Is Our Lady of Fatima Still Relevant?

[Dempsey1919]

I have heard many Catholics say that the Church was more interested in Our Lady of Fatima in the 1950’s and 1960’s before the Council; however, it seems that many lost interest after Vatican II. Traditionalist Catholics seem more interested in Our Lady of Fatima. Why is this?

 

[JustaServant]

Those Catholics who think that the full consecration has been made are stuck with two very uncomfortable possibilities.

1. they must propose that Russia is converted, Russia’s errors are exposed and renounced, our Lady’s Immaculate Heart has triumphed, and we are living in a blessed time of world peace…

OR…

1. they must propose that though the consecrations occurred, the promises are delayed, or not coming at all. After all Fatima IS only a private revelation.

These are pretty much the sticking points and a clue as to why the message of Fatima is currently ignored, IMHO.
Russia (and her errors) is the 800 pound gorilla in the room, and we just keep walking around him.

 

[Dempsey1919]

Russia (and her errors) is the 800 pound gorilla in the room, and we just keep walking around him.

What are the errors of Russia? This is the only thing I do not understand about the Fatima message. Why did Our Lady single out Russia? What is it about Russia that makes it worse than the USA, the UK, Germany, Korea, Iran etc.

 

[jdnation]

Let me add my 2 cents.

Fatima is still important and relevant.

I feel the Church’s decision to withold the secret when it should’ve been revealed has come back to bite it in the ***.

Now people are associating the secret with Vatican II which is close to the time of its reveal. Some are under the impression that Vatican II was heretical, this is not so, from what I’ve managed to see, it is in keeping with Church History.

Some are under the impression that it involves conspiracies to replace the current popes with fradulent ones and that Paul VI, John Paul II etc. are antipopes who were not really elected but that the elections were influenced by Masonic elements. I know less about this, but this conspiracy only exists in light of the idea that Vatican II was heretical and binding, so they must come up with some explanation as to why this is so…

Now given the sex abuse scandal and some cover-ups, people don’t know to what extent they can trust the Church. And this is especially true in light of other alleged apparitions that are happening. Some of these may be false, but if the Church says so, in light of its handling of Fatima, people will be likely not to trust any informal declarations made by local Bishops that are negative, even fi they might be right to caution the faithful.

And like it or not, the consecration of Russia was never done as originally specified. What the Church inevitably ended up doing as part of a consecration of the world and in particular ‘that country’ has been accepted by Heaven and Heaven will respond accordingly. What Our Lady was warning about was not that the world would become communist, but to prevent the errors of Communism from spreading… errors such as anti-religion, anti-Catholic, extreme ideals of equality, secular humanism etc. which are all now thriving and being celebrated in Democratic Western Societies… So I’ll let you decide whether these are the fruits of a proper consecration…

Also those who’ve studied Fatima in depth have shown that there are inconsistencies with what the Church claims is the 3rd secret and many questions remain.

What I think the 3rd Scret refers to is about the apostacy, rebellions, immorality and schisms, disobedience to the Pope and general confusion amongst the faithful following in the wake of Vatican II, not that there was anything wrong with Vatican II.

The Church may have misguidedly beleived that if they didn’t release the 3rd secret, they may prevent it by thinkingthat if it was released it would be a self-fulfilling prophecy. But perhaps if they did as instructed the Catholic faithful would’ve payed more attention to what was going on. For all we know it might’ve also pointed out some of the bad things happening amongst the priests and the heirarchy such as the sex abuse and the Vatican could’ve started taking steps against it as early as the 60s.

I do not know, but that’s what I think. But there will be another opportunity to bring Fatima back into the limelight and open a dialogue with the Church. There is a big symposium being planned for May 2010 that will specifically address Fatima and I pray the Church will participate and we can clear up this business once and for all.
angelsdospeak.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/the-fatima-center-fatima-challenge-symposium-in-rome-2/

What are the errors of Russia? This is the only thing I do not understand about the Fatima message. Why did Our Lady single out Russia? What is it about Russia that makes it worse than the USA, the UK, Germany, Korea, Iran etc.

