The Fatima Center vl133 BT030 Socci-Salza2archive.fatima.org/apostolate/vlarchive/pdf/vl133_BT030_Socci... · Nagging Questions about Antonio Socci’s Latest Article on Fatima By

Nagging Questions about Antonio Socci’s Latest Article on Fatima

By John SalzaWe are heartened by any attention that the secular media gives to

Fatima. And we are glad that Antonio Socci from time to time writes about it. What concerns us is the unusual viewpoint that Socci seems to be taking. It is unusual since it comes from Socci who has been so crystal clear about this subject in the past — especially in his book, The Fourth Secret of Fatima.

Socci’s recent article gives the impression that the 1984 consecration of the world was the heavenly remedy that we had all been waiting for and now that it has been done we can all look beyond Fatima to more important Marian affairs.

Why look beyond Fatima if Fatima prophecies and requests are not yet fulfilled? Is he now saying Fatima is past, is over and we must move on to what is present?

1 English: “Since 1981, therefore, he tried repeatedly to do the consecration requested by Our Lady, but he himself had to overcome strong oppositions of certain ecclesiastic circles. The Pope nevertheless did it — as he could — on March 25, 1984.” Italian: “Fin dal 1981 cercò dunque ripetutamente di fare la consacrazione chiesta dalla Madonna, ma lui stesso dovette superare forti opposizioni degli ambienti ecclesiastici. Il Papa comunque la fece — come potè — il 25 marzo 1984” (all translations of Italian by this author).

On January 3, 2012, Antonio Socci published an article in the Libero newspaper which has given some the impression that he is qualifying or even retreating from his position that Russia has not been consecrated (but not from his position on the Third Secret cover-up). After explaining

that John Paul II had to overcome “strong opposition” within his own “ecclesiastical circles” to perform the consecration of Russia “as requested by Our Lady,” Socci says: “The Pope nevertheless did it — as he could — on 25 March 1984.”1 How are we to understand Socci’s

Mr. John Salza, a U.S. Attorney and Fatima expert, will (among other things) address this year’s Fatima Conference in Rome, Italy (May 13 - 18, 2012) on the subject of Mr. Antonio Socci’s surprising and controversial statements about Fatima, recently published in Libero on January 3, 2012. Here below we have some of his reflections on Mr. Socci’s January 3, statement.

http://www.fatima.org/apostolate/vlarchive/pdf/vl133_BT030_Socci-Salza2_HiRes.pdf

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statement? To be very clear here we must

state that Socci does not say the 1984 consecration satisfied Our Lady of Fatima’s 1929 request. Rather, Socci says the Pope performed the consecration “as he could.” This qualification indicates that Socci does not believe the 1984 consecration was performed as “requested by Our Lady” (just as Socci maintains in his 2006 book, The Fourth Secret of Fatima). Socci points to “strong opposition” within the Vatican that presumably prevented John Paul II from consecrating Russia specifically instead of making a generic consecration of the whole world. In short, Socci is revealing the diabolical forces that are operating within the Vatican itself and forestalling the consecration of Russia. Based on Socci’s recent statement, we cannot — and should not — necessarily conclude that Socci has changed his position on the consecration of Russia.

Partial Consecration Not Enough

However, Socci devotes the rest of his article to explaining how the 1984 consecration miraculously prevented a nuclear war in 1985. While this could well be true (aversion of war could have been a fruit of the 1984 consecration), it is not clear why Socci chose to speak about

this now in the context of the present time, especially now that a catastrophic war may be on the horizon. It is also unsettling/confusing how he chose to do it.

Let’s first say it is always good to give thanks to God and Our Lady for the many blessings They give and have given us, and thus it is edifying to report that God has granted us blessings for John Paul II’s “partial” consecration. We can thank Socci for reminding us of the generosity of Our Lady. But Socci’s article would be less confusing if he would have reaffirmed his view that this was a partial consecration and that Our Lady of Fatima’s 1929 command has still not been heeded.

