Catholic priest, Fr. Nicholas Gruner of the Fatima Center discussed his research into the Third Secret of Fatima. He declared the alleged visitation by the Virgin Mary in 1917, and her message imparted to three young children, to be "the definitive revelation of our time."
Based on his research, he said that it is a misperception that the Virgin Mary bestowed three separate secrets. Instead, he claimed that the message is a sequential series of events with the infamous "third secret" being the conclusion. Detailing new information which suggests that the "official release" of the third secret by the Vatican in 2000 was actually incomplete, Gruner revealed that when Sister Lucia wrote down that portion of the prophecy, she divided it into two parts. "One is the words of 'Our Lady' and one is the vision," he said. According to him, the Catholic Church only released the description of the vision and not the words spoken by Mary.
Gruner talked at length about the suspicious treatment of the longest living survivor of the Fatima visitation, Sister Lucia, who died in 2005, nearly 90 years after the event. He asserted that "no other nun in the history of the Church has been so closely controlled as to who she saw." As evidence of this, he pointed out that she was not allowed to conduct any public interviews after 1957. He also cited testimony from Lucia's own sister, who said that the famous nun was never allowed any private time with visitors and could only speak with close family members.
Advising people on what to do if they want the third secret to be truly revealed, Gruner said they should pray, inform themselves of the Fatima story, and contact the Vatican (via the Pope's email address: benedictxvi@vatican.va) to ask for them to release the complete message. He was optimistic that the third secret would be revealed in the not too distant future, theorizing it could be as early as a few months from now or as far out as three years.
Biography:
Father Nicholas Gruner is a priest in good standing, ordained more than 26 years ago. He has his degree in Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University. He received his S.T.B. (Bachelor of Sacred Theology) and S.T.L. (Licentiate of Sacred Theology) and has successfully passed all his courses with highest honors in his studies for the S.T.D. (Doctorate in Sacred Theology) from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
Wikipedia
The Three Secrets of Fátima consist of a series of visions and prophecies allegedly given by an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to three young Portuguese shepherds, Lúcia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto, starting on 13 May 1917. The three children have been visited by a Marian apparition six times between May and October 1917 (evident through the witness of thousands of people & the news agencies at that time). The apparition is now popularly known as Our Lady of Fátima.
According to the official Catholic interpretation, the three secrets involve Hell, World War I and World War II, and the shooting of Pope John Paul II.
On 13 July 1917, around noon, the Virgin Mary is said to have entrusted the children with three secrets. Two of the secrets were revealed in 1941 in a document written by Lúcia, at the request of José da Silva, Bishop of Leiria, to assist with the publication of a new edition of a book on Jacinta. When asked by the Bishop of Leiria in 1943 to reveal the third secret, Lúcia struggled for a short period, being "not yet convinced that God had clearly authorized her to act." However, in October 1943 the bishop of Leiria ordered her to put it in writing. Lúcia then wrote the secret down and sealed it in an envelope not to be opened until 1960, when "it will appear clearer." The text of the third secret was officially released by Pope John Paul II in 2000, although some claim that it was not the entire secret revealed by Lúcia, despite repeated assertions from the Vatican to the contrary.
Third Secret controversy
The Holy See withheld the Third Secret until 26 June 2000, despite Lúcia's declaration that it should be released to the public after 1960. Some sources, including Canon Barthas and Cardinal Ottaviani, said that Lúcia insisted to them it must be released by 1960, saying that, "by that time, it will be more clearly understood", and, "because the Blessed Virgin wishes it so." When 1960 arrived, rather than releasing the Third Secret, the Vatican published an official press release stating that it was "most probable the Secret would remain, forever, under absolute seal." After this announcement, immense speculation over the content of the secret materialized. According to the New York Times, speculation over the content of the secret ranged from "worldwide nuclear annihilation to deep rifts in the Roman Catholic Church that lead to rival papacies."
5 years ago