1. On June 26 of A.D. 2000, the Vatican released
the text of the third part of the secret of Fatima.
Along with the text, the Vatican included an interpretation of the third part of the secret written by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith). According to the Catholic Free Press (June 30, 2000): "At a Vatican press conference, Cardinal Ratzinger said, 'There does not exist an official definition or official interpretation of this vision on the part of the church.' " Cardinal Ratzinger's interpretation is therefore
unofficial. His interpretation does contain numerous good insights into the symbolism and meaning of the third secret of Fatima. I encourage everyone interested in Fatima to
read it at the bottom of this Vatican web page.
2. Pope John Paul II has publicly stated that he believes this part of the secret of Fatima refers in part to the failed attempt on his life on May 13 of 1981. One of the apparitions at Fatima occurred on May 13. However, it is clear from the text of the secret that the account of the martyrdoms of Bishops, priests, religious, and laypersons refers to much more than the martyrdom of one individual:
"And we saw in an immense light that is
God: 'something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front
of it' a Bishop dressed in White 'we had the impression that it was the Holy
Father'. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep
mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a
cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a
big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and
sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached
the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by
a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there
died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and
various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the
Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which
they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were
making their way to God. "
The third secret of Fatima is about the martyrdom of bishops, priests, religious, and laypersons. Cardinals Soldano and Ratzinger have stated publicly that they believe this refers to past events in the Church. Certainly part of the meaning does refer to the many, many holy persons who, in the past, have suffered much and died because of their faith in Jesus Christ.
3.
But I say more. The third part of the secret of Fatima follows the second part, and so the events of the third part occur after the events of the second part. At the end of the second part of the secret, the Virgin Mary says: "The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world." Thus, the martyrdoms described by the third secret will occur after the consecration of Russia and a period of relative peace in the world.
According to Sister Lucia (the visionary of Fatima) and Cardinal Ratziner, this act of consecration occurred on March 25, 1984. Not long afterwards, the U.S.S.R. was disbanded, and Russia became a democratic country with much greater freedom of religion than in previous decades. Russia has been consecrated. And since that time there has been no major persecution of Christians resulting in the large number of martyrdoms described by the third part of the secret of Fatima.
Therefore, the third part of the secret refers mainly to the future, not the past. The third part of the secret of Fatima describes a Great Martyrdom, which will include the martyrdom of the Pope as well as of many other Bishops, priests, religious, and laypersons. This Great Martyrdom is yet to occur.
The book of Revelation predicts a time of many martyrs in the Church (Rev 6:9-11). In that passage, the past martyrs of the Church ask how much longer until God judges the earth.
"Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their brethern should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been." (Rev 6:11).
This description of the martyrs in heaven waiting for additional martyrdoms to occur on earth is the fifth seal of the seven seals from the book of Revelation.
The fifth seal is a time of Great Martyrdom for the Church on earth. And this is exactly what is predicted by the third part of the secret of Fatima--a future Great Martyrdom.
4. When will this Great Martyrdom occur? Notice that the description of the deaths of the many bishops, priests, religious, and laypersons follows after the description of the Pope passing through a big city half in ruins. The city which the Pope passes through is Rome, for the Pope is the Bishop of Rome. As he passes through Rome, the Pope sees many corpses and prays for the many who have already died. After this, the Pope is martyred. This is one meaning of the third secret of Fatima:
When the city of Rome is half in ruins, then the Pope will go to his martyrdom.
Does the third secret of Fatima refer to Pope John Paul II? I believe that the third secret refers to the future martrydom of a Pope (the Pope after Pope Benedict XVI; the one St. Malachy calls Peter the Roman). Notice that the third secret of Fatima states that the Holy Father and the others were actually killed. But in 1981 the Pope was not killed and this attempt on his life was not followed by the martrydoms of many others. Therefore, this martyrdom is yet to come. (For details, read Jeremiah 52:1-17.) The Pope described in the third secret of Fatima will die a martyr for the Faith, after the city of Rome is half in ruins.
5. After describing the martyrdom of the Pope, the secret of Fatima describes the martyrdoms of other bishops, priests, religious, and laypersons. Therefore, sometime the Pope is martyred, many more faithful Christians will follow him to martyrdom.
A time of great suffering and persecution for the Church will begin with the martyrdom of the Pope. Pope Peter the Roman will be martyred in 2012/2013 and then a time of persecution for Christians will begin (especially in the areas occupied by the Arab/Muslim forces of World War 3). Then, in the 2020's this persecution in the occupied lands will increase. Finally, in the early 2030's, this persecution will become a massacre of Christians in the occupied territories.
6. In the secret of Fatima, the angels take the blood of the many martyrs and spinkle it on the many souls which are making their way to God. This means that these many martyrdoms will help to strengthen and purify all the faithful servants of God on earth.
The Church will increase in holiness and all virtue with the help of the prayers and sufferings of these many martyrs.
7. How can the future be known with certainty when freewill decisions have not yet been made? Can this prediction of future martrydoms be known with certainty and be inevitable?
God dwells in Eternity. God is unbounded by Time, unlimited by Time, beyond the restrictions of Time and Place. From Eternity, beyond Time, God sees what we call the future as having already occurred.
From our point of view, within Time, we have not yet made our future decisions. We know not what we ourselves will decide to do. We can decide as we see fit and our free will remains free. Yet from the point of view of Eternity (outside of Time) these future events and future free will decisions have already occurred. And the past cannot be changed. You yourself can know the past free will decisions that you made and yet these cannot be changed once they are past.
And so it is with the future. God knows with certainty the decisions and events of our future without compromising freewill in the least because these future events are to God as the past is to us.
God is not trapped within Time wondering what will happen next. Nor does God use some special power to forsee from one point in time what will happen at a future point in time. God is present throughout all of Time and beyond Time, all at once, in a single act. For God is One Divine Eternal Act: the act of being all that God is and of doing all that God does. God knows with certainty what will happen in the future because God exists beyond Time and throughout Time. God encompasses all things--all times, all places, all events.
Therefore, God can reveal future events through Sacred Scripture, through visions of the Virgin Mary, or through any other means He chooses, and these events can be known with certainty and without compromising freewill in the least.
The second part of the secret of Fatima contains a conditional statement: if Russia is not consecrated, then bad things will happen. But the third part of the secret contains no such conditional statement. Furthermore, the third part of the secret of Fatima predicts the same Great Martyrdom as is revealed in Sacred Scripture (Rev 6:9-11).
The martyrdoms predicted by the third part of the secret of Fatima cannot fail to occur, at the proper time.
by Ronald L Conte Jr.
updated on December 31, 2005
