The Secret of Fatima and Cardinal Bertone: Remembering what we cannot forget by Julio Alvear

Fatima Issues

The Third Secret of Fatima and Cardinal Bertone

Remembering What We Cannot Forget

Julio Alvear, Spain

I have received a lot of electronic mail from different countries - especially Spain – asking me for more details regarding my recent article “The Secret of Fatima and Cardinal Bertone in Madrid.”

Cardinal Bertone’s position on the Third Secret of Fatima has been a subject of hot debate in Italy due to the commotion raised in internal circles of the Holy See by the book of Vatican affairs specialist Antonio Socci, The Fourth Secret of Fatima, (1) dedicated to Benedict XVI.

Here I will point out to my friends four “pearls” to consider about the message of Fatima which explain why it is imperative not to forget it.

Four points to consider

1. Cardinal Silvio Oddi, who was Prefect of the Congregation of the Clergy in the Pontificate of John Paul II and very close to John XXIII during his reign, relates this very revealing anecdote about a conversation he had with the latter:

Cardinal Silvio Oddi and Pope John XXIII

Oddi: John XXIII commanded me to never mention the Third Secret

Taking advantage of the great confidence that reigned between us, I said to him straightforwardly, “Holy Father, there is something for which I cannot pardon you.”
“What is it?” he asked.
“The whole world has waited for so many years, and with some months having already passed since the beginning of 1960, we still know nothing (about the Third Secret).”
Pope Roncalli answered, “Do not speak to me of this again.”
I replied, “If that is what you want, I won’t speak about it again. But you can’t prevent others from doing so.”
“I have already told you not to speak again of it.”
“And I did not insist.” (2)

Thirty years later, after much water had run under the bridge, Cardinal Oddi confessed to the same magazine (30 Giorni): “The Secret of Fatima contains a sad prophecy about the Church and, for this reason Pope John did not divulge it. And neither have Paul VI or John Paul II. It seems to me that what is basically written is that the Pope would convene a Council in 1960 which, contrary to expectations, would indirectly result in many difficulties for the Church.” (3)

2. Antonio Socci, who in 2002 had rejected critiques in traditionalist sectors that charged Cardinal Bertone with not fully revealing the Third Secret, publicly changed his position after a long, solid investigation on the topic.

Socci's book asserts the Vatican did not reveal the original manuscript

In his book, The Fourth Secret of Fatima, he proves the existence of two manuscripts and concludes that the one published by the Vatican in 2000 is not complete. What is missing is the manuscript that contains words of the Virgin explaining the vision published by the Vatican. This manuscript, which the author calls the “Fourth Secret,” corresponds to the original Third Secret. It warns in apocalyptic terms about the loss of the faith in the Church from Vatican Council II on (The Fourth Secret, Rizzoli, 2006, pp. 139-154).

3. In a review of Socci’s book, Vittorio Messori, a recognized Italian Catholic writer who is very close to Benedict XVI, published an article titled “Fatima: there is a ‘fourth secret’ to be revealed. Part of the message was hidden for diplomatic reasons.” (4) In it, he expressed serious doubts about what was revealed by Cardinals Bertone in 2000.

4. The existence of two manuscripts was confirmed in 2006 by one of the most important figures of the Church on the Fatima topic, since he is one of the few persons who know the contents of the Secret. This is Archbishop Loris Capovilla, secretary of John XXIII, known as the "careful guardian of the memory of Pope John” and author of a book of memoires about Pope Roncalli. He was the one whom Paul VI summoned to know where the original manuscript of the Third Secret was, which was not kept in the Vatican archives, as Cardinal Bertone wrongly stated, but somewhere in the papal quarters.

Doubts grow about the secret released by Cardinals Bertone and Ratzinger in 2000

In an interview with Solideo Paolini, Archbishop Capovilla affirmed that one thing was the manuscript of the Third Secret, and another was what was published in 2000 by Cardinal Bertone, which he simply called the “Bertone document.”

Returning to the right road

Was the intent of my last article to discredit Cardinal Bertone – the “second man of the Vatican” during his visit to Spain on a delicate mission?

No. I wanted to look beyond this particular task, and record that nothing can bear fruit for the good of the Church – of our Church – until we leave the roads that lead to the rejection of the message of the Mother of God at Fatima.

This seems to be a propitious moment to ask Benedict XVI to take a step further, breaking the iron circle that surrounds him, and solemnly command that the contents of the Third Secret of Fatima, inexplicably silenced for 49 years, be made known – for the good of the Church and the world.

1. Il Quarto Segreto di Fatima” (Rizzoli, 2006).
2. 30 Giorni, April 1961, in Miguel, Aura, “El Secreto que guía al Papa. La experiencia de Fátima en el Pontificado de Juan Pablo II” (Madrid, Rialp, 2001), p. 154.
3. 30 Giorni, November 11, 1990, p. 69. 4. Cf. “Fatima, c'è un «quarto segreto» da rivelare: Una parte dei messaggi sarebbe stata nascosta per ragioni diplomatiche,” Corriere della Sera,” November 21, 2006.

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Posted February 18, 2009

Julio Alvear first published this article in Spanish on his blog
La Reacción Católica
A site to oppose Progressivism in the Church

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