lifesitenews--2020-06-02--Archbishop Viganò: Our Lady warned of ‘great apostasy’ in Church followed by risk of World War III

June 2 , 2020 ( LifeSiteNews ) – Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò , in an interview with LifeSiteNews ( read full interview below ) , explains the history of the apparitions of Our Lady in Civitavecchia , Italy which took place 25 years ago .
During these miraculous events , Our Lady referred back to her apparitions and messages in Fatima , and she warned that Satan is out to destroy the family .
Additionally , Our Lady spoke about the apostasy in the Church , the darkness that overshadows Rome , the need to consecrate Italy to the Immaculate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world is becoming more and more a prisoner of Satan 's darkness and evil , without sparing numerous servants of the Church.
” She also spoke of the risk of a third world war following the apostasy .
Our Lady spoke to the Gregori family , after their statue of Mary had started to shed tears of blood on February 2 , 1995 .
She made clear that this apparition is linked to her apparitions in Fatima .
She stated : “ My children , the darkness of Satan is now obscuring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ obscuring the Church of God .
Prepare to live what I had revealed to my little daughters of Fatima ” Indeed , says the Italian prelate , “ this prophecy about the suicide of the Catholic Church has meanwhile been largely fulfilled through the Satanic-Masonic attempt to Protestantize Catholicism , reducing it to one of the many religions that are part of a single world religion.
” Further explaining the Masonic influence in the Church and in the world , he adds : “ That the Masonic octopus clutches the Catholic Church in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a secret .
Right in the Vatican , the very stronghold of the Catholic Church , Masonry has armed itself with diabolical patience and waited until it reached the levers of power and command .
The heart of Catholicity , which by divine mandate must be a beacon , has long been home to a pomp and pretention that decays it.
” But there is also a message of hope .
Our Lady stated during her apparitions of Civitavecchia : “ After the painful years of Satan 's darkness , the years of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now imminent.
” And she urges us to pray the Holy Rosary as a strong weapon against the forces of evil .
As Archbishop Viganò states , these apparitions have been approved by the Diocese of Civitavecchia and that even Pope John Paul II privately blessed the miraculous statue .
In addition , he informs us that Father Gabriele Amorth , the well-respected and now-deceased chief exorcist of Rome , strongly believed in these apparitions and even asked the Gregori family to pray for him when he was at the end of his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family and even witnessed some supernatural phenomenon when praying in the presence of the miraculous statue .
LifeSite is presenting herewith a lengthy interview conducted with Archbishop Viganò after he had recently mentioned the apparitions of Civitavecchia in another statement .
Speaking with a Portuguese website about the message of Fatima and after saying that the third secret of Fatima has not yet been fully revealed , the Italian prelate stated “ In addition , it was [ Cardinal Tarcisio ] Bertone himself who heavily discredited and censured the Madonnina delle Lacrime ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whose message perfectly agrees with what she said at Fatima.
” For Archbishop Viganò , these warnings of Our Lady at the outskirts of the Metropolitan Diocese of Rome are coming true in our times .
Speaking about her words on Satan 's attack on the family – something that Sister Lucia had once also spoken about in a letter to Cardinal Carlo Caffarra – Archbishop Viganò explains : “ The decisive battle between the Kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of Satan concerns marriage and the family .
Attacking the family means @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but also of the Church .
The aggression against the family is also manifesting itself within the Church , explicitly with the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia , with the possibility of denying the indissolubility of marriage , with the legitimization of homosexuality and with the promotion of gender ideology .
Civitavecchia , like Fatima , contains a warning to the Church and a judgment on History , and offers the only decisive remedy , the divine antidote , to the evil and damnation of History and man.
” It is important to know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the family who witnessed these apparitions and supernatural events , was given by Our Lady the content of the third secret of Fatima and that this message was then passed on to Pope John Paul II at the time .
She herself was able to meet , in 1996 , with Sister Lucia of Fatima and to compare with her the messages they received concerning the third secret .
They matched .
The apparitions of Civitavecchia do not yet seem to be very much known in the English-speaking world .
LifeSite is grateful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reported on this apparition and who have conducted interviews with Father Flavio Ubodi , the vice-president of the diocesan commission which approved of the apparitions , in the course of which the miraculous statue was placed in a church for adoration .
Ubodi has just published a book , in Italian , called Civitavecchia .
25 years with Mary .
It seems providential that it is now Archbishop Viganò who carries this message of warning and of hope as given to us by Our Lady of Civitavecchia to the English-speaking world .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that we are witnessing , let us remember we have Our Lady in heaven who watches over us , to whom we can cling , and who promises us help .
Or , as Viganò says : “ If the triumph of the Immaculate Heart is not far away , now is the time of battle , and She who is our Leader and Coredemptrix wants to see us fight , suffer and implore her Victory which is now at the gates.
” And then he quotes Our Lady herself : “ Through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ faith in these days of great apostasy .
You are the light of the Lord , because you are children totally consecrated to Me .
Let yourselves be guided by Me ...
If you listen to Me with true love , and fulfill my requests by walking the path that I point out to you in your mind and heart , through you I can realize the great divine Design of the great triumph of my Immaculate Heart ” ( September 8 , 1995 ) .
LifeSiteNews : You have recently mentioned the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reference to the messages of Our Lady of Fatima .
You said in a recent interview : “ In addition , it was Bertone himself who heavily discredited and censured the Madonnina delle Lacrime [ the Weeping Statue of Our Lady ] of Civitavecchia , whose message perfectly agrees with what she said at Fatima.
” Could you tell us about the happenings at Civitavecchia , which is located at the outskirts of the metropolitan Diocese of Rome ?
What happened there ?
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò : “ Papa , papa , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ February 2 , 1995 , at 4:21 p.m. , Jessica Gregori , a little girl who was not even six years old , was about to go to Holy Mass with her family when for the first time she saw a small statue of Mary Most Holy crying tears of blood in the small stone grotto which her father had recently built in front of their house .
Fabio , her father , was putting his 18-month old son Davide into the car when he heard his daughter crying out repeatedly .
When @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he rushed over and realized what was happening , even though at first it was quite perplexing .
His wife Annamaria was already waiting for them at church , but she was not surprised to hear what had happened , since she had not forgotten a dream she had the preceding January 18 that referred to a painful event that would take place on the day of Candlemas .
From that day on the phenomenon repeated itself a total of thirteen times , in front of crowds of witnesses , until February 6 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were promptly called by Fabio , were also present uninterruptedly during these days to guard the sacred image and would also give sworn testimony about these events during the investigation .
A storm broke out around the young family .
The parish priest , who was the first eyewitness after the members of the family , informed the diocesan Bishop , Msgr .
Girolamo Grillo , but the bishop did not want to know about the event , and he tore up the first report that was written by the parish priest himself @ @ @ @ @ @ @ events was very strong and triggered negative media reaction .
At the request of various parties the Judiciary investigated the family on multiple counts .
They carried out all sorts of research and examination on the liquid , on the statue and in the homes of the Gregori family and their relatives .
Fabio Gregori himself pushed for these investigations to be carried out , because he wanted the truth to be revealed and to protect his family , even to the point of proposing to mortgage their house in order to pay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ needed to be done .
The statue of Mary was confiscated by the Bishop and kept in his own home , where it continued to weep blood in front of various witnesses until March 15 .
Bishop Grillo himself told me what happened that day .
It was 8:15 in the morning .
After celebrating Holy Mass , Bishop Grillo acceded to his sister 's request to pray before the sacred image , which he had been keeping in a closet .
With the people who were present that day , Bishop Grillo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Queen.
” When they said the line , “ Turn then most gracious advocate , thine eyes of Mercy toward us , ” the statue began to weep blood .
The shock was so great that the Bishop had to receive first aid from a cardiologist .
After this disturbing event , Bishop Grillo radically changed his attitude .
He stopped the DNA investigation , established a Theological Commission and began an ecclesiastical process to study and verify the event .
As he himself would declare , he changed from being a judge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the Pope , John Paul II , let the Bishop know that he was personally interested and invited him not to be skeptical .
Now the tables were turned : the media turned against the Bishop and did not accept his testimony and the Judiciary took the little statue into custody .
At that point , John Paul II gave a tangible sign of his support and closeness : on April 10 , 1995 , he sent his close friend Cardinal Andrzej Maria Deskur to preside over a prayer vigil in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the statue .
On that occasion the cardinal also blessed on the Pope ’ s behalf a second statue that was identical to the one that had cried , which was then given to the family .
Subsequently this statue would display phenomena of exuding a very fragrant oil before numerous witnesses .
The same statue [ the second statue ] wept tears of water during the days of the final agony of John Paul II in 2005 , and then again on the same days , from March 28 to April @ @ @ @ @ @ @ March 31 , 2006 , Bishop Grillo personally witnessed this weeping once again , and he testified to it publicly in the press .
After the first statue of the Blessed Mother was released from custody by the Judicial on June 11 , 1995 , John Paul II wanted to venerate and crown her in the Vatican at his apartment , but in secret , so as not to interfere with the investigation of the Diocesan Commission .
He later confirmed in writing that this event happened , in a document dated October @ @ @ @ @ @ @ signed by him on the following October 20 .
On June 17 , 1995 , the original statue of the Blessed Mother was solemnly exposed in the parish church in Civitavecchia for the public veneration of the faithful , where she remains to this day .
On March 15 , 2005 , the tenth anniversary of the last time the statue wept in 1995 , the diocesan bishop issued a decree for the construction of a diocesan shrine .
LifeSite : What are the main messages of Our Lady to Jessica and her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ February 6 , 1995 , shortly after the thirteenth occasion of weeping , Fabio heard an external voice talking to him .
Actually , Annamaria had already previously been the recipient of revelations in the form of dreams , and little by little the entire family gradually became involved in the celestial manifestations .
But from that moment on , this voice spoke many times , but with different identities – sometimes the Father , sometimes the Son .
Then , beginning on July 2 , 1995 , a series of apparitions began @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the Angels , including numerous messages , ending on May 17 , 1996 .
The Blessed Virgin also appeared again recently , giving a message on December 23 , 2018 .
In addition , the events themselves and the silent visions are significant signs that carry messages within them .
