The Third Secret of Fátima – Shadows Behind the Vision

The Envelope That Would Not Open

The story begins in 1917, a year of global war and societal upheaval. In Fátima, Portugal, three young shepherd children, Lúcia dos Santos, and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto, reported visitations by a figure they identified as the Virgin Mary. On 13 July 1917, they were entrusted with a three-part secret. Lúcia, the sole survivor into adulthood, wrote down the first two parts in 1941; the third remained hidden.

Under obedience, Sister Lúcia wrote down this third part on 3 January 1944. She sealed it in an envelope, marked “not to be opened before 1960,” or until her death, as its message would “appear clearer” by then.

This sealed manuscript became an object of intense global curiosity, magnified by two world wars and the Cold War’s nuclear anxieties. The world awaited this hidden message with trepidation and hope. The promised 1960 deadline, however, only deepened the mystery.

Eighty-Three Years of Quiet Power

The Third Secret’s journey to public knowledge illustrates a protracted period of institutional silence.

Delivered to Bishop da Silva of Leiria in June 1944, the envelope was transferred to the Secret Archives of the Holy Office in Rome on 4 April 1957. Bishop da Silva informed Sister Lúcia.

1960 arrived, but no revelation occurred.

Pope John XXIII, having read the Secret on 17 August 1959 with Father Pierre Paul Philippe, OP, and Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani’s agreement, decided against publication. His unofficial comment, “This does not concern my Pontificate,” hinted at sensitive content, possibly influenced by the Second Vatican Council and his Ostpolitik (cautious engagement with Soviet Bloc countries). He returned the envelope to the Holy Office.

Pope Paul VI also read the Secret on 27 March 1965, along with Archbishop Angelo Dell’Acqua, and chose to remain silent, returning it to the Archives. Reasons for secrecy shifted from Lúcia’s timing to papal prudence. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) explained these as acts of “prudence,” not dogma, to prevent “religious prophecy from being mistaken for a quest for the sensational”.

A turning point was the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II on 13 May 1981. Attributing his survival to Our Lady of Fátima, he requested the Secret on 18 July 1981. Cardinal Franjo Šeper provided two envelopes: Lúcia’s Portuguese original and an Italian translation.

The Pope’s connection to Fátima deepened.

On 13 May 2000, Cardinal Angelo Sodano announced the Pope’s decision to publish the text. The official release on June 26, 2000, included Lúcia’s four-page manuscript and Cardinal Ratzinger’s commentary. Reasons now include countering “absurd theses”. The very act of managing the narrative had become the primary narrative.

Witnesses Who Would Not Agree

The 2000 release ignited fresh debate, as the text seemed at odds with prior statements from those in positions to know. Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, who read the Secret around 1959, reportedly stated it was a single sheet, about 25 lines long. This contrasts with the four-page, 62-line text released.

In 1967, Ottaviani mentioned that Lúcia “wrote on a sheet of paper what Our Lady told her to tell the Holy Father,” implying direct words from Mary, which were absent in the 2000 vision.

Archbishop Loris Capovilla, Pope John XXIII’s secretary, later hinted at two texts or envelopes. He allegedly spoke of an “attachment” and confirmed Pope Paul VI read a text in June 1963 from a papal apartment envelope, contradicting the official 1965 reading.

Father Augustine Fuentes’ controversial 1957 interview with Lúcia, though disputed by Coimbra’s chancery, was defended by Fátima archivist Father Joaquin Alonso. Lúcia allegedly spoke of divine punishment, “many nations will disappear,” Russia as “instrument of chastisement,” and a “decisive battle” targeting consecrated souls. This is far more dire than the 2000 vision.

Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi, Papal Theologian to five Popes, allegedly stated: “In the Third Secret it is foretold, among other things, that the great apostasy in the Church will begin at the top”. This implies a severe internal crisis, not explicitly stated in the 2000 text.

Lúcia’s 1941 Fourth Memoir states: “In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved …etc.”. The “etc.” is pivotal for those arguing that unrevealed words from Our Lady, detailing a loss of faith outside Portugal, remain hidden.

Two Texts, One Secret?

Discordant testimonies support the “two-document” hypothesis, suggesting that the Third Secret may be two distinct but related documents. This theory suggests that the released four-page vision is only part of the whole. The other, perhaps a single-page letter, contains the Virgin Mary’s explicit explanatory words, clarifying the vision and continuing Lúcia’s “In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved, etc.”.

