Catholic World News News Feature
Fatima secrets fully disclosed, Cardinal Bertone insists May 14, 2007
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, has rejected charges that the Vatican is hiding some portion of the famous "third secret" of Fatima.
With the Catholic world observing the 90th anniversary of the appearances by the Virgin Mary to three Portuguese children at Fatima, Cardinal Bertone admitted his frustration over the continuing popularity of theories suggesting that the "third secret" involves an apocalyptic prophecy that the Vatican does not wish to disclose.
The "third secret" was part of the message the Virgin conveyed to the children at Fatima. While most of the message was made public soon after the apparitions, the "third secret" was confided to the personal care of the Pope, and remained hidden for decades.
A number of influential Catholic analysts offered their own theories on the content of the "third secret," and when the Vatican at last made the message public, some Fatima analysts claimed that the disclosure was incomplete. In addition to wild conspiracy theories, in recent months two prominent Italian journalists have written books offering their own reasons for believing that at least some part of the "third secret" remains hidden.
Cardinal Bertone-- who played a major role in the Vatican's public release of the Fatima message-- insists that these claims are "pure fantasy." In June 2001, the Vatican disclosed that the "third secret" was a prophetic vision, describing a struggle between the Catholic Church and a totalitarian system, culminating in an attempt on the life of the Pope. That vision, Pope John Paul II said, evidently referred to the attempt on his life, which took place on May 13-- the feast of our Lady of Fatima-- in 1981.
Troubled by rumors that the third secret had not yet been fully revealed, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith later issued a statement saying that the message had been disclosed in its entirety. Then-Archbishop Bertone, who was the secretary of the Congregation, announced in December 2001 that he had met with Sister Lucia, the cloistered Carmelite nun who was the sole surviving Fatima seer, and she had confirmed that "with absolute clarity and precision" that the full secret had been disclosed.
"Everything has been published; no secret remains," Sister Lucia said. Apart from that statement, which was released by the Vatican in December 2001, Sister Lucia maintained her public silence until her death in February 2005.
Cardinal Bertone has prepared a book-length interview about his conversations with Sister Lucia, entitled The Last Fatima Visionary. The book, with an introduction by Pope Benedict XVI, is available (in Italian only) through the Vatican publishing house.
