Prophecy and Prayers for Peace, Part II

Or, Why Today May Be a Bigger Deal Than Some are Making It, but Smaller than Others are

I think one of the reasons Our Lady of Fatima attracts so many devotees is the purported secrets. In her 1941 memoir, Sister Lucia said that during the July 13, 1917 apparition, Mary had entrusted the children with three secrets, which I’ll address out of order. The first two secrets were disclosed in the 1940s, while the third was released in 2000.

The first secret was a vision of hell, which they experienced on July 4, 1917, and explanation at the July 13 apparition that sinners could be saved from hell through sacrifices and self-mortification. I think the idea that the Blessed Mother showed young children harrowing visions of hell and instructed self-mortification doesn’t line up with her natural character, but either way, this secret seems pretty straightforward.

The third secret was a vision of religious people, led by the pope in white, going through a city of ruins, climbing a hill, and being martyred by soldiers with bullets and arrows. Sister Lucia has insisted this secret be publicly released by 1960, when it “will be more clearly understood.” Yet, in 1960, a Vatican press release said that the was "most probable the Secret would remain, forever, under absolute seal.” This led people to speculate that the secret foretold a worldwide or nuclear destruction that would incite mass panic or that officers within the Church were conspiring against the good of the Church in hiding the secret. In 2000, the Vatican finally published the text of the third secret, but speculation remained that parts of the secret were still withheld. In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI said that that was the full secret, and that it could have a specific reference to the assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II and an ongoing meaning of the suffering the Church, through persecution and through the sexual abuse scandal.

The second secret was a recommendation for devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for peace. Such devotion would lead to an end of the Great War (WWI), but worse would come if people continued to offend God. This next war would be preceded by a strange light in the sky. (Incidentally, on January 25, 1938, a rare aurora borealis appeared over the northern hemisphere as far sough as North Africa and California. It was so bright that people in Europe thought there were wildfires burning.)

To avert this worse war or time of chastisement, Mary promised that if Russia were consecrated to her Immaculate Heart and First Saturdays Devotions established, Russia would be converted and there would be peace; if not, Russia would spread error throughout the world, causing more war and persecution. The vision concluded that ultimately, the pope would consecrate Russia and a period of peace would be granted. Although in July 1917, Russia was still under an Orthodox monarchy, many have interpreted this secret as a warning against communism, as the Bolshevik Revolution would take place just months later.   

For many believers of Fatima, this secret is the key to stopping the spread of secular/communist ideologies and bringing peace to the world. And while popes have pronounced consecrations before, war has continued, leading people to believe that the consecration must be done very specifically and has yet to be truly fulfilled.

In 1942, Pope Pius XII (who, incidentally, was ordained a bishop on May 13, 1917, the day of the first Fatima vision) consecrated the entire human race to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and “in a most special manner We entrust all the peoples of Russia to this Immaculate Heart.” At the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI renewed Pius’ consecration of the human race to the Immaculate Heart. In 1984, Pope John Paul II also consecrated the entire world to Mary. Some maintain that the consecration must be made of Russia specifically and only and that the pope must make the consecration simultaneously with all the world’s bishops. Sister Lucia reported said that the 1984 consecration accomplished the conditions according the request in the apparition she received in 1929.

Which brings us to today. In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Pope Francis will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He has asked bishops and priests around the world to join him. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has said he will join. They will pray the consecration at 5 p.m. Rome time, one of the best time periods to have Europe, Africa, North America, and South America awake and likely to participate simultaneously. The Archbishop of Sydney has even said he will open his cathedral at 2:30 a.m. in order to join simultaneously.

And if the war doesn’t cease, the hardline believers will claim that including Ukraine in the consecration was wrong or that some bishops did not participate. Those that want to believe in secrets and prophecies being carried out will never accept that the third secret was fully released or that the second secret’s requirements were met, because that’s just not as interesting. I think devotees who put so much stock into the secrets want them to be true because it’s exciting to live in a time of living out a prophecy. They want to be a part of the visions; they want the knowledge of knowing why things are going wrong (“you aren’t following Mary’s directions”). It makes us special.

Personally, such strict and worldwide requirements in a personal revelation for something as previously-unattained as world peace seems…I’ll just say not likely. Still, I believe entrusting war-torn countries to Mary and gathering as the truly universal Church to pray for peace is still a good idea and still will bring about good. We should be praying for peace, broadly and specifically. And during particularly tumultuous times, coming together as one Church with a shared goal and prayer is powerful.

Further, there is a political aspect to all of this. The Vatican is a country, but not one who participates in military maneuvers (I mean, anymore) or take public stances against foreign leaders by name. But Pope Francis’ decision to make this consecration now, one month since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is a decidedly political one, clearly demonstrating his disagreement with Russia’s actions. Further, it is a statement against the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, who has publicly supported Russia’s actions. The Orthodox Church in Russia has a complicated and currently uncomfortably close relationship with the government; forced underground during the era of Soviet rule, yet now it is a powerful ally with Putin and a cultural symbol of “Russian-ness” to nationalists.

In response to Francis’ call for prayer, Patriarch Kirill called on the Russian Orthodox faithful to pray for peace through Mary, the Theotokos. This may sound like they are asking for the same thing, and I believe ultimately, the average Russian Orthodox praying for peace and the average Roman Catholic praying for peace are equally sincere and heard. But Patriarch Kirill’s idea of peace is that the faster Russia conquers Ukraine and gets what it wants, the faster the violence will end.

On March 13, he presented an image of Mary to the Russian National Guard in hopes, a national guard leader said, that it would “protect the Russian army and bring our victory faster.” Patriarch Kirill has spoken openly about how the Ukrainians are ethnically Rus, the same as Russians, thus perpetuating the Russian claim that Ukraine should be closely allied to, if not a part of, Russia and justifying Russian interference. He specifically called out the dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine who in response to his support of invasion have broken communion from him, saying they fell victim to “forces foreign to the Church that want to destroy the spiritual unity of our peoples. When someone out of fear refuses to commemorate the Patriarch, then this is a sign of weakness.”

Pope Francis has made efforts to work together with religious leaders of other denominations and faiths throughout his pontificate, including Patriarch Kirill. Last week, the two spoke. Pope Francis reportedly said, “We are shepherds of the same Holy People who believe in God, in the Holy Trinity, in the Holy Mother of God: that is why we must unite in the effort to aid peace, to help those who suffer, to seek ways of peace, and to stop the fire.”

Their words are religious, but the way they are using those words and religious actions, are political responses to the current war. Like in 1917. Like in 1941. Both probably sincerely want the protection of Mary’s mantle. Both want peace. But what that looks like, and how we as a Church, as a world, are to arrive there, are coming from totally different political outlooks.

I do not think that war will end. Maybe this particular one will. But not war itself. Not until the Second Coming. That doesn’t diminish the power of praying for peace or make peacemaking a futile effort. It just means that I think the people putting so much stock in the secrets of Fatima are chasing a quick-fix, a utopia. While revelations and apparitions might be “worthy of belief,” they must never supersede doctrine and the Gospel. We can grow in faith through sacrifices and prayer, but they are not tasks in which we earn salvation or peace. The key to everything is Christ’s Resurrection, not our adherence to instructions given in a personal vision.

So, though I do not give much credence to this particular devotion, I will still join in with millions of others today in praying together for peace.