The Fatima Consecration Hoax

The Conspiracy against the Consecration of Russia Continues

by Father Paul Leonard, B.Ph., S.T.B., M.Div.

It was during the late 70's that I became interested in the question of the
Collegial Consecration of Russia requested by Our Lady of Fatima. At that time I
was still in the midst of my theological studies in Rome when one of my costudents at the University explained to me an aspect of the Fatima message
that was entirely unknown to me at the time. The student, an engineer from
California who came to Rome to study Philosophy and Theology, had done
extensive reading about Fatima, and it was he who explained to me that Our
Lady of Fatima had requested that the Pope consecrate Russia to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary together with all the bishops.
Previous to that time I had believed that Pope Pius XII had fulfilled Our Lady's
request when he solemnly consecrated Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
in 1952. I explained to my friend that I had been aware of the fact that Our
Lady of Fatima said in 1917, "In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph, the
Pope will consecrate Russia ... and a period of peace will be given to the world."
"Didn't Pius XII fulfill that request? I asked. The engineer from L.A. then told
me about Sister Lucia's Memoirs.

Sister Lucia Refuted Lies Against Fatima

A man in Portugal, it was explained to me, had published a malicious book
against Sister Lucia in an attempt to discredit the apparitions and message of
Our Lady of Fatima. The book was a vile work of mean-spirited mendacity
utterly scurrilous and lacking all seriousness. Since the book did not deserve to
be dignified with a response, Sister Lucia's handwritten memoirs were published
as a more than adequate response. It was in that book that I read Our Lady's
words to Sister Lucia explaining that God asks that the Pope, together with all
the bishops of the world, consecrate Russia to Her Immaculate Heart, promising
to bring about the conversion of Russia by this means.
My friend, who had discussed the question of the consecration of Russia many
times with Cardinal Slippij, told me about Slippij's efforts to encourage the Pope
to give the bishops the order to make the Collegial Consecration of Russia to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary the Cardinal had told my friend that he personally
delivered petitions of the faithful to the Pope.
Now it was clear to me that I previously had not been aware of the full Fatima
message. I had known about Our Lady of Fatima since early childhood and
considered myself knowledgeable about Fatima, and yet for so many years I
was totally unaware of the fact that the Consecration of Russia which would
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bring about the conversion of Russia, after so many decades of delay, remained
undone.
In the early 1980's I began to read The Fatima Crusader on a regular basis, and
in this manner I learned about the ongoing campaign to bring about the
Consecration of Russia requested by Our Lady of Fatima. With clear, conclusive
and well-reasoned arguments, Father Gruner and his colleagues convincingly
demonstrated the urgent necessity for the Pope to fulfill Our Lady of Fatima's
request for the Consecration of Russia. The Fatima Crusader was making every
effort to persuade those who were ill-informed or misinformed that Our Lady's
request for the consecration of Russia remained as yet unfulfilled.

Bishop Paul Vasylyk and Josep

Terelya recently came to visit
Father Gruner at our TV studio.
Both the Bishop and Josep
confirm that Russia is still
persecuting the Ukranian
Catholics. Josep suffered 23
years imprisonment in Soviet
prisons and work camps
because he refused to give up
his Catholic faith. He tells us
that Gorby is worse than Joseph
Stalin. We know that the
persecutions of the Church in
open or hidden form will
continue until the Pope and the
Bishops obey the solemn
request of Our Lady of Fatima to
consecrate Russia.

We Exposed the Deception

In early 1986 I became aware of the fact that there were forces at work who
had deliberately set themselves to the politically motivated task of falsifying the
message of Our Lady of Fatima. The purpose of this work of deception was to
create the false impression in the minds of the faithful that the Consecration of
Russia requested by Our Lady had already been fulfilled. I exposed the
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campaign of disinformation against the Fatima message in The Plot to Silence

Our Lady, which appeared in issue no. 20, 1986, of The Fatima Crusader.
The perpetrators of the Consecration Hoax did not correct themselves, but they
entrenched themselves in error and embarked on a course of retaliation. I
therefore wrote two more articles on the same subject which appeared the
following year in The Fatima Crusader (Issue no. 22). One exposed the
deliberate policy of the Blue Army leaders of that time to falsify the Fatima
message (see "The Blue Army Leadership has followed a deliberate
policy of falsifying the Fatima Message", while the other revealed that
the Vatican-Moscow Agreement was the underlying reason for the campaign
of disinformation and distortion against Fatima (see "The Vatican-Moscow
Agreement has Silenced Our Lady").

