Evening star., 1960-04-17
Mystery of Fotimo Prophecy
Due to Be Resolved This Year

to ascend toward the east, the
rain stopped. the clouds parted
abruptly, the sun appeared as q
silver disc at which all could gaze
directly and then it changed color,
whirled rapidly, seemed to ap-
proach the earth and finally re-
turned to its normal aspect.
Miracle Of the Sun
The miracle" of the suns be-
havior was reported in secular
newspapers. in diaries and con-
versations of Skeptical persons
who went to the scene as observ-
erS, by public officials and by
the devout.
A year and half later, Fran
cisco died. Less than a year later,
his sister died too. Bishop Jose
Alves Correia de Silva of Leiria,
which includes Fatima. had al
ready sent Lucy to a girls school
in Northern Portugal for her
health'S sake. The unending
curiosity surrounding her, as we'll ,
as the repeated official question:
ings, threatened her serenity Of
mind. Later she became a nun,
first in the order of st. Dorothy
and later in the Carmelite order.
Only once did she revisit Fatima.
Already it had become a world
shrine.
The news of Fatima spread
steadily and the numbers of the
devoted grew. Near the small
Chapel of the Apparitions tow
ering shrine was erected. Today
the visitors come from all parts
of the world.
The cult spread even more rap
idly after 1880, when the church
gave it official sanction. AS Fatima
grew in Importance, it figured in
larger rites. In 1887, the Apostolic
Nuncio presided at the first
Portuguese National Pilgrimage, a
religious festival repeated yearly
since then. In 1912, Pope Plus
XII celebrated the silver jubilee
OF Fatima, broadcasting in Portu-
guese his Conservation of the
Human Race to the Immaculate
Heart of Mary" His address rec
ognized that Portugal, once a CEN
ter of anti-clericalism, had become
a revitalized Catholic community.
Prophecies Revealed
Lucy wrote her memoirs from
1896 to 1912 at the behest of her
bishop. The most widely publicized
part of them was the prophecies
concerning World War I and
World War II and the appeal for
the conversion Of Russia. To
doubters who pointed out that at
the time these we're made public,
1912, World War II had already
begun, students Of Fatima replied
that Lucy had spoken Of both
matters many years earlier.
Now it is 1860 and the anniver-
sary of the first vision is only
weeks away. Speculation among
Catholics as to what the third Sc
cret contains is increasing. There
are many devout Catholics, of
course, who put little stock in the
visions of Fatima. Even though
the church has approved them.
the visions of the three children
were private visions. and no Cath
olic need put his faith in them.
The position of the church is that
public revelation" ended with the
death of the last of the apostles.
Private revelation may indeed
come from God but it is not a
matter of faith for other persons
to believe in them.
Some members of the Roman
Catholic hierarchy are receptive
to the message of Fatima but dis
trust the emotional excesses Of
some Of its devotees. The Rev.
Eugene Burke, professor Of dog
matte theology at Catholic Univer-
sity, says:
When there is emotional dom.
ination in something like this it
becomes frightening. In every age
of crisis you find a group trying TO
solve the problem by large
destruction--the end OF the world
idea. You spoil the character Of
the vision when it is used TO serve
ends not c9nected with the
vision"