Which Vatican Do We Believe?

by Christopher A. Ferrara

        The effort of Cardinal Sodano’s Vatican apparatus to bury the Message of Fatima is continually being stymied by real world events. As reported by Associated Press on October 14, 2002 - only one day after the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun - "In the latest in an increasingly bitter battle with Moscow, the Vatican on Monday denounced what it called a ‘despicable operation’ to discredit the Roman Catholic Church in Russia."

        The story further reports that "The statement by Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls followed an appeal to human rights groups last month by the head of the church in Russia against what he called a ‘large-scale anti-Catholic campaign.’"

        So now we have the Vatican apparatus, at one and the same time, (a) assuring us that the Message of Fatima is over and done with, and that no one may request the Consecration of Russia, and (b) deploring a despicable operation to discredit the Catholic Church and a large-scale anti-Catholic campaign in Russia. Which Vatican do we believe? The "Russia is converting" Vatican or the "Russia is persecuting the Church" Vatican?

        AP notes that the Vatican statement provides examples of the Russian campaign against the Church, including "the transformation of an apartment rented out for charitable purposes by the Franciscan Order into a house of prostitution and Russian news reports depicting people in religious dress in ‘immoral poses.’" The Vatican further protests that "the newspaper and TV reports were ‘deceitfully constructed’ and clearly aimed at ‘damaging the reputation of the Catholic community.’"

        But wait a minute. The Russian media are now controlled by - you guessed it! - Vladimir ("the Practicing Christian") Putin. How could the Practicing Christian allow such vicious anti-Catholic propaganda in his Kremlin-controlled media outlets? Ask the Fatima revisionist dupes, who proclaimed the Practicing Christian’s rise to power as part of the "miracle" in Russia since the "consecration" of 1984.

        AP observes that "The Vatican was particularly angered by the expulsion of five foreign-born Catholic priests, pointing out that actions on visas are carried out by the government, not the Orthodox Church. Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, the head of the Catholic Church in Russia, has also complained about bans on construction of new churches and vandalism and desecration of existing churches."

        A despicable operation against the Church. A large-scale anti-Catholic campaign, including obscene attacks in the mass media. The expulsion of Catholic priests. Bans on construction of new churches. Vandalism and desecration of existing churches. And all of this since the "consecration" of Russia in 1984. As AP points out: "With an estimated flock of 600,000, Catholics are a tiny minority in mainly Orthodox Russia." And the way things are going, that tiny minority is going to become tinier still.

        Only fifteen days before the October Revolution that would enslave Russia under communism, Our Lady appeared at Fatima to warn that Russia would spread its errors throughout the world. And now, as a cold Russian winter descends literally and figuratively on the poor Catholics who must live in Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian state, Vatican spokesmen find themselves professing Russia’s "conversion" out of one side of their mouths, while protesting Russia’s persecution of the Catholic Church out of the other. How can these men live with such an obvious lie?