IMAGE: CNS photo/Rafael Marchante, Reuters
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Sixteen years after the Vatican
released the text of the so-called Third Secret of Fatima, rumors cyclically arise
claiming that the Vatican still is keeping part of Mary’s message to three children
in Fatima, Portugal, secret.
The Vatican press office May 21 took the unusual step of
publishing a communique with reaction from retired Pope Benedict XVI, who — as
prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith — oversaw the
secret’s publication in 2000 and personally wrote a commentary on it. He
insisted at the time that the complete text had been published.
In mid-May, a blog published a story claiming a German
priest, Father Ingo Dollinger, said that then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had
told him soon after the publication in 2000 that part of the message was still
secret.
The Vatican communique said: “In this regard, Pope emeritus
Benedict XVI declares ‘never to have spoken with Professor Dollinger about
Fatima,’ clearly affirming that the remarks attributed to Professor Dollinger
on the matter ‘are pure inventions, absolutely untrue,’ and he confirms decisively
that ‘the publication of the Third Secret of Fatima is complete.'”
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