While Socci qualifies the 1984 consecration as having been performed according to what the Pope “could” do and not according to what Our Lady commanded, Socci’s article gives the impression that the 1984 consecration was the heavenly remedy we all have been waiting for and that we can now look beyond Fatima.

The Conclusions Are Not Verifiable

Further, the method Socci uses to substantiate the claim that the 1984 consecration averted a nuclear war is surprising, certainly for a reputable journalist like Socci. Socci refers to a videotaped

departed

the Pope added the highlighted words


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On December 8th, 1983, Pope John Paul II wrote to all the bishops of the world, inviting them to join in with him on March 25, 1984, in consecrating the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He included with his letter his prepared text of consecration. On March 25, 1984, the Pope, making the consecration before the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, departed from his prepared text to add the words highlighted above and translated below. As you can see they were reported in L’Osservatore Romano. The words he added at this point indicate clearly, that the Pope knew then that the consecration of the world done that day did not fulfill the requests of Our Lady of Fatima. After performing the consecration of the world proper, a few paragraphs above, the Pope added the highlighted words which translate: “Enlighten especially the peoples of which You Yourself are awaiting our consecration and confiding.” This clearly shows he knew Our Lady is awaiting the Pope and bishops to consecrate certain peoples to Her, that is the peoples of Russia.

Reproduction of the March 26-27, 1984 issue of L’Osservatore Romano, with translation, enlarged, of Pope John Paul II’s words. Opponents of the Consecration of Russia have, conveniently, from 1984 until this day, omitted to report that the Pope actually said, in effect, that he had not done the Consecration of Russia as requested by Our Lady of Fatima.

(see photo on page 5)

Pope John Paul II AcknowledgesRussia NOT Consecrated


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2 Italian: “La Consacrazione del 1984 ha evitato una guerra atomica che sarebbe accaduta nel 1985.”

3 Socci broadcast this now nearly 20-year-old interview on his television program Excalibur in 2003. Based on our investigation, the interview no longer appears to be available to the public. The author’s colleagues who have seen the videotaped interview could not confirm Lucia’s alleged statement because of the poor quality of the recording. This interview will hopefully be made available to the public so that it can be openly critiqued (again).

4 Sister Lucia publicly denied that John Paul II’s 1984 consecration satisfied Our Lady of Fatima’s command in interviews published by Sol de Fatima (1985) and journalist Enrico Romero (1987), as well as confirming reports from Cardinal Gagnon (1985), Cardinal Mayer (1987) and Cardinal Stickler (1987).

5 Italian: “Casomai conviene guardare a Medjugorije, che è la prosecuzione di Fatima.”

interview on October 14, 1993 in which Sister Lucia supposedly said: “The consecration of 1984 has avoided a nuclear war that would have occurred in 1985.”2 A few important comments about this interview are warranted. First, Socci does not offer us a way to follow up or verify the contents of this interview. The videotape of this alleged interview (which Socci calls an “extraordinary interview”) does not appear to be available to the public. We assume that Socci’s recollection of this dated interview is accurate.3 Thus we assume for the sake of discussion that Sister Lucia may have made this statement. We have already acknowledged that the aversion of a nuclear war may have been the fruit of the partial 1984 consecration. The nagging question is why Socci now in 2012 concludes that we should look elsewhere and not to Fatima (as if there has been a fulfillment of Fatima), when in his 2006

book he maintains that the 1984 consecration was incomplete and the Fatima prophecies remain unfulfilled. Remember, Socci denied the fulfillment of the Fatima command in his 2006 book while at the same time believed the 1984 consecration moved Heaven to thwart a nuclear war.4 Therefore, it is fair to ask what has changed in Socci’s view between 2006 and 2012 that would lead him in 2012 to look beyond Fatima,5 if his position on Fatima has not changed.

Discredited Sources

Assuming Lucia made the statement about the 1984 consecration, there nevertheless remain questions concerning the propriety of the alleged interview. Socci explains this interview was conducted by a “Portuguese journalist.” We note that the only Portuguese “journalist” that we are aware of who ever interviewed (or claimed to have interviewed) Sister Lucia was Carlos Evaristo.