Obstinate Consecration Hoaxers Dig In

The promoters of the Fatima Consecration Hoax remained obstinate in their
errors and stepped up their malicious campaign against Father Gruner and The
Fatima Crusader. In my article, "Against the Wolves in Sheeps' Clothing" I
denounced their "deliberate and despicable attempts" to "step up their immoral
campaign of lies, distortions and slander".
The campaign against the Consecration of Russia was twofold:
1. The Consecration Hoax, which was (and remains) a campaign of
disinformation and untruths designed to create the false impression in the
minds of the Catholic faithful that the Consecration of Russia requested by Our
Lady has already been done.
2. A campaign of lies, defamation and slander directed personally against Father
Gruner and The Fatima Crusader. The purpose of this immoral campaign was
(and remains) that of destroying Father Gruner's reputation, and exposing him
and his associates to ridicule and contempt in order to destroy the apostolate
of The Fatima Crusader and the International Fatima Rosary Crusade.
After the publication of my article, "Against the Wolves ... some of the
promoters of the hoax became less vocal in their public campaign against Father
Gruner and the consecration of Russia; nevertheless, the campaign against the
Consecration of Russia continued. It was Father Fox's publication which
perpetuated the campaign against the Consecration of Russia after Soul
Magazine became reluctant to publish anything about the consecration of
Russia.

Hoaxers Malicious Campaign of Disinformation

In The Plot to Silence Our Lady Continues, which appeared in the Winter
1989 issue no. 30 of The Fatima Crusader, I called the attention of our readers
to Msgr. Cosme do Amaral's efforts to misinform the public to the effect that the
Consecration of Russia requested by Our Lady of Fatima was already
accomplished. A computer generated letter of doubtful authenticity, purportedly
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signed by Sister Lucia, was also dealt with in that article. More of those would
soon appear.1 However, the promoters of the Fatima Consecration Hoax did not
limit themselves to specious arguments and deceptive discourses.
The malicious campaign against Father Gruner and The Fatima
Crusader continued. For this reason I wrote yet another article: The Plot (to
silence Our Lady) Thickens. That article dealt with the scandalous campaign
of defamation that Bishop Luna orchestrated against Father Gruner and The
Fatima Crusader, and the irresponsible journalism of Father Fox.

Enter Father Fox

Until now I have had very little to say about Father Fox because previously he
had been prudent enough not to get deeply involved in the conspiracy against
the Consecration of Russia. At one time Father Fox wrote that the Consecration
of Russia was done, and he based his opinion on the fact that Sister Lucia's
superior had quoted Sister Lucia to the effect that the consecration was already
made. More recently he has put faith in an even less credible hearsay, that of
Maria do Fetal. The alleged statements of Sister Lucia in the Fetal interview are
so utterly contrary to the published statements that Sister Lucia has
consistently made for more than fifty years, that on this basis alone the
interview can be safely judged to be a complete fabrication.2
It is not a very critical mind, but one that is easily deceived, which readily bases
its judgments on unverified hearsay. Such is the mind of Father Fox. What is
even more disturbing about Father Fox is his fundamentalist-like tendency to
repeat the already disproven and stale falsehoods in support of the argument
that the consecration of Russia is already done.
What can be said about a person who ignores the argument and the evidence
that proves his position to be erroneous? It is difficult to believe how such a
person can be honest. Such a person appears to willfully resist the truth, or at
least remains willfully blind of the truth. This appears to me to be the state of
mind of Father Fox.
It may appear at first to some that I judge Father Fox harshly, but I believe that
the facts speak for themselves, and the material that Father Fox publishes
present a strong case against himself. However, in my brief and partial
presentation of the case against Father Fox in this article, I am unable to
respond to Father Fox's remarks about The Fatima Crusader, since they are
clearly libelous and must therefore be dealt with in a different forum.
Father Fox has made no attempt to answer the serious arguments and evidence
that The Fatima Crusader has presented, which demonstrate beyond reasonable
doubt that the consecration of Russia requested by Our Lady of Fatima has not
yet been done.

