Brothers and Sisters in the Lord!

At the conclusion of this solemn celebration, I feel bound to offer to our beloved Holy Father John Paul II, on behalf of all present, heartfelt good wishes for his approaching Eightieth Birthday and to thank him for his significant pastoral ministry for the good of all God's Holy Church.

On the solemn occasion of his visit to Fatima, His Holiness has directed me to make an announcement to you. As you know, the purpose of his visit to Fatima has been to beatify the two "little shepherds". Nevertheless he also wishes his pilgrimage to be a renewed gesture of gratitude to Our Lady for her protection during these years of his papacy. This protection seems also to be linked to the so-called "third part" of the secret of Fatima.

That text contains a prophetic vision similar to those found in Sacred Scripture, which do not describe with photographic clarity the details of future events, but rather synthesize and condense against a unified background events spread out over time in a succession and a duration which are not specified. As a result, the text must be interpreted in a symbolic key.

The vision of Fatima concerns above all the war waged by atheist systems against the Church and Christians, and it describes the immense suffering endured by the witnesses to the faith in the last century of the second millennium. It is an interminable Way of the Cross led by the Popes of the twentieth century.

According to the interpretation of the "little shepherds", which was also recently confirmed by Sister Lucia, the "Bishop clothed in white" who prays for all the faithful is the Pope. As he makes his way with great effort towards the Cross amid the corpses of those who were martyred (Bishops, priests, men and women religious and many lay persons), he too falls to the ground, apparently dead, under a burst of gunfire.

After the assassination attempt of 13 May 1981, it appeared evident to His Holiness that it was "a motherly hand which guided the bullet's path", enabling the "dying Pope" to halt "at the threshold of death" (Pope John Paul II. Meditation with the Italian Bishops from the Policlinico Gemelli, Insegnamenti, vol XVII/1, 1994, p. 1061). On the occasion of a visit to Rome by the then Bishop of Leiria-Fatima, the Pope decided to give him the bullet which had remained in the jeep after the assassination attempt, so that it might be kept in the Shrine. At the behest of the Bishop, the bullet was later set in the crown of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima.

The successive events of 1989 led, both in the Soviet Union and in a number of countries of Eastern Europe, to the fall of the Communist regime which promoted atheism. For this too His Holiness offers heartfelt thanks to the Most Holy Virgin. In other parts of the world, however, attacks against the Church and against Christians, together with the burden of suffering which they involve, tragically continue. Even if the events to which the third part of the Secret of Fatima refers now seem part of the past, Our Lady's call to conversion and penance, issued at the beginning of the twentieth century, remains timely and urgent today. "The Lady of the message seems to read the signs of the times - the signs of our time - with special insight... The insistent invitation of Mary Most Holy to penance is nothing but the manifestation of her maternal concern for the fate of the human family, in need of conversion and forgiveness" (Pope John Paul II, Message for the 1997 World Day of the Sick, N. 1, Insegnamenti, vol XIX/2, 1996, p. 561). In order that the faithful may better receive the message of Our Lady of Fatima, the Pope has charged the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith with making public the third part of the secret, after the preparation of an appropriate commentary.

Let us thank Our Lady of Fatima for her protection. To her maternal intercession let us entrust the Church of the Third Millennium.

Sub tuum praesidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genetrix!
(Official Translation)

HOLY FATHER'S BLOOD MENTIONED IN FATIMA SECRET
John Paul II Makes Allusions During Beatification Homily

VATICAN CITY, MAY 14 (ZENIT.org).- At the end of yesterday's beatification Mass at Fatima, John Paul II had another surprise in store. He entrusted Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican Secretary of State, with an announcement about the famous "third secret" of Fatima.

Unexpected Announcement
"The vision of Fatima concerns above all the war waged by atheist systems against the Church and Christians, and it describes the immense suffering endured by the witnesses to the faith in the last century of the second millennium. It is an interminable Way of the Cross led by the Popes of the twentieth century," the Italian Cardinal explained.

"According to the interpretation of the 'little shepherds,' which was also recently confirmed by Sister Lucia," continued Cardinal Sodano, "the 'Bishop clothed in white' who prays for all the faithful is the Pope. As he makes his way with great effort towards the Cross amid the corpses of those who were martyred (Bishops, priests, men and women religious and many laymen), he, too, falls to the ground, apparently dead, under a burst of gunfire."

The Pope did not want to make the announcement, in part because it is a private revelation and in part (and perhaps above all) out of modesty, because it affects him personally. However, during the beatification ceremony homily he implicitly acknowledged with evident signs of emotion, that these revelations have decisively marked his understanding of his pontificate and his vision of the world over the last two decades.

Secret and Attempt on Pope's Life
While reading the announcement, Cardinal Sodano added, "After the assassination attempt of 13 May 1981, it appeared evident to His Holiness that it was 'a motherly hand that guided the bullet's path,' enabling the 'dying Pope' to halt 'at the threshold of death.' " Because of this, on the occasion of a visit to Rome by the then Bishop of Leiria-Fatima, the Pope decided to give him the bullet that had remained in the jeep after the assassination attempt, so that it might be kept in the Shrine. At the behest of the Bishop, the bullet was later set in the crown of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima."

Pope's References
However, the third secret was only partially revealed. To know its full content, the world will have to wait until it is published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, presided by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who are preparing a commentary to facilitate its understanding. This text is expected within a few days.

Nevertheless, during the beatification homily, John Paul II made highly interesting references, which are likely related to it. Above all, he made it clear that the Fatima message is a "call to conversion."

Moreover, the Pontiff confirmed some particular aspects of the three secrets: Jacinta's and Francisco's premature deaths, the 20th century's terrible wars and persecutions, the need to pray to "shorten" the evils against man, and the attack that he himself suffered in 1981 in the Vatican. He also quoted the Apocalypse, when it speaks of the "dragon," which symbolizes evil, and he affirmed that when man "puts God to one side he cannot find happiness but, on the contrary, ends in self-destruction."

The confirmation of the "second secret" of Fatima, which refers to the world wars, was alluded to indirectly by the Pope, when he said: "How many victims there have been in this last century of the second millennium! I am thinking of the horrors of the two great wars and other conflicts in other parts of the world. I am also thinking of the concentration camps and the extermination, the gulags, the ethnic cleansing, the persecutions, terrorism, kidnappings, drugs, attacks on the life of the unborn and against the family."

In so far as the first secret is concerned, the premature death of the children, the Holy Father recalled Jacinta's words who said, referring to Francisco, that "the Virgin has come to see us and has said that very soon she will come to take him."

The Bishop of Rome's reference to the third secret, which is now partially revealed, was expressed in these words: Fatima "prophesized the tribulations of these times and the Virgin asked for prayers to shorten these evils."

He added that because of this "I want to thank God for having saved me from death on May 13, 1981. I also express my appreciation to Blessed Jacinta for the sacrifices and prayers for the Pope whom she saw suffer."

Sent by: Fr. Adrian Magnait

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