Bishop John Ito of Akita was very reluctant to approve the apparitions. It meant confirming the truth of the terrible warning. He went to Rome again even after two commissions working for more than 10 years called the apparitions authentic. The Vatican told him to go ahead with the approval. The many other apparitions under investigation declare the same urgency.
Numbers alone are significant.
In the 19th century, there were only 5 Marian apparitions. In the 20th century there is an explosion of more than 300 apparitions scattered around the globe. The earth could be hit at any time by a deadly asteroid, and governments should urgently fund more programs to seek them out and find ways of destroying them, British and Australian astronomers said on Tuesday. Scientists and amateur astronomers met in London to discuss the best ways to track the thousands of asteroids that pass close to then Earth every decade. Last week's heavenly near miss was a record.