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This is the complete text of the prayer of thanksgiving addressed to Our Lady of Fatima spoken by Pope John Paul II at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 25, 1984. The text reported here is a photographic reproduction of the article published on page 6 in the L’Osservatore Romano of March 26-27, 1984. In the translated section, one can clearly read that Pope John Paul II knew that he had not fulfilled the request of Our Lady of Fatima for the Consecration of Russia.

(see photo on page 3)


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6 Cardinal Padiyara was also present during the interview and could not and would not publicly vouch for the truth of what Sister Lucia is reported to have said during the interview.

7 If a nuclear war was in fact averted in 1985, we certainly agree with Socci that it was blessing from God through the intercession of Our Lady. But we must remind ourselves that such a blessing pales in comparison to the period of world peace and conversion of Russia that God will grant us through the consecration of that “poor nation,” which both Socci and I maintain has not yet occurred.

We thus assume Evaristo is the unidentified journalist (and would surely welcome clarification if our assumption is incorrect). Assuming this is the case, Carlos Evaristo (who was in 1992 a chauffeur and not a journalist) had already conducted a fraudulent interview with Sister Lucia on October 11, 1992. After that interview, Evaristo admitted to doing some “creative editing” and manipulating Lucia’s testimony. This phony “testimony” included Lucia claiming that Our Lady did not promise the religious conversion of Russia, the Third Secret was not intended to be revealed, and God sends no one to hell. The fraudulent interview was denounced by Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls and a retraction of the interview was published. Father Francesco Pacheco, who was present during the interview, also published a repudiation of the interview in February 1993.6 Hence, Evaristo was already demonstrated to be a fraud by the time he would have interviewed Sister Lucia on October 14, 1993. Therefore, even

if Lucia allegedly told Evaristo that the 1984 consecration averted a war, because Evaristo manipulated the interview on October 11, 1992 this clearly indicates he could have done the same on October 14, 1993.

In short, Socci does not explain why he appears to maintain that Evaristo (who else could it be?) conducted a credible interview of Lucia in 1993 when he conducted a fraudulent one in 1992. Socci does not identify the journalist as Evaristo. Is it because he knows that referring to him by name would be controversial? (Socci himself has publicly criticized Evaristo’s credibility in his book on page 118). It is not clear why a seasoned journalist like Socci would be so motivated to prove that the 1984 consecration averted a nuclear war, based on the “credibility” of the “Portuguese journalist” who has no credibility. And why does he refer to it when it is impossible to verify the accuracy or propriety of Lucia’s alleged statement given during this questionable interview.7 We do not understand


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8 Italian: “Ma ero perplesso perché non capivo chi e quando poteva aver fatto sapere a suor Lucia che un conflitto nucleare nel 1985 era stato scongiurato grazie alla Consacrazione del 1984, visto che le apparizioni di Fatima erano avvenute molti anni prima.”

why Socci was so committed to demonstrating the fruit of a partial consecration. Perhaps Socci simply wanted to emphasize the blessings we have received from the 1984 consecration. There is nothing wrong with that. But Socci could have made that case, especially with the other evidence he presents (see below), without referring to the Evaristo interview. In light of so many gross errors, outright lies and deceptions (by Cardinal Bertone, Evaristo and others) regarding what Sister Lucia said — or was alleged to have said — over the past 23 years of her life on the consecration of the world and related matters, reasonable persons who are informed are justified in being suspicious of the approach now used for the first time by Socci. At a minimum, Socci’s method creates more questions than answers.

Perplexed?

After seeing the Evaristo interview, Socci says he “was perplexed” (Italian: ero perplesso) because he “couldn’t understand Sister Lucia saying a nuclear war in 1985 was avoided thanks to the consecration of 1984, given

that the Fatima apparitions occurred many years before.”8 This comment raises more questions. How could Socci be perplexed that Heaven’s visionary could actually receive a vision from Heaven? If Our Lady had already graced Lucia with Her most important apparitions in all of Church history — Her appearances at Fatima — and having continued to appear to Lucia after 1917, why would he be surprised to learn that Our Lady told her the Pope’s 1984 consecration averted a pending war? It is difficult to understand Socci’s reaction to his discovery.

