Last time we discussed what is most probably “The Third Secret of Fatima.” It must be said that anything along these lines is not required for Catholic belief, but private revelations of whatever sort can assist us in better understanding the Deposit of Faith— based upon Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition and the authentic Magisterium of the Church—as well as the historical situation we find ourselves in.

This is especially true with regard to this disclosure, because what it predicted has come to pass, almost exactly. This is a significant factor in favor of its authenticity. Let’s take it point by point:

“There will be a wicked council planned that will change the countenance of the Church.”

I recall so much controversy concerning the Third Secret, as Sr. Lúcia dos Santos, the prominent seer of Fatima, stated that it was to be disclosed by 1960, and things would be “much clearer” by then. Well, it wasn’t released, and there have been a number of unsatisfactory explanations as to why this was the case. The statement of John XXIII who said that the Secret “doesn’t apply to our time,” is dreadfully ironic as it actually applied dramatically and most accurately to our time.

But in the intervening decades it has indeed become very clear why the Third Secret was never released—because Antipope John XXIII was in the midst of planning his “wicked council,” which did indeed “change the countenance of the Church.” As everyone knows, a person’s identity is determined by their face, or in other words their countenance. The Church’s identity was about to change based on what will happen at this Council, which was most plainly the Second Vatican Council. Padre Pio said to Fr. Gabriel Amorth sometime around the year 1960:

“It is Satan who has been introduced into the Church and within a very short time will come to rule a false church.”

You can see why officials at the Vatican did not want the Third Secret to be known, as it might very well have put an end to their nefarious plans to create a false church—plans that had been in the works for at least 100 years if not longer. They did not want to give the appearance of thwarting the desires of the Mother of God, even if they did not believe it, as it would have brought about bad public relations — so they lied about it all, and covered it up. Evil people had taken over.

We know, according to private testimony, that the then “Cardinal” Joseph Ratzinger admitted in 2004 that the true text of the Third Secret speaks of an “evil council,” and this, of course helps to augment the theory that this is indeed the Third Secret of Fatima, revealed by the Holy Virgin Mary to Lúcia dos Santos on July 13, 1917.

More next week.