When Jessica , was asked about the central message given by Our Lady in Civitavecchia , she replied : “ The main message is that they want to destroy the family .
And then the apostasy in the Church and the risk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most obvious message is the sign of Mary weeping tears of blood .
The Voice heard by Fabio revealed that it is the Blood of Jesus “ shed for all the children who turn away from Her Immaculate Heart , to give you salvation ” ( May 17 , 1995 ) .
This is at the same time both a warning of grave danger and the offering of the means of salvation .
There is also a heartfelt warning of a particular danger for Italy : “ Your Nation is in grave danger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and more on the Rock that my Son Jesus left you on which to build up , educate and spiritually raise his children .
Bishops , your task is to continue the growth of God 's Church , since you are God 's heirs.
” There is a constant invitation to Communion within the Church of Jesus , the priests and faithful united to the Bishops , while the Bishops are called to `` return to being of one heart full of true faith and humility.
” The messages strongly call people to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speak of the need to be nourished with Eucharistic Communion , daily if possible ; to go to Confession regularly “ on Sundays ” ( a discreet emphasis on the important of receiving Communion in the state of grace ) ; they invite people to Eucharistic adoration .
There is a strong call to personal prayer , to placing oneself in the Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist for at least a quarter of an hour a day , to the praying the Holy Rosary daily , “ a powerful weapon to defeat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of daily life by transforming all the gestures of family life into “ acts of love ” which “ save souls from Satan.
” There is an invitation to family love , to love for children , who are “ ours and yours.
” On the Italian Day for Life the statue wept seven times .
At the same time the messages contain a warning of a fierce attack by Satan against the family , as a strategy to destroy the Church together with an internal attack made by means of many priests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ listen to my Son Jesus , true God and your brother .
Listen to and build up his Word , revealed to the Holy Church so that you may become true children of God , so that you may do God 's will in your daily life for your sanctification .
The world is becoming more and more a prisoner of Satan 's darkness and evil , without sparing numerous servants of the Church.
” The heartfelt and strong words are precisely those of a distressed mother : “ Children , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trial , and in many of you the faith will become unstable.
” As we have said , the messages warn of the great danger of a third world war , which may be a nuclear war , but which can be stopped with “ weapons stronger than those used , which are love , prayers , humility , the Rosary and true conversion of your hearts to God through our Heavenly Mother who is holding you all in her arms , close to her Immaculate Heart.
” There is an insistent request @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Immaculate Heart , of Parishes , Cities , Dioceses , and the World , as a pledge of protection on Her part .
`` Consecrate yourselves all to me , to my Immaculate Heart , and I will protect your Nation under my mantle now full of graces .
Listen to me , please , I beg you !
I am your Heavenly Mother , I beg you : do not make me weep again seeing so many of my children die for your faults by not accepting me and allowing Satan to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ great peace : “ Let yourself be guided in your steps with the simplicity with which a child puts his hand in the Hand of his Father.
” “ My Immaculate Heart will transform your sufferings into joys which you accept with true love , for these are trials which the Lord Jesus allows.
” ( September 8 , 1995 ) LifeSite : What were the findings of the police investigations , as well as the medical findings concerning the nature of the blood that was shed as tears by the statue of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first statue was analyzed on site by the official doctor , who found it to be human blood .
The statue of the Blessed Mother had not yet stopped crying .
The photographic evidence following the weeping on March 15 , 1995 , when the statue was in the bishop 's hands was also impressive , because the blood traces covered the same identical stains that had been previously removed for examination , even though the statue was now in a horizontal position .
X-ray analysis was carried out with 42 CT @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the blood aimed at isolating the DNA which found five polymorphisms and gave alternating results regarding the gender , which appeared to be at times male and at other times female , but was recognized as predominantly male .
There was a dishonest media campaign aimed at discrediting the Gregori family , saying that they refused to submit to comparative DNA testing because they wanted to avoid further investigation .
Even recently someone tried to reopen the issue by stooping to new shameful lows .
Among other things , it should be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ without the Gregori family even being present .
The truth is that at the time , Fabio refused to allow his blood to be drawn solely out of obedience to the Bishop , and he was very conflicted about it .
Only a message heard from the voice that spoke to him succeeded in stopping him from deciding to undergo the examination .
It is very interesting to hear this message : “ The way of truth is in the Church of God .
The truth comes from God .
Do not fear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 6 , 1995 ) .
Later it became clearer that the blood sample taken from the statue had been taken incorrectly , in the absence of an expert , without plausible reasons , and therefore it would have been impossible to procedurally ascertain the validity of the slide of the liquid that was taken .
Furthermore , even if that blood sample had been accepted , it was not of a sufficient quantity to permit a complete DNA examination .
Since no further weeping occurred afterwards , there is no material possibility of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be remembered that Fabio Gregori has always told the Church that he is completely available for any kind of investigation .
LifeSite : There was an investigation of these supernatural events by a Diocesan Commission ; could you tell us about the results of that investigation and whether this apparition has been approved by the Church ?
The Diocesan Theological Commission set up by the Bishop expressed itself in favor of the supernatural nature of the event by a majority .
In 1997 , Bishop Grillo himself forwarded the results to the Congregation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and on October 27 , 1997 , the CDF announced the establishment of a Commission presided over by Cardinal Camillo Ruini .
This Commission was dissolved without ever publishing a verdict , which juridically means the tacit confirmation of the Diocesan Commission 's verdict .
There are numerous signs of indirect recognition by the Church : • The solemn exposition of the miraculous statue of the Blessed Mother to public veneration in the parish church , in accord with the request made to Fabio by the voice he heard on February 6 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the City of Civitavecchia and the Diocese by the Bishop in obedience to the Virgin 's message of December 7 , 1995 , which was read publicly during the ceremony on December 8 , 1996 .
• The document drawn up by the Bishop on October 8 , 2000 , and countersigned by John Paul II on October 20 , 2000 , certifying the pontifical veneration and crowning of the statue .
• The decree of erection of the Diocesan Shrine at the parish church where the statue is venerated .
• The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the house of the Gregori family , as well as the simultaneous written removal of all the prohibitions previously prudentially issued against the family .
• The publication by the diocesan bishop of a dossier on the event on the tenth anniversary of the weeping , in the Diocesan Review of 2005 .
• The desire expressed in writing by Bishop Grillo to publish news and messages on the event in a book written by the Vice-President of the Diocesan Theological Commission , which was published in 2005 by Father Flavio Ubodi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Bishop Grillo about the tears and also the exuding of oil , as well as his relationship with the Gregori family .
• The announcement of the beginning of construction of the Shrine by Bishop Grillo ’ s successor , Bishop Carlo Chenis , on August 28 , 2008 .
He later died prematurely and was unable to complete the project .
However , he was able to leave a written letter of attestation of the fidelity of the Gregori family to the Church on March 1 , 2008 .
• The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bishop Chenis ’ successor , Bishop Luigi Marrucci , on April 26 , 2014 , who was the bishop at the time ( he has since resigned ) in the presence of the bishop emeritus and Archbishop Giovanni Marra .
LifeSite : Since you mention the role of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone in your recent interview , could you tell us what he tried to do when Bishop Grillo , though he was not obliged to do so , asked the Vatican to undertake its own investigation of the apparitions in Civitavecchia ?
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to continue the study of the event .
The Commission was presided over by Cardinal Ruini as supervisor , but delegated to the oversight of Msgr .
Domenico Pecile , Bishop of Latina .
It did not publish any findings , as has been said .
On February 17 , 2005 , Cardinal Bertone , who had been Archbishop of Genoa since 2002 , intervened on the national RAI television network to declare that the Vatican Commission had expressed a judgment of non constat [ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The following day the diocesan bishop , Bishop Grillo , publicly declared that he had never received notice of such a pronouncement by the Commission .
There was never any follow up with a written document that confirmed Bertone 's statement .
Moreover , Grillo later confided that he had previously heard of a propensity of the Commission for a suspensive opinion , but that Cardinal Ruini , who had communicated this to him , later asked him for silence on the matter after he learned of John Paul II 's relationship @ @ @ @ @ @ @ able to confirm to the Vice President of the Diocesan Commission , Father Flavio Ubodi , the positive attitude of the Vatican Commission regarding the event .
Afterwards , the appointment of Msgr .
Chenis as bishop of Civitavecchia [ in 2006 ] , which Cardinal Bertone wanted , confirmed Bertone ’ s intention to stop the event , since the new bishop publicly declared the purpose of his appointment .
Until , as I mentioned previously , the Lord called him through a sudden illness that quickly led to his death , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Gregori family and concrete commitment to foster the cult of the statue of the Blessed Mother .
LifeSite : Since it is also known that Cardinal Bertone was heavily involved in the Fatima debates , what do you think is his purpose ?
Why does he try to undermine such an orthodox and Catholic message ?
Cardinal Bertone , in a press conference on the Third Secret held in April 2000 , made an astonishing declaration that ended with these words : “ The Third Secret has nothing to do with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Novus Ordo ( of the Mass ) and the conciliar Popes , as the integrists have claimed for decades.
” Let us try to compare these statements with the surprising statement made by then-Cardinal Pacelli , the future Pope Pius XII , sixteen years after the Fatima apparitions , in 1933 : “ I am concerned about the messages of the Blessed Virgin to little Lucia of Fatima .
This insistence on Mary 's part on the dangers threatening the Church is a divine warning against suicide through the alteration of the Faith @ @ @ @ @ @ @ theology and in her soul ...
I feel around me the innovators who want to dismantle the Sacred Chapel , destroy the universal flame of the Church , reject her ornaments , and inflict regret on her for her historical past.
” This prophecy about the suicide of the Catholic Church has meanwhile been largely fulfilled through the Satanic-Masonic attempt to Protestantize Catholicism , reducing it to one of the many religions that are part of a single world religion .
We can consider these words of Sister Lucia in relation to Cardinal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disorientation that is confusing the world and souls ...
The worst thing is that it has succeeded in leading into error and deception those souls who have a great responsibility because of the position they occupy ...
They are blind and guides of the blind ...
They allow themselves to be dominated by the diabolical wave that is invading the world.