Facts Father Fox Chooses To Ignore

Here is some of that evidence:
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Fact #1: Sister Lucia gives two versions of the words that Our Lady of Fatima
spoke to her in the apparition of June 13, 1929: a) "The moment has come in
which God asks the Holy Father, in union with all the bishops of the world, to
consecrate Russia to My Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means."
b) "The moment has come in which God asks the Holy Father to make, and to
order that in union with him and at the same time, all the bishops of the world
make the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart ..."3
Fact #2: Sister Lucia wrote in a text she gave to Father Goncalves in 1930:
"The Good God promises to make an end of the persecution in Russia if the Holy
Father deigns to make, and orders to be made, by all the bishops of the Catholic
World, a solemn and public act of reparation and consecration of Russia to the
Most Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and if in return for the end of this
persecution His Holiness promises to approve and recommend the practice of
reparatory devotion (the five first Saturdays)." (See page 405 Memorias E
Cartas Da Irma Lucia)
Fact #3: She wrote in a letter dated June 12, 1930:
"If the Holy Father will himself make a solemn act of reparation and
consecration of Russia ... as well as ordering all the bishops of the Catholic
world to do the same." (See page 411 Memorias E Cartas Da Irma Lucia)
Fact #4: On March 21, 1982, Sister Lucia declared in the presence of the
Apostolic Nuncio to Lisbon, Archbishop Portalupi, the Bishop of Leiria and Dr.
Lacerda that the Pope must select a date on which to order the bishops of the
whole world to make a public and solemn act of reparation and consecration of
Russia to the Most Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, each in his own cathedral
and at the same time as performed by the Pope.4
Fact #5: On the afternoon of March 19, 1983, the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop
Portalupi met with Sister Lucia in order to establish precisely what Sister Lucy
had to say concerning the consecration of the world that the Pope had
performed on May 13, 1982. Besides the Nuncio, two other witnesses were
present, Dr. Lacerda and Father Messias Coelho. Sister Lucia declared that "the
consecration of Russia has not been made as Our Lady has demanded" and she
added, "I could not say so because I did not have the permission of the Holy
See." In that same interview, Sister Lucia explained the reasons why the Holy
Father's 1982 consecration did not fulfill Our Lady of Fatima's request:
a) Russia had not clearly been indicated as the object of the consecration.
b) Each bishop had not made a public and solemn ceremony in his own
cathedral.
Fact #6: The Pope's March 25, 1984, consecration of the world did not clearly
indicate Russia as its object and each bishop did not participate by making a
public and solemn ceremony in his own cathedral. Sister Lucia, therefore, has
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already stated in 1982 the reasons why the 1984 consecration does not fulfill
Our Lady's request for the consecration of Russia. 5
Fact #7: On July 20, 1987, Sister Lucia stated to Enrique Romero in a
subsequently published interview that the consecration of Russia requested by
Our Lady of Fatima is not yet done.6
Fact #8: In an interview which appeared in the September 1985 issue of Sol
de Fatima, Sister Lucia was asked if the Pope fulfilled the request made by Our
Lady at Tuy when he consecrated the world on March 25, 1984. Sister Lucia
answered: "There was no participation of all the bishops, and there was no
mention of Russia." The interviewer then asked, "So the consecration was not
done as requested by Our Lady?" Sister Lucia answered: "No. Many bishops
attached no importance to this act."
Fact #9: Pope John Paul II on March 25, 1984, after he had consecrated the
world, twice addressed words to Our Lady of Fatima which contained a clear
admission that the Consecration that She requested still remained to be done.
His words, published in the Vatican Newspaper, the Osservatore Romano, were:
"Enlighten especially the peoples of which You Yourself ARE AWAITING our
consecration and confiding."7 Several hours later the Holy Father again
addressed Our Lady of Fatima in St. Peter's Basilica with these words:
"We wished to choose this Sunday for the act of entrusting and consecration of
the world ... of all peoples especially those who have a very great need of this
consecration and entrustment, of those peoples for whom You Yourself ARE
AWAITING our act of consecration." *(See Avvenire March 27, 1984,
page 11)

