Fatima - Objections answered

The Fatima Miracle of the Sun is the most difficult of all reported miracles to explain away. Here is a list of the objections you will find in the literature. Not a single one can be sustained.

Fatima - Objections and replies

Objections:

*1 It never happened; or, it couldn't have happened.

Reply: It was reported in the papers, and nobody has ever denied that it happened.

*2 It was a self delusion due to wishful thinking by the credulous, or a story concocted by the Catholic Church.

Reply: It was witnessed, and reported in the newspaper, by those who had been convinced that nothing was going to happen, and who were adamantly opposed to the Church.

*3 The onlookers acted out their expectations.

Reply: the expectation was for a miracle at 12 noon by the clock, but it happened an hour later, when it was not expected (everybody had forgotten about Summer Time). Some had already left for home, although most had still stayed.

*4 Mass hysteria is catching in a crowd.

Reply: It was also seen simultaneously 12 miles away, by people who had no direct contact with the crowd at Fatima.

*5 It was an hallucination or mass hypnosis.

Reply: These cannot dry acres of ground - and tens of thousands of people. But this happened at Fatima. The clothes - and the ground - were not only dry but warm.

*6 It goes against the Laws of Physics.

Reply: We have no assurance whatever that we have the whole Rulebook. In fact, leading physicists are aware that our present understanding is incomplete.

*7 It was carried out by the devil (asserted by some Protestants).

Reply: That is an inference from their indefensible assessment and interpretation of the Bible. Be very careful lest you find yourself among the Pharisees who said, 'this man casts out devils by Beelzebub.' Look carefully at what Our Lord said to them at that time.

*8 We simply don't know