” Benedict XVI himself responded to the attempt to reduce the text of the Secret of Fatima to the 1981 attack against John Paul II during his 2010 trip to Fatima .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ as Cardinal Ratzinger , Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , he had elaborated as a commentary on the text of the published Secret , he said , on May 13 2010 , when he went as pontiff to Fatima : “ One would be deluding oneself if one thought that the prophetic mission of Fatima is over.
” To the question of Father Lombardi asking whether the Third Secret also concerned “ the sufferings of the Church today for the sins of sexual abuse of minors , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ great vision of the Pope 's suffering , which we can first of all relate to Pope John Paul II , there are indicated realities of the future of the Church which gradually develop and reveal themselves .
Therefore it is true that beyond the moment indicated in the vision , one speaks , one sees the need for a passion of the Church , which of course is reflected in the person of the Pope , but the Pope stands for the Church and therefore it is the sufferings of the Church @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us that the Church would always suffer , in different ways , until the end of the world .
The important thing is that the message , the response of Fatima , essentially does not lie in particular devotions , but precisely in the fundamental response that is permanent conversion , penance , prayer , and the three theological virtues : faith , hope and charity .
Thus we see here the true and fundamental response that the Church must give , that we , each individual , must give in this situation.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ message that there will be a great apostasy in the Catholic Church .
Many believe that there are bishops and cardinals within the Church who are either Freemasons or collaborate with them .
Do you yourself have any knowledge of this , especially in light of your own work in the diplomatic corps ?
That the Masonic octopus clutches the Catholic Church in its tentacles is neither a rumor nor a secret .
Right in the Vatican , the very stronghold of the Catholic Church , Masonry has armed itself with diabolical patience @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of power and command .
The heart of Catholicity , which by divine mandate must be a beacon , has long been home to a pomp and pretention that decays it .
In Civitavecchia , during an apparition in the garden of the house , on August 27 , 1995 , the Blessed Virgin transmitted an alarming message , referring to what was already revealed at Fatima : “ My children , the darkness of Satan is now obscuring the whole world and it is also obscuring the Church of God .
Prepare @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my little daughters of Fatima ... After the painful years of Satan 's darkness , the years of the triumph of my Immaculate Heart are now imminent.
” All the evidence shows that we have entered this time of trial , a decisive test .
“ The sufferings of the Church , ” said Benedict XVI on the same journey to Fatima that we have mentioned , “ come from within , from the sin that exists in the Church .
This has always been known , but today we see it in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the moment when the judgment has begun , beginning from the House of God ! ''
( 1 Pt 4 : 17 ) .
Christ 's disciples are confronted with radical choices of consistency and fidelity , of total dedication to him , in the firm confession of the true faith : this could also cost the gift of one ’ s life in the supreme witness of martyrdom .
With prayer and sacrifice we can mitigate this tribulation that has fallen upon the Church as a terrible punishment , but it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : it belongs to a providential plan of God .
Through this radical trial , as through an Easter Triduum of suffering , death and descent into hell , the length of which we do not know , the Church will effectively be purified from the evils that are devastating her .
This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church recalls in numbers 675-677 , citing the condemnation of the antichristic imposture .
The Church will know the triumph of the Kingdom of Mary , which will open the doors to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Immaculate Heart is not far away , now is the time of battle , and She who is our Leader and Coredemptrix wants to see us fight , suffer and implore her Victory which is now at the gates .
“ Through you I can spread the light of faith in these days of great apostasy .
You are the light of the Lord , because you are children totally consecrated to Me .
Let yourselves be guided by Me ...
If you listen to Me with true love , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that I point out to you in your mind and heart , through you I can realize the great divine Design of the great triumph of my Immaculate Heart ” ( September 8 , 1995 ) .
LifeSite : Our Lady warns us in Civitavecchia : “ Satan wants to destroy the family.
” Do you see here a link between what is happening in the Catholic Church in recent years , the possible role of Freemasonry , and Civitavecchia ?
The decisive battle between the Kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Attacking the family means destroying the fundamental cell of society , but also of the Church .
The aggression against the family is also manifesting itself within the Church , explicitly with the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia , with the possibility of denying the indissolubility of marriage , with the legitimization of homosexuality and with the promotion of gender ideology .
Civitavecchia , like Fatima , contains a warning to the Church and a judgment on History , and offers the only decisive remedy , the divine antidote , to the evil and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sin , as well as the origin of actual sin , consists in man 's adherence to the false and malicious suggestion of Satan .
He wants to manipulate and deceive man , leading him to see what is evil as good and what is good as evil .
He induces the suspicion that God wants to prevent us from being able to be like Him , thus leading to the proud illusion of being able to become God , disobeying the true God .
In this way the Evil One pursues his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Love , distancing man from God .
It is inevitable that when man falls into this trap , he becomes a slave to sin , sees the entrance of death into his existence , and the destruction of nature and the world .
Babel , as the Liturgy of Pentecost reminds us , shows how pride is also the damnation of History .
The Immaculate Heart of Mary is offered to man as a remedy because in it , by virtue of Her total Communion with the Divine Son , everything is consecrated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ property .
Here everything is pure from sin ; it is the beginning of the New Creation .
For this reason in Civitavecchia the Holy Virgin said : “ The Lord has clothed me with His Light and the Holy Spirit with His Power .
My task is to take all my children away from Satan and bring them back to the perfect glorification of the Most Holy Trinity.
” And she added : “ My wish is that you all consecrate yourselves to my Immaculate Heart so that I can lead you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my heavenly garden.
” The titles that she gives herself also reflect this mission : “ I present myself to you as Our Lady of Roses of the Immaculate Heart , Queen of Heaven , Mother of Families , Bearer of Peace in your hearts.
” And she adds , `` Convert , my sweet children , because time is running out.
” Man , who in sin has lost Communion with God , like the branch torn from the vine , finds it again in Mary , she who is perfectly united @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the lifeblood to the branches .
It is she who acts as the point of union between the branch and the Vine .
This perfect union in the humility of the Virgin Mother is the salvation offered by God to lost humanity , it is the defeat of Satanic pride .
If Satan wants to wrest the children of God from Communion with their Creator and Father , evidently the Virgin Mary , the Woman whose heel the ancient serpent strikes , can not but be his perennial enemy , according to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that she will crush his head , that she has overcome his pride with her perfect humility .
This is also the heart of the drama of History : those who renew the choice of disobedience , wanting to become God , can not but be sided with Satan , and can not but feel the same hostility towards the lineage of the Woman who crushes his head , the Immaculate Mother of God .
The children of Mary are humble , and Satan can not bear them , for their very existence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cf .
Wisdom 2:15-16 ) .
He tries in every way to generate rebellion in them by persecuting them .
I believe that the meaning of the request for Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is therefore clear , both personal consecration and in every sphere of human community , both religious and political .
The reality of history will not be redeemed until man returns to God with all his heart , in every aspect of his life : religious , public and political .
In the history of Israel the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in granting the Kingdom to the People makes it clear to them that this is a permissive will , so that they may understand the foolishness of their dissatisfaction at not having a king like other peoples .
They sin against God because they do not recognize that He is their only King , and they consider Him insufficient .
Not only can the Church be truly purified by God through Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary , but also every family , city , people and nation , and the whole @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over these realities has the responsibility to accept Mary 's heartfelt invitation .
The realization of painful destructive events in the present time , also announced with sorrow by the Blessed Virgin in an attempt to prevent them , should awaken our hearts .
The old people used to say that you recognize the wall by breaking your nose .
Unfortunately today we see much more than a broken nose , but it seems that humanity does not yet want to recognize the wall , neither outside the Church nor within it .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ we contemplated Jesus , ascended to Heaven , who sits as King over every principality and power , over every power and domination : before Him every knee will bend .
Satanic pride may perhaps even accept that one day he will have to bend low before God , but he will never tolerate his true humiliation , which will beneath the foot of Mary .
This is the great eschatological battle , the sides of which are becoming ever more and more visible .
The ancient Serpent can not hide his hostility @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Whoever instead spontaneously consecrates their heart to Mary 's Immaculate Heart , allows her to cultivate it in Her garden , according to Her words , to present it to God purified , in the image of Her Immaculate Heart , so that we may finally become capable of welcoming the eternal good in true humility , the full Communion with God for which we were created .
In Jesus ' words : “ Father , consecrate them in Truth .
Your Word is truth , for them I consecrate myself ” ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you ever met the main visionary , Jessica Gregori , and the Gregori family ?
Jessica and the entire Gregori family do n't like to be called visionaries at all ; it would be better to say witnesses .
Bishop Grillo – whom I knew well for many years , since he also worked in the Secretariat of State – invited me to Civitavecchia ( together with then-Father Giovanni D'Ercole , who is now Bishop of Ascoli Piceno ) to introduce me to the Gregori family .
It was on the occasion of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ return from Nigeria , at the end of the 1990s .
We were gathered in prayer in front of the little grotto surmounted by shrubs where the Statue of Our Lady stood .
It was then that I personally witnessed the exuding of perfumed balm from the base of the statue .
The balm even exuded from the leaves of one of the shrubs , and a drop fell on my head .
Given the importance of the exuding oil , Bishop Grillo took the statue in his hands , while Fabio Gregori @ @ @ @ @ @ @ took some cotton and collected the balm that continued to flow out copiously .
I also had the opportunity to hold the Statue of the Virgin in my own hands .
In memory of that extraordinary event , I still keep in a handkerchief a wad of that cotton that was soaked in the miraculous balm , as well as the small leaf from which a drop of the balm dripped onto my head .
LifeSite : It seems that Jessica received from Our Lady the content of the Third Secret which she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Our Lady said : “ The darkness of Satan is now darkening the whole world and is also darkening the Church of God .
Prepare to live what I had revealed to my little daughters of Fatima.
” Can you tell us about Jessica 's meeting with Sister Lucia in the 1990s and what their conversation brought forth ?
Regarding the content of the secret received from Jessica and reserved for the Pope alone , it was written by her and sealed in a sealed envelope and delivered to Bishop Grillo , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actually delivered to the recipient .
This is not to be confused with the message she addressed to the Pope on February 26 , 2005 , which was acknowledged by the Secretariat of State and through the Bishop .
Jessica addressed the Holy Father : “ I have a great desire to meet you and to let you know so many things that they have not told you and that concern you personally , but that especially are linked to Fatima ...
