The Third Secret in Light of Benedict’s Passing
With the passing of Pope Benedict XVI on December 31, 2022, one could wonder how his life and death fits into the Fatima prophecies. The most obvious question is whether or not he was the “Holy Father” of the Third Secret. If you were looking for a spectacular, literal fulfillment of the vision of the Third Secret, you might not think so. However, prophetic visions are often not fulfilled in the literal sense and rarely understood until after their fulfillment. Most of the Jews living during the lifetime of Christ did not understand that He was fulfilling the prophecies of the Old Testament. Let us look at the text of the vision portion of the Third Secret of Fatima:
“After the two parts which I have already explained [hell and WWII], at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!’ And we saw in an immense light that is God: ‘something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it’ a Bishop dressed in White ‘we had the impression that it was the Holy Father’.
“Other bishops, priests, men and women religious, going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other bishops, priests, men and women religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the cross there were two angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God.”
Benedict clearly never passed through a literal half-ruined city on his way to the top of a steep mountain which had a cross made of cork trees on top of it. He was certainly not killed by bullets and arrows fired by soldiers. The fact that the “Holy Father” is described as “half trembling with halting step” might lead you to believe that the vision is not even meant to be taken literally since an old man in bad shape is not going to be climbing a steep mountain anywhere, much less just outside of Rome. But could it be said that he fulfilled the prophetic vision in a mystical sense?
A Bishop Dressed in White
The text of the Third Secret mentions a “Bishop dressed in White” and that the children “had the impression that it was the Holy Father.” Pope Benedict XVI technically became a bishop dressed in white when he renounced the papacy. Some people had the impression that he remained the Holy Father after that. Any number of “bullets and arrows” were shot at Benedict in the media. Rome has been in spiritual ruins for a long time. He surely had been afflicted with pain and sorrow, and his journey to the end of his life could be described as a long, uphill climb. Since the election of Francis, many traditional bishops, priests, men and women religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions have been doing “penance, penance, penance” since their way of life and opinions do not correspond with those approved by the Vatican. It might even be said that Cardinal George Pell died in the same way that Benedict did – after a sort of dry martyrdom.
Visions of Saint Jacinta and Saint Pius X
Jacinta of Fatima once had a vision of the Holy Father in which she said: “I saw the Holy Father in a very large house, kneeling before a table, with his face in his hands, crying. Outside the house were many people, some of whom cast stones at him, others cursed him and said many ugly words.” Benedict XVI stayed in Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, which is sort of a large house in Vatican City.[1] He was said to be distressed when the Amazon Synod suggested the end of the requirement for priestly celibacy. He was also apparently disturbed by the recent restrictions put on the Latin Mass. Although he may never have had a literal stone thrown at him, he definitely had many rhetorical stones thrown at him. Certainly many ugly words were used against him.
Besides the prophecies of Fatima related to the Holy Father, there is another prophecy of a pope given by Pope Pius X (d. 1914). In the middle of an audience with Franciscans in 1909, he seemed to fall into a trance. After awaking, he exclaimed: “What I have seen is terrifying! Will I be the one, or will it be a successor? What is certain is that the Pope will leave Rome and, in leaving the Vatican, he will have to pass over the dead bodies of his priests!” Just before he died in 1914, he had a related vision: “I have seen one of my successors, of the same name, who was fleeing over the bodies of his brethren. He will take refuge in some hiding place; but after a brief respite, he will die a cruel death. Respect for God has disappeared from human hearts. They wish to efface even God’s memory. This perversity is nothing less than the beginning of the last days of the world.”[2]
Upon resigning on February 28, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI left the Vatican and Rome in a helicopter on a flight to the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo while his new home at Mater Ecclesiae Monastery was being remodeled. So he actually did leave Rome at that point. The monastery was somewhat of a “hiding place” since initially he claimed that he wanted to live a life, “hidden from the world.”[3] It did not exactly turn out that way, however. He died sort of a “cruel death” in that his 2007 Summorum Pontificum was abrogated by Francis’ 2021 Traditionis Custodes while he was still alive. The Pachamama incident at the Amazon Synod in 2019 showed great disrespect for God and appeared to be an attempt to efface the memory of traditional Catholic worship of God in St. Peter’s Basilica itself. According to Pope Pius X, that perversity could signal the beginning of the end of the world!