Bertone?

Perhaps because Socci knows the deficiencies in Evaristo’s credibility and his possible manipulation of Lucia’s testimony, he connects that interview with the alleged Lucia/Bertone interview on April 27, 2000 in an effort to authenticate Lucia’s alleged statement. Socci says he made this connection in 2005 when the Bertone interview was published in La Repubblica: “The answer came to me, implicitly, on February 17, 2005, when I opened Repubblica


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9 Italian: “La risposta mi venne implicitamente il 17 febbraio 2005, quando aprii Repubblica e vi trovai un’ampia intervista al Cardinale Bertone.”

10 See, for example, on May 12, 2007 his response in Libero to Bertone’s book; see his Libero article of June 2, 2007 in response to Bertone’s Porta a Porta appearance on May 31, 2007; see his September 23, 2007 article in Libero to Bertone’s book presentation and his September 21, 2007 appearance on the TV station Tele Pace.

11 Libero, May 12, 2007 (Via Barberini 50, 00187, Roma, Italy). 12 Italian: “...una fonte davvero attendibile e ‘altolocata.”13 Note that Bertone did not say Lucia had a vision from Our Lady regarding either the

Vatican’s June 26, 2000 release or his December 21, 2001 communiqué (regarding the November 17, 2001 meeting with Lucia). Rather, Bertone first alleged Lucia had a “vision” from Our Lady in the February 17, 2005 report (of the April 27, 2000 interview) in La Repubblica. Bertone also abandoned the claim of Lucia’s alleged “vision” in his May 31, 2007 telecast on Porta a Porta.

and read a long interview with Cardinal Bertone.”9 Again, more questions. First, why would Socci appeal to Bertone as a credible witness when he has already several times over10 decimated Bertone’s credibility? In fact, on May 12, 2007, in the same Libero newspaper, Socci accused Bertone of being a liar in his article entitled “Dear Cardinal Bertone: Who — between you and me — is deliberately lying?”11 Yet, in his January 3, 2012 article in Libero, Socci now tells us that Bertone is “quite a reliable and ‘noteworthy’ source indeed!”12

In the January 3, 2012 Libero article Socci mentions the April 27, 2000 “interview of Sister Lucy” by Cardinal Bertone. Bertone never claims that Lucia made any statement about the 1984 consecration avoiding a nuclear war in 1985. Bertone only claimed that Lucia had a vision from Our Lady in 1984 thanking

her for the consecration.13 Therefore, why does Socci

attempt a connection between the Bertone interview (which revealed nothing about nuclear war) and the Evaristo interview (which supposedly did)? Bertone has never publicly claimed what Socci is now proposing (through the Evaristo interview) — namely, that Lucia said a nuclear attack was avoided in 1985 due to the consecration in 1984. If Socci has additional information about the Bertone interview that makes this connection, he does not provide it in his article. If Socci in 2005 had already made the connection between the 1993 Evaristo interview (which he broadcast in 2003) and the 2000 Bertone interview (published in 2005), then why didn’t Socci at least mention it in his 2006 book?

Why has this become relevant for Socci in 2012? He doesn’t explain. Finally, Socci himself


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attacks the credibility of the April 27, 2000 Bertone interview in his book The Fourth Secret of Fatima (pp. 119-122). In fact, Socci concluded that John Paul II did not consecrate Russia in 1984, based in part on these clearly manipulated if not fabricated 2000-2001 Bertone interviews.

Hence, why, based on these same interviews, does Socci now, in 2012, rely upon them to support a claim about the aversion of an atomic war in 1985 that Bertone never mentions? Perhaps it is simply his zeal to honor Our Lady for Her blessings. But it is reasonable to question what is really going on here. The impression created in the minds of the public by this latest article is clearly different from what Socci has been saying up to the end of December 2011.

