Stating that \u201cthere is no fourth secret nor are there other hidden secrets,\u201d Cardinal Angelo Amato, the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, delivered a lengthy address on the Fatima apparitions at the Pontifical University Antonianum on May 7.<\/p>\n
The 20th century, said Cardinal Amato, was expected to be a time of \u201creason and brotherhood,\u201d but instead saw the beginning of an era of Christian persecution: \u201cthe Armenian genocide, the Mexican repression, the Spanish persecution, the Nazi massacres, the Communist extermination, and, in this first part of the third millennium, Islamist persecution.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe message of Fatima in a visionary way evokes this drama, raising the veil on concrete historical events\u201d in which God\u2019s Providence opposes Satan\u2019s evil will, he continued.<\/p>\n
The former secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith discussed the contents and history of the Fatima apparitions, including devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the First Saturday devotion. After reviewing the history of the third secret, Cardinal Amato said that St. John Paul\u2019s reading of the third secret following the assassination attempt of May 1981 was the \u201cdecisive turning point of his pontificate.\u201d<\/p>\n
The prelate recalled that St. John Paul then entrusted the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Rome in June 1981 and again in Fatima the following year. In 1984, \u201cin spiritual union with all the bishops of the world,\u201d the Pope again entrusted the world to Mary, and this \u201csolemn and universal act of consecration\u201d corresponded to \u201cthe will of Our Lady,\u201d Fatima visionary Sister Lucia affirmed in a 1989 letter.<\/p>\n
In 2000, Cardinal Amato recalled, St. John Paul ordered the publication of the third secret, in which a Pope is shot dead. \u201cSister Lucia, referring to Mary\u2019s protection of John Paul II, fully endorsed the statement that \u2018it was a mother\u2019s hand that guided the bullet\u2019s path and his throes the Pope halted at the threshold of death.\u201d<\/p>\n
After recalling Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger\u2019s commentary on the third secret, Cardinal Amato said that \u201cthe mother’s hand, which led the bullet not to kill the Pope, indicates that there is no immutable destiny and that the power of faith and prayer can influence history: prayer is more powerful than bullets of a gun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cardinal Amato concluded by offering two considerations.<\/p>\n
First, \u201cthe secret of Fatima lifted the veil on the real opposition, on the plane of being and acting, between Mary, all-holy and effective cooperator with Christ, and the enemy of the good, the serpent (Gn. 3\u201d14-15), the red dragon, Satan, the devil (Revelation 12:1-9), the anti-Christ (1 John 2:18; 2 Jn. 1:7).\u201d Second, the message of Fatima is a powerful appeal to the good, and especially to holiness and forgiveness, which requires \u201csacrifice and mortification.\u201d<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.catholicculture.org\/news\/headlines\/index.cfm?storyid=24857<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Stating that \u201cthere is no fourth secret nor are there other hidden secrets,\u201d Cardinal Angelo Amato, the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, delivered a lengthy address on the Fatima apparitions at the Pontifical University Antonianum on May 7. The 20th century, said Cardinal Amato, was expected to be a time of … Continue reading Fatima message \u2018lifts veil\u2019 on past century, was \u2018turning point\u2019 of John Paul\u2019s pontificate, says cardinal<\/span>