Evidence includes:

Physical Descriptions: Cardinal Ottaviani’s (and Bishop Venancio’s) account of a single sheet, circa 25 lines, versus the four-page, 62-line manuscript.

“Words of Our Lady”: Testimonies from Canon Barthas and Cardinal Ottaviani suggest the Secret contained Mary’s direct verbal messages, absent from the 2000 narrative vision.

Father Schweigl’s Testimony: He reported that the Third Secret had “two parts”: one concerning the Pope, and another continuing, “In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved, etc.”

Envelope Evidence: Some researchers point to evidence of two envelopes, kept in different locations (Holy Office and papal apartment), supported by Archbishop Capovilla’s “attachment” comments.

All point to the existence of an interpretive document, possibly suppressed.

If so, what did it say? Apostasy at the highest levels? A future false council? The destruction of the liturgy?

We do not know. And that is precisely the point.

The Vatican maintains that the four-page vision is complete, confirmed by Sister Lúcia. Cardinal Bertone, in The Last Visionary of Fatima, refuted “two document” claims, suggesting Ottaviani’s line count was an estimate.

Then, Cardinal Ratzinger’s 1984 Jesus magazine interview stated that the Secret concerned “dangers threatening the Faith and the life of the Christian, and therefore the world,” and “the importance of the ‘novissimi’ (the last events at the end of time).” Critics find these remarks, with their eschatological urgency, more aligned with a hypothesised missing letter than the 2000 vision’s focus on past events.

Managing Prophecy, Patterns of Control

The Vatican’s handling of Fátima reflects historical patterns concerning prophetic messages. Religious institutions prioritise stability and doctrinal coherence; critical prophecies can appear threatening. The Church evaluates private revelations pastorally, to protect them from error or a quest for the sensational. This instinct can lead to actions seen as suppression.

Precedents include:

• The Montanist movement (2nd century) was condemned for its claims challenging apostolic authority.
• Joachim of Fiore’s (12th century) apocalyptic prophecies saw some followers’ interpretations condemned.
• Marguerite Porete was executed in 1310 for mystical revelations deemed dangerous.
• Our Lady of La Salette (France, 1846), whose secrets, containing apocalyptic warnings and clergy criticism, faced controversy and suppression attempts.

These illustrate a pattern: caution and control over prophetic claims, especially apocalyptic or critical ones. The suppression of Father Joaquín Alonso’s Fátima research, reportedly concluding that the Secret concerned an internal “crisis of faith,” fits this pattern, potentially being too challenging for the Vatican’s desired narrative.

The Secret as Myth Engine

Eighty-three years of silence actively generated a potent mythos. The 1960 deadline passing without revelation amplified this, transforming the Secret into something “larger than life”. Speculation flourished; the Secret became a canvas for anxieties and hopes. Rumours, novels, and websites proliferated. “Fatimists” developed theories linking it to Church crises or conspiracies. Antonio Socci’s The Fourth Secret of Fatima argued that the 2000 release was a substitute for the original. Malachi Martin spoke cryptically of dark Vatican ceremonies. A secret shapes the world not only by what it says, but by what it makes others say.

The Vatican’s 2000 release, for many, only added to the myth of an incomplete revelation. The prolonged withholding had itself become a message, suggesting profound gravity.

What Remains Unanswered

Despite Vatican statements, unsettling questions persist. Does a second text, an explicit explanation from Our Lady, exist in Vatican archives? Testimonies from Ottaviani, Schweigl, and Capovilla fuel this possibility. Why has no independent commission examined the physical evidence: envelopes, handwriting, the alleged single sheet document?

What would full disclosure change? Would it confirm dire predictions or reveal a message contextual to the mid-20th century? Heal distrust or risk further division?

The Fátima enigma persists because withholding became, for many, the message. Decades of silence and shifting rationales created a space where curiosity thrives. The very act of withholding became the message. That message continues to echo, a testament to the enduring power of the unsaid, the authority of absence, and the human inability to leave heaven’s silence uninterpreted. The final interpretation, it seems, remains an open question.

If prophecy is meant to guide the faithful, what does it mean when faith itself becomes the reason it is hidden?

Sources

Sister Lúcia’s Fourth Memoir (1941); Vatican dossier The Message of Fátima (2000); Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger interview in Jesus magazine (1984); Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani address on Fátima (1967); Father Augustine Fuentes interview transcript (1957); unpublished research notes of Father Joaquín Alonso (Fatima Texts and Critical Studies, 1975); taped testimonies of Archbishop Loris Capovilla recorded by Antonio Socci (2006); Vatican press conference transcripts with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone (2007).