In addition to having connected the 2005 Bertone interview with the Evaristo interview, Socci also says he discovered evidence that Russia was about to attack Western Europe in 1985 while writing his book, The Fourth Secret of Fatima. Socci also now states that secret documents of the Brittanic state archives were recently released which reveal the Soviets had a preemptive plan to attack Great Britain. Socci refers to an

article by Enrico Franceschini of La Repubblica on this topic. Assuming this is the case, however, the information in the newly released documents would only confirm what Socci had already concluded by the time he wrote his book in 2006 (that the Soviet Union had planned to attack Western Europe, which was foiled by the 1984 consecration). Socci doesn’t explain whether or why the Franceschini article would have motivated him to write his recent Libero article on Fatima to explain a position he has held for years.

Most Meaningful World Event to Come

We note that Socci, as he also did in his book The Fourth Secret of Fatima, makes some interesting connections between the Virgin and two world events: the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (1987) and the dissolution of the Soviet Union (1991), both of which occurred on December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Socci certainly helps us see a connection between Our Lady and these positive world events. But he does not refer in his article to the most meaningful world events yet to come: The conversion of Russia to the Catholic Faith and a period of peace for the world. This period


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of peace has yet to occur since the 1984 consecration did not fulfill God’s command and thus could not bring peace to the world. World peace can and will occur only when the Pope finally consecrates Russia in the manner commanded in the Fatima Message.

Socci also refers to the explosion at Russia’s Northern Fleet headquarters at Severomorsk which destroyed some of Russia’s missiles and munitions. This explosion occurred on May 13, 1984, on the anniversary of Fatima and two months after John Paul II’s consecration. As Socci concludes, this setback for Russia may have been a good fruit of the 1984 consecration. But, again, it is not clear why Socci chose to write about these dated world events at this time, or what relevance they have to the unfulfilled requests of Our Lady of Fatima.

It is also curious why this alleged aversion of nuclear war was not mentioned in the May

13, 1991 meeting between Sister Lucia and Pope John Paul II. In fact, Lucia did not desire to go to Fatima during the Pope’s visit, but the Vatican demanded that she attend. Wouldn’t Lucia have been eager to thank the Pope for thwarting a devastating nuclear war by his 1984 consecration? Also, wouldn’t the Vatican in its June 26, 2000 release (The Message of Fatima) have cited Lucia’s alleged statement supporting its position that the 1984 consecration sufficed if the Vatican could have corroborated the truth of the statement?14 Even assuming the explosion diverted Russia’s plans for war, this partial blessing from God, as we have said, is not the Triumph of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart, which will happen only after the Pope consecrates the nation of Russia to that Heart in union with all the Catholic bishops of the world. Frankly, that Russia is stockpiling nuclear weapons in its plan to attack the West should move all

14 If the Vatican could have authenticated Sister Lucia’s alleged statement that the 1984 consecration averted a nuclear war in 1985, it would have presumably included that statement in its June 26, 2000 release. This would have supported its position that the 1984 consecration satisfied Our Lady’s request and that “further discussion or request” for the consecration “is without basis” (in the words of Cardinal Bertone). Rather Bertone relied upon the fake letter of Sister Lucy to Walter Noelker of Nov. 8, 1989. Because John Paul II at Fulda, Germany indicated the Third Secret refers to a possible military offensive by Russia, Lucia’s alleged statement would have surely bolstered the Vatican’s contention that Lucia “confirmed” the sufficiency of the 1984 consecration and that Russia was no longer a threat to the world. All of these reflections strongly suggests the Vatican could not authenticate Lucia’s alleged October 14, 1993 statement.


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15 Christopher Ferrara, The Secret Still Hidden, Epilogue, p. 50. Italian: “Si illuderebbe chi pensasse che la missione profetica di Fatima sia conclusa.”

of us even more to implore the Pope to do a valid consecration of Russia with all the bishops (not a consecration of the “world” without the bishops), rather than being satisfied with the Pope for doing it “as he could,” while the world moves closer and closer to annihilation.

