Third Secret of Fatima: Sister Lucia’s Unpublished Letter to Paul VI Reveals Hidden Scenarios
- Gurso
- Feb 5
- 10 min read
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
We live in an era where history seems to be accelerating, where world events and spiritual crises follow one another at a dizzying pace. In this context, the gaze of the faithful often returns to rest on that small village in Portugal, Cova da Iria, where in 1917 Heaven touched the earth. We are speaking, of course, of Fatima. For decades, it was believed that the chapter of revelations was closed, especially after the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. However, in 2023, news shook the Catholic world and rekindled a flame that many believed had been extinguished.
An unpublished letter from Sister Lucia dos Santos, the seer of Fatima who kept the secrets in her heart for almost a century, has emerged. It is a missive addressed to Pope Paul VI, a document that, read today, casts a new and unsettling light on the Third Secret of Fatima.
The letter, brought to light by the meticulous work of journalist and writer Saverio Gaeta, contains an admission that Sister Lucia makes with extreme prudence, almost on tiptoe, but which resonates like thunder: “not everything has been said” about the message of Fatima. Or rather, there is a subtle but fundamental distinction that the seer places between the "facts" and the "perspective."
Many faithful, in good faith, believed that everything had been unveiled. They believed that the Third Secret of Fatima had been revealed in its entirety in June 2000, when Saint John Paul II authorized the publication of the text relating to the vision of the "Bishop dressed in white." Yet, in this letter never published before, Sister Lucia seems to tell another story. A story that reopens a mystery and forces us to ask ourselves a question fundamental to our faith and our time: have we really understood everything that Our Lady wanted to tell us?
The Historical Context: The Light and Shadows of 1917
To understand the magnitude of this revelation, we must take a step back. We must return to that period between May 13 and October 13, 1917. While Europe was being torn apart by the First World War, in a remote corner of Portugal, three illiterate shepherd children—Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta—received six apparitions of the Madonna.
Mary's message was not a simple devotional invitation. It was a program of salvation for a world that was racing towards the abyss. The Virgin invited the children—and through them, all of humanity—to pray the Rosary every day, to do penance for sinners, and to consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart.
In that context, the Mother of God entrusted the seers with three secrets, or rather, a single secret revealed in three distinct parts. The first two were made known already in the last century: the terrifying vision of hell, where the souls of poor sinners fall, and the prophecy about the end of the Great War and the beginning of a worse one (World War II) if men did not stop offending God, together with the warning about Russia that would "spread her errors throughout the world."
But the third... the Third Secret of Fatima was kept in absolute silence. Written by Sister Lucia in 1944 during an illness that made her fear death, it was sealed in an envelope and delivered to the hands of the Bishop, eventually reaching the Vatican in 1957. For decades, the whole world speculated on that content. There was talk of nuclear catastrophes, the end of the world, and internal crises within the Church.
When the text was finally published in June 2000 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, then led by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the world discovered a symbolic and dramatic vision: a “Bishop dressed in white” crossing a ruined city, full of corpses, and who, having reached the foot of a large cross, falls under gunfire and arrows, together with other bishops, priests, and faithful.
The Church interpreted this vision as a symbol of the Church's sufferings in the 20th century, the persecutions of totalitarian regimes, culminating in the blood of martyrs and the assassination attempt on John Paul II on May 13, 1981. It seemed like the word "end" on the mystery. But since then, many theologians and scholars have asked: is it possible that the entire mystery of Fatima was reduced to a single symbolic vision referring to the past? Where was the part that spoke explicitly of the crisis of faith, of the "great apostasy" that Sister Lucia had hinted at in other private conversations?
The Letter to Paul VI: The "Unsaid" of Sister Lucia
For decades, Sister Lucia spoke no more publicly about the secret. She remained in the prayerful silence of the Carmel of Coimbra. She wrote rarely, and only to those who were spiritually close to her or to the Pontiffs. Today we know that one of her most important letters was addressed to Pope Paul VI, around the mid-1970s, a very difficult historical period for the Church, shaken by post-conciliar interpretations and the crisis of vocations.