The messages concern humanity , the Church and families.
” As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ here 's what is known .
In 1996 , Jessica went on pilgrimage to Fatima with her family .
They were accompanied by their spiritual director , Father Manuel Hernandez Jerez , who celebrated Mass in the monastery of Coimbra in the presence of the Gregori family and Sister Lucia .
At the end of the service Jessica and Sister Lucia had a private conversation .
Those who know Sister Lucia 's comportment and obedience can understand that the mere fact that this meeting took place , without having been preceded by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the ordinary .
The event is witnessed in writing with great detail and has never been denied .
More than this I believe that no one will ever know , since Sister Lucia is dead and Jessica does not let a word slip to anyone about the secret .
The account of the visit , written by the spiritual director , can be found in Father Flavio Ubodi ’ s book Civitavecchia , 25 anni con Maria [ Civitavecchia , 25 Years With Mary ] .
LifeSite : Do you know whether @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the warning words of the secret of Fatima ?
The answer is very simple : definitely never !
LifeSite : Our Lady of Civitavecchia also once stated : “ Satan is taking over all humanity , and now he is trying to destroy the Church of God through many priests.
” Would you like to comment on these words ?
Any comment would be superfluous .
Let us take in this very serious warning from Our Lady : “ I am giving you painful news .
Satan is taking over all humanity , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Church of God by means of many priests ... Satan knows that his time is running out , because my Son Jesus is about to intervene .
I beg you , help me ; do not let my Son intervene , because I , your Mother , want to save many souls and bring them to my Son and not leave them to Satan .
Pray that God our Father will grant me some more time , because this is the last period granted to me by God .
My mantle is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ full of graces , to place you all close to my Immaculate Heart .
It is about to close ; then my Son will deliver his divine justice .
A danger looms over the Holy Father , a fierce attack by Satan ” ( July 30 , 1995 ) .
LifeSite : Our Lady also asked Italian Catholics to consecrate themselves to her Immaculate Heart .
Do you think that the recent “ entrustment ” to her Immaculate Heart as performed by the Italian bishops , met that standard ?
This answer is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Shrine of Caravaggio , on the first day of the month traditionally dedicated to Our Lady , there was not any act of entrustment - not to be confused with an act of consecration .
On the evening of May 1st , when the ceremony was supposed to take place in the Shrine , the church was dark .
It was recorded a few days earlier and broadcast on a deferred basis .
That evening Italy was not at all entrusted to Mary with the prayerful participation of the people – even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it possible that the shepherds could have devised such a deception ?
I would like to make my own the heartfelt appeal made by Fabio Gregori : “ I beg you : cry out I beg you , cry out so that the Italian Church , the Heart of Christianity , the Chair of Peter , may also make the Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary .
Our Lady has been asking this for 25 years : do not be afraid to listen to our Mother , let us make an act @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of humble faith , let us make ourselves children who trust their mother ... Let us not allow our Mother to weep for so many souls who die through not listening to her .
What does it cost us to ask for her help ?
” LifeSite : It seems that the message of Our Lady of Civitavecchia is also one of hope .
Could you tell us how ?
The last message , given on December 23 , 2018 , seems to me to be the best answer to the question .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Statue of the Our Lady , the parish church of St. Augustine , the Holy Virgin appeared to Fabio and Annamaria during Holy Mass , and gave this message .
Let us listen to some passages of it : LifeSite : The statue of Our Lady that wept tears had originally been bought in Medugorje .
Do you see a deeper connection between these two places and apparitions ?
Many people have tried to establish links between the two realities , starting from the material origin of the statue that wept @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first .
The Gregori family , custodians of the whole event , have always been very firm in avoiding any manipulation .
They have always testified to what they received in the messages , and in them there is an explicit reference only to Fatima and to no other event .
As for the external signs , the images that are the object of inexplicable phenomena , there are not only the two statues of the Virgin Mary but also a statue of Our Lady of Fatima , an image of Padre Pio @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grotto .
Therefore , to trace the event in Civitavecchia back to a link extrapolated from the material origin of the statues appears somewhat forced .
LifeSite : Could you tell us about Pope John Paul II 's attitude toward Civitavecchia ?
We have already referred to the Pope 's initial interest , and to his veneration of the statue of Our Lady .
We can add that Bishop Grillo has also testified publicly several times publicly about his [ the Pope 's ] visit to Pantano .
The fact could also be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ given a “ Monza 500 ” ( the radio code used at the time to announce an escort who must travel incognito ) , and out of curiosity they waited around to see who it was .
They are not able to testify formally because they are bound to professional secrecy .
Certainly if an investigation was carried out with the necessary permissions it would n't be difficult to confirm the truthfulness of the facts .
Even among the priests of the diocese there are some who know the truth very well ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to giving inconvenient testimony .
LifeSite : One of the supporters of Civitavecchia was Father Gabriele Amorth .
Do you know more about this and what he knew about Civitavecchia ?
Father Amorth firmly believed in the truthfulness of the event .
In this regard I would like to leave the floor to the journalist Antonio Socci , who , in addition to the events of Fatima , also studied with care those related to the Statue of Our Lady of Civitavecchia .
He wrote thus in 2007 : “ Everyone remembers the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Monsignor Grillo .
In the pages of his diary that he published , he relates that on March 13 [ 1995 ] he received a phone call from the famous exorcist of the diocese of Rome , Father Gabriele Amorth ( a true authority , who was also a friend of Padre Pio ) .
Father Amorth begged the bishop to have faith , “ because it had come to his knowledge the previous summer , from a soul spiritually directed by him , that a statue of Our Lady would weep in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bode well for Italy , and so it would be appropriate to do penance and to pray much.
” The bishop notes that he did not believe him and then spoke of it with his sister , Grazia , with ironic accents .
Her sister , however , was upset , and the next day , on March 15 , 1995 , at 8:15 in the morning , after Mass , recalling the words of Father Amorth , she expressed the desire to pray in front of the statue that had been kept @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Bishop Grillo agreed , and together with others began to recite the “ Hail Holy Queen.
” At the line , “ Turn then most gracious advocate thine eyes of mercy toward us , ” the statue began to weep blood again , for the fourteenth time , but this time in the hands of the skeptical bishop.
” Many times Father Amorth went to pray in Civitavecchia and also visited the Gregori family .
As he approached his death , Father Gabriel sent greetings to the Gregori family and asked them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as in Fatima , Our Lady revealed herself , but the import of these revelations has not yet been made known in its entirety because of the infidelity and disobedience of the Pastors .
The event in Civitavecchia is part of a targeted plan of God , who wants to save the Church and all humanity through Mary , The Ever-Victorious One , as St. Maximilian Kolbe loved to call her , The Eternal Enemy of the Devil , as Blessed Pius IX defined her .
May the Church , in her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , unyielding to any compromise with the world and its Prince , indifferent to the approval of others , insensitive to flattery , always absorbed in God like Mary , lost in Him and faithful .
I would like to conclude with the words of the great Pope Pius XII : “ You , kneeling at the feet of the Immaculate Queen , must be willing not to rest until you see her reign supreme over everything and everyone , first in yourselves , then around you , in families , classes and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public activities.
” ( September 7 , 1954 ) “ Multiply , beloved children , the holy vanguards of a heroic army whose action , God willing , can prepare a victory and a triumph hardly imaginable.
” ( February 18 , 1958 )

September 3, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, in an interview with LifeSiteNews last year (read full interview below), explains the history of the apparitions of Our Lady in Civitavecchia, Italy which took place 25 years ago. During these miraculous events, Our Lady referred back to her apparitions and messages in Fatima, and she warned that Satan is out to destroy the family.
Additionally, Our Lady spoke about the apostasy in the Church, the darkness that overshadows Rome, the need to consecrate Italy to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, adding that “the world is becoming more and more a prisoner of Satan’s darkness and evil, without sparing numerous servants of the Church.” She also spoke of the risk of a third world war following the apostasy.
Our Lady spoke to the Gregori family, after their statue of Mary had started to shed tears of blood on February 2, 1995. She made clear that this apparition is linked to her apparitions in Fatima. She stated: “My children, the darkness of Satan is now obscuring the whole world and it is also obscuring the Church of God. Prepare to live what I had revealed to my little daughters of Fatima”
Indeed, says the Italian prelate, “this prophecy about the suicide of the Catholic Church has meanwhile been largely fulfilled through the Satanic-Masonic attempt to Protestantize Catholicism, reducing it to one of the many religions that are part of a single world religion.”
Further explaining the Masonic influence in the Church and in the world, he adds: “That the Masonic octopus clutches the Catholic Church in its tentacles is neither a rumor nor a secret. Right in the Vatican, the very stronghold of the Catholic Church, Masonry has armed itself with diabolical patience and waited until it reached the levers of power and command. The heart of Catholicity, which by divine mandate must be a beacon, has long been home to a pomp and pretention that decays it.”
But there is also a message of hope. Our Lady stated during her apparitions of Civitavecchia: “After the painful years of Satan’s darkness, the years of the triumph of my Immaculate Heart are now imminent.” And she urges us to pray the Holy Rosary as a strong weapon against the forces of evil.
As Archbishop Viganò states, these apparitions have been approved by the Diocese of Civitavecchia and that even Pope John Paul II privately blessed the miraculous statue. In addition, he informs us that Father Gabriele Amorth, the well-respected and now-deceased chief exorcist of Rome, strongly believed in these apparitions and even asked the Gregori family to pray for him when he was at the end of his life. Archbishop Viganò visited the Gregori family and even witnessed some supernatural phenomenon when praying in the presence of the miraculous statue.
LifeSite is presenting herewith a lengthy interview conducted with Archbishop Viganò after he had recently mentioned the apparitions of Civitavecchia in another statement. Speaking with a Portuguese website about the message of Fatima and after saying that the third secret of Fatima has not yet been fully revealed, the Italian prelate stated “ In addition, it was [Cardinal Tarcisio] Bertone himself who heavily discredited and censured the Madonnina delle Lacrime (Madonna of Tears) of Civitavecchia, whose message perfectly agrees with what she said at Fatima.”