* Published in the Italian Catholic Bishops Newspaper Avvenire March 27, 1984 on Page 11.
Our Reflections on These Facts
These public utterances of the Holy Father clearly demonstrates that the Pope is
himself aware of the fact that Our Lady of Fatima is still waiting for the
consecration of Russia to be performed.
In Fact #1 we have the Blessed Virgin's own words explaining that God asks
that the Pope order all the Catholic bishops of the world to
consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In Fact #2 and #3 we
have Sister Lucia's handwritten text specifying precisely the same thing as the
Blessed Virgin, namely that the Pope must order all the Catholic bishops of the
world to consecrate Russia. In Fact #4, we have Sister Lucia's official and
public statement explicitly setting forth the very same conditions that she has
been consistently stating for more than fifty years, namely that Our Lady
requires that the Pope order all of the Catholic bishops of the world to
consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

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On May 13, 1982, the Pope consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of
Mary. The evidence in Fact #5 establishes the fact that Sister Lucia, carrying out
her God-given mission to make known to God's ministers His (and Our Lady's)
request, states that the 1982 consecration did not fulfill Our Lady's request
for two reasons:
1. Russia was not clearly indicated as the object of the consecration.
2. Each bishop did not participate in a solemn and public manner.
In 1985 Sister Lucia says that the March 25, 1984, consecration did
NOT fulfill Our Lady's request for the same two reasons. (Fact #8.)
In Fact #9 we have the Pope's own public acknowledgement that the
consecration of Russia requested by Our Lady of Fatima has not yet been done.
It is very strange indeed that Father Fox, when he reproduced the formula of
consecration recited by the Pope on March 25, 1984, deleted this critical
passage from the text.8

This Evidence Cannot Be Dismissed

Until now Father Fox has not given clear and direct answers to the evidence
presented in all of the above points (Let the reader bear in mind that all of this
evidence has already been published in past issues of The Fatima Crusader).
The evidence that I have presented may not be dismissed or ignored: It is the
words of Sister Lucia, the Pope and the Blessed Virgin Herself.
It certainly appears that Father Fox thus far has desperately avoided any
confrontation with the already published evidence when he presents his reasons
for believing that the consecration of Russia requested by Our Lady of Fatima
has already been done. Father Fox's pronouncements do exhibit an immense
degree of confusion and a gullibility that almost defies belief; but his utter
refusal to give serious response to the evidence and the arguments that we
have published in issue after issue suggests something other than mere
stupidity.
If anyone thinks that this is too harsh a judgment on Father Fox, then I only
suggest that that person examine carefully what Father Fox has already
published on the subject. I will provide here a brief sampling of pronouncements
on the Consecration of Russia that Father Fox has written or published in the
last year.

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One of the chief weapons that

Communist Russia is using
against the West in its
unchanged goal of world
domination is lies, half-truths
and disinformation. That
Glasnost and Perestroika are
such a fraud is demonstrated by
the above pictured KGB
defector's book published in
198.1. This book outlines those
tactics of disinformation several
years before they took place.
(This book is available from The
Fatima Crusader)

Father Fox's "Evidence" Examined

In the Oct.-Nov. issue of Father Fox's magazine, there appears an article written
by Father Messias Coelho. It is a masterpiece of deceptive sophistry. In that
article one reads: "The Consecration requested by the Mother of God in
Fatima and Tuy is already made and made perfectly. This is the authorized
opinion not only of the Holy See, but also of the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction
directly connected with the apparitions of the Cova da Iria, and also of Sister
Lucia herself."
The term "authorized opinion" has no basis in Canon Law. There has been no
official decree by the Holy See or any other ecclesiastical authority stating that
the Consecration of Russia requested by Our Lady of Fatima is already done.
As far as the "Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction directly connected with the apparitions
of the Cova da Iria, and also of Sister Lucia herself" is concerned, that
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ecclesiastical jurisdiction has no jurisdiction in this matter. The Fifth

Lateran Council solemnly declared that the interpretation of prophetic messages
pertains to the jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff alone. Father Messias appears
to suggest that the local ordinary possesses some jurisdiction in this matter
that suggestion is Heresy.

