Actor, producer, and director Mel Gibson is planning to make a movie about the intriguing "Third Secret" of Fatima. If "The Passion of The Christ" is any indicator, he will have another blockbuster film to add to his credits.
The announcement of Gibson's upcoming Fatima movie followed within days of Sr. Lucia dos Santos death on February 13. To me, her date of death is a sign of her protection under Our Lady of Fatima, as all the Fatima visions occurred on the 13th day of the month.
What is the popular fascination with the Third Secret? As revealed by Pope John Paul II in 2000, the prophecy foretells a "Bishop dressed in white" struggling over countless bodies of martyrs to reach a "big Cross' on a mountain top. Some people, including John Paul II, believe that this secret was fulfilled by the 1981 assassination attempt on the Pope.
I don't happen to agree with that interpretation. I think another shoe will drop regarding the Third Secret of Fatima.
Why do I believe that there is more to come? I had a college professor, also a priest, who once discussed the secrets of Fatima in a class lecture. He explained that a guideline for judging the authenticity of a prophecy is its accurate fulfillment. "By their fruits, you shall know them."
The first secret foretold the early death of Lucia's two young cousins, her co-visionaries of Fatima. Both children were dead by 1920, carried off by the worldwide influenza pandemic.
The second secret was complex. It predicted the spread of communism. "Russia will spread her errors...", Our Lady told Lucia. Although the visions occurred in 1917, this second secret predated the Bolshevik Revolution by several months. The second secret went on to foretell a second great war that would begin during the papacy of Pius XI. Some critics dismiss this prophecy, because Hitler’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, occurred when Pius XII was pope. But Sr. Lucia always maintained that the second World War actually began during the reign of Pius XI with the invasion of Austria in March 1938. The annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia, the forming Axis alliances, and Hitler’s decision to invade Poland marked the beginnings of the war, though war had not yet been officially declared. All of these events occurred during the pontificate of Pope Pius XI.
In addition, it was predicted that this great war would be presaged by "a sign in the heavens." A huge, very unusual aurora borealis appeared over all of Europe in 1938, three months before the aforementioned annexation of Austria and a year before Hitler invaded Poland and ignited the horror that we know as World War II.
If I apply my professor's criteria for accuracy to the Third Secret, I find that the details do not match the reality of the attempt upon Pope John Paul II's life. He survived, many believe miraculously--the shooting took place on May 13, which is the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima. The Holy Father has been outspoken in crediting Our Lady's intercession in saving his life. And there was nothing that can be interpreted as a struggle up a mountain towards a large cross, no correlation to the stretch of martyred Christians.
There is too much missing from the 1981 shooting to close the books on the Third Secret of Fatima. I wonder if the current strife in the world, and the evils we face in the War on Terror, will somehow connect to its ultimate fulfillment.
Time, and accuracy, will tell. In the meantime, I’ll keep saying my prayers and looking forward to Mel Gibson’s movie.
