The
film “Finding Fatima” (1)
Ignatius Press’ second Fatima
film in a very short period of time
A Review
NOTE
Added on May 10th, 2022
We recommend that this 2011 document be read in conjunction with these
others:
PURPOSE
and INTRODUCTION
February 2011. After a little over a year, Ignatius Press has released
yet another
film (2) about
Fatima. By this time one could ask: "What is left to be said about
Fatima?" However, there is another question which is more appropriate:
"What new spin are 'they' trying to give the
events of Fatima now?", since it would seem that "they" have already
"spun it to death" for
decades.
With those questions raised we asked a close cooperator to acquire the
film, review it, and forward it to m de P so that
he could also view the film in an effort to discern the answers to the
questions posed above, should that be the Will of
God.
This brief document is the result of these reviews.
DETAILS
The Review from our cooperator
The DVD contains the film, and some side features. Quite a lot of the
movie is interviews of people in Portuguese; it
would be interesting to know how faithful the English subtitles are to
the original meaning.
Regarding the film itself:
They got some parts of the Fatima message right:
- The film ends
with a call for peace from Fr. Schiffer, the
Jesuit priest who was one of the survivors of the A-Bomb at Hiroshima (3).
It is noteworthy – and correct – for
NOT calling for a militant crusade as a response to the messages of Our
Lady.
- The film
makes it clear that the Fatima message is still
relevant now; it does not relegate the apparition and its significance
to the past.
The film provided some details that I knew beforehand, details that are
(or could be seen as) critical of the slothful
behavior of the Church Administration:
- It stated,
accurately, that John Paul II was not connected to
Fatima, or attentive to it, until after the May/13/81 assassination
attempt (4).
- It stated
that the beatification of the 2 seers who died soon
after the apparition was "delayed for many decades," and getting the
beatification done required something like a
personal intervention from Pope John Paul II.
- It was very
clear that the Vatican prohibited Lucia from
speaking to others about the message of Fatima, a prohibition that she
accepted and obeyed (5).
(I recall a reference to this situation in the 1990s by Malachi Martin;
he had described Sr. Lucia as a “hostage,” as far as I remember.)
The film makers included some information that was new to me, even
though I am familiar with the phenomenon through
reading several books, and through the articles on your web site. That
new information included:
- The film
stated that the October 13 Miracle of the Sun was
seen over a 600 square mile area, which works out to it being visible
about 14 miles away from the Cove.
- When
Francisco was dying of the flu, he refused hospital
care.
- After Jacinta
died, the undertaker found tears of blood on her
body, as if she had wept blood just before dying... but nevertheless,
that there was an odor of flowers, and no stench,
around the body.
- The film
claims that it was the picture of Jacinta's incorrupt
body in 1935 that motivated Lucia to start her Fatima memoirs. (I do
not know whether this is true, or
propaganda.)
Unfortunately, the film incorporates much of the evil “spin” on Fatima
from the Vatican hierarchy. Spin is
delivered by commission and by omission:
- There is a
reference to the La Salette vision (6), and a mention
that these children "went off the rails" later in life. The context in
this film is that the Fatima visionaries retained
the free will to respond well or badly to the apparitions. However, it
is clear that the Vatican (and the film makers)
disdain an apparition such as La Salette, which includes the warning
that “Rome will lose the Faith and become the
seat of the Antichrist”.
- The film
makes the claim that Lucia
withheld the Third Part of the secret because the world was not ready
for it.
- The film
upholds the Vatican line that the Third Secret was a
vision. It makes no mention of the text of the message given in the
secret.
- In the
biography of Lucia after 1917, the film makes a brief
reference to additional visits by Our Lady to her. There is no specific
mention of the 1925-1931 apparitions of Jesus
and Mary (7),
and NO mention of their content and deadlines.
- The film
claims that Portugal was transformed in the 1920s,
with the end of the persecution of the Roman Catholic Church... but
there is no mention of the role of Salazar or of
Portuguese fascism.
- At 1 hour and
14 minutes into the main movie, there is a photo
of Benedict XVI (8),
followed by the statement, "It was he who interpreted
and wrote out the Third Part of the Secret of
Fatima. In that text he reveals deep knowledge of everything related to
Fatima." The film praises Benedict XVI, and
appears to give him credit for writing the “Third Secret” that was
released in 2000. Could it be that the
Vatican's men have admitted more than they intended to in this case?
- In its
history of the Rosary, the film stated that Our Lady
gave it to St. Dominic, and that he used it to pray against the
Albigensians. This history of the fight against the
Albigensians omits the crusade against the Albigensians, the
Inquisition, and the Dominicans' role in the
Inquisition.
- The film ends
with a Bishop Sheen quote that "Fatima is not a
warning, it is a hope." As such, the movie ending pulls the teeth (9) from
the Fatima message.
The film is engaging and technically well done. Nevertheless, because
the true parts of the message of the film are so
thoroughly mixed with ecclesiastical propaganda, I cannot give the
movie better than a “D” grade (10).