Father Messias' Faulty "Facts" and Reasons

Father Messias says further on that "Our Lady did not say, 'God asks all the
bishops of the world to make the Consecration with the Holy Father'." This is
absolutely false. Our Lady's words in Fact #1: "The moment has come in which
God asks the Holy Father to make, and to order that in union with him and at
the same time, all the bishops of the world make the consecration of Russia to
My Immaculate Heart ..."
Father Messias' discourse on the object of the Consecration is an insult to the
intelligence of his readers and to those who disagree with his untenable thesis.
He says, "a fundamental axiom of philosophy is forgotten by those who require
a new consecration: 'The more contains the less.' or 'The whole contains the
sum of its parts.' Russia is part of the world. Russia is included in the
consecration although the text (used by the Pope) does not mention Russia
explicitly."
Father Gruner and I are both perfectly aware of this basic principle of
philosophy that "the more contains the less", but that principle is totally
irrelevant to the question of the Consecration of Russia. Russia was indeed
included in the 1984 consecration of the world, and so was New Jersey,
Bangladesh, Zacatexas and Tawi. It was a general consecration of the whole
world. In the context of a general, common consecration Russia was
consecrated, but that is NOT what Our Lady of Fatima requested.
It was by means of a prophetic revelation to Alexandrina da Costa that Our Lord
requested the Consecration of the World. That act was carried out by Pope Pius
XII, and has been renewed by several of his successors. Sister Lucia herself has
pointed out that Our Lady of Fatima never asked for the consecration of the
world, but only of Russia9. Our Lady, through the instrumentality of Sister Lucia,
has requested in God's name that Russia be consecrated to Her Immaculate
Heart by the Pope and all the bishops.
Our Lady requested a proper consecration of RUSSIA, not a generic
consecration of the world. Our Lord promised that He would accept a general
consecration of the world with a special mention of Russia, and by means of
that consecration, He even promised to shorten the days of tribulation during
the Second World War. However, God promises that the Conversion of Russia,
the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and world peace will be realized
through the instrumentality of the PROPER act of Consecration of Russia
performed by the Pope and ALL the bishops.
Father Fox often publishes materials which refer to the March 25, 1984,
consecration of the world as "the Consecration of Russia". Such usage is a
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violation of elementary logic. A consecration of the world that includes Russia is

not properly "the consecration of Russia" since it is also the consecration of New
Jersey, Bangladesh, Zacatexas and Tawi Tawi. Therefore it is dishonest to refer
to the 1984 consecration as "the consecration of Russia."

Father Fox "Evidence" Is Worthless

Father Messias Coelho finished his magnum opus by saying that "Reliable people
who recently saw Sister Lucia told me Sister Lucia now says that the request of
Our Lady is accomplished." As evidence this is worthless. It is pure and utter
hearsay. Our own sources have also spoken to Sister Lucia, and they report
Sister Lucia still steadfastly maintains that the Consecration of Russia requested
by Our Lady has not yet been done.
The computer generated letters which bear what appears to be Sister Lucia's
signature are anything but conclusive as evidence. Sister Lucia's own blood
sister, Carolina, stated to Father Gruner last October that little or no faith should
be placed in those documents. We have sent an original copy of one of these
letters to a recognized forensic expert who specializes in questioned documents.
After a thorough examination of the document, the expert concluded that the
signature on the document does not appear to be of the same person who
signed the majority of the documents in Sister Lucia's memoirs. 10
Private letters of this sort cannot conclusively settle this question. All sorts of
trickery and coercion are possible. Only a declaration fully written by her own
hand (not merely typed and signed) in which it is sworn that the declaration is
made of her own free will, and without coercion of any sort would suffice as
evidence. Sister Lucia must also be allowed to freely express herself on this
subject in public and in private without threats of reprisals.

