The biggest mystery of the Church in the 20th century is how on Earth the request of Our Lady of Fatima , the urgent request that Russia be Consecrated to her Immaculate Heart by all the Bishop's of the World was never carried out. All the Popes concerned were saints. All of them knew that Fatima was for real. All of them knew that the Mother of God wanted it. None of them ever did it. Why oh why oh why?
To show us that Judas’s would be among us and the fate they will incur for their betrayal of Him and His word.
It makes you shudder to think of the wolves in the Vatican and what goes on. When Benedict XVI was asked how far his authority reached he said as far as the door.
It does look like it. When Jesus asked the Apostles to stay awake they went right to sleep too. I suppose it must be something like that. Awful.
In fairness, Pope John Paul made an incomplete effort. Given the resistance of the Vatican bureaucracy, the infamous Curia, it was probably a considerable achievement by him and he was rewarded with the fall of the Soviet Union. Of course, it was far too late. The errors of Russia had long bolted the coop. This Consecration needed to be done as soon as possible and given that the Bolshevik Revolution occurred immediately after Our Lady's warning, there are no excuses for not having done it right there and then. So all popes since then bear varying degrees of responsibility. However, for all we know, maybe they were all thwarted by the bureaucrats. No wonder C. S. Lewis depicted the devils of Hell as bureaucrats.
At the end of the day it is God's church and we have his promise to be with us always and the gates of hell will not prevail. In the end Our Lady will crush Satan's head.
Yes. What troubles me is what's coming down the line between now and "in the end". It could be very unpleasant. On the other hand, I have just watched a short video about the prophecy on the conversion of Russia It's a Kevin Symonds video. I hope that posting the video won't offend anyone on the forum. I'm not his biggest fan but he has done a lot of research on Fatima and knows a lot about it. I need to watch it again to figure out what he means about the conversion. He talks about a religious conversion and a conversion from war mongering. He does refer to Sr. Lucia having been quoted as saying that the conversion will be to Orthodoxy. For all the possible downsides to Synodality, it could ease the way to unity with the Orthodox. Based on something Sr. Lucia said in the past, I think that the conversion of Russia may not happen until after the schism is ended (I'm sure she said that there will be one Church). Some people say that we have been in the period of peace since the fall of the Soviet Union. I don't know whether that's correct. If they are wrong and if the forthcoming Synod does lead to decentralisation, it could also lead to unity with the Orthodox, the conversion of Russia, the period of peace and the triumph of Our Lady's immaculate heart. God can bring good from anything. Here's the video. It's only 15 minutes long and I think that members here might find it interesting:
It is difficult for we, who have never worked in the Vatican to see how things work. The only way I have of comparing is in my own work in an office in a hospital. When I started 15 years ago, my sister , who has worked in an office all her life said that it takes takes at least three or four years to understand all that is going on. My own attitude has been more and more to keep myself to myself as much as possible and to avoid all gossip. The advantage has been I have not really got much of a clue as to what is going on. I have no real enemies but I have no real friends either. I recall asking my mother, who had ten children why she did not stand out in the street talking to the other mothers as most of the rest did. She replied that as she had ten children to raise she had no time for it. As I get older I find keeping myself to myself works just fine with me. I notice this in Church too. No one really knows me and I know no one else. But I like this too. Silence leads to listening and listening leads to hearing God. This is what I go to Church for, to meet God. This is what I go to work for, to meet God. This is why I walk the dogs, to meet God. This is why I wake up in the morning, to meet God. It seems to me that more we give ourselves to God the happier we are. On the other hand the less we give ourselves to this work of silence the unhappier we are, restless, constantly yapping, constantly striving with each other and the world around us. I love this about the Old Mass that it imposes silence and forces us to simply listen. But as I regard the Vatican and the Hierarchy in general I see a constant endless stream of chatter and constant meetings of this that and the other. An endless expression of opinions and rows. For those who stray far from God , this I think is there first hell, this constant screaming and yammering, this endless abuse.
The Orthodox don't seem to be as fascinated with the latest worldly fads as, for example, the Church in Germany. It's hard to see them interested in uniting with decentralised Churches that have democratically-elected Bishops and openly homosexualist priests. And goodness knows what else.
Agree. I have spent the last few weeks once more reading about Orthodox saints. Fr John Kronstad who died at the turn of the century and other much older saints. Father Seraphim of Sarov for example. Hard to picture such gentle yet austere saints embracing the Church of "Nice"
