Hello Steve,

>LL>According to the Vatican, all three parts of the secret of Fatima
>LL>have been revealed.  But how does one go about interpreting the
>LL>secret, in order to make sense of it all?

>SA>To start with, one would need to be very careful about the source
>SA>of the visions & secrets of Fatima. (I.e. was it of God, or of
>SA>Satan, faking & purporting to use "Mary" in order
to deceive?)

>LL>Oh, for sure.  That is why Catholics are under no obligation to
>LL>believe any of the apparitions as being from God.  The Church has,
>LL>on rare occasion, approved some apparitions.  But only in a
>LL>negative sense. Fatima is one of those which has been approved.
>LL>But no Catholic is obliged to believe those apparitions occurred,
>LL>or are of God.

SA>Let's say that Fatima has been "approved", & that the
"Mary" that
SA>appeared confirms or defends or calls the world to return to or uphold
SA>Catholic dogma, which in turn includes fictions such as the dogma of
SA>the "Assumption of Mary", or of Mary's "Immaculate
Conception". It is
SA>one thing for Catholics to believe these "dogmas",
"infallible" statements
SA>by a pope ... concerning a matter of faith or morals. It is another thing
SA>for them to insist that all Christians are required to believe these
SA>"infallible" dogmas.

Those matters of faith and morals are for Catholics, not impositions
on non-Catholics.  In regards to apparitions, no Catholic is obliged
to believe in them, being those apparitions are regarded as "private
revelations".

The Assumption of Mary is not the same as the Immaculate Conception.
But there is something interesting about the Assumption of Mary that
most Catholics are not aware of - there is no core of anethema.  IOW,
if a Catholic refuses to believe in the Assumption of Mary, he/she
cannot be excommunicated on that basis.

>LL>Garibandol was not approved. IOW, the Church found fault.
>LL>Medjugorge was also not approved, although the Church did leave it
>LL>up to local bishops to draw their own conclusions.

>LL>Many others were condemned.

SA>These days, people flog them on eBay. :) $30,000 for a mouldy cheese
SA>sanger that looks a bit like "Virgin Mary" is a nice little earner
SA>for someone.

Catholics even joke about themselves.  Certainly Baptists, and
Methodists, and Presybterians, etc., do as well.  Not to mention
Jews, and Muslims, and Hindus, and Buddhists, ...

>SA>This makes me suspect that, given the widespread belief that the Pope
>SA>is the Antichrist (Beast 666), "Mary's" secrets will be
used to bolster
>SA>this belief, justify the killing of the Pope & dismantling
the RC Church
>SA>(etc) while the real Antichrist (the "Moshiach" being
pushed by Jews
>SA>& Noachides) gets ready to do his thing.

>LL>This is the part where a real conspiracy thread can be started.
>LL>According to the RCC, Christ will come again at the end of human
>LL>history.  Tradition has it that a Pope will hand over the keys to
>LL>the kingdom to Christ upon his return.  Now, what would happen if
>LL>the Pope were to ask for Christ's return?  Would Christ then be
>LL>obligated to return, thus becoming The Last Pope?  Suppose the
>LL>Christ that does come is not the right one?

>SA>I would proceed on the assumption that the whole Fatima vision (and
>SA>Mary apparition phenomenon) is satanic in origin, designed to deceive
>SA>people into accepting the false Christ.

>LL>That would be a pre-conceived notion, which may, or may not, be
>LL>true. Satan can take on many forms, including that of an angel of
>LL>light. As such, the premise of Marian apparitions being satanic in
>LL>origin cannot be discounted.  In fact, many such apparitions have
>LL>been condemned by the Church on those grounds.  It is also one of
>LL>the main reasons why Catholics are under no obligation to believe
>LL>any Marian apparition as being of God.

>LL>Interpretation of the secret of Fatima does not have to be along
>LL>religious lines.  It can be read, and interpreted, in a political
>LL>context.  Or some other context.  And still be accurate.

SA>I don't know that it is a secret worth knowing, or interpreting.

It may be.  It may not be.

SA>I would simply rank it as one of the numerous "Marian" apparitions
SA>intended to deceive.

One of the problems with such apparitions is that it may be impossible
to determine if said apparition is of God or of Satan.

--Lee


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