Wrong Impressions

Questions are raised when a notable figure like Socci is perceived by some as qualifying or changing positions he publicly held. In 2006/2007 Socci told us Bertone and Evaristo are not credible; Fatima is for the future. Now he seems to be saying Bertone and Evaristo are credible and Fatima pertains to the past. These questions are magnified when the opinions are controversial and subject to public scrutiny. These questions are further magnified when there is no meaningful evidence triggering the alleged change in position, other than evidence the person maintains he was always aware of (as in Socci’s case). Finally, doubts abound when an article appears to accommodate both positions (here, that the 1984 consecration was satisfactory and not satisfactory, at the same time.)

In closing, I want to be clear that Antonio Socci is a dear friend of Fatima. He is an ally, not an enemy, in the fight to bring about the consecration of Russia and reveal the Third Secret. Socci has courageously exposed the improprieties concerning the Vatican’s handling of the Message of Fatima and has been a tremendous grace for the Church. He has not, in my view, changed his position on the consecration of Russia. Again, Socci may have simply wanted to emphasize the generosity of Our Lady and the partial blessings we have received for the partial consecration in 1984. Socci demonstrates quite compellingly in his book, The Fourth Secret of Fatima, that the Vatican has suppressed the Third Secret because its prophecies point to the current and future abysmal state of the Church, brought about by sin within the Church (beginning with the hierarchy), which Pope Benedict himself confirmed on May 11, 2010. In fact, on May 13, 2010, the Pope declared in his sermon at Fatima: “He who believes the prophetic mission of Fatima is over would be deceiving himself.”15


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The prophecy of the Mayans, horoscopes... Millions believe in this nonsense, especially with 2012 now here, and the complicated uncertainty caused by the economic crisis, while at the same time, true and documented prophecies are ignored!

What am I talking about?

First, the 300 Messianic prophecies contained in the Old Testament, sensationally fulfilled in Our Lord Jesus of Nazareth, up to the very last detail.

Since then, Our Lady, in Her various appearances, made prophecies which have been historically proven true; it is no coincidence that the Church reveres Her as the “Queen of the prophets.”

The Sun of Fatima

The most famous and recent is contained in the Message of Fatima, revealed in July 1917. It was endorsed by the marvelous

Miracle of the Sun of October 13, 1917, in front of 70.000 witnesses (among them even various agnostics and atheists).

This miracle was documented by the secular newspapers of the time.

The prophecies started to be realized a month later, with the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, which was foretold by Our Lady.

Now we have a new, astounding confirmation of another detail of that prophecy, due to the unveiling of the secret British documents dated 30 years ago (up to 1981).

It’s a story which is being discussed publicly only in the last few days (yesterday [2/1/12] Enrico Franceschini wrote about it) in the Repubblica newspaper, but in order to understand its significance and its connection to Fatima, we must look back into history.

During the apparition of

Latest News from Fatima: What Our Lady Has Done (and Keeps Doing) for Us...

by Antonio Socci

In the interest of fairness and to better understand Mr. Salza’s concerns and also to let Mr. Socci speak for himself, we reprint here the article that he published on January 3, 2012 in Libero newspaper.

If Mr. Socci wishes to write a reply, or present his response to Mr. Salza at the “Fatima: Your Last Chance!” conference in Rome May 13 – 18, 2012, we will make his response available to the Fatima Center’s readers.


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July 1917, Our Lady entrusted to the three little shepherds of Fatima a Message of the outmost importance: She would return to ask for the “consecration of Russia” to Her Immaculate Heart, by the Pope and the bishops, and “the Communion of reparation of the first Saturdays.”

If Her requests were obeyed, the world would have peace, otherwise if not, no one would have been able to stop a Second World War and the spread of Communism all over the world, which would cause persecutions against the Christians, horrors and wars.

