'
'Third secret' compared
to Japan apparitions
1970s messages used to dispute
Vatican's Fatima interpretation Third secret' compared
to Japan apparitions
1970s messages used to dispute
Vatican's Fatima interpretation
By Jon E. Dougherty
© 2000 WorldNetDaily.com
Detractors of the Vatican's official
version of the
third secret of Fatima point to reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary
that occurred in the early 1970s as evidence that the newly released secret
could be false, or, at a minimum, incomplete.
The Vatican released what it says is the actual third secret June 26.
The third secret followed
two others released years ago. The Virgin Mary, the Vatican said, provided
the secrets to
three Portuguese children during a six-month period of time,
on the 13th day of each month, from May to October 1917.
The secrets, Rome said,
foretold key historical events, most of which later came to fruition.
Critics of the version of the third secret released by Rome last month
say that it is not the "real secret," and that key portions contained in
another version believed to be authentic by some Catholic traditionalists
have also been "foretold" by the Holy Mother to a nun in Japan in 1973.
Those apparitions, known collectively as the
"Message of
Akita," were revealed to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa, beginning June 12, 1973,
and lasting nine years, according to various sources.
One published account chronicled the apparitions in this way:
"On June 12, 1973, in Japan, Sr. Agnes Sasagawa, after 'hearing' (she
was deaf) the urgings of an angelic voice, went to the chapel to pray. There
she saw brilliant rays coming from the tabernacle; this light reoccurred
over the next two days. On her left hand appeared a cross-shaped wound, painful
with profuse bleeding, on June 28.
"Sr. Agnes was praying in the chapel on July 6 when she heard a voice
coming from the statue of the Virgin Mary. That same day, a few of her colleagues
noticed blood flowing from the statue's right hand; this was repeated on
four occasions, finally disappearing on September 29. On that day, the sisters
saw the statue 'sweat' from the neck and forehead. Two years later, the statue
began to 'weep' and this continued for over six years.
"The angel who had originally spoken to Sr. Agnes continued to speak
to her for the next nine years. The messages given at Akita are thought by
some to have [disclosed] the third secret of Fatima. Mary seemed to emphasize
the urgency of her plea for the conversion of all humanity by making herself
known to a much wider audience. A Japanese TV crew filmed the statue 'crying'
while reporting on the events at Akita."
Included in those apparitions were these messages:
-
July 6, 1973: "Is the infirmity of your ears painful? Your deafness
will be healed. Does the wound of your hand cause you to suffer? Pray in
reparation for the sins of men. [The apparition gave the text of a prayer.]
Pray very much for the pope, bishop and priests. Tell your superior all that
passed today. ..."
-
-
Aug. 3, 1973: "If you love the Lord, listen to what I have to say to
you. It is very important; you will convey it to your superior. Many men
in this world afflict the Lord. I desire souls to console him to soften the
anger of the heavenly father. I wish, with my son, for souls who will repair
by their suffering and their poverty for the sinners and ingrates.
-
"In order that the world might know his anger, the heavenly father is
preparing to inflict a great chastisement on all mankind. I have intervened
so many times to appease the wrath of the father. I have prevented the coming
of calamities by offering him the sufferings of the son on the cross, his
precious blood, and beloved souls who console him forming a cohort of victim
souls. Prayer, penance and courageous sacrifices can soften the father's
anger. ... Even in a secular institute, prayer is necessary. Already souls
who wish to pray are on the way to being gathered together. Without attaching
too much attention to the form, be faithful and fervent in prayer to console
the master."
-
-
Oct. 13, 1973: "My dear daughter, listen well to what I have to say
to you. You will inform your superior. As I told you, if men do not repent
and better themselves, the father will inflict a terrible punishment on all
humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will
never seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great
part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor
faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy
the dead. ... The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church
in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against
bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their
confreres ... churches and altars sacked; the Church will be full of those
who accept compromises, and the demon will press many priests and consecrated
souls to leave the service of the Lord. The demon will be especially implacable
against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls
is the cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there
will be no longer pardon for them. Today is the last time that I will speak
to you in living voice. From now on you will obey the one sent to you and
your superior."