I explained what I think above, but in the end it probably isn’t anything really to specifically do with Russia, just a command given to be obeyed if the Church chose to. And it might’ve been a difficult one as the Church was trying to keep relations with Russia and the Russian Orthodox from overturning for the sake of ecumenism which Vatican II was emphasizing. Instead, God might’ve placed a choice for the Church to decide upon. Either to follow their own human instincts on politics, or to instead place their limited reason aside and trust in God to do things in His own way which may not be something we understand for we are not omniscient and wise like God is. So it might’ve been a test of faith…

 

[Dempsey1919]

i explained what I think above, but in the end it probablyisn’t anything really to specifically do with Russia, just a command given to be obeyed if the Church chose

But the Virgin specifically said that Russia would spread her errors. What were these errors? Maybe militant atheism? This is the part I really don’t understand. Why Russia? Why not militant Islam? Surely this represents a greater threat to Christendom?

 

[JustaServant]

What are the errors of Russia? This is the only thing I do not understand about the Fatima message. Why did Our Lady single out Russia? What is it about Russia that makes it worse than the USA, the UK, Germany, Korea, Iran etc.

You get the idea that some people think the ‘errors of Russia’ was Communism. But isn’t it more likely that when our Lady said: “she (Russia) will spread her errors throughout the world,” she was speaking on atheism? That is the fastest growing ‘religion’ in Eastern and Western Europe today. I find it hard to believe she was speaking in terms of economics. If she was speaking of the abandonment of the Faith, it makes more sense of the annihilation of nations.
Immorality is rampant in Russia, including a divorce rate that equals that of the United States. In 1998, 14 years after the 1984 consecration of the world, the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress stated that Russia had the highest abortion rate in the world — 3.5 million abortions in Russia every year.
And I think it is important to put the statements of Russia ‘spreading her errors’ and annihilation together. What has Russia spread that would cause annihilation, or the disappearance of nations? Certainly the most obvious cause of the “annhiliation of nations” has been through abortion and contraceptives. Those two factors alone have changed the face of the Western world.

 

[Palomas]

My question: Is Fatima still relevant to our time? Or has the time of Fatima passed?

Hi Dempsey,

I am in agreement with RoryMcKenzie56 – I am fully convinced that Fatima is still relevant to our time. Our immoral world begs for us to pray the rosary every day, to make acts of reparation for sins, and to observe the First Five Saturdays devotion to her Immaculate Heart.

What are the errors of Russia? This is the only thing I do not understand about the Fatima message. Why did Our Lady single out Russia? What is it about Russia that makes it worse than the USA, the UK, Germany, Korea, Iran etc.

Bear with me as I attempt to explain this. Communism started in Russia, and one of its main goals is to create a godless society where the state is all-powerful over the people, and the people are its subjects. Even though communism as a political system may not be found in all the countries of the world, its ideas have infected a vast majority of them (to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the country). Among its evil ideas are divorce, contraception, and abortion.

One of the insidious ways to achieve the goals of communism is to undermine the family unit as the main building block of society. Let’s take the example of divorce. In legalizing divorce, there ceases to be stability in marriage (which should be the foundation of a healthy family unit), and any children brought forth are subsequently exposed to great emotional harm and confusion. Take the question of trying to raise children and inculcate them with a solid religious upbringing. When parents are divorced, children are put in a position of having to choose their religious beliefs, and many times end up choosing nothing so as not to offend either parent. Divorce demoralizes the children so that they end up choosing no religion and many doubt the existence and/or benevolence of God (we can merely observe this anectodally to find evidence). Ultimately, the practice of religion does not get passed on in families, and it is much easier in this type of scenario to promote all ideas opposed to God (an area that this happens a lot is in our universities and schools). This proves to be a brilliant design to undermine the Faith and the family unit, as family after family after family falls into its trap. So this, in my observation, is what Our Lady was referring to when she spoke of the errors of Russia spreading throughout the world.

I haven’t even begun to discuss the effects of contraception and abortion on a society, but we can see the effects that these have had, as in the case of the West where population is actually in decline. An unchecked secularist society will eventually give way to atheistic society by slowly outlawing all things sacred, paving the way for formal communism to take root.

Pax,
Palomas

PS - You might want to check out some papal encyclicals written about the errors of communism, see for example the Encyclical On Atheistic Communism by Pope Pius XI.

 

[At_Trent]

Is Our Lady of Fatima Still Relevant ?

Taking a look around, yes.

 

[SpiritusSanctus]

To start off, the REAL Third Secret of Fatima was about the Vatican II Council. It was also about the great chestizement, and how Russia must be converted. No, JPII did not do it right. All bishops must be present, and Russia must be the one that is converted.