The part of the prophecy of Pius X that is more mysterious is the description of his successor of the same name – Giuseppe is the Italian form of Joseph, so that fits – having to flee/pass over the bodies of his brethren/priests. Somehow, it was all terrifying to Pius X. The unfortunate resignation of Benedict XVI could have something to do with that. It is interesting that Benedict asked the faithful on the acceptance of his papacy to pray that he would not “flee for fear of the wolves.” Was he afraid for his life? A recent book, Murder in the 33rd Degree,[4] might make you wonder.
Prophecy Is Never Fulfilled as We Expect
A literal fulfillment of this prophecy would have been quite dramatic. However, to pass over dead bodies can figuratively mean to ignore their memory. The fact that the prophecy also mentions the effacing of memory could be an indication of that very thing. But what memory could have been effaced by Benedict XVI? Traditionally, once elected, a pope holds the office until his death. There have only been a handful of papal resignations and in every other case the man resigning renounced any claim on the papacy. The title “Pope Emeritus” was an absolute novelty on the part of Benedict XVI. Additionally, he continued wearing white and claimed only to: “resign the active exercise of the [Petrine] ministry …”[5] That left many wondering if he validly resigned the papacy at all. His claim that “At the moment of my resignation there were no other clothes available”[6] was absurd. So in that sense it could be said that the memory of the traditional understanding of the papacy was effaced by Benedict XVI.
So you could argue that Pope Benedict XVI is not only the Pope of the Third Secret, but also the one who fulfilled the prophecies of Pope Pius X. He did not do that in a spectacular way, which might leave some people wondering about it. But prophecies are often not fulfilled in a way that we expect.
Further Fulfillment?
If all that is true, what is left of the Third Secret concerns the phrase: “… there died one after another the other bishops, priests, men and women religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions.” Even now, it is recognize by many that Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world. Ever since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, vandalism of churches and pro-life offices has increased dramatically in the US. In Canada, the government school controversy has led to the burning of many churches. Various churches in South America and Europe have been vandalized. Even the fire which significantly damaged Notre Dame in 2019 was suspicious. Christians in various countries – including China, India, Nigeria, and the Middle East – are routinely persecuted. Traditional Catholics are even persecuted by their own Church!
Although we are not yet in the reign of the antichrist, the times in which we are living are a foreshadowing of that. If Pope Pius X speculated that the antichrist was alive in his time, were alive today, he would be convinced! It is left to us to keep up the prayers and Rosaries, together with the First Saturday devotions, in order to hasten the complete Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Editor’s Note:
The Fatima Center does not endorse this article as “correct” but rather finds it intriguing. One thing we must always keep in mind is that God’s prophecies are often fulfilled repeatedly, with ever deeper meaning as history unfolds according to Divine Providence. Prophetic prefigurements are also referred to as “typology.” We encounter this on nearly every page in Sacred Scripture. The Blessed Virgin Mary, a Savior, the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, etc. are all prefigured. Prophecies related to them were fulfilled in part and only more fully fulfilled by Christ Himself. Many of the prophecies await their complete fulfillment at the end of time when Christ comes again to judge the living and the dead.
It is certainly possible that the prophecies of Our Lady of Fatima – being of divine origin – also have an element of prefigurement and typology. Thus, the author’s speculation in this article could also be a way that Benedict XVI prefigures or foreshadows yet another pope who will fulfill the vision of the Third Secret even more deeply. It is also very possible that the Vision describes a Bishop in White and a Pope who are not the same individual or present at the same time. At this point in history, we simply do not know. But we do well to meditate upon Our Lady’s vision and heed Her commands!
ENDNOTES:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mater_Ecclesiae_Monastery
[2] https://traditioninaction.org/HotTopics/g56_Rome-3.htm
[3] https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/benedict-intends-live-hidden-world
[4] https://catholicinsight.com/murder-in-the-33rd-degree-the-gagnon-investigation-into-vatican-freemasonry/
[5] https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2013/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20130227.html
[6] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/29111/benedict-xvi-affirms-validity-of-his-resignation