Aside from the film, there are additional items on the DVD: 2 hour-long
films on Fatima and its meaning. I was unable to
review these films or to make comments, but viewed the first several
minutes of each one to verify that they are
viewable on the DVD.
The
M+G+R Foundation Comments
Regarding: After Jacinta died,
the undertaker found tears of blood on
her body, as if she had wept blood just before dying... but
nevertheless, that there was an odor of flowers, and no
stench, around the body.
Comments: We have never
heard about the
tears of blood; however, the sweet smell of flowers is a well
documented fact.
Regarding: The film claims that
it was the picture of Jacinta's
incorrupt body in 1935 that motivated Lucia to start her Fatima memoirs.
Comments: Pure propaganda.
Every time
Lucia formally wrote about her recollections it was done at the request
of her Bishop.
Regarding: There is a reference
to the La Salette vision, and a mention
that these children "went off the rails" later in life.
Comments: This is not true.
Melanie (of
La Salette) never went "off the rails" even though she was "in the
world" and not hiding from it in a cloistered convent
as they tried to impose upon her. Maximin just got fed up with the
"games clerics play" and remained at the margin of
the seemingly never ending arguments about what Mary "really" said at
La Salette.
Regarding: The film makes the
claim that Lucia withheld the Third Part of the secret because the
world was not ready
for it.
Comments: This is not true
either.
Lucia requested the Vatican authorities not to release the third part
of the Secret until 1960 because by then people
would not doubt it.
Regarding: There is no specific
mention of the 1925-1931 apparitions of
Jesus and Mary, and NO mention of their content and deadlines.
Comments: No surprise here.
Did Hitler
ever admit to his wrong doings?
Regarding: The film ends with a
Bishop Sheen quote that "Fatima is not
a warning, it is a hope."
Comments: Yes, "holy"
and
"adored" (11)
Bishop Sheen had to put in his "two cents
worth" (12).
In a way, Fatima is a message of hope
since it reassures us that the words of Malachias
3:3 “And he shall sit refining and
cleansing the silver, and he
shall purify the sons of Levi (the priestly class), and shall refine them as gold, and as
silver, and they shall offer sacrifices to the Lord in
justice” will come to pass. We cannot wait until the Vatican is
left in the condition the Temple of
Jerusalem was left in 70 AD.
Regarding: Aside from the film,
there are additional items on the DVD:
2 hour-long films on Fatima and its meaning.
Comments: There was a one
hour talk by
Fr. Andrew Apostoli, CFR, (member of the Community of the Franciscan
Friars of the Renewal). Justifiably, but totally
outside the scope of this review, our opinion of Apostoli is not
favorable at all. Regarding the interviews in
Portuguese: The translations were accurate.
NOTES
(1) The film being
reviewed - Finding
Fatima
(2) The first film - The
13th Day
(3) Our document Divine Protection at Hiroshima
includes the story of the late Fr. Hubert Schiffer, as retold by Fr.
Paul Ruge
(4) On Defense of Pope John Paul II - His
programed and tragic trajectory
(5) Controlling elements of the
Roman Catholic Church Administration tried to
place Melanie of La Salette in a cloistered Carmelite convent in
England where they had "exiled" her, just as they did
with Lucia of Fatima. Melanie was able to derail the plans of the
controlling elements through her solid backing from
less powerful elements of the Administration, empowered by the Holy
Spirit of God. Remember "controlling elements of the
Administration" can only count upon the power of satan and, as we have
often reminded our readers - even satan must
serve God. (The precondition for this is that we place our trust in God
and not in man – or in an
institution.)
(6) The
Apparitions of Our Lady of La Salette, France, in 1846
(7) For some references to the
1925-1931 apparitions of Jesus and Mary, see Fátima from 1917 to 1942
(8) From the beginning, Ratzinger/Benedict XVI attempted to deflect
the warnings of Fátima
What The Vatican disinformation machinery did with the document issued
on June 26, 2000 - the alleged full text of Third Part of the secret
with over 30 pages of literary smoke explaining it - was simply trying
to cover its tracks for its abysmal failure at not having heeded the
Message of Fátima at the proper time - back in 1929!. This failing has
already resulted in over one hundred million deaths worldwide (7) with
many more to come.
(9) (Note for non-native
English speakers) "To pull the teeth": "To make someone or something
less powerful, potent, or effective".
(10) (Note for readers outside
USA) "Grade D": Academic grading in the United States commonly are A,
B, C, D, E and F, with A being the highest and F being lowest.
(11) See posts in FYI&R
of October
6th and December
13th, 2010
(12) (Note for non-native
English speakers) "To put two cents worth": "To give one's opinion even
when it is not asked for".
Published on February 6th, 2011
Some references and explanatory notes added on May 10th, 2022
© Copyright 2011- 2022 by The M+G+R Foundation.
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