Three years after Pope Francis' attempt, neither the conversion of Russia nor the period of peace as promised by heaven in Fatima have come true.
(LifeSiteNews) — In light of Pope Leo XIV's election to the papacy, as well as the fact that the Bishop of Leiria-Fatima consecrated this papacy to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a question has arisen: whether or not one should request from the new pope a reconsidering of the March 2022 consecration of Russia as performed by Pope Francis after the outbreak of the Ukraine war in February of that year.
Let us remember that Pope Francis invited the bishops of the world on March 25 of that year to join him in his act of consecration. On that day, Francis spoke at St. Peter's Basilica about the Immaculate Heart of Mary: “I wish to renew to her the consecration of the Church and the whole of humanity, and to consecrate to her in a particular way the Ukrainian people and the Russian people who, with filial affection, venerate her as a Mother.”
But three years later, neither the conversion of Russia nor the period of peace as promised by heaven in Fatima have come true. Should we therefore ask Pope Leo XIV to make yet another act of consecrating Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary?
LifeSite reached out to two bishops who have our trust in questions of the faith, Bishop Bernard Fellay of the Society of St. Pius X, and Bishop Joseph Strickland, formerly of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas. In the following, we shall present to our readers the two bishops' statements, with gratitude to these two prelates, hoping that these will encourage a new debate about this vital issue of our time.
Statement from Bishop Bernard Fellay assessing the 2022 Consecration of Russia by Pope Francis
The 2022 Consecration of Russia has added many new elements on the material level which had not been there in earlier consecrations. For example, all the bishops of the world were asked to participate in the consecration of Russia by the Pope. In addition, the consecration explicitly mentioned Russia by name.
But at the same time, the most important elements were still missing.
- The reason for all the apparitions of Fatima, as well as of the consecration itself, is the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Therefore, the Pope has to mention that devotion and promote it.
- The message of Fatima also contains the aspect of punishment and of a threat: the message is that if the world does not convert, there will be punishments from God. But Pope Francis did not call upon the world to convert, there was no call to conversion. Here, the role of Russia is important, since Russia became the instrument of the punishment of God, and the Consecration of Russia will reverse it, and it will do a lot of good to the whole world. Russia thus can turn into a good instrument by way of the consecration.
- There is also the aspect of reparatio, of reparation for the offenses committed. Pope Francis did not call upon acts of reparation on the part of the faithful. Heaven spoke specifically of the First Saturday devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary as reparation. But Pope Francis did not even mention it.
Therefore, the 2022 Consecration of Russia fell formally far short of the requests from Heaven.
However, we still can see some fruits from that consecration, as it was the case with past consecrations. Namely, on the day of the 2022 consecration, Russia declared that it would lift its siege of Kiev in the Ukraine and that it would withdraw into the East. This could certainly be seen as a partial answer to that consecration.
A final note:
Up to today, we do not see the fruits as mentioned by the Mother of God, and thus one may seriously doubt that the recent consecrations performed by the Popes have fulfilled the conditions as presented to Sister Lucy by the Blessed Mother: She said that Russia will convert and that there will be a time of peace. And I would add: To the Church and to the world.
RELATED: Understanding the connection between Our Lady of Fatima and Russia
Statement of Bishop Joseph Strickland
As a bishop of the Church, I affirm the profound importance of the message of Fatima. The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in 1917 to three children in Portugal, and her words were given for the Church and the world. At the heart of her message is a request: that the Holy Father consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart, in union with the bishops of the world, as a remedy for the spiritual and temporal chastisements that have since unfolded.
Our Lady was precise: she asked for the consecration of Russia – not the world, not humanity broadly –but Russia specifically. She said this should be done by the Pope in union with the bishops of the world. And she promised that if this were done, Russia would be converted, and a period of peace would be granted to the world.
Over the years, various popes have performed acts of consecration:
* In 1942, Pope Pius XII consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, but not Russia by name.
* In 1952, he consecrated Russia specifically – but without the union of the world’s bishops.
* Pope John Paul II’s 1984 consecration also did not mention Russia by name, and while some bishops joined spiritually, it is not clear that this act fulfilled all the conditions Our Lady requested.
* In 2022, Pope Francis consecrated “humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine.” But again, this was not explicit, exclusive consecration of Russia as such, and it is not evident that it was performed in full union with all the bishops in a manner that met the clarity of Heaven’s demand.
Our Lady’s request is not vague or open to reinterpretation. It is precise. We do not presume to judge hearts or intentions, but we must speak clearly: until Russia is consecrated by a legitimate pope, in union with the world’s bishops, and Russia is named explicitly, the request of Our Lady of Fatima remains unfulfilled.
For the sake of the Church and the salvation of souls, we continue to pray and work for the day when a faithful pope will obey Heaven’s command in its fullness, and at last open the floodgates of grace and peace promised through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Note: These two statements were written upon request from the author for the occasion of the Fatima Center's May 17-18 “Fatima, Faith & Fidelity” conference, where I gave a talk on Fatima. These statements were read aloud there for the first time on Saturday, May 17.