In effect Our Lady did return to Sister Lucy, in 1929, telling her that the moment had come to consecrate Russia; but She was not listened to. That’s why everything that She foretold occurred.

Pope John Paul II

In 1978, John Paul II became pope. After the assassination attempt of May 13, 1981, which was organized by the East, John Paul believed he was miraculously saved by Our Lady of Fatima, whose feast occurred on that day. This is the reason he decided to take up and focus again on the Message of Fatima.

Since 1981, therefore, he repeatedly tried to do the consecration requested by Our Lady, but he himself had to overcome strong opposition by

certain ecclesiastical circles. The Pope did it nonetheless –

as he could – on March 25, 1984. During that solemn celebration, he pronounced a dramatic and touching prayer, in which, among other things, he cried out:

“Mother of men and of peoples... free us from hunger and war! Free us from nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction and from every kind of war!” Years later I came into possession of an extraordinary interview with Sister Lucy; recorded on videotape on October 14, 1993 by a Portuguese journalist. (I broadcast it on TV, during my Rai 2 program Excalibur).

In that interview, the old nun – among other things – made this remarkable statement: “The Consecration of 1984 has prevented a nuclear war which would have occurred in 1985”.

In effect, Our Lady of Fatima had predicted that Communism would have caused wars and this prophecy was well known and published for years.

I was perplexed, however, because I couldn’t understand when and who could have told Sister Lucy, that a nuclear conflict in 1985 had been averted thanks to the Consecration of 1984, since the apparitions of Fatima had occurred many years before.

The answer came to me, implicitly, on February 17, 2005,


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when I opened Repubblica and read a full length interview with Cardinal Bertone.

The prelate, who had visited the Portuguese sister many times, revealed – among other things – that “Lucy had a vision in 1984, the last ‘public’ vision – which had never been spoken about — during which Our Lady thanked her for the Consecration in Her name.”

Evidently it was on that occasion that Sister Lucy had that astounding “information”, and from quite a reliable and “noteworthy” source indeed!

The Day of the Arsenal

All the same, since a nuclear war doesn’t “happen” all of a sudden without reasons that are historically verifyible, when I wrote my book The Fourth Secret of Fatima, I searched for any news from those first years of the 80’s which could confirm or deny such a pre-war scenario.

I discovered that during the first years of the 80’s, the tension between East and West was extremely serious, reaching its peak in 1983 with the Euro-missile crisis. At that time the Kremlin saw the succession of Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko.

The Soviet economic system was about to collapse and the military challenge posed by Reagan – according to the

Communist leaders – was forcing the USSR to choose between two options: launch a preemptive military attack (which would inevitably be nuclear) against Western Europe before being militarily outnumbered on the European front, or face the collapse of the Soviet regime.

The Kremlin analyzed the possibilities of a pre-emptive strike against the West. It is in this terrible situation, possibly the most dramatic since the end of World War II, that the consecration by the Pope took place.

Well, after that ceremony, new and unforeseen events took place which would make a war impossible, de facto. But why would Moscow, within a few months, decide to abandon any idea of attacking Europe?

One of the facts that might have determined this decision, according to the military expert Alberto Leoni, was the “accident” which took out of service the Soviet military potential. This accident is the explosion of the Severomorsk arsenal, located on the North Sea: “Without that missile facility, which was directed towards the Atlantic Ocean,” explained Leoni, “the Soviet Union didn’t have any hope of victory. For this reason, the military option was cancelled.”

Well, that event occurred only


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2 months after the Consecration made by the Pope, but above all it’s the day that counts. It was May 13, 1984, the anniversary and Feast of Our Lady of Fatima and of the assassination attempt against the Pope.

At that point, the Soviet Union was forced to find another way: the (desperate) perestroika of the Soviet system. Thus, with the death of Chernenko, a few months after the consecration made by the Pope, Mikhail Gorbachev was called to power in Moscow.

