This is a summary of a published article on the Vatican website on the original events at Fatima and how they were documented, archived and revealed to the public.
Published on 13 May 2000, on the second millennial anniversary of the apparitions of the same date 83 years ago then, it describes the world events related to the 3 messages since 1917 and what they meant, the actions taken by various Popes through the successions to Pope John Paul II, the significance assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II on 13 May 1981, and the Pope’s interpretation of the Fatima messages, his meeting notes with Sr Lucia and her comments. From the perspective of the Church’s work, this was serious business.
It is fascinating to ask if the last century was indeed a great battle fought between Christianity and Communism. Interested readers should refer to Marco Politi and Carl Berstein’s Washington Post-style book, His Holiness: John Paul II and the History of Our Time.
Theologically and most interestingly, the article provides a commentary by then Cardinal Ratzinger on (a) what is public Revelation, and how it is brought to a total and final summation when Jesus became Man, and his works and words were recorded in the Bible and guided by the Church’s episcopal mission. (b) Yet, the Church is a living church which continues to experience phenomena, and mystical events by its members and how these are brought in as private revelation, insofar as they bring us closer to Jesus, (d) how these prophecies, enable us to make better sense of the present (rather than predict the future). For example it said, “The oldest letter of Saint Paul which has been preserved, perhaps the oldest of the New Testament texts, the First Letter to the Thessalonians, seems to me to point the way. The Apostle says: “Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophesying, but test everything, holding fast to what is good” (5:19-21). In every age the Church has received the charism of prophecy, which must be scrutinized but not scorned. On this point, it should be kept in mind that prophecy in the biblical sense does not mean to predict the future but to explain the will of God for the present, and therefore show the right path to take for the future.
The writing is backed by numerous references to the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the views of previous Popes and theologians. For example, he quoted from the Gospel of St Luke, “You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky; why then do you not know how to interpret the present time?” (Lk 12:56). In this saying of Jesus, the “signs of the times” must be understood as the path he was taking, indeed it must be understood as Jesus himself. To interpret the signs of the times in the light of faith means to recognize the presence of Christ in every age. In the private revelations approved by the Church—and therefore also in Fatima—this is the point: they help us to understand the signs of the times and to respond to them rightly in faith.
There is next a section on the psychology of these revelations, which Pope Benedict categorized as either vision with the senses, and hence exterior bodily perception, interior perception, and spiritual vision (visio sensibilis – imaginativa – intellectualis). This is quite interesting for those who want to understand this phenomena more psychologically, as he discussed how the “interior perception” of the young shepherd children should be understood in the context of their experiences.
Finally, he explained the interpretation of the messages of Fatima from a theological perspective, ending with a down-to-earth explanation of what is commonly meant by the phrase “My Immaculate Heart shall triumph” – here I thought i would just excerpt the whole passage: “I would like finally to mention another key expression of the “secret” which has become justly famous: “my Immaculate Heart will triumph”. What does this mean? The Heart open to God, purified by contemplation of God, is stronger than guns and weapons of every kind. The fiat of Mary, the word of her heart, has changed the history of the world, because it brought the Savior into the world—because, thanks to her Yes, God could become man in our world and remains so for all time. The Evil One has power in this world, as we see and experience continually; he has power because our freedom continually lets itself be led away from God. But since God himself took a human heart and has thus steered human freedom towards what is good, the freedom to choose evil no longer has the last word. From that time forth, the word that prevails is this: “In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart; I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). The message of Fatima invites us to trust in this promise.
Pieta, Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, Singapore.
References:
The Message of Fatima. 13 May 2000 http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000626_message-fatima_en.html
His Holiness: John Paul II and the History of Our Time by Carl Bernstein, Marco Politi. September 1st 1997. Penguin Books