"Fatima Curse" Update

by Christopher A. Ferrara

        This column has, quite frankly, been relentless in its piling up of evidence that the so-called "consecration of Russia" in 1984 — a ceremony which deliberately omitted any mention of Russia — has not only failed to produce Russia’s conversion, but has resulted in a "Fatima Curse," evincing Heaven’s wrath over the failure to do what Our Lady requested. But I have no intention of letting up. The consequences of failing to heed Our Lady’s request have been disastrous, and we must not allow the record to be closed.

        The latest piece of evidence to be added to the mountain already compiled is a report by Bloomberg News on August 23, 2005, which begins with this assessment: "Russians, whose lives are shorter and poorer than they were under communism, have more abortions than births to avoid the costs of raising children, according to the country’s highest-ranking obstetrician."

        The report notes that "about 1.6 million [Russian] women had an abortion last year, a fifth of them under the age of 18, and about 1.5 million gave birth, said Vladimir Kulakov, vice president of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. ‘Many more’ abortions weren't reported." Kulakov added: "The appearance of a first child pushes many families into poverty…. Potential parents first try to start a career, stand on their feet and so forth."

        Aside from the manifest apostasy of the Russian people, what accounts for the rise in abortion since the 1984 "consecration"? According to the Bloomberg report, "The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the ensuing hyperinflation and depression deprived millions of Russians of their incomes and savings and discouraged couples from having children. By 2000, the number of pensioners in Europe's most populous country outnumbered children and adolescents for the first time."

        Since the "fall of communism," notes Bloomberg, "the increase in poverty and the decline in the quality of health care … have left about six million women and 4 million men -- 7 percent of Russia's 145 million people -- incapable of having children." Meanwhile, the average monthly wage in Russia "is about $300 and one in four people live below the poverty line."

        And the Russian population is declining as the infant mortality rate goes up: "For every 1,000 Russians there are 16 deaths and just 10.6 births, a gap that isn't being filled by immigrants, leading to a population decline of about 750,000 to 800,000 a year. Out of every 1,000 Russian newborn babies, more than 12 die before they are one year old, an infant mortality rate five times higher than in Iceland and three to four times higher than in Finland, Sweden, Spain and France, Russia's Federal Statistics Service reported last week."

        That’s not all. The average Russian man now dies at 58.8, "the shortest life expectancy in Europe and five years fewer than 15 years ago, the Statistics Service said."

        It is nothing short of blasphemy to attribute the condition of Russia today to the miraculous intervention of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1984, as the promoters of the-consecration-that-wasn’t would have us believe. The Pope and the bishops have refused to do the simple thing Our Lady requested, offering instead a "diplomatic" human substitute. And Heaven has given its answer to their deliberate evasion of Heaven’s command.