FATIMA SECRET, COMMENTARY DUE EARLY IN JUNE

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VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- The full text of the third secret of Fatima will be made public sometime during early June, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has revealed. In an interview published on May 19 by the Italian daily La Reppublica, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith disclosed that a committee of historians and theologians is now preparing a commentary on the text of the Fatima secret, in an effort to help place the message in the appropriate historical and religious context. That commentary, with the text itself, will be presented to the public at a Vatican press conference, he said.

He said that the exact date of the announcement had not yet been set. "There will be no new surprises" in the message, the cardinal said. On the contrary, he continued, the publication of the full text of the Virgin's message may help to restore the matter "to the proper dimensions." Cardinal Ratzinger said that Christians should not attach exaggerated importance to "these private revelations, which are not essential for a Christian, even if they do furnish an help in prayer and Christian life for those who seek them."

The cardinal also cautioned that the Fatima message as a whole is based "not on sensationalism, but only on the fundamentals of Christianity." He did say that the tie between the third secret and the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II was "quite apparent."

In the same interview, when Cardinal Ratzinger whether the Pope might consider resignation, he dismissed the possibility "in the most absolute fashion." He pointed out that the Pope has attended virtually every major ceremony for the Jubilee, and that he has continued his foreign travels and other projects, thus demonstrating that he remains "very present to the Church, in spiritual and human terms." Therefore, he concluded, "there is no reason to believe that he might not be capable of continued his pastoral mission."