-
The final date of the prophecy given to Agnes by the Holy Mother, researchers
point out, was 56 years to the day after the Virgin Mary stopped appearing
to the three Portuguese visionaries.
Matthew A. Tsakanikas, a Catholic theologian and one of 20 people
accompanying the Catholic Press Association to cover the
Jubilee 2000 preparations in Israel, told WorldNetDaily, "the Message
of Akita is known and approved by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith as of 1988.
"Both the local bishop -- John Ito, now deceased -- in 1984, and Cardinal
Ratzinger in 1988, declared the messages and events in Akita to be of
supernatural origin and labeled them 'worthy of belief,'" Tsakanikas said.
"The third message given on Oct. 13, 1973 by the Virgin Mary in Akita
... spoke of the 'demon' entering the Church," he said. "[It spoke of] 'cardinal
against cardinal and bishop against bishop.' Even worse, the Virgin warned
of a 'fire falling from heaven' [and] a 'chastisement' greater than the 'deluge.'
She warned that the living would envy the dead."
Michael Brown, a noted Catholic
researcher and author, said the Message of Akita "bears similarities, sometimes
striking ones" to the apocalyptic version of the third secret held by Catholic
traditionalists.
"Several years ago, I asked the bishop of the Akita area about the
[prophesies], and he sent me a fax saying that the phenomenon of the tears,
which came from a statue, had his tentative approval," Brown told WorldNetDaily
yesterday. However, he added, there "is no final approval, and no judgment,
on the actual message."
In another discussion of the similarities between the secrets of Fatima
and the Message of Akita, Inside
The Vatican Magazine published an interview in November 1998 with Howard
Dee, former ambassador to the Vatican from the Philippines.
In the article, Dee said, "Bishop Ito, Ordinary of Akita who approved
the apparitions, wrote to me after he briefed the Holy Father about the Akita
Events and presented his pastoral to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger for
approval.
"Bishop Ito was certain Akita was an extension of Fatima, and Cardinal
Ratzinger personally confirmed to me that these two messages, of Fatima And
Akita, are essentially the same," Dee told the magazine. "Bishop Ito said:
'The Father wants to purify mankind before it enters into the third
millennium.'"
Tsakanikas, who left the Catholic Press Association in April, said at
one time that he and a colleague "wrote an article about connection between
Fatima, Amsterdam and Akita that a certain person close to the pope wanted
to see published."
Without identifying that person, he added: "We didn't put much effort
into trying for national publication. I have a note from him encouraging
its publication. His encouragement does not necessarily reflect any Vatican
thinking, however. Maybe he just wanted to see Akita better known.""
Related stories:
Telling secrets on the Vatican
What does 'third secret' mean?
Related column:
Malachi Martin: Dispelling the myths
Jon E. Dougherty is
a staff reporter for WorldNetDaily.
©
2000 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.
|
"Fire
will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good
as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will
find themselves so desolate that they will envy the
dead."
-- Message of Akita |
"
Bishop Ito was certain Akita was an extension of Fatima, and
Cardinal Ratzinger personally confirmed to me that these two messages, of
Fatima and Akita, are essentially the same.
"
-- Howard Dee, former Philippine ambassador to the Vatican
|
"
The third message given on Oct. 13, 1973 by the Virgin Mary in Akita
... spoke of the 'demon' entering the Church. [It spoke of] 'cardinal against
cardinal and bishop against bishop.
"
-- Matthew A. Tsakanikas, Catholic theologian
|
|
"Mary
seemed to emphasize the urgency of her plea for the conversion of all humanity
by making herself known to a much wider audience. A Japanese TV crew filmed
the statue 'crying' while reporting on the events at Akita.
"
|
|
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