Benedict's Resignation: Due to the Third Secret of Fatima?

On February 12, I posted the article “Benedict XVI and the Prophecy of Petrus Romanus: Is the Last Pope Here?” On that day, I mentioned the most pertinent fact (and one that is not seriously deliberated, even in the Catholic media): “Benedict XVI was the only pope to ascend the throne of stewardship in the Catholic City already possessing full knowledge of the Third Secret of Fatima.”

Unbeknownst to me at the time, Antonio Socci was on the same track.  Mr. Socci is a well-respected, prominent gentleman of the Italian Catholic mainstream media, and he was well-acquainted with Cardinal Ratzinger and Cardinal Bertone, to the point that he personally hosted press conferences for both prelates. Soon after Cardinal Ratzinger became pope, Mr. Socci decided to fully investigate the debate on the Third Secret of Fatima.

To his surprise, Mr. Socci found crucial evidence which contradicted his earlier “anti-Fatimist” assumptions. Furthermore, he found himself stone-walled by the formerly friendly Cardinal Bertone, who denied him an interview regarding the Third Secret. That was Socci’s “Aha” moment, for it was then that he realized the possibility that “there are embarrassing questions and that there is above all something to hide.”  In the end, Mr. Socci – who is clearly an honest man  - concluded that the “Fatimists” were right. He laid out the evidence (including his investigative experiences) in his book, The Fourth Secret of Fatima.

Regarding the missing text of the Third Secret, Mr. Socci’s research led him to reasonably conclude that “the words of the Madonna preannounce an apocalyptic crisis of the faith in the Church starting from the top.” He deduced that the Virgin’s words are “also an explanation of the vision (revealed on June 26, 2000) where there appear the Pope, the bishops and martyred faithful, after having traversed a city in ruins.” Mr. Socci was also convinced that Our Lady’s words further clarify “the pre-announced assassination of a Pope [the white-clad bishop in the vision] in the context of an immense martyrdom of Christians and of a devastation of the world.”

Fast forward to Mr. Socci’s blog post of February 12, 2013 (written in Italian here ), in which he basically states his opinion that Benedict XVI (now Pope Emeritus) decided to resign/abdicate based on what the Third Secret Text fully reveals.

Mr. Socci further opines that Benedict XVI felt unable to reveal the “hidden” part of the Secret (that is, the Virgin’s words – the Text - pertaining to the Vision of the Third Secret) because his “collaborators” involved in the Third Secret’s release[1] made a personal judgment that the Third Secret Text was inauthentic;  in his opinion, that is why in June of 2000, the Virgin’s words were not included in the Vatican’s public release of the Vision. Mr. Socci also considers it likely that Benedict XVI also felt that, if the Third Secret Text was released during his papacy, the world would ridicule it.

What has also come to my mind is the following concern:  If by his abdication, Benedict XVI is trying to avert some future disaster, he may inadvertently cause it. Many of us have watched “time paradox” movies where people act to avoid a future disastrous outcome but ironically, those actions actually caused the disaster.  Might Benedict XVI"s resignation be a similar case? After all -  “Truth is stranger than fiction” and “Art imitates life.”
 

From the beginning of his papacy, the Pope Emeritus made very compelling comments about the Church's suffering, her future,and perhaps his own. As I pointed out in my previous post (Fatima, Pope Benedict, and a Bishop in White), Benedict XVI began his papacy with a request to the Church to "pray for me so that I do not flee from fear of wolves."
 

On May 10, 2010, he willingly chose to answer questions about the Third Secret of Fatima, briefly but clearly stating that the Third Secret is spoken. (That last link takes you to my article published in the July 2010 issue of Catholic Family News. My July article  was an expanded version of my original blog article of May 27, 2010 - written because I found a very important discrepancy in the Italian-to-English translation of the Holy Father's words. 
 

There are other things la Papa Emeritus said - very important things to which not enough of the faithful have paid much attention.  For example, in his last Ash Wednesday homily, Benedict XVI stated: “I am thinking in particular of the sins against the unity of the Church, of the divisions in the body of the Church.” That sentence is very similar to what he said about the Third Secret not even three years ago.

 

Pope Benedict XVI (my translation from Italian to English): “Beyond this great vision of the suffering of the pope...That is, it is true that beyond the moment indicated in the vision, it is spoken (or “it is said”), it is shown [or “it is seen”] the necessity of the passion of the Church...and therefore are the sufferings of the Church that is announced.” (Incidentally, I realize the last sentence is awkward, but what I am providing is a literal translation. The last sentence better reads in English as follows: “...and therefore are the sufferings of the Church announced” OR “...and therefore it is the sufferings of the Church that are announced."

 

I'll be writing more on the Pope, the bishop in white, and the Third Secret later tonight. Please keep posted!

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[1] Presumably Cardinal Angelo Sodano , who in 2000 A.D. was Secretary of State and Archbishop (now Cardinal ) Tarcisio Bertone, then Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.