The secrets of Fatima are perhaps the most controversial prophecies in all of the Catholic Church.

And now we have Pope Leo, our newest pope, commenting on the third secret of Fatima itself.

And what he has to say might surprise you, especially when you hear about what he thinks is going to happen in the next few months.

The secrets of Fatima, for those who are unaware, are not really secrets, but rather divine prophecies that were handed to a group of children supposedly by the Virgin Mary herself.

But the story behind how these secrets reached the minds of the children is in and of itself an amazing tale.

And to truly understand the significance of what Pope Leo said, we first have to understand what these children saw and the manner in which the secrets were revealed to them.

The revelations were apparently given to three young children on May 13th, 1917 in Portugal by the names of Lucia Santos Sanjasinta and Francisco MTO.

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The children claimed to have been visited by an apparition of the Virgin Mary and were told things that pertain to the future.

These things were finally condensed into the three secrets which soon became known as the three secrets of Fatima.

The children who were entrusted with these secrets never revealed them to the public as they felt it had not become time to do so and were not instructed.

They held close to these secrets for many years till a bishop by the name of Joseé Alves Correra de Silva asked that the secrets be revealed.

On reading the revelations, it was quite clear that the revelations were in relation to World War II, which they were in the midst of, and the subsequent rise of communism that was going to take place.

And although these two events had taken place, the third secret was not revealed for the longest period of time as it was determined by one of the children who was now grown up that the time to reveal the same had not arrived.

She was urged to put it into writing instead, which she did.

This final secret was sealed off by the Vatican and only revealed many decades later in the year 2000.

But before we reveal what was said in the letter and what Pope Leo has said about it, we have to go back to that warm summer’s day in Portugal where the three children first met with the apparition of Mary.

This was surprisingly not the first supernatural experience that the children had.

As a year prior to the apparition of Mary coming to them, the children recalled that they were visited by a heavenly figure who identified himself as the angel of peace.

The kids recalled that this figure had ushered the children into prayer, had prayed with them, and before leaving, he told the children that their prayers and supplications were being attended by the hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Was this angel actually the Virgin Mary visiting the children, or was it all just a dream they had? Surprisingly, it was not a dream because they would once again have a supernatural experience a year later.

Almost a year later, around the same time, the kids would be visited by the Virgin Mary herself, who would request the children to come and meet her in the field that they were standing in named Kova Ira.

The children would then on request of the Virgin Mary go to the same spot on her behest and would be visited by her.

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She apparently led the children in praying the rosary and would tell them of the things that were going to be.

The Virgin Mary would appear to the children a total of six times over which time she revealed the three secrets.

But what exactly were the secrets? Well, like we said earlier, it outlined future events that were going to take place like World War II and the rise of communism.

The first vision that was shared by Lucia stated that she and the children were shown a vision of hell with tormented souls being tossed around in a sea of fire.

The second showed the children that a great war even greater than the one they were currently in, which was World War I, would soon come.

But along with the second secret that was revealed, our lady also requested three things of the faithful.

The first being that the church consecrate Russia to her immaculate heart.

The second being that everyone should pray the rosary daily.

And lastly for people who observe the first Saturday’s devotion.

Her focus seemed to be on the Russian state that had wandered so very far from what they used to be.

In addition to this, it was made clear to the children that an attempt would be made on the Holy Father’s life, but her protection would be granted to him.

Almost 40 years later, this prophecy would come to pass.

On May 13th, 1981, the 64th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions, a person by the name of Mehmed Ali Aza attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II by shooting him at near pointlank range.

But miraculously, the Holy Father didn’t lose his life.

Pope John Paul attributed his survival to the intercession of our lady of Fatima and implanted the bullet that struck him into the crown of the statue of our lady of Fatima.

But this was not the first miraculous intercession of our lady of Fatima we had seen because the people of Portugal and specifically the people who lived in the area of Kova area experienced a miracle far greater that’s difficult to deny due to the sheer number of people both believing and unbelieving who experienced it.

What event are we talking about here you wonder? Well, it’s the miracle of the sun of course.

Going back to the three children in that field, we can see that the Virgin Mary had told the children that a great war was going to fall upon the world under the pontificate of pious 11th and that her words would be validated by a miracle that would take place specifically on October the 13th, 1917.

While many said that the children were making things up, many people in the town actually believed in what the children had received and made many of their friends and family visit them for this day.

On October 13th, a crowd of nearly 70,000 people had gathered together to witness the miracle.

The crowd was made up of a mix of believers, non-believers, and skeptics who did not want to waste a chance to jure the crowd of believers.

But lo and behold, the sun appeared to move erratically across the sky, spinning in its position, and even the apparition of our lady being visible to everyone who was there to witness it.

The crowd went from one struck to almost terrified on seeing the apparition as they finally understood that the children before them had been telling them the truth all along.

This miracle came at a time when Portugal was undergoing severe political and religious turmoil within its borders, shifting between nearly 45 governments in the span of 16 years, with each government promising to pull Portugal out of the shadow that had been cast by the recently overthrown monarchy and bring Portugal into a new era of prosperity.

But when a government was finally established properly within Portugal, it declared that it would be done with the old ways and ensure that the state removes every trace of religion under its new communist regime.

The miracle of Fatima reinvigorated the people to believe once again and it reminded them that even in the face of a new government and changing trends, their faith was not one that will be lightly cast aside.

Pope Leo has also reiterated the same, stating that it’s important for everyone in the world to hold on to their faith as the world moves further and further away from God.