was in his power. And above all he does not wish to hear it spoken of this affair. According to the words of Cardinal Gagnon, 'The Pope has ventured into this affair blindly. He would be ashamed, now, to change his mind before the face of the world.' In consequence, Sister Lucia, and she is very delicate and she has always an infinite respect of all the hierarchies in the Holy Church, wishes that one does not make any pressure on the Holy Father, but that one await a better occasion. However, it seems clear that they are making pressure on Sister Lucia ... in any case, the Pope and Lucy write to each other ... what is certain is that the consecration of Russia has not been done, and that it will be done at a better time.(58)

In the month of January, 1989, we received from a friend, more alarming information still. He wrote to us that "N" would like to meet with you to tell you of a plot, an actual plot, in the Vatican, where priests, even good ones ... he said, are saying now that the consecration has been done, according to the rules. And moreover they say that the great offensive for peace by Gorbachev is a tangible effect. And he affirmed that Sister Lucia has received the order not to speak any more of the consecration ..."

On this point, Father Solages, responsible for the pilgrimage from Albi to Fatima, claimed to reveal to the readers of "La Croix du Tarn" the tone of an interview of May 1988 of Cardinal Dadaglio with Sister Lucy. He wrote, "I learnt in the month of September that Cardinal Dadaglio, President of the Central Committee of the Holy Year, had been to see Sister Lucia at Coimbra, to ask her if the actual movement (the changes taking place in Russia) is in accord with the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The response was affirmative".

Father Laurentin undertook to repeat this information in the magazine called 'Chretiens-Magazine'. Thus the news was launched into the general public. A word from Cardinal Dadaglio, an 'indiscretion' probably calculated was enough for this.

The 'Authorized Opinion' of The Holy See, The Consecration Is Done

In the month of April, 1989, at Fatima, Bishop do Amaral did not deign to participate in the meeting of the International Assembly of the world apostolate at Fatima. He went there only to read a speech recommending "the devotion towards the Holy Father, prayer for his intention and obedience to his teaching. He who is not with the Pope" said the Bishop of Leiria-Fatima, "is not with the Church, and not with Jesus Christ ... "

Father Luciano Guerra addressed to those attending the Congress, the same warning. He counseled them with energy. "Remain united to the Pope and to the Bishops."(59B)

Finally the assembly departed, after having affirmed its unanimous resolution of "A full adhesion, to the Pope and to the Bishop of Fatima, as guardians of the Message of Fatima".(59B)

In consequence, during the recent National Council meeting of the Blue Army, in Washington, New Jersey (USA), the International president, Bishop Luna, in a speech, attacked by name Father Gruner "The Holy Father is disturbed", he declared, "by the many letters being written demanding a consecration of Russia. The work in The Fatima Crusader by Father Nicholas Gruner is creating worldwide confusion."(59)

In the spring of 1989, Father Messias Coelho changed, all of a sudden. In his magazine called "Mensagem de Fatima"(60) he contradicted all his previous declarations, and he sustained, in this issue, that "The consecration asked for by the Mother of God at Fatima and at Tuy has now been done." ... and he added: "Esta e a opiniao autorizado nao so da Santa Se como das Instancias Eclestasticas directamente ligadas as aparicoes da Cova da Iria e, ainda da propria Irma Lucia." "This is the authorized opinion now of the Holy See, as it is that also of the ecclesiastical authorities directly responsible for the apparitions of Cova da Iria, and also that of Sister Lucia herself." In this phrase, Father Coelho, making reference to the 'authorized opinion of the Holy See, and of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction directly in relation with the apparitions' ... but not at all to the "authorized opinion of Sister Lucia" as the equivocal turn of the phrase could lead one to think. This could be nonsense to speak of "the authorized opinion" of the seer! Sister Lucia had not "received authority". One must, therefore, translate this phrase as follows:

This is the authorized opinion of the Holy See and also that of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction directly in relation with the apparitions at the Cova da Iria, and also with Sister Lucia". Curious, very strange manner of implicating Sister Lucia. However, as he was asked by Father Fox to do so, Father Coelho dared to conclude his article only for his American readers who are so gullible as to blindly believe anything ... with this fantastic attestation "Reliable people who recently saw Sister Lucia told me Sister Lucia now says that the request of Our Lady is accomplished." The Abbe de Nantes has done justice to these big lies last month.(61)

In the spring of 1989, Mrs. Pestana no longer echoes the voice of Sister Lucia. Her discourses have changed. "Mrs. Pestana", writes Father Caillon, "now says that the consecration of Russia has been done. Follow well the astute reasoning. Because the Pope has done all that he can do, his gesture has been accepted by God.(62) Father Caillon was not taken by surprise by this new proposition. Already in the course of autumn 1984, when he notified Mrs. Pestana that the Pope pretended that the consecration of Russia was done, this Catholic Portuguese woman then exclaimed "You know if the Pope tells you this you have to be cautious." Father Caillon loves to recall that, "The Portuguese have a great veneration for the Holy Father, the Sovereign Pontiff, the Holy See, the Vatican ..."

In 1989 The Conviction of Sister Lucia, The Consecration Has Not Yet Been Done.

In the month of May, Cardinal Law, the Archbishop of Boston, went to Portugal to preside over the liturgical ceremonies of the international pilgrimage at Fatima. He then went to the Carmel of Coimbra, where he spoke with Sister Lucia. The messenger of Heaven said to him, "The consecration of Russia has not been done as Our Lady wished."(63)

In the month of June, 1989, Maria do Fetal testified that Sister Lucia remained still firm and unshakable in her conviction that the consecration of Russia was not done despite all the hopes and desires of the Pope. The niece of the seer affirmed, in effect, one more time, to Father Caillon, who was visiting her in Fatima: "The consecration of Russia has not been done".(64)

In June 1989, therefore, the niece of Sister Lucia spoke with full liberty about the thought of the Messenger of Heaven on the consecration of Russia. She had not yet been submitted to the irresistible pressures of the "ecclesiastical jurisdiction directly in relation with the apparitions of the Cova da Iria". The ecclesiastics who are the "conspirators of the Fatima-village",(65) had not yet constrained her to lie, they had not yet dictated and taught her the lessons which she recites today.

1. We know many details of this interview of Sister Lucia with the Nuncio and Bishop do Amaral thanks to the account which Dr. Lacerda gave to Canon Pierre Caillon during the summer and autumn of this same year 1982.

2. "Les Voyants de Fatima", No 5-6, Sept-Dec 89, p. 8. English readers could try the English Edition of "The Seers of Fatima" of that same issue.

3. Cf. Pierre Caillon, La Consecration de la Russie aux Tres Saints Coeurs de Jesus et de Marie, ed Tequi 1983. p. 31.

4. Frere Michel, Tout la Verite sur Fatima Vol II, p. 294. The Whole Truth About Fatima Vol II p. 465.

5. P. Caillon ibid., pages 43-44

6. ibid., p. 32

7. Jose Geraldes Freire, Joao Paulo II Pregino de Fatima, p. 83

8. Cf. Caillon, ibid., p. 50

9. Cf. Documentation Catholique No 183, 6 June 1982 p. 543

10. Ibid., No 1832, 20 June 1982 p. 615

11. In the month of September 1982, Father Luigi Bianchi, the parish priest of Gera Lario, presented Father Caillon a detailed account of his interview of the 14th of May 1982 with Sister Lucia. Father Caillon related it to John Haffert in his letter of 27 November 1982 mentioned above.

12. Our Father de Nantes had noted (Cf. CRC 260 p. 8) that the word should indeed read "conversion" and not consecration. Father Antonio Maria Martins in his book "Fatima e o Coracao de Maria (Cf. p. 81) has already noted this "lapsus" error of Sister Lucia.

13. The Whole Truth About Fatima Vol II p. 631. Toute La Verite Sur Fatima Vol II p. 399

14. Sister Lucia said in Spanish to Bishop Hnilica "Da traballare". This word of Sister Lucia was reported to one of our friends by Bishop Hnilica on 10 November 1982.

15. Cf. Caillon ibid. p. 45-46.

16. Chretiens-Magazine (Cf. CRC 234 p. 11) Yves Chiron in his biography of Padre Pio ("Padre Pio, le stigmatise" ed Perrin 1989), indicates that, since her medical studies at the Jagellon University in Cracow, Mrs. Poltavska has always remained a "co-worker" ("collaboratrice") of Karol Wojtyla for the study of certain "dossiers" and he relates the following fact: Karol Wojtyla had asked in 1962 to Padre Pio to pray for Mrs. Poltavska, she was then cured "miraculously" of cancer.

17. Caillon "Le 13 Mai 1982, que s'est-il passe au juste a Fatima? Stella Maris juin 1983. See The Fatima Crusader issue 16, Sept. 1984. p. 22

18. Cf. Frere Michel, Toute La Verite Sur Fatima Vol III p. 224-225.

19. Letter of 9th May 1973. Cited by Don Pasquale, in L'Osservatore Romano 12 mai 1982.

20. Caillon, op. cit., juin 1983. See The Fatima Crusader issue 16, Sept. 1984 p.22

21. Ed. OEIL novembre 1983

22. Caillon "Pourquoi renouveler l'acte de consecration de Fatima" Familles Chretiennes, 22 March 1984

23. Documentation Catholique No 1870, 18 March 1984 p. 286

24. John Paul II has often been solicited about the subject of the consecration of Russia. During the course of winter 1980-1981 the Blue Army sent to him numerous petitions. Many bishops have also sent the same request. And above all on the 18th of November 1981, the Episcopate of the United States that is to say three hundred and sixty bishops have addressed to John Paul II a petition that in union with all the bishops of the world, the Holy Father would consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

25. La Croix of 22 Feb., 1984

26. This response had been reported by Mrs. Pestana to Father Caillon the next day, the 23rd of March, in a telephone conversation.

27. Cf. Les Voyants de Fatima janvier-avril 1984. The Seers of Fatima January-April 1984.

28. L'Osservatore Romano French edition 27 March 1984 p. 3, ibid. 10 April 1984 p. 5.

29. The Fatima Crusader No. 16 September 1984 p. 7.

30. Fatima e o Coracao de Maria, ed Loyola 1984, p. 101-102.

31. Cf. CRC 260 January 1990 pages 8-9.

32. No. 158 May 1984.

33. Teresianum Ephemerides Carmelites 1985, pages 511-517.

34. "Pour l'unite" janvier 1985. This article then appeared in the magazine of the Spanish section of the Blue Army "Sol de Fatima" May 1985.

35. These remarks of Cardinal Ratzinger had been reported by Father Caillon to Frere Michel in a letter of 5 February, 1988.

36. CRC 226, October 1986 p. 12.

37. Pages 41-41 bis.

38. Father Caillon had been the direct witness to this conversation, he reported to Frere Michel the remarks of Maria do Fetal in a letter dated the 29th of September 1986.

39. Let us recall in the dossier of the "Fatima Family Messenger (Oct-Dec 1989) Sister Lucia is supposed to have declared to Maria do Fetal on the 1st of August 1989 "I let things run their course. I do not have the means of communication. I do not write for the press; nor do I speak on the radio" (Cf. CRC 259 p. 7) (FFM. p. 7). When one considers these alleged words of Sister Lucia, reported by Maria do Fetal in the month of August 1989 and published by Father Fox, in the light of all the previous affirmations of the same Maria do Fetal, it enlightens the mind to see that this alleged declaration of Sister Lucia on the 1st of August is nothing but a deceitful fabricated story.

40. One notes the expression "Consecration par le Coeur Immacule de Marie" (the consecration by the Immaculate Heart of Mary). In the name of his personal theology, Father Laurentin deforms the message of Fatima.

41. "Consecration aux Coeurs de Jesus et de Marie", Christiens-Magazine No.5 December 1986 p. 5.

42. La Consagracion de Rusia al Imaculado Corazon de Maria en los documentes de Fatima Estudos marianos Vol II, 1986 p. 285.

43. Cf. L'Osservatore Romano French edition No. 43, 28 October 1986 page 13.

44. Cf. CRC 234 juillet 87, pages 20-21.

45. CRC 227 November 1986 p. 28.

46. In a letter addressed to Pope John Paul II of February 13,1987, and delivered to Monsignor Dubigeon in that month of February, 1987, Father Caillon recounted in detailed fashion his interview of September 12, 1986 with Mrs. Pestana.

47. How to reconcile the requests of Our Lord to Alexandrina Maria da Costa with the revelations of Fatima which teach that it is only the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary which will cause the miracle of the conversion of that country, and will establish in the whole world devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary? Brother Michael, considering the great divine plan of mercy for our century, had tried to give an explanation: he judged possible to graft the message transmitted by Alexandrina Maria da Costa on the more vast mystery of Fatima. (cf. 'The Whole Truth About Fatima', vol II, pages 432-433 in French version.) English version vol II, pages 681-683.

48. Father Umberto Pasquale. "La messagre de Jesus pour la consecration du monde au Coeur Immacule de Marie", "The Messenger of Jesus for the Consecration of the World to the Immaculate Heart of Mary" - ed. Tequi, pg. 59 in French.

49."La Pensee de Soeur Lucie sur la Consecration de la Russie" ("The Thought of Sister Lucia on the Consecration of Russia".) this article was published in Stella Maris (no. 213, Feb. '87) and in "L'Appel de Notre Dame" (The Appeal of Our Lady) no. 127, July '87.

50. "Il y a 70 Ans: Fatima" ("Seventy Years Ago, Fatima"), Chretiens-Magazine, no. 8, March '87.

51. "Toute la Verite sur Fatima" vol II pages 344-346, "The Whole Truth About Fatima", vol. II, pg. 543-546.

52. Caillon, La Pensee de Souer Lucie de Fatima sur la Consecration de la Russie" (''The Thought of Sister Lucy of Fatima on the Consecration of Russia"), April, 1987. "L'Appel de Notre Dame" (The Appeal of Our Lady), no.128, October '87.

53. Letter of Father Caillon to Brother Michael, dated April 18, 1987.

54. These words of Monsignor Sejourne have been reported by Father Caillon to Brother Michael in a letter of February 5, 1988.

55. Letter of Father Caillon to Brother Michael, not dated, probably the month of September 1987.

56. This conversation between John Paul II and Cardinal Gagnon was reported verbally by Father Caillon to Brother Michael September 6, 1986.

57. Cf. "Les Voyants de Fatima" ("The Seers of Fatima"), no. 3-4, Mai-Aout '88, pg. 7-8.

58. Letter of Father Caillon of May 17, 1988.

59. SOUL, January February 1990, p. 29.

59B. Sol de Fatima, July 1989 No. 126, p. 31.

60. No. 177, June '89.

61. Cf. CRC 260, January '90 pg 9-10.

62. Letter of Father Caillon to Brother Michael dated March 13, 1989.

63. In December 1989, in his magazine The Fatima Crusader, Father Nicholas Gruner mentioned that declaration of Sister Lucia to Cardinal Law, and to this day no denial has been addressed to Father Gruner: Father Malachi Martin, very close to a priest living in Poland who accompanied Cardinal Law at Coimbra, has confirmed to our correspondant of New York the well-founded basis of this information.

64. Father Caillon reported these words of Maria do Fetal to Father Gruner in a telephone conversation on November 8, 1989. (cf. The Fatima Crusader, No. 30, winter '89). On December 31, 1989, he (Father Caillon) confirmed to one of his collaborators that such was indeed the statement that Maria do Fetal had made to him last June.

65. Cf. CRC 260, January '90, pg. 5-12

NOTE: CRC is the French Monthly Bulletin of "La Contre-Reforme Catholique" Edited by Father Georges de Nantes.