That letter remained hidden in archives until, in 2023, it was made known thanks to the investigative work of Saverio Gaeta. In his book “Sister Lucia’s Secrets – Fatima, the Truth Never Told” (I segreti di Suor Lucia – Fatima, la verità mai detta), Gaeta cites the seer’s handwritten words. And those words, once read carefully, leave no one indifferent.
Here is the crucial passage that has shocked readers and scholars around the world:
“One of the questions that has lately been put to me is: if the whole Message has already been given to the Church? I answered yes. I should have said that: regarding the facts, yes, but regarding the perspective and particular aspects, no. But I did not give this answer, so as not to give rise to further questions which it would not be convenient to answer.”
In these few lines, a theological and hermeneutic abyss opens up. Sister Lucia confirms that the Church knows the “facts” of the message—that is, the vision and the events described, the Bishop dressed in white, the ruined city. On this, there is no lie. But she adds something that changes the entire interpretive horizon: there are “perspectives and particular aspects” that have not been said.
What did she mean by the word "perspective"?Perhaps that the vision was not yet fully accomplished? That it referred not only to the past (the wars of the 1900s) but also to the future of the Church?Sister Lucia, with her monastic obedience, does not answer openly. She chooses the path of prudent silence. She writes: “it would not be convenient to answer.” A phrase that weighs like a boulder. Why would it not be convenient? Perhaps because the content of that "perspective" is too harsh, too great, or too painful to be said openly without causing bewilderment? Or perhaps because it concerns times that were not yet mature in the 70s, but which are today?
Benedict XVI and the "Unfinished" Prophecy
This distinction between "facts" and "perspective" helps us re-read some surprising declarations made by Pope Benedict XVI. In 2010, during an apostolic pilgrimage precisely to Fatima, Pope Ratzinger spoke words that today seem to be perfectly aligned with Sister Lucia's letter.
In front of half a million faithful, Benedict XVI said:“He who thinks that the prophetic mission of Fatima is concluded would be deluding himself.”
The theologian Pope explained that the prophecy of Fatima does not concern only the past but projects itself into the future. And he added a shocking detail, speaking with journalists on the flight to Portugal: the sufferings of the Church do not come only from external enemies, but also and above all “from sin within the Church herself.”
It was as if, with his great prudence and wisdom, Benedict was picking up that “perspective” left unsaid by Sister Lucia: a Church called to purify herself, passing through pain, doctrinal confusion, and scandal. Ratzinger knew well that the text of 2000 was complete as a document, but he knew equally well that the theological interpretation (the perspective) was far from exhausted.
The Third Secret of Fatima Today: A Key to Reading Our Times
Today, looking at what is happening in the world, the words of the seer and the Pope Emeritus take on an impressive prophetic relevance. Wars breaking out on the borders of Europe and in the Holy Land, silent or violent persecutions against Christians, an unprecedented spiritual crisis in the de-Christianized West, evil spreading even within sacred institutions through scandals and apostasy.
Many faithful wonder if we are living right now that part of the "perspective" not yet understood of the Third Secret of Fatima.
Let us remember Our Lady's words in 1917:“Russia will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated.”
It is difficult not to think that these words are spreading today with a new power. Atheistic materialism (one of the "errors" of Soviet Russia) has transformed into a practical materialism that has infected the West. The consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart, which Pope Francis performed in March 2022, brought back to the minds of millions of faithful the prophecy of Fatima as an indispensable key to reading modern times.
In this context, Sister Lucia's letter appears not as an element of division, but as a prophetic voice. It does not add "new secrets" written on paper, but reveals that the mystery is dynamic. That there is still something to understand, to live, to fulfill in the flesh of the Church and history.
What Does "Not Convenient to Answer" Mean?
Let us return to the enigmatic phrase: "it would not be convenient to answer." Some believe that Sister Lucia was referring to a spiritual dimension of the secret linked to the drama of apostasy, that is, the progressive distancing of the hierarchy and the people of God from the Truth of the Gospel. If the Virgin had shown not only material ruins but spiritual ruins, saying it openly in the 70s could have created schisms or despair.