The Sign of Mary

The man of the impossible reforms (which actually brought Communism to a bloodless end) signed with Reagan the fundamental Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which led to the removal of the Euro-missiles, thus making the risk of a nuclear apocalypse much more remote. And again, the day on which it was signed was December 8, 1987, the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception.

It’s impossible not to remember that the Fatima prophecy ends with these words: “In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph.” And it’s astounding that we can find the “sign” of Fatima in every single date that marks the progressive collapse of Communism. The date in which the Soviet Union

was officially liquidated was another December 8th (of 1991), and the red flag with the hammer and sickle was definitively lowered from the Kremlin towers on December 25, 1991, the holy birthday of Our Lord.

Again, we can see the fulfillment of the first prophecy of Mary, which She pronounced in the Magnificat: “God hath put down the mighty from their thrones and hath exalted the humble.”

Last Revelations

If there’s anyone who still doubts that in those first years of the ‘80s a nuclear war was averted, I recommend he check the secret documents of Britain’s state archives, which have just been unveiled.

In those archives one can read of the Soviet plan to attack Great Britain, which involved the assassination of Prime Minister Thatcher, because she could have authorized a nuclear attack against the Soviet Union. It was the only way, according to Franceschini, in which Moscow could “hope to win a nuclear conflict with the West.”

This (recent) past is the lesson of Fatima. And should make us understand that for our future we should not look at Mayan calendars or to horoscopes. Actually we should look to Medjugorje, instead.


Antonio Socci, the Italian intellectual, journalist and television host whose book The Fourth Secret of Fatima concludes: “[T]hat there is a part of the Secret not revealed and considered unspeakable is certain. And today—having decided to deny its existence—the Vatican runs the risk of exposing itself to very heavy pressure and blackmail.”

The publication of Fourth Secret reignited the Third Secret controversy and forced the Vatican to attempt to answer Socci’s overwhelming evidence demonstrating a cover-up of a text of the Third Secret.

At Fatima, Pope John Paul II warned of the “almost apocalyptic menaces looming over the nations.” Since then Wars, Terrorist Attacks, Earthquakes, Tsunamis, the threat of Global Panemics and Russia’s deploynment of new “Defense-Proof” Nuclear Missiles have only added to the urgency of the Pope’s words.This fi lm leaves no doubt that the Message of Fatima is a Heavenly Warning no one can afford to ignore. It is also the ONLY KEY to peace in the world. But we must use that KEY before it is too late!

John Salza is an attorney and noted Catholic apologist, writer and speaker. He is the author of many best-selling books including The Biblical Basis for… series on apologetics, Masonry Unmasked, Why Catholics Cannot Be Masons, and The Mystery of Predestination. He is the creator of the popular apologetics site www.ScriptureCatholic.com. He is a frequent guest on Catholic Radio and has his own daily radio feature on Relevant Radio called “Relevant Answers.” He is a guest columnist for The

Remnant Newspaper, the author of articles on Catholic apologetics for Catholic Family News and has appeared numerous times on EWTN.

For more information on the consecration of Russia, please look for John Salza’s new book The Consecration of Russia – How Seven Popes Failed to Heed Heaven’s Command and Brought Turmoil to the Church and the World (co-authored with Robert Sungenis; 350 pages, available April 2012 at www.scripturecatholic.com).

Antonio Socci’s book in English, The Fourth Secret of Fatima and John Salza’s book in English The Consecration of Russia and Heaven’s Key to Peace DVD in English and Italian are for a limited time each available for the special price of $10.00 each from The Fatima Center:

The Fatima CenterIN U.S.A. – 17000 State Route 30, Constable, NY 12926 IN CANADA – 452 Kraft Road, Fort Erie, ON L2A 4M7

Call us toll-free at 1-800-263-8160 or call us at 1-905-871-7607Fax us at 1-905-994-7054 • www.fatima.org • E-mail: [email protected]


Documents

The Fatima Center vl133 BT030 Socci-Salza2archive.fatima.org/apostolate/vlarchive/pdf/vl133_BT030_Socci... · Nagging Questions about Antonio Socci’s Latest Article on Fatima By