In the hamlet of Aljustrel, just a

few paces away from the
paternal home, Lucy's sister
Caroline told Father Gruner on
October 11, 1990, that Sister
Lucy does NOT type on a
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computer or a typewriter.
Furthermore she told him that
Sister Lucy to this day still
writes letters (even four pages)
to her and others in longhand.
For the significance of this
see "Chronology of a
Coverup" in this issue.

Sister Lucia Must Be Allowed to Speak Now

Sources very close to Sister Lucia have revealed that the local ecclesiastical
authorities of Leiria are indeed employing methods of coercion to prevent the
truth from being known. Therefore I repeat what I wrote in an article 11 one year
ago:
"What is most despicable in this affair is the unscrupulous efforts being made in
certain quarters to misrepresent and distort Sister Lucia's words in order to
make it appear that she is saying that the consecration of Russia requested by
Our Lady of Fatima has already been done, whereas in reality she has never so
stated. It is bad enough that the enemies of Our Lady of Fatima should falsely
maintain that the consecration that She requested has already been done, but
what is really shameless is their attempt to make Sister Lucia appear to be an
accomplice in their politically motivated lies.
"Sister Lucia must be allowed to speak her own mind in this matter. She must
be allowed to do so in public officially and for the record, because
unscrupulous elements in the hierarchy of the Church are orchestrating a
campaign to misrepresent and distort her own words in such a manner that
falsifies the message of Our Lady of Fatima. Sister Lucia has the right to speak
out, with or without the permission of her superiors or the bishop or
even the Pope, because it is her right according to the Natural Law that
she be able to defend her reputation in public since those who distort
and falsify the message of Fatima, have done so in a public manner that
misrepresents her and damages her reputation."
FOOTNOTES:
1.

These letters are so ambiguous that one of them was used as evidence in two different
articles: One used it to show that the Consecration of Russia is not yet done while the
other used it to argue that it has already been done. These letters have almost nothing
to say about Fatima, and it can be safely affirmed that their author (whoever he or she
may be) is more concerned with the post-conciliar mania for unity than with Our Lady
of Fatima's request for the Consecration of Russia. That Sister Lucia certainly did not
compose these letters is demonstrated by the fact that they contain gross errors
concerning the history of Fatima which she could not possibly have made.

2.

One must bear in mind that Maria do Fetal has already confessed to having invented
her previous statement about Sister Lucia's pronouncement concerning the
consecration of Russia.

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3.

Fatima and the Heart of Mary, by Father Antonio Maria Martins, quoted by Frre
Michel de la Sainte Trinit in vol. II of The Whole Truth About Fatima, p.555.

4.

See Fidelite Catholique, April 1983.

5.

I have presented this and related arguments in my Feb. 1989 article, "Woe to the
Inhabitants of the Earth", Crusader issue no. 27.

6.

The Fatima Crusader, issue no. 30, p. 8.

7.

Robert J. Fox, To Russia With Love, pp. 55-57.

8.

Robert J. Fox, To Russia With Love, pp. 55-57.

9.

cf. The Fatima Crusader, Issue no. 33, p.12.

10. The letter of Sister Lucia to Father Fox (dated July 3, 1990) is a demonstrable fraud.
Sister Lucia is most certainly not the author of that letter because Sister Lucia certainly
would not have written the outright lie that is stated in that letter. The text of that letter
reads in response to the question, "If the consecration made by Pope John Paul II on
March 25, 1984, in union with all the bishops of the world, accomplished the conditions
for the conversion of Russia according to the request of Our Lady in Tuy on June 13,
of 1929"? The answer to that question reads: "Yes, it was accomplished, and since
then I have said that it was made." The underlined statement is a proven falsehood,
an outright lie. This brazen lie starkly contradicts Sister Lucia's published statements to
the contrary, made after the March 1984 consecration. From 1984 to 1989, published
statements of Sister Lucia consistently maintain that the Consecration of Russia
requested by Our Lady of Fatima has not yet been done. Alleged statements to the
contrary began to emerge only in 1989. The statement also contradicts absolutely
everything that Sister Lucia has written about the Consecration of Russia in the more
than fifty years that she has written on the subject. These facts sufficiently
demonstrate the fraudulent nature of the document in question.
11. The Fatima Crusader, issue no. 30, Winter, 1989.

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