Also, the so-called secret released in 2000 about the assassination attempt against JPII is really a false secret. Clearly the Vatican realized at the time that if they released the real Third Secret the Novus Ordo and everything else that occured at Vatican II would be destroyed because the people would basically be told it was wrong. So they made up a secret of their own. It left so many people scratching their heads. Their secret did not even have Our Lady say anything! How could Our Lady have remained silent on the Third Secret, the biggest Secret of them all? So yes, you are right when you say the assassination attempt against JPII does not correspond to what Sister Lucia describes.

 

[Dempsey1919]

Bear with me as I attempt to explain this. Communism started in Russia, and one of its main goals is to create a godless society where the state is all-powerful over the people, and the people are its subjects. Even though communism as a political system may not be found in all the countries of the world, its ideas have infected a vast majority of them (to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the country). Among its evil ideas are divorce, contraception, and abortion.

I am starting to understand why Our Blessed Mother asked for the Consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart.

One of the foundational ideas of communism is dialectical materialism; this is the belief that matter is the only thing that exists and that change is brought about by continuous bloody struggle or class wars. The communists believed that men where basically animals and they believed war and destruction was a necessary part of life. The Communists were militant atheists who placed little value on human life. They denied God, persecuted religion, and butchered millions of people.

Atheism is the cause of all these evils. Russia spread atheism around the world, and this idea took hold in western Europe. The culture of death thrives in atheistic societies. I think the decline of morals in the West is directly related to the increase in atheistic, secular humanism; ideas, which have their origins in the dialectic materialism of Soviet Russia. The principal errors of Russia were: militant atheism, the denial of God, persecution of religion, and the culture of death. Nobody can deny that these ideas have greatly infected the West. In fact, I think they are major factors contributing to the de-Christianization of the West.

Another interesting fact is that Communism was heavily influenced by Charles Darwin and the Theory of Evolution. The Communists used the theory of evolution to condone their blatant disregard for human life; humans were nothing more than animals without immortal souls; they had little value. Because of this belief system, they had no problem with abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, contraceptives etc. Communism is a deadly philosophy; perhaps the bloodiest belief-system the world has ever known! The political system of Communism may largely be gone, but the ideas of communism survive, and are widely believed and taught. The culture of death did not end with Communism; it increased.

 

[peary]

My question: Is Fatima still relevant to our time? Or has the time of Fatima passed?

I have also noticed that traditional Catholics seem to be the main proponents of Our Lady of Fatima; they seem to be the ones who really believe in the importance of this message. Why is this?

The Fatima messages will always be relevent as long as communism exists on the face of the earth in no matter what form it takes. *It is a unique devotion that few are called to fulfill but the need to fulfill it is important nevertheless. *Russia continues to spread her errors throughout the world causing wars and persecution of the Church. The Collegial Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary was accepted by the Lord in 1984. Some say that this was not an exact consecration as requested, which is true, but there is nothing to say that the Lord did not partially accept the good intentions of the Holy Father and bishops who participated in it. The Bible is filled with the partial granting of requests by God to the faithful. God prefers Mercy over punishment.

 

[RoryMcKenzie56]

Hi justaservant,

I agree that atheism is the major backbone of the errors. I want to continue a little bit to try to persuade Dempsey of the reasonableness of our Lady’s singular inclination for the Consecration of Her Immaculate Heart to that one country.

I have been fond of Russian literature for a long time, even before I was put on notice by Our Lady of Fatima to be on the lookout from that source for “errors”. To some extent in Tolstoy and others, but especially in the writings of Dostoevsky one sees, without approval I should add, some of the radical philosophies that were raging through Russia in his time in the mid-nineteenth century. To give one vivid example of the errors of Russia, Crime and Punishment is distinctly about the idea of whether a single man, a special man, a man of power is above the law, and walks to his own drumbeat because of a special destiny. One rather puny, otherwise impotent man, gets the notion that he is one of these men, and commits an act of horrific ruthlessness, only to prove to himself that he is among the select few. Raskolnikov seems like a prototype of 20th Century murderers who had “the will to power.” Hitler, before he was recognized, was classicly like this character.