For Archbishop Viganò, these warnings of Our Lady at the outskirts of the Metropolitan Diocese of Rome are coming true in our times. Speaking about her words on Satan’s attack on the family – something that Sister Lucia had once also spoken about in a letter to Cardinal Carlo Caffarra – Archbishop Viganò explains:
“The decisive battle between the Kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of Satan concerns marriage and the family. Attacking the family means destroying the fundamental cell of society, but also of the Church. The aggression against the family is also manifesting itself within the Church, explicitly with the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, with the possibility of denying the indissolubility of marriage, with the legitimization of homosexuality and with the promotion of gender ideology.
Civitavecchia, like Fatima, contains a warning to the Church and a judgment on History, and offers the only decisive remedy, the divine antidote, to the evil and damnation of History and man.”
It is important to know that Jessica Gregori, the daughter of the family who witnessed these apparitions and supernatural events, was given by Our Lady the content of the third secret of Fatima and that this message was then passed on to Pope John Paul II at the time. She herself was able to meet, in 1996, with Sister Lucia of Fatima and to compare with her the messages they received concerning the third secret. They matched.
The apparitions of Civitavecchia do not yet seem to be very much known in the English-speaking world. LifeSite is grateful to the Daily Compass which has extensively reported on this apparition and who have conducted interviews with Father Flavio Ubodi, the vice-president of the diocesan commission which approved of the apparitions, in the course of which the miraculous statue was placed in a church for veneration. Ubodi has just published a book, in Italian, called Civitavecchia. 25 years with Mary. For answering the interview questions, Archbishop Vigano made use of this book and another written by Ubodi in 2012, La Madonnina di Civitavecchia, Lacrime e Messaggi.
It seems providential that it is now Archbishop Viganò who carries this message of warning and of hope as given to us by Our Lady of Civitavecchia to the English-speaking world. In the midst of the turmoil and destruction that we are witnessing, let us remember we have Our Lady in heaven who watches over us, to whom we can cling, and who promises us help.
Or, as Viganò says: “If the triumph of the Immaculate Heart is not far away, now is the time of battle, and She who is our Leader and Coredemptrix wants to see us fight, suffer and implore her Victory which is now at the gates.” And then he quotes Our Lady herself: “Through you I can spread the light of faith in these days of great apostasy. You are the light of the Lord, because you are children totally consecrated to Me. Let yourselves be guided by Me… If you listen to Me with true love, and fulfill my requests by walking the path that I point out to you in your mind and heart, through you I can realize the great divine Design of the great triumph of my Immaculate Heart” (September 8, 1995).
***
LifeSite interview with Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò
LifeSiteNews: You have recently mentioned the apparitions of Our Lady of Civitavecchia in reference to the messages of Our Lady of Fatima. You said in a recent interview: “In addition, it was Bertone himself who heavily discredited and censured the Madonnina delle Lacrime [the Weeping Statue of Our Lady] of Civitavecchia, whose message perfectly agrees with what she said at Fatima.” Could you tell us about the happenings at Civitavecchia, which is located at the outskirts of the metropolitan Diocese of Rome? What happened there?
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò: “Papa, papa, the Madonna is crying!” On February 2, 1995, at 4:21 p.m., Jessica Gregori, a little girl who was not even six years old, was about to go to Holy Mass with her family when for the first time she saw a small statue of Mary Most Holy crying tears of blood in the small stone grotto which her father had recently built in front of their house. Fabio, her father, was putting his 18-month old son Davide into the car when he heard his daughter crying out repeatedly. When he heard the word “blood” he rushed over and realized what was happening, even though at first it was quite perplexing. His wife Annamaria was already waiting for them at church, but she was not surprised to hear what had happened, since she had not forgotten a dream she had the preceding January 18 that referred to a painful event that would take place on the day of Candlemas. From that day on the phenomenon repeated itself a total of thirteen times, in front of crowds of witnesses, until February 6. Numerous public security agents, who were promptly called by Fabio, were also present uninterruptedly during these days to guard the sacred image and would also give sworn testimony about these events during the investigation.
A storm broke out around the young family. The parish priest, who was the first eyewitness after the members of the family, informed the diocesan Bishop, Msgr. Girolamo Grillo, but the bishop did not want to know about the event, and he tore up the first report that was written by the parish priest himself. Grillo’s hostility to the events was very strong and triggered negative media reaction. At the request of various parties the Judiciary investigated the family on multiple counts. They carried out all sorts of research and examination on the liquid, on the statue and in the homes of the Gregori family and their relatives. Fabio Gregori himself pushed for these investigations to be carried out, because he wanted the truth to be revealed and to protect his family, even to the point of proposing to mortgage their house in order to pay for the very expensive DNA testing that needed to be done.
The statue of Mary was confiscated by the Bishop and kept in his own home, where it continued to weep blood in front of various witnesses until March 15. Bishop Grillo himself told me what happened that day. It was 8:15 in the morning. After celebrating Holy Mass, Bishop Grillo acceded to his sister’s request to pray before the sacred image, which he had been keeping in a closet. With the people who were present that day, Bishop Grillo began reciting the “Hail, Holy Queen.” When they said the line, “Turn then most gracious advocate, thine eyes of Mercy toward us,” the statue began to weep blood. The shock was so great that the Bishop had to receive first aid from a cardiologist.
After this disturbing event, Bishop Grillo radically changed his attitude. He stopped the DNA investigation, established a Theological Commission and began an ecclesiastical process to study and verify the event. As he himself would declare, he changed from being a judge to a witness. In the meantime, the Pope, John Paul II, let the Bishop know that he was personally interested and invited him not to be skeptical. Now the tables were turned: the media turned against the Bishop and did not accept his testimony and the Judiciary took the little statue into custody. At that point, John Paul II gave a tangible sign of his support and closeness: on April 10, 1995, he sent his close friend Cardinal Andrzej Maria Deskur to preside over a prayer vigil in the diocesan cathedral in reparation for the seizure of the statue. On that occasion the cardinal also blessed on the Pope’s behalf a second statue that was identical to the one that had cried, which was then given to the family. Subsequently this statue would display phenomena of exuding a very fragrant oil before numerous witnesses.
The same statue [the second statue] wept tears of water during the days of the final agony of John Paul II in 2005, and then again on the same days, from March 28 to April 2, the following year. On March 31, 2006, Bishop Grillo personally witnessed this weeping once again, and he testified to it publicly in the press.
After the first statue of the Blessed Mother was released from custody by the Judiciary on June 11, 1995, John Paul II wanted to venerate and crown her in the Vatican at his apartment, but in secret, so as not to interfere with the investigation of the Diocesan Commission. He later confirmed in writing that this event happened, in a document dated October 8, 2000, which was personally signed by him on the following October 20.
On June 17, 1995, the original statue of the Blessed Mother was solemnly exposed in the parish church in Civitavecchia for the public veneration of the faithful, where she remains to this day.
On March 15, 2005, the tenth anniversary of the last time the statue wept in 1995, the diocesan bishop issued a decree for the construction of a diocesan shrine.
LifeSite: What are the main messages of Our Lady to Jessica and her father, Fabio Gregori?
Beginning on February 6, 1995, shortly after the thirteenth occasion of weeping, Fabio heard an external voice talking to him. Actually, Annamaria had already previously been the recipient of revelations in the form of dreams, and little by little the entire family gradually became involved in the celestial manifestations. But from that moment on, this voice spoke many times, but with different identities – sometimes the Father, sometimes the Son. Then, beginning on July 2, 1995, a series of apparitions began to happen of Jesus, Mary, and the Angels, including numerous messages, ending on May 17, 1996. The Blessed Virgin also appeared again recently, giving a message on December 23, 2018. In addition, the events themselves and the silent visions are significant signs that carry messages within them.
When Jessica, was asked about the central message given by Our Lady in Civitavecchia, she replied: “The main message is that they want to destroy the family. And then the apostasy in the Church and the risk of a third world war.”
The most obvious message is the sign of Mary weeping tears of blood. The Voice heard by Fabio revealed that it is the Blood of Jesus “shed for all the children who turn away from Her Immaculate Heart, to give you salvation” (May 17, 1995). This is at the same time both a warning of grave danger and the offering of the means of salvation.
There is also a heartfelt warning of a particular danger for Italy: “Your Nation is in grave danger. In Rome darkness is descending more and more on the Rock that my Son Jesus left you on which to build up, educate and spiritually raise his children. Bishops, your task is to continue the growth of God’s Church, since you are God’s heirs.”
There is a constant invitation to Communion within the Church of Jesus, the priests and faithful united to the Bishops, while the Bishops are called to “return to being of one heart full of true faith and humility.”
The messages strongly call people to return to the sacramental life, they speak of the need to be nourished with Eucharistic Communion, daily if possible; to go to Confession regularly “on Sundays” (a discreet emphasis on the important of receiving Communion in the state of grace); they invite people to Eucharistic adoration.
There is a strong call to personal prayer, to placing oneself in the Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist for at least a quarter of an hour a day, to the praying the Holy Rosary daily, “a powerful weapon to defeat Satan,” and to the sanctification of daily life by transforming all the gestures of family life into “acts of love” which “save souls from Satan.”
There is an invitation to family love, to love for children, who are “ours and yours.” On the Italian Day for Life the statue wept seven times. At the same time the messages contain a warning of a fierce attack by Satan against the family, as a strategy to destroy the Church together with an internal attack made by means of many priests.
There is a heartfelt appeal to “listen to my Son Jesus, true God and your brother. Listen to and build up his Word, revealed to the Holy Church so that you may become true children of God, so that you may do God’s will in your daily life for your sanctification. The world is becoming more and more a prisoner of Satan’s darkness and evil, without sparing numerous servants of the Church.”
The heartfelt and strong words are precisely those of a distressed mother: “Children, the Church has entered the period of great trial, and in many of you the faith will become unstable.”
As we have said, the messages warn of the great danger of a third world war, which may be a nuclear war, but which can be stopped with “weapons stronger than those used, which are love, prayers, humility, the Rosary and true conversion of your hearts to God through our Heavenly Mother who is holding you all in her arms, close to her Immaculate Heart.”
There is an insistent request for the consecration of families to Her Immaculate Heart, of Parishes, Cities, Dioceses, and the World, as a pledge of protection on Her part.