Others think she was referring to future geopolitical events, perhaps a global conflict or a great tribulation that must precede the triumph of Mary.
But everyone, skeptics and believers alike, must agree on one thing: Sister Lucia was not lying. Her words were measured, never theatrical, and always submissive to the authority of the Church. If she wrote “not everything has been said” regarding the perspective, she did so for a precise reason under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps because she knew that there are truths that must mature over time, like a seed growing underground, and that God reveals them fully only when the world is ready—or forced by circumstances—to listen to them.
Not a Threat, but a Promise of Mercy
However, there is a risk when speaking of the Third Secret of Fatima: that of falling into fear, sensationalism, or morbid curiosity. Sister Lucia was not a visionary hungry for attention or a prophetess of doom. She was a simple, humble woman who spent almost her entire life in hiding and prayer.
When asked about the future, she did not answer by describing catastrophes, but with words of unshakable faith, recalling the final promise confided to her by Our Lady:“In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”
This is the focal point, the true heart of the entire message of Fatima. It does not matter if there is an “unsaid aspect” or a “hidden perspective” on the details of the tribulation: the message of Fatima is not a threat from a vengeful God, but a promise from a loving Mother. It is a promise of mercy.
Many believe that Fatima is an apocalyptic prophecy for its own sake, but Our Lady did not come to scare us. She came to warn us, to save us, like a mother warning her child not to get too close to the fire.She said to the three shepherd children:“Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for sinners; for many souls go to hell, because there are none to sacrifice themselves and to pray for them.”
The secret, then, is not a code to be deciphered as if it were a mystery novel, but an urgent call to convert. Her heart pierced by thorns, shown to the children, is an invitation: return to God before it is too late, repair evil with good.Sister Lucia had understood this perfectly. She knew that the most important part was not the spectacular visions, but man's free response to Grace.
This is why in her letter she makes no accusations, launches no anathemas, but speaks with modesty: “It would not be convenient to answer.” It was like saying: “The rest you must understand yourselves, with prayer, with discernment, and with the heart.”
The Relevance of the Message: History Is Not Closed
It is important to remember for ecclesial correctness: the Church has always officially declared that the text of the Third Secret of Fatima was entirely published in 2000. Pope Benedict XVI himself, in 2016, denied rumors of parts of the text hidden in some safe.Therefore, the mystery that emerges from Sister Lucia's letter does not necessarily concern a hidden "second sheet," but a "missing light" on the meaning of the one already known.
It is as if Sister Lucia wanted to say: "You already know everything you need to know regarding the facts, but you have not yet understood the depth and temporal extension of what God wanted to tell you."
We live in a time when the words of Fatima seem more current than ever. The world is filled with noise, with fratricidal wars, with ideological lies. Faith is fragile, love grows cold in many families, and man feels he is the technological master of creation but is increasingly a slave to sin and loneliness.In the midst of all this darkness, the voice of the Virgin returns to tell us with sweetness and firmness:“Convert. Pray the Rosary. Entrust yourselves to my Immaculate Heart.”
And that phrase of Sister Lucia, “regarding the facts yes, but regarding the perspective no,” seems to whisper to each of us: it is not over. History is not closed. The message of Fatima continues to happen before our eyes—not as a prophecy of death, but as an invitation to Christian hope that does not disappoint.
Sister Lucia died in 2005, but her voice still speaks through these writings that Providence brings to light at the opportune moment. Today, while the world seems to lose its way, her words return as a compass. Not everything has been said, and Heaven has not yet finished speaking to our hearts.Every time we recite the Rosary, every time we offer a prayer for peace or a small sacrifice, we are responding to that part of the message that remains alive and operative.
Fatima is not just a secret of the past to be archived: it is a powerful sign for our present. A sign that tells us not to believe that evil will have the last word. And perhaps, that prudent silence of Sister Lucia, that “it would not be convenient to answer,” was just a delicate way to say:“The rest, you will see happen with your own eyes. And when it happens, remember that Mary had warned you. Not to scare you, but to keep you under her mantle.”
May the Immaculate Heart of Mary protect us, enlighten us, and lead us to the true peace that comes only from Christ.