The Russians, from their literature, seem to me to be a people singularly obsessed with their destiny as a nation as well. In some respect, I believe they are disposed in this age, by heaven, to “evangelize” the world, for good or for ill. There is something about “Russianess” that imposes itself upon everthing into which it comes in contact. Without thinking particularly about Fatima, I picked up a history book called Modern Times a few years ago. The author’s name was Paul Johnson. It was a good work I thought, exclusively about world political movements from the 1920’s to the present. I wish I had highlighted how many times he commented on how this or that state or individual despot mimicked and copied the methods of Vladimir Lenin in his rise to power.

Weaved through the the scope and grandeur of the story and the vivid characters in War and Peace, by Tolstoy, runs a theme of a determinist historical theory that denies that any one man or group of men may influence history. But it is a godless kind of determinism, directed by impersonal forces which seem derived from universal laws, the source of which no one knows. He wrote his work during the period Marx was developing his messianic class theories based on immutable movements of history.

In Anna Karenina, you find a side story of a man who is wrestling with faith, flip-flopping between atheism and religious zeal, struggling also with class differences, wanting at times to descend to the simplicity of his serfs, the peasants who sang the same Russian songs as their ancestors while they swept their blades through the fields of grain. I think it highlights one of the errors which triumphed for a long time and still holds in many places is the idea that some classes of people are somehow guilty of a crime, not because they consciously oppress the poor, but simply because they have more. Levin, in Karenina was unable to descend to the peasant himself, nor was he able through his reforming efforts to lift them up by education or any other means. All asociations were frustrated. Good, kind hearted Levin would have been exiled or pitchforked without mercy in two generations, while at the same time his implacable peasants would be systematically starved.

I fear in these brief words, that I am unable to reproduce my profound conviction that false beliefs, which might have begun with a European philosopher, were grasped tightly and greedily by Russian pragmatists who because they were not converted as our Lady had hoped, instead of spreading truth, spread errors of a social, political, and religious nature. From Gogol in the early 19th Century to Solzhenitsyn and other Russian giants of the 20th Century, I see the potent power for good and evil from a unique people who have a profound capacity for longsuffering love, courage, and duty as evidenced once again before the walls of Stalingrad during the Great Patriotic War. And even as they are behaving as heroes, at the same time they are being systematically and fanatically fierce in destroying their perceived enemies.

I am a Catholic truck driver. I mostly hang with people like those Our Lady met at Fatima! Good folks, but ignorant about Russia. I fear it would be presumptious of me to speak so confidently, like I am some expert on Russia, except for two things. First, and more controversially, I think to be immersed in Russian literature is to understand the uniqueness of this people. Second, and without controversy (among Catholics), I think to have faith in the message of our Lady of Fatima is to understand the uniqueness of this people. I have a twofold witness. I have a little bit of both and have more than eyes of faith with regard to my belief that the conversion of Russia will be the salvation of the world and the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of our Blessed Mother.

 

[VitaminC]

I speak Portuguese, although it is not very fluent. But Sr Lucia said that the consecration had been done.

There is no credible evidence that Sr. Lucia said the consecration of Russia has been completed. In a 1985 interview with Sol de Fatima magazine, she said the consecration had failed. She repeated this claim in a 1987 interview with reporter Enrique Romero. She said the last consecration failed. It was published in the early August edition of the Argentinian publication Para Ti.

In 1989, Fr. Coelho said her order received an order from the Vatican to start saying the consecration had been completed. Then these dubious letters started showing up with Sr. Lucia supposedly writing the consecration had worked. Multiple experts concluded letters from her appearing after this date had been forged. Not just Fr. Gruner and his crowd, but even Fatima scholar Frere Francois, who even confronted Fatima shrine Rector Guerra over it, telling him that “Internal criticism” showed that the letters were “fake.”

Then Cardinal Bertone in 2001 arranged for a press release to say that Sr. Lucia personally confirmed to him that the full Third Secret as well as the consecration had been completed. He repeated these claims in his book from a few years back. Attorney Christopher Ferrara had a field day debunking and exposing the falsehoods of Bertone’s testimony in his book, The Secret Still Hidden. The book contains an appendix titled 101 Reasons to Doubt Cardinal Bertone’s Account. Cardinal Bertone quite honestly has no credibility left at this point, IMO.

In addition, Fr. Martin in a taped interview with Bernard Janzen said that that agents for the Vatican had “published forged letters” in Sr. Lucia’s name and “put statements on her lips she never made.” And when asked who the people were who were involved with suppressing Fatima, he said they were a “whole bunch” of prelates in Rome that “belong to Satan.”

In his last book, Fr. Martin clearly suggested that Cardinal Cassaroli and his “successor” had bad intentions with regard to Fatima, and he said that Cardinal Cassaroli maneuvered to “block major initiatives in favor of Fatima” by Pope JPII.

 

[cctabb]

I’m not going to go into detail, but I do believe that Our Lady of Fatima is as relevant today as she was when she visited the children in Fatima.

There are people today, such as yourself, that are just learning about Fatima and the Blessed Mother’s visits, and her asking for the Rosary to be prayed every day.

 

[peary]

There is no credible evidence that Sr. Lucia said the consecration of Russia has been completed. In a 1985 interview with Sol de Fatima magazine, she said the consecration had failed. She repeated this claim in a 1987 interview with reporter Enrique Romero. She said the last consecration failed. It was published in the early August edition of the Argentinian publication Para Ti.

In 1989, Fr. Coelho said her order received an order from the Vatican to start saying the consecration had been completed. Then these dubious letters started showing up with Sr. Lucia supposedly writing the consecration had worked. Multiple experts concluded letters from her appearing after this date had been forged. Not just Fr. Gruner and his crowd, but even Fatima scholar Frere Francois, who even confronted Fatima shrine Rector Guerra over it, telling him that “Internal criticism” showed that the letters were “fake.”

Then Cardinal Bertone in 2001 arranged for a press release to say that Sr. Lucia personally confirmed to him that the full Third Secret as well as the consecration had been completed. He repeated these claims in his book from a few years back. Attorney Christopher Ferrara had a field day debunking and exposing the falsehoods of Bertone’s testimony in his book, The Secret Still Hidden. The book contains an appendix titled 101 Reasons to Doubt Cardinal Bertone’s Account. Cardinal Bertone quite honestly has no credibility left at this point, IMO.

In addition, Fr. Martin in a taped interview with Bernard Janzen said that that agents for the Vatican had “published forged letters” in Sr. Lucia’s name and “put statements on her lips she never made.” And when asked who the people were who were involved with suppressing Fatima, he said they were a “whole bunch” of prelates in Rome that “belong to Satan.”

In his last book, Fr. Martin clearly suggested that Cardinal Cassaroli and his “successor” had bad intentions with regard to Fatima, and he said that Cardinal Cassaroli maneuvered to “block major initiatives in favor of Fatima” by Pope JPII.

Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong.
Why don’t you got right to the source and figure it out? The Vatican website has everything here:

vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000626_message-fatima_en.html

 

[numealinesimpet]

Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong.

Yes, I’m afraid that’s about the level of the case put by the “Bury Fatima” Brigade. Read Socci’s “The Fourth Secret” and Fr Kramer’s 'The Devil’s Final Battle" and you will see exact quotes, names and dates. It is 100% certain that the consecration has not been done, and that there is a second document handwritten by Sr Lucy, containing Our Lady’s words, 20 - 25 lines on a shingle sheet of paper faintly visible through the envelope, kept in the Pope’s own bedroom, in the desk named “Barbarigo”, that has not yet been published. The Cardinal who is trying to bury Fatima has made such elementary blunders that he condmns himself out of his own mouth.

There are those high in the Vatican who seem determined to convince everybody that Fatima is all over. But it is not. I would caution about speculating on motives – on either side. Just look at the facts: the actual words, when & where they were said. You will find most of the important facts and references, including a lot of what Socci & Fr Kramer have published, on fatima.org/.

In 1960 Sr Lucy was put inder a lifelong gag of silence about Fatima. She was the only person in the world forbidden to talk about Fatima. Why? Did they have something to hide? After Vatican II, the Vatican lifted the ban on publishing private Revelations. (Why?) Consequently we are flooded by questionable accounts, while the one true witness of the words of Our Lady, who at Fatima performed the Miracle of the Sun seen by at least 70,000 witnesses, is the only person not allowed to speak openly.
Pope John Paul II himself admitted that the Collegial Consecration of Russia had not been done.

But you will find it all on fatima.org/.

 

[BlueSapphire]

Ah! Let me correct you there. Fr Gruner has been meticulous in keeping within the letter of the Law. He is fully legally incardinated with a bishop who has given him specific permission to pursue his apostolate. When he came here to Cork, and the crate was opened with the statue of Our Lady, several present (not including the present writer) smelt a distinct odour of roses. They still speak of this little ‘sign of encouragement’. If you ever go to one of his meetings, you will find that he is very mild-mannered. He even says himself, “I am not an imressive speaker. [He’s not that bad, actually!] Our Lady chose me because she wants her message to come through, with no distractions from my eloquence”. But despite this humble demeanour, he is not one to trifle with, as some of the Big Guns in the Vatican have found out to their cost. He has dedicated his life to Our Lady, and consequently has no human respect, no fear. * “My strength is as the strength of ten, because my heart is pure.”* For example, a very senior Cardinal tried to pressurise Fr Gruner’s bishop to order him to stay in his diocese – in other words, to abandon his Fatima Apostolate – and Fr Gruner wrote to him reminding him that he was breaking Canon Law by attempting to encroach upon the jurisdiction of a fellow bishop. Fr Gruner then lodged a Canonical complaint about the Cardinal, (which must be reviewed by the pope) and the cardinal was consequently dismissed from his post. The Cardinal declared to all within range of hearing that he never wanted to hear Fr Gruner’s name mentioned in his presence again.

I did a search on Fr. Gruner and came across the following:

Fr Nicholas Gruner Suspended

 

[Lamafacaja]

I am starting to understand why Our Blessed Mother asked for the Consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart.

One of the foundational ideas of communism is dialectical materialism; this is the belief that matter is the only thing that exists and that change is brought about by continuous bloody struggle or class wars. The communists believed that men where basically animals and they believed war and destruction was a necessary part of life. The Communists were militant atheists who placed little value on human life. They denied God, persecuted religion, and butchered millions of people.

Atheism is the cause of all these evils. Russia spread atheism around the world, and this idea took hold in western Europe. The culture of death thrives in atheistic societies. I think the decline of morals in the West is directly related to the increase in atheistic, secular humanism; ideas, which have their origins in the dialectic materialism of Soviet Russia. The principal errors of Russia were: militant atheism, the denial of God, persecution of religion, and the culture of death. Nobody can deny that these ideas have greatly infected the West. In fact, I think they are major factors contributing to the de-Christianization of the West.

Another interesting fact is that Communism was heavily influenced by Charles Darwin and the Theory of Evolution. The Communists used the theory of evolution to condone their blatant disregard for human life; humans were nothing more than animals without immortal souls; they had little value. Because of this belief system, they had no problem with abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, contraceptives etc. Communism is a deadly philosophy; perhaps the bloodiest belief-system the world has ever known! The political system of Communism may largely be gone, but the ideas of communism survive, and are widely believed and taught. The culture of death did not end with Communism; it increased.

I think you’ve hit it, Dempsy. That’s exactly right.

 

[JustaServant]

Great answers so far for Dempsey.
Here is an interview with Fr. Thomas Euteneuer spoke to LifeSiteNews.com.

lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jan/10010605.html

zenit.org/rssenglish-28138
Quote from the second link:

– The current aging is without any parallel in history. By 2045 the number of persons over 60 is expected to exceed those under the age of 15. In the more developed regions, where aging is advanced, this situation was already reached in 1998.

– Today the median age for the world is 28 years, with half the world’s population above that age and half above it. By mid-century the median age will likely reach 38 years.

– Aging is affecting nearly all the countries of the world, due to reductions in fertility that have become almost universal.

– Aging will have a major impact on economic growth, savings, investment, labor markets, and taxation.

– Because fertility levels are unlikely to rise again to the high levels of the past population aging is irreversible and the young populations that were common until recently are likely to become rare during the twenty-first century.

– Worldwide there are currently about 9 persons of working age to support older persons. By 2050 this will drop to four, with serious implications for pension schemes. As well, the current economic crisis brought about sharp reductions in the value of pension funds.

Russia needs to cut its high abortion rate to help reverse the population decline, warned the countries’ Health Minister Tatyana Golikova, reported Agence France Presse, Jan. 18.

Golikova said that in 2008 there were 1.714 million births in Russia and 1.234 million abortions.

**This ratio, the report explained is, under normal circumstances, quite stable over time, across geographical regions, continents, countries and races. **

Abortion has changed the future of the Western world. Russia has indeed spread her errors throughout the world. We are looking at the results.

 

[JustaServant]

Also bear this in mind. The King of France in 1689 was given the request to consecrate France publicly to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The King failed to perform what was requested. 100 years later came 1789, the French Revolution.
We are now seven years away from the 100th anniversary of the Our Lady’s appearance at Fatima.
I would suggest we all pray our rosaries.