“Consecrate yourselves all to me, to my Immaculate Heart, and I will protect your Nation under my mantle now full of graces. Listen to me, please, I beg you! I am your Heavenly Mother, I beg you: do not make me weep again seeing so many of my children die for your faults by not accepting me and allowing Satan to act.
But the appeal also instills great peace: “Let yourself be guided in your steps with the simplicity with which a child puts his hand in the Hand of his Father.”
“My Immaculate Heart will transform your sufferings into joys which you accept with true love, for these are trials which the Lord Jesus allows.” (September 8, 1995)
LifeSite: What were the findings of the police investigations, as well as the medical findings concerning the nature of the blood that was shed as tears by the statue of Our Lady?
The red liquid on the first statue was analyzed on site by the official doctor, who found it to be human blood. The statue of the Blessed Mother had not yet stopped crying. The photographic evidence following the weeping on March 15, 1995, when the statue was in the bishop’s hands was also impressive, because the blood traces covered the same identical stains that had been previously removed for examination, even though the statue was now in a horizontal position. X-ray analysis was carried out with 42 CT scans, and also a first analysis of the blood aimed at isolating the DNA which found five polymorphisms and gave alternating results regarding the gender, which appeared to be at times male and at other times female, but was recognized as predominantly male.
There was a dishonest media campaign aimed at discrediting the Gregori family, saying that they refused to submit to comparative DNA testing because they wanted to avoid further investigation. Even recently someone tried to reopen the issue by stooping to new shameful lows. Among other things, it should be remembered that majority of the weeping occurred without the Gregori family even being present.
The truth is that at the time, Fabio refused to allow his blood to be drawn solely out of obedience to the Bishop, and he was very conflicted about it. Only a message heard from the voice that spoke to him succeeded in stopping him from deciding to undergo the examination. It is very interesting to hear this message: “The way of truth is in the Church of God. The truth comes from God. Do not fear man, fear God” (May 6, 1995).
Later it became clearer that the blood sample taken from the statue had been taken incorrectly, in the absence of an expert, without plausible reasons, and therefore it would have been impossible to procedurally ascertain the validity of the slide of the liquid that was taken. Furthermore, even if that blood sample had been accepted, it was not of a sufficient quantity to permit a complete DNA examination. Since no further weeping occurred afterwards, there is no material possibility of making a comparison.
But it must be remembered that Fabio Gregori has always told the Church that he is completely available for any kind of investigation.
LifeSite: There was an investigation of these supernatural events by a Diocesan Commission; could you tell us about the results of that investigation and whether this apparition has been approved by the Church?
The Diocesan Theological Commission set up by the Bishop expressed itself in favor of the supernatural nature of the event by a majority. In 1997, Bishop Grillo himself forwarded the results to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and on October 27, 1997, the CDF announced the establishment of a Commission presided over by Cardinal Camillo Ruini. This Commission was dissolved without ever publishing a verdict, which juridically means the tacit confirmation of the Diocesan Commission’s verdict.
There are numerous signs of indirect recognition by the Church:
The solemn exposition of the miraculous statue of the Blessed Mother to public veneration in the parish church, in accord with the request made to Fabio by the voice he heard on February 6, 1995.
The solemn Consecration of the City of Civitavecchia and the Diocese by the Bishop in obedience to the Virgin’s message of December 7, 1995, which was read publicly during the ceremony on December 8, 1996.
The document drawn up by the Bishop on October 8, 2000, and countersigned by John Paul II on October 20, 2000, certifying the pontifical veneration and crowning of the statue.
The decree of erection of the Diocesan Shrine at the parish church where the statue is venerated.
The Holy Mass celebrated by the diocesan bishop in the house of the Gregori family, as well as the simultaneous written removal of all the prohibitions previously prudentially issued against the family.
The publication by the diocesan bishop of a dossier on the event on the tenth anniversary of the weeping, in the Diocesan Review of 2005.
The desire expressed in writing by Bishop Grillo to publish news and messages on the event in a book written by the Vice-President of the Diocesan Theological Commission, which was published in 2005 by Father Flavio Ubodi.
Numerous written and filmed testimonies by Bishop Grillo about the tears and also the exuding of oil, as well as his relationship with the Gregori family.
The announcement of the beginning of construction of the Shrine by Bishop Grillo’s successor, Bishop Carlo Chenis, on August 28, 2008. He later died prematurely and was unable to complete the project. However, he was able to leave a written letter of attestation of the fidelity of the Gregori family to the Church on March 1, 2008.
The solemn Coronation of the Holy Statue by Bishop Chenis’ successor, Bishop Luigi Marrucci, on April 26, 2014, who was the bishop at the time (he has since resigned) in the presence of the bishop emeritus and Archbishop Giovanni Marra.
LifeSite: Since you mention the role of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone in your recent interview, could you tell us what he tried to do when Bishop Grillo, though he was not obliged to do so, asked the Vatican to undertake its own investigation of the apparitions in Civitavecchia?
We mentioned earlier that Bishop Grillo himself asked the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to continue the study of the event. The Commission was presided over by Cardinal Ruini as supervisor, but delegated to the oversight of Msgr. Domenico Pecile, Bishop of Latina. It did not publish any findings, as has been said.
On February 17, 2005, Cardinal Bertone, who had been Archbishop of Genoa since 2002, intervened on the national RAI television network to declare that the Vatican Commission had expressed a judgment of non constat [that the apparitions were doubtful/not credible]. The following day the diocesan bishop, Bishop Grillo, publicly declared that he had never received notice of such a pronouncement by the Commission. There was never any follow up with a written document that confirmed Bertone’s statement. Moreover, Grillo later confided that he had previously heard of a propensity of the Commission for a suspensive opinion, but that Cardinal Ruini, who had communicated this to him, later asked him for silence on the matter after he learned of John Paul II’s relationship with the affair. Bishop Pecile was able to confirm to the Vice President of the Diocesan Commission, Father Flavio Ubodi, the positive attitude of the Vatican Commission regarding the event.
Afterwards, the appointment of Msgr. Chenis as bishop of Civitavecchia [in 2006], which Cardinal Bertone wanted, confirmed Bertone’s intention to stop the event, since the new bishop publicly declared the purpose of his appointment. Until, as I mentioned previously, the Lord called him through a sudden illness that quickly led to his death, he was able to show esteem for the Gregori family and concrete commitment to foster the cult of the statue of the Blessed Mother.
LifeSite: Since it is also known that Cardinal Bertone was heavily involved in the Fatima debates, what do you think is his purpose? Why does he try to undermine such an orthodox and Catholic message?
Cardinal Bertone, in a press conference on the Third Secret held in April 2000, made an astonishing declaration that ended with these words: “The Third Secret has nothing to do with the apostasy linked to the Council, the Novus Ordo (of the Mass) and the conciliar Popes, as the integrists have claimed for decades.” Let us try to compare these statements with the surprising statement made by then-Cardinal Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII, sixteen years after the Fatima apparitions, in 1933: “I am concerned about the messages of the Blessed Virgin to little Lucia of Fatima. This insistence on Mary’s part on the dangers threatening the Church is a divine warning against suicide through the alteration of the Faith, in her Liturgy, in her theology and in her soul… I feel around me the innovators who want to dismantle the Sacred Chapel, destroy the universal flame of the Church, reject her ornaments, and inflict regret on her for her historical past.” This prophecy about the suicide of the Catholic Church has meanwhile been largely fulfilled through the Satanic-Masonic attempt to Protestantize Catholicism, reducing it to one of the many religions that are part of a single world religion.
We can consider these words of Sister Lucia in relation to Cardinal Bertone: “There is a diabolical disorientation that is confusing the world and souls… The worst thing is that it has succeeded in leading into error and deception those souls who have a great responsibility because of the position they occupy… They are blind and guides of the blind… They allow themselves to be dominated by the diabolical wave that is invading the world.”
Benedict XVI himself responded to the attempt to reduce the text of the Secret of Fatima to the 1981 attack against John Paul II during his 2010 trip to Fatima. Referring to the text that in 2000 as Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he had elaborated as a commentary on the text of the published Secret, he said, on May 13 2010, when he went as pontiff to Fatima: “One would be deluding oneself if one thought that the prophetic mission of Fatima is over.”
To the question of Father Lombardi asking whether the Third Secret also concerned “the sufferings of the Church today for the sins of sexual abuse of minors,” Benedict XVI replied: “Beyond this great vision of the Pope’s suffering, which we can first of all relate to Pope John Paul II, there are indicated realities of the future of the Church which gradually develop and reveal themselves. Therefore it is true that beyond the moment indicated in the vision, one speaks, one sees the need for a passion of the Church, which of course is reflected in the person of the Pope, but the Pope stands for the Church and therefore it is the sufferings of the Church that are announced. The Lord told us that the Church would always suffer, in different ways, until the end of the world. The important thing is that the message, the response of Fatima, essentially does not lie in particular devotions, but precisely in the fundamental response that is permanent conversion, penance, prayer, and the three theological virtues: faith, hope and charity. Thus we see here the true and fundamental response that the Church must give, that we, each individual, must give in this situation.”
LifeSite: Civitavecchia also contains the message that there will be a great apostasy in the Catholic Church. Many believe that there are bishops and cardinals within the Church who are either Freemasons or collaborate with them. Do you yourself have any knowledge of this, especially in light of your own work in the diplomatic corps?
That the Masonic octopus clutches the Catholic Church in its tentacles is neither a rumor nor a secret. Right in the Vatican, the very stronghold of the Catholic Church, Masonry has armed itself with diabolical patience and waited until it reached the levers of power and command. The heart of Catholicity, which by divine mandate must be a beacon, has long been home to a pomp and pretention that decays it.
In Civitavecchia, during an apparition in the garden of the house, on August 27, 1995, the Blessed Virgin transmitted an alarming message, referring to what was already revealed at Fatima: “My children, the darkness of Satan is now obscuring the whole world and it is also obscuring the Church of God. Prepare to live what I had revealed to my little daughters of Fatima… After the painful years of Satan’s darkness, the years of the triumph of my Immaculate Heart are now imminent.” All the evidence shows that we have entered this time of trial, a decisive test. “The sufferings of the Church,” said Benedict XVI on the same journey to Fatima that we have mentioned, “come from within, from the sin that exists in the Church. This has always been known, but today we see it in a truly terrifying way.”
