Interview With Author Renzo Allegri

ROME, MAY 16, 2006 (Zenit) - There is a mysterious link between Pope John Paul II and Our Lady of Fatima, says journalist Renzo Allegri.

And there is also a tie between the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the fall of Communist regimes, he contends.

Allegri, the author of "Il Papa di Fatima" (The Fatima Pope), published by Mondadori. Part 1 of this interview appeared Monday.

On Saturday, the 25th anniversary of the assassination attempt on John Paul II, the statue of Our Lady of Fatima was processed through St. Peter's Square, where the Polish Pope shed his blood.

Q: When did John Paul II understand that he was the Pope of Fatima, and what did he do after he became aware of it?

Allegri: As I already mentioned, it is thought that Pope Karol Wojtyla became aware of his own role in relation to the message of Fatima, after the attack, reflecting on what happened, the coincidence between the attack and the date of the apparitions of Fatima, and reading the text of the secret.

Since his youth, his Marian devotion was always very great. In his devotional practices, he gave priority to Polish Marian shrines, because they were part of his religious tradition, and also because he could not leave Poland.

But he knew the history of Fatima well and the part of the secret already revealed by Lucia, which speaks about Russia, Communism and the persecution of believers.

The attack made him "center" his attention on his own role in regard to Fatima. He was very impressed by the coincidence of the date of the attack, May 13 at 5:17 p.m., with that of the start of the apparitions on May 13, 1917.

He requested that a document be taken to him in hospital relative to the famous secret and he read it, discovering, in the still-unpublished part, details relative to his person that made quite an impression on him, to the point that he speaks about it three times in his testament.

And he began immediately, with ardor, to make the spirit of Fatima a reality. He reflected above all on the Virgin's request to consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart. And, despite infinite difficulties, he did so.

Q: You maintain in the book that there is a direct relationship between the Virgin's request to consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Why?

Allegri: The connection is suggested by two events and two dates.

In 1917, the Virgin said that if things were not going well, she would come to request the consecration of Russia. She made the petition in 1919, in an apparition to Lucia, specifying that the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart should be carried out "by the Church," that is, by the Pope in union with all the bishops.

But 14 years passed before the Virgin's petition arrived. Pius XII took it into consideration personally and carried out the consecration twice, naming Russia explicitly. But it was a private initiative and not made in union with the bishops.

To involve the whole Church in this consecration, naming one country specifically, Russia, implied enormous ideological and political difficulties, which many bishops did not wish to address. In fact, neither Pius XII, nor John XXIII nor even Paul VI was able to carry out the consecration in the way the Lady requested it.

John Paul II addressed this obstacle. But he was forced to take recourse to complicated and indirect stratagems to be able to name Russia. He sent a letter to all the bishops of the Church, inviting them to join him in the solemn consecration of the world, which would be carried out on March 25, 1984.

He did not name Russia in the letter but quoted the consecration formula that he would read, based on that pronounced by Pius XII in 1952, which named Russia explicitly. On reading the letter and the formula of consecration, the bishops would understand that it was the consecration that corresponded to that requested by the Virgin to Sister Lucia and that, therefore, specifically included Russia.

The ceremony was held. As though by magic, in just six years, there was a drastic change in the world, with the end of the Cold War, the collapse of several Communist regimes, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the dissolution of the Soviet empire and the return to religious freedom in Russia and in all the other countries of the former Communist empire.

All occurred without the shedding of blood; not only that, but there were very curious and enigmatic details, or signs.

Observing the dates of the most important events of this great change, one sees that they took place on the dates of Catholic solemnities. For example, the Soviet Union ceased to exist when, at the end of a meeting, the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and Byelorussia announced its dissolution formally. This occurred on Dec. 8, 1991.

The 8th of December is the feast of the Immaculate Conception and it is easy to link it to the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The definitive sign that indicated the end and defeat of Soviet Communism occurred the day when the red flag was lowered which for many decades was raised in the Kremlin, and in its place the national Russian flag was raised. This occurred on December 25, 1991, one of the most important religious feasts of the Catholic Church: the Nativity of Jesus.

Coincidences? Of course, they probably are only coincidences, but they might also be signs.

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Keywords

Pope, Benedict, Fatima, Allegri, Life