A Time of Peace

by John Schmidt

Recently, I stood in the Pavilion Hall of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, where there is a fountain that is said to make the sound of weeping when water flows over shell-shaped bowls. The fountain does not run now, because it is feared the notoriously bad water of St. Petersburg would stain the cut, colored stone of the 19th century fountain.

Perhaps, like this fountain, the tears of Russia have flowed for so long, so deeply, that like a traumatized child, she is no longer able to cry.

For more than 70 years, the people of Russia have endured what might, properly understood, be called a society without God. Since 1991, more troubled times have followed, including battles over religious freedom, the collapse of the ruble, and continued conflict with the west over Chechnya and Kosovo.

In spite of all this, there has been a marked sea change in Russia since the Soviet period. The recent Russian elections (December 19) signaled, by all accounts, a turn away from the Communist Party. The Unity Party, albeit a party of convenience, has at least been a move away from a possible return to the past. It seems now more than at any time since the 1991 downfall of the Soviet system that Russia is beginning to look away from the past and toward the future.

On July 13, 1917, Our Lady appeared in Fatima, Portugal, with a message to the world about Russia. She told the three children to whom she appeared:

"...I shall come to the world to ask that Russia be consecrated to my Immaculate Heart, and I shall ask that on the first Saturday of every month Communion of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world.

"If my wishes are fulfilled, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, then Russia will spread her errors throughout the world, bringing new wars and persecutions of the Church; the good will be martyred, and the Holy Father will have much to suffer: certain nations will be annihilated, but in the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph and the Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and the world will enjoy period of peace."

Devout followers of the messages of Fatima may well attribute what has happened in Russia during the past decade to many years of prayer, and specifically to the collegial consecration of Russia and the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on March 25, 1985 by John Paul II. Fatima seer Sister Lucia (who is still alive) said this consecration was requested by Our Lady in 1925. Despite those who say the conditions of a collegial consecration have not been met, Sister Lucia herself has said that they have.

The messages that come to us through visions or apparitions do not have the same weight as the Gospels or the teaching of the Church. Father Benedict Groeschel, in his book A Still Small Voice discusses the uncertainty that can come with private revelations. Even apparitions that have been given approval by the Church must be viewed with certain disinterestedness. Because they come through fallible people, they can be wrong. Catherine of Siena said that Our Lady told her that she was not immaculately conceived, but was sanctified in the womb. Interestingly, this was the position of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Dominicans, who were engaged in a great theological debate with the Franciscans and Duns Scotus over this very issue. St. Catherine, a Dominican Tertiary, sided with the Dominican view. Of course, the definition of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception in the 1850's settled the point. Similarly, St. Catherine Laboure, the visionary of the miraculous medal, made predictions that never came to pass. So, when dealing with apparitions, caution is always advised.

A good example of the uncertainty that can surround apparitions is the much discussed "Third Secret" of Fatima. Many have guessed at, or even fabricated what might have been the contents of the final part of the message of Fatima that has never been released, though many expected that it would be revealed in 1960. Sister Lucia has reportedly said that we are already living through the Third Secret, and has referred those interested in knowing the Third Secret to the book of Revelation. It is likely that Pope John XXIII, during whose pontificate the message was to have been read, will be beatified next year. The other two young seers of Fatima, Francisco and Jacinta, are also scheduled for beatification in the year 2000. What is to be made of this juxtaposition? We cannot say with certainty.

The current Pope seems to know what he is doing, and has great devotion the Virgin of Fatima, even to the point of attributing his survival of the 1981 attempt on his life to her. Moreover, the shepherd children of Fatima seem to have been right about the events of the 20th century as time has gradually unfolded. Three simple children from a small village in Portugal were able to accurately predict some of the major currents of the coming century.

In the light of all this, are we about to witness the long-awaited "conversion of Russia"? It is not to be expected that a conversion of Russia will happen overnight. More likely, it will be a long process, full of hardships and trials. And yet, on December 12, 1999, the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was dedicated in Moscow.

What is the significance for Russia, for the Church, and for the world? We cannot know now. Time will tell. Certainly, this must be seen as at least one step in the conversion of Russia. We will leave it to seers to speak of what eventual significance this step may have. Father Robert Fox has said that the reason the consecration of Russia took so long was that not sufficient numbers of people had made the five first Saturday devotions to allow it to come about.

The Catholic Church in Russia has great need. There is need for buildings for seminaries and Churches, for catechetical materials, for committed priests and lay people who are willing to learn the language and the culture and make a long-term commitment to Russia. When a Catholic travels to Russia, there is an immediate sense of difference between most of the other nations of Europe. There are only two Catholic churches in Moscow that hold regular services. Catholic businessmen traveling outside of the major metropolitan areas will have the choice of either an Orthodox service or none at all. We can only imagine what the conversion of Russia would be like. Will it be a complete transformation to Latin Rite Roman Catholicism? Will it be a conversion back to the Orthodoxy of the traditional Russia?

The relationship between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church has been a rocky one. The law passed by the Russian duma limiting the freedom of "new" religious groups (including Roman Catholics in this definition) to operate in Russia further added to the problem.

The Holy Father has made many efforts to reach out to the "sister churches" of the East, but has not been successful in bringing about reconciliation. This is what many throughout the world are now praying for.

In his Russia and The Universal Church, Orthodox theologian and mystic Vladimir Soloviev said of the Eastern Church a century ago: "Where in the East is the Church of the living God, the Church which in every generation legislates for mankind, which establishes and develops the formulation of eternal truth with which to counteract the continually changing formulas of error?" The lack of unity of command and of an ability to engage the modern world has sometimes been a failing of the Orthodox Churches. In Russia, especially, the advent of communism followed by accusations of collaboration and capitulation have hurt the credibility of the Church. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and always, indeed, but can the East continue to limit Christ to the methods of the past without even an acknowledgment of the changing ways of the modern world?

Russia has been through three-quarters of a century of communism. The path of reconciliation is not likely to be an easy one. We in the west must approach our Russian brethren with compassion and patience. We must not become like the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son. Christ in his mercy seeks out the lost sheep. Can we, who have always had everything that belongs to the Father available to us (the sacraments, the Gospel, the Church) now turn our backs on the people of Russia? Can we say that we are without sin, and can cast the first stone? Certainly the scars of communism are great. Are not our own scars also great? Can we say, "why has God allowed communism to happen"? Or should we rather say, "Why have we done so little in the way of sacrifices and prayer to stem the tide?"

It would seem, as we approach the new millennium, and prepare to cross the threshold into a new springtime, that it is time for East and West together to acknowledge our common guilt, our lack of charity to our brothers, and to accept the challenge of a new call to unity and conversion. Now is the time to let the tears of reconciliation flow freely, and to begin to forge a new path, which will perhaps finally usher in the new period of peace promised by the message of Fatima.

John Schmidt, a writer and photographer, attended the consecration of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Moscow in December. He lives in Virginia, USA.

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