“This is the moment when the judgment has begun, beginning from the House of God!” (1 Pt 4: 17). Christ’s disciples are confronted with radical choices of consistency and fidelity, of total dedication to him, in the firm confession of the true faith: this could also cost the gift of one’s life in the supreme witness of martyrdom. With prayer and sacrifice we can mitigate this tribulation that has fallen upon the Church as a terrible punishment, but it is no longer possible to reverse it: it belongs to a providential plan of God. Through this radical trial, as through an Easter Triduum of suffering, death and descent into hell, the length of which we do not know, the Church will effectively be purified from the evils that are devastating her. This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church recalls in numbers 675-677, citing the condemnation of the antichristic imposture. The Church will know the triumph of the Kingdom of Mary, which will open the doors to the Kingdom of Christ.
If the triumph of the Immaculate Heart is not far away, now is the time of battle, and She who is our Leader and Coredemptrix wants to see us fight, suffer and implore her Victory which is now at the gates. “Through you I can spread the light of faith in these days of great apostasy. You are the light of the Lord, because you are children totally consecrated to Me. Let yourselves be guided by Me… If you listen to Me with true love, and fulfill my requests by walking the path that I point out to you in your mind and heart, through you I can realize the great divine Design of the great triumph of my Immaculate Heart” (September 8, 1995).
LifeSite: Our Lady warns us in Civitavecchia: “Satan wants to destroy the family.” Do you see here a link between what is happening in the Catholic Church in recent years, the possible role of Freemasonry, and Civitavecchia?
The decisive battle between the Kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of Satan concerns marriage and the family. Attacking the family means destroying the fundamental cell of society, but also of the Church. The aggression against the family is also manifesting itself within the Church, explicitly with the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, with the possibility of denying the indissolubility of marriage, with the legitimization of homosexuality and with the promotion of gender ideology.
Civitavecchia, like Fatima, contains a warning to the Church and a judgment on History, and offers the only decisive remedy, the divine antidote, to the evil and damnation of History and man.
Original sin, as well as the origin of actual sin, consists in man’s adherence to the false and malicious suggestion of Satan. He wants to manipulate and deceive man, leading him to see what is evil as good and what is good as evil. He induces the suspicion that God wants to prevent us from being able to be like Him, thus leading to the proud illusion of being able to become God, disobeying the true God. In this way the Evil One pursues his purpose of destroying the divine plan of Love, distancing man from God. It is inevitable that when man falls into this trap, he becomes a slave to sin, sees the entrance of death into his existence, and the destruction of nature and the world. Babel, as the Liturgy of Pentecost reminds us, shows how pride is also the damnation of History.
The Immaculate Heart of Mary is offered to man as a remedy because in it, by virtue of Her total Communion with the Divine Son, everything is consecrated to God, everything is His exclusive property. Here everything is pure from sin; it is the beginning of the New Creation. For this reason in Civitavecchia the Holy Virgin said: “The Lord has clothed me with His Light and the Holy Spirit with His Power. My task is to take all my children away from Satan and bring them back to the perfect glorification of the Most Holy Trinity.” And she added: “My wish is that you all consecrate yourselves to my Immaculate Heart so that I can lead you all to Jesus, cultivating you in my heavenly garden.” The titles that she gives herself also reflect this mission: “I present myself to you as Our Lady of Roses of the Immaculate Heart, Queen of Heaven, Mother of Families, Bearer of Peace in your hearts.” And she adds, “Convert, my sweet children, because time is running out.”
Man, who in sin has lost Communion with God, like the branch torn from the vine, finds it again in Mary, she who is perfectly united to the Vine and capable of bringing the lifeblood to the branches. It is she who acts as the point of union between the branch and the Vine. This perfect union in the humility of the Virgin Mother is the salvation offered by God to lost humanity, it is the defeat of Satanic pride.
If Satan wants to wrest the children of God from Communion with their Creator and Father, evidently the Virgin Mary, the Woman whose heel the ancient serpent strikes, cannot but be his perennial enemy, according to the ancient promise. Indeed, he knows that she will crush his head, that she has overcome his pride with her perfect humility.
This is also the heart of the drama of History: those who renew the choice of disobedience, wanting to become God, cannot but be sided with Satan, and cannot but feel the same hostility towards the lineage of the Woman who crushes his head, the Immaculate Mother of God. The children of Mary are humble, and Satan cannot bear them, for their very existence alone constitutes for him an accusation (cf. Wisdom 2:15-16). He tries in every way to generate rebellion in them by persecuting them.
I believe that the meaning of the request for Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is therefore clear, both personal consecration and in every sphere of human community, both religious and political. The reality of history will not be redeemed until man returns to God with all his heart, in every aspect of his life: religious, public and political. In the history of Israel the Lord, who later blesses David, in granting the Kingdom to the People makes it clear to them that this is a permissive will, so that they may understand the foolishness of their dissatisfaction at not having a king like other peoples. They sin against God because they do not recognize that He is their only King, and they consider Him insufficient.
Not only can the Church be truly purified by God through Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, but also every family, city, people and nation, and the whole of humanity. Everyone who has authority over these realities has the responsibility to accept Mary’s heartfelt invitation. The realization of painful destructive events in the present time, also announced with sorrow by the Blessed Virgin in an attempt to prevent them, should awaken our hearts. The old people used to say that you recognize the wall by breaking your nose. Unfortunately today we see much more than a broken nose, but it seems that humanity does not yet want to recognize the wall, neither outside the Church nor within it.
On the recent solemnity of the Ascension we contemplated Jesus, ascended to Heaven, who sits as King over every principality and power, over every power and domination: before Him every knee will bend.
Satanic pride may perhaps even accept that one day he will have to bend low before God, but he will never tolerate his true humiliation, which will beneath the foot of Mary. This is the great eschatological battle, the sides of which are becoming ever more and more visible. The ancient Serpent cannot hide his hostility to the Woman and her lineage.
Whoever instead spontaneously consecrates their heart to Mary’s Immaculate Heart, allows her to cultivate it in Her garden, according to Her words, to present it to God purified, in the image of Her Immaculate Heart, so that we may finally become capable of welcoming the eternal good in true humility, the full Communion with God for which we were created. In Jesus’ words: “Father, consecrate them in Truth. Your Word is truth, for them I consecrate myself” (Jn 17:17-18).
LifeSite: Have you ever met the main visionary, Jessica Gregori, and the Gregori family?
Jessica and the entire Gregori family don’t like to be called visionaries at all; it would be better to say witnesses. Bishop Grillo – whom I knew well for many years, since he also worked in the Secretariat of State – invited me to Civitavecchia (together with then-Father Giovanni D’Ercole, who is now Bishop of Ascoli Piceno) to introduce me to the Gregori family. It was on the occasion of the feast of Pentecost, after my return from Nigeria, at the end of the 1990s. We were gathered in prayer in front of the little grotto surmounted by shrubs where the Statue of Our Lady stood. It was then that I personally witnessed the exuding of perfumed balm from the base of the statue. The balm even exuded from the leaves of one of the shrubs, and a drop fell on my head. Given the importance of the exuding oil, Bishop Grillo took the statue in his hands, while Fabio Gregori led us inside the house. We took some cotton and collected the balm that continued to flow out copiously. I also had the opportunity to hold the Statue of the Virgin in my own hands. In memory of that extraordinary event, I still keep in a handkerchief a wad of that cotton that was soaked in the miraculous balm, as well as the small leaf from which a drop of the balm dripped onto my head.
LifeSite: It seems that Jessica received from Our Lady the content of the Third Secret which she then passed on to the Pope. Our Lady said: “The darkness of Satan is now darkening the whole world and is also darkening the Church of God. Prepare to live what I had revealed to my little daughters of Fatima.” Can you tell us about Jessica’s meeting with Sister Lucia in the 1990s and what their conversation brought forth?
Regarding the content of the secret received from Jessica and reserved for the Pope alone, it was written by her and sealed in a sealed envelope and delivered to Bishop Grillo, but it was never revealed whether it was actually delivered to the recipient.
This is not to be confused with the message she addressed to the Pope on February 26, 2005, which was acknowledged by the Secretariat of State and through the Bishop. Jessica addressed the Holy Father: “I have a great desire to meet you and to let you know so many things that they have not told you and that concern you personally, but that especially are linked to Fatima… The messages concern humanity, the Church and families.”
As for the meeting with Sister Lucia, here’s what is known. In 1996, Jessica went on pilgrimage to Fatima with her family. They were accompanied by their spiritual director, Father Manuel Hernandez Jerez, who celebrated Mass in the monastery of Coimbra in the presence of the Gregori family and Sister Lucia. At the end of the service Jessica and Sister Lucia had a private conversation.
Those who know Sister Lucia’s comportment and obedience can understand that the mere fact that this meeting took place, without having been preceded by the usual procedures, is obviously something out of the ordinary. The event is witnessed in writing with great detail and has never been denied.
More than this I believe that no one will ever know, since Sister Lucia is dead and Jessica does not let a word slip to anyone about the secret.
The account of the visit, written by the spiritual director, can be found in Father Flavio Ubodi’s book Civitavecchia, 25 anni con Maria [Civitavecchia, 25 Years With Mary].
After going on pilgrimage to Fatima with the Gregori family (Fabio, Annamaria, Jessica, and Davide, together with me, the one telling the story), on June 15, 1996, we went to Coimbra, more specifically to the Carmel of Coimbra, since we knew that there among the other nuns lived the oldest seer of Fatima, namely Lucia. We had a burning desire to see her and to meet with her, naturally because of the mystical experiences, apparitions and messages of Our Lady in Civitavecchia. None of us had ever been to Coimbra before. We asked for directions and in the end we found the Carmel. It was after 9 a.m. and we found that it was closed. We rang the intercom at the door and immediately had the opportunity to explain who were and what we wanted. After a very long wait, we were told that we could enter the church, that they would permit us to celebrate Holy Mass, but that it was not permitted to them to let us speak directly and alone with Sister Lucia. While we were going to the sacristy, the sacristan Sister gave me the appropriate instructions for the celebration of Mass which, she informed me, would be attended by the whole Community, including the Visionary. Furthermore, in confidence, she indicated the place in the Lower Choir, where the nuns would be, that Sister Lucia would occupy. The Lower Choir is located to the right of the sanctuary, that is, to the left of the celebrant as a continuation of the sanctuary itself, from which it is separated by a grille and a corresponding curtain that is opened on both sides at the time of the Celebration of Mass. From the altar, I could see perfectly at the bottom of the choir Sister Lucia, who, later on, also distinguished herself at the moment of distributing Holy Communion. Naturally, I was able to speak as much as I thought appropriate during the homily and at the moments when the liturgy permitted it, before and after, explaining with as much detail as possible who we were and why we were there. No one interrupted me or hindered me in any way. I believe that only we and the nuns were present at Holy Mass. After the Eucharist they invited us to a meeting with the whole Community in the Parlor, in full light. We were divided only by a grate in the Carmelite style. They told us that Sister Lucia was there among the nuns but that we would have to guess which one it was… It wasn’t difficult at all. We began to exchange questions and answers. I don’t remember how much time was spent in this way, but everything took place calmly. The only topics dealt with were the coming of Our Lady and her messages, the events of Fatima and Civitavecchia. At the end of the meeting we approached the grille and there was the opportunity to personalize our mutual relationships more. There, a little further apart, there was also the opportunity for a very personal meeting between Jessica and Sister Lucia. I heard nothing of what they said to each other. But I can assure you that we all came out of that meeting full of grace and joy. We were very satisfied with the visit and the privilege that had been granted to us, which had evidently been arranged in God’s plans. And that is what I can say in this regard.
LifeSite: Do you know whether Jessica will ever reveal to the world the warning words of the secret of Fatima?
The answer is very simple: definitely never!
LifeSite: Our Lady of Civitavecchia also once stated: “Satan is taking over all humanity, and now he is trying to destroy the Church of God through many priests.” Would you like to comment on these words?
Any comment would be superfluous. Let us take in this very serious warning from Our Lady: “I am giving you painful news. Satan is taking over all humanity, and now he is trying to destroy the Church of God by means of many priests… Satan knows that his time is running out, because my Son Jesus is about to intervene. I beg you, help me; do not let my Son intervene, because I, your Mother, want to save many souls and bring them to my Son and not leave them to Satan. Pray that God our Father will grant me some more time, because this is the last period granted to me by God. My mantle is now open to all of you, full of graces, to place you all close to my Immaculate Heart. It is about to close; then my Son will deliver his divine justice. A danger looms over the Holy Father, a fierce attack by Satan” (July 30, 1995).
LifeSite: Our Lady also asked Italian Catholics to consecrate themselves to her Immaculate Heart. Do you think that the recent “entrustment” to her Immaculate Heart as performed by the Italian bishops, met that standard?
This answer is also very simple: no! At the Shrine of Caravaggio, on the first day of the month traditionally dedicated to Our Lady, there was not any act of entrustment – not to be confused with an act of consecration. On the evening of May 1st, when the ceremony was supposed to take place in the Shrine, the church was dark. It was recorded a few days earlier and broadcast on a deferred basis. That evening Italy was not at all entrusted to Mary with the prayerful participation of the people – even less was it consecrated! How is it possible that the shepherds could have devised such a deception?
I would like to make my own the heartfelt appeal made by Fabio Gregori: “I beg you: cry out I beg you, cry out so that the Italian Church, the Heart of Christianity, the Chair of Peter, may also make the Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Our Lady has been asking this for 25 years: do not be afraid to listen to our Mother, let us make an act of obedience to Heaven, an act of humble faith, let us make ourselves children who trust their mother… Let us not allow our Mother to weep for so many souls who die through not listening to her. What does it cost us to ask for her help?”
LifeSite: It seems that the message of Our Lady of Civitavecchia is also one of hope. Could you tell us how?
The last message, given on December 23, 2018, seems to me to be the best answer to the question. On that day, in the Shrine of the Statue of the Our Lady, the parish church of St. Augustine, the Holy Virgin appeared to Fabio and Annamaria during Holy Mass, and gave this message. Let us listen to some passages of it:
The Church of my Jesus is clouded by the smoke of Satan and many consecrated people, called to preach his Word, have fallen into Satan’s traps, just as Judas also fell! But Jesus loves them and hopes in their conversion and salvation. To you we have entrusted a task: to bear witness to the Truth, Jesus Christ, to the point of ascending Calvary and being nailed to the Cross with Him. You are asked to bear witness to what we have entrusted to you, to be always faithful and obedient to the Church of my Son Jesus, bearing witness to the Truth and rejecting the Lie… He asked you to carry the Cross. The road will be long, tortuous and suffering, but then the light of the Lord will shine forth, and you must bear witness to this light in the normality of daily life by your words and life. Always be bearers of love, prudent in knowing how to discern Satan’s traps. Always be free from all human compromise and always listen to God who speaks in the intimacy of your Heart. Always be salt of the earth, light of the world, growing in the virtue of our Holy Family of Nazareth so that every human family may draw in our witness the path of faith, hope and love. And the Most Hoy Trinity will refound the true and new family of God as established by Him.
LifeSite: The statue of Our Lady that wept tears had originally been bought in Medugorje. Do you see a deeper connection between these two places and apparitions?
Many people have tried to establish links between the two realities, starting from the material origin of the statue that wept and the second, identical to the first. The Gregori family, custodians of the whole event, have always been very firm in avoiding any manipulation. They have always testified to what they received in the messages, and in them there is an explicit reference only to Fatima and to no other event. As for the external signs, the images that are the object of inexplicable phenomena, there are not only the two statues of the Virgin Mary but also a statue of Our Lady of Fatima, an image of Padre Pio, and even nature around the small grotto. Therefore, to trace the event in Civitavecchia back to a link extrapolated from the material origin of the statues appears somewhat forced.
LifeSite: Could you tell us about Pope John Paul II’s attitude toward Civitavecchia?
We have already referred to the Pope’s initial interest, and to his veneration of the statue of Our Lady. We can add that Bishop Grillo has also testified publicly several times publicly about his [the Pope’s] visit to Pantano. The fact could also be testified by the police officers who were given a “Monza 500” (the radio code used at the time to announce an escort who must travel incognito), and out of curiosity they waited around to see who it was. They are not able to testify formally because they are bound to professional secrecy. Certainly if an investigation was carried out with the necessary permissions it wouldn’t be difficult to confirm the truthfulness of the facts. Even among the priests of the diocese there are some who know the truth very well; unfortunately the climate is not always favorable to giving inconvenient testimony.
LifeSite: One of the supporters of Civitavecchia was Father Gabriele Amorth. Do you know more about this and what he knew about Civitavecchia?
Father Amorth firmly believed in the truthfulness of the event. In this regard I would like to leave the floor to the journalist Antonio Socci, who, in addition to the events of Fatima, also studied with care those related to the Statue of Our Lady of Civitavecchia. He wrote thus in 2007: “Everyone remembers the strong initial skepticism of the bishop, Monsignor Grillo. In the pages of his diary that he published, he relates that on March 13 [1995] he received a phone call from the famous exorcist of the diocese of Rome, Father Gabriele Amorth (a true authority, who was also a friend of Padre Pio). Father Amorth begged the bishop to have faith, “because it had come to his knowledge the previous summer, from a soul spiritually directed by him, that a statue of Our Lady would weep in Civitavecchia and that this sign would not bode well for Italy, and so it would be appropriate to do penance and to pray much.” The bishop notes that he did not believe him and then spoke of it with his sister, Grazia, with ironic accents. Her sister, however, was upset, and the next day, on March 15, 1995, at 8:15 in the morning, after Mass, recalling the words of Father Amorth, she expressed the desire to pray in front of the statue that had been kept for days in the bishop’s closet. Bishop Grillo agreed, and together with others began to recite the “Hail Holy Queen.” At the line, “Turn then most gracious advocate thine eyes of mercy toward us,” the statue began to weep blood again, for the fourteenth time, but this time in the hands of the skeptical bishop.” Many times Father Amorth went to pray in Civitavecchia and also visited the Gregori family. As he approached his death, Father Gabriel sent greetings to the Gregori family and asked them to pray for him.
In Civitavecchia, as in Fatima, Our Lady revealed herself, but the import of these revelations has not yet been made known in its entirety because of the infidelity and disobedience of the Pastors. The event in Civitavecchia is part of a targeted plan of God, who wants to save the Church and all humanity through Mary, The Ever-Victorious One, as St. Maximilian Kolbe loved to call her, The Eternal Enemy of the Devil, as Blessed Pius IX defined her.
May the Church, in her militant Little Remnant, fight and resist, unyielding to any compromise with the world and its Prince, indifferent to the approval of others, insensitive to flattery, always absorbed in God like Mary, lost in Him and faithful.
I would like to conclude with the words of the great Pope Pius XII: “You, kneeling at the feet of the Immaculate Queen, must be willing not to rest until you see her reign supreme over everything and everyone, first in yourselves, then around you, in families, classes and social groups and in all private and public activities.” (September 7, 1954)
“Multiply, beloved children, the holy vanguards of a heroic army whose action, God willing, can prepare a victory and a triumph hardly imaginable.” (February 18, 1958)
Translated by Giuseppe Pellegrino
Follow Maike Dr. Maike Hickson was born and raised in Germany. She holds a PhD from the University of Hannover, Germany, after having written in Switzerland her doctoral dissertation on the history of Swiss intellectuals before and during World War II. She now lives in the U.S. and is married to Dr. Robert Hickson, and they have been blessed with two beautiful children. She is a happy housewife who likes to write articles when time permits. Dr. Hickson published in 2014 a Festschrift, a collection of some thirty essays written by thoughtful authors in honor of her husband upon his 70th birthday, which is entitled A Catholic Witness in Our Time. Hickson has closely followed the papacy of Pope Francis and the developments in the Catholic Church in Germany, and she has been writing articles on religion and politics for U.S. and European publications and websites such as LifeSiteNews, OnePeterFive, The Wanderer, Rorate Caeli, Catholicism.org, Catholic Family News, Christian Order, Notizie Pro-Vita, Corrispondenza Romana, Katholisches.info, Der Dreizehnte, Zeit-Fragen, and Westfalen-Blatt.
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