“Proponents of the Neues Europa text appear to be unanimous in that they do not accept it wholly—indeed, neither did Louis Emrich, as we have seen. They agree with Emrich insofar as he claims, ‘…essential points of the original are… found there.’ Given the sources, it is to be expected that these “essential points” would have been enhanced and amplified, particularly with regard to the warnings about nuclear war. The sources clearly were interested in promoting public support for nuclear arms reduction. And given such enhancements, it would not be surprising for the sources to assign the Secret to the more well-known October Apparition, with its Miracle of the Sun, rather than the lesser known July Apparition. So according to the proponents, all the above objections become moot points—the only question being: is there any evidence that the Neues Europa text really contains “essential points” of the original Third Secret? The proponents answer in the affirmative, and here is some of their evidence:
1) Some Fatima experts have given credence to the Neues Europa text, including Fr. Messias Coelho. He did so on the authority of an unnamed Cardinal, who had read the original and had told him that the Neues Europa text fundamentally corresponded with it.
2) The unnamed Cardinal would appear to have been Cardinal Ottaviani. According to Vatican insider Msgr. Corrado Balducci, a Fr. Mastrocola, director of a religious newsletter Santa Rita, asked Cardinal Ottaviani for permission to reprint the Neues Europa text. “Do it, do it. Print ten thousand copies, twenty thousand, thirty thousand!” replied Ottaviani, who was custodian of the Third Secret and had read it. “Publish as many copies as you want, because the Madonna wanted it published already in 1960.” With this endorsement, albeit unofficial, the Neues Europa text was widely circulated, and even republished in the L’Osservatore Romano Sunday edition of October 15, 1978.
3) While it has been rumored that Sr. Lucia rejected the Neues Europa text, this has never been proven (although it would not be surprising if this were true. As noted above, even Louis Emrich made it abundantly clear that the Neues Europa text was not the original). On the other hand, it is certain that in an interview with Fr. Augustine Fuentes, on December 26, 1957, Sr. Lucia made some statements which appear to confirm some ‘essential points’ of the Neues Europa text:
‘Father, the Most Holy Virgin is very sad because no one has paid any attention to Her message, neither the good nor the bad. The good continue on their way but without giving any importance to Her message. The bad, not seeing the punishment of God actually falling upon them, continue their life of sin without even caring about the message. But believe me, Father, God will chastise the world and this will be in a terrible manner. The punishment from Heaven is imminent. Father, how much time is there before 1960 arrives? It will be very sad for everyone, not one person will rejoice at all if beforehand the world does not pray and do penance. I am not able to give any other details because it is still a secret. According to the will of the Most Holy Virgin, only the Holy Father [Pope Pius XII] and the Bishop of Fatima [Da Silva] are permitted to know the Secret, but they have chosen not to know it so that they would not be influenced. This is the third part of the Message of Our Lady, which will remain secret until 1960.
‘Tell them, Father, that many times the most Holy Virgin told my cousins Francisco and Jacinta, as well as myself, that many nations will disappear from the face of the earth. She said that Russia will be the instrument of chastisement chosen by Heaven to punish the whole world if we do not beforehand obtain the conversion of that poor nation.
‘Father, the devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Blessed Virgin. And the devil knows what it is that most offends God and which in a short space of time will gain for him the greatest number of souls. Thus, the devil does everything to overcome souls consecrated to God, because in this way, the devil will succeed in leaving the souls of the faithful abandoned by their leaders, thereby the more easily will he seize them.
‘That which afflicts the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Heart of Jesus is the fall of religious and priestly souls. The devil knows that religious and priests who fall away from their beautiful vocation drag numerous souls to Hell. …The devil wishes to take possession of consecrated souls. He tries to corrupt them in order to lull to sleep the souls of lay people and thereby lead them to final impenitence” (La verdad sobre el Secreto de Fatima, Fr. Joaquín Alonso).
4) In a letter which was purportedly addressed to John Paul II, dated May 12, 1982, Sr. Lucia gave more hints about the Third Secret:
‘The third part of the secret refers to Our Lady’s words: ‘If not [Russia] will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions against the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated.’
‘The third part of the secret, that you are so anxious to know, is a symbolic revelation, referring to this part of the Message, conditioned by whether we accept or not what the Message itself asks of us: ‘If My requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, etc.’
‘Since we did not heed this appeal of the Message, we see that it has been fulfilled, Russia has invaded the world with her errors. And if we have not yet seen the complete fulfillment of the final part of this prophecy, we are going towards it with great strides. If we do not reject the path of sin, hatred, revenge, injustice, violations of the rights of the human person, immorality and violence, etc.
“And let us not say that it is God Who is punishing us in this way; on the contrary it is people themselves who are preparing their own punishment. In his kindness God warns us and calls us to the right path, while respecting the freedom He has given us; hence people are responsible.’
5) In 1980 John Paul II met with a select group of intellectuals at Fulda, Germany. There he was asked, ‘What about the Third Secret of Fatima? Should it not have already been published in 1960?” John Paul’s reply was, “Given the seriousness of the contents, my predecessors… preferred to postpone publication so as not to encourage the world power of Communism to make certain moves. On the other hand, it should be sufficient for all Christians to know this: if there is a message in which it is written that the oceans will flood whole areas of the earth, and that from one moment to the next millions of people will perish, truly the publication of such a message is no longer something to be so much desired…’ (Stimme des Glaubens, October 1981).
6) On March 17, 1990, Cardinal Silvio Oddi, who had been a close friend of John XXIII, declared that the Third Secret ‘…has nothing to do with Gorbachev. The Blessed Virgin was alerting us against apostasy in the Church” (Il Sabbato, March 17, 1990).
7) In a personal letter to a Professor Baumgartner of Salzburg, Austria, Cardinal Luigi Ciappi revealed: “In the Third Secret it is foretold, among other things, that the great apostasy in the Church begins at the top’ (Catholic, March 2002).
While not conclusive, all of these hints seem to indicate that the essence of the original Third Secret, like the Neues Europa text, has to do with an impending punishment of the world—a punishment which is both physical and spiritual, involving both Russia and an apostasy from the Catholic Faith.
Many were surprised, therefore, when on June 26, 2000 the Vatican revealed what it claimed was the genuine Third Fatima Secret; for the text of this version of the secret was not a message from Our Lady. Rather it was the purported description of a further vision granted to the three children at the July Apparition. The Vatican then attempted to interpret the vision and to put the whole matter to rest. That didn’t happen.
Immediately critics began to voice their suspicions, and a flood of evidence began to emerge. The criticisms and the evidence fall into three general categories:
1) that the “vision text” is a complete fraud;
2) that the ‘vision text’ may be valid, but its interpretation by the Vatican is bogus;
3) that the ‘vision text’ may be valid, but the Vatican is covering up the existence of a further text—the words of Our Lady explaining the vision and linked to the words, “In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved; etc.”
Article credits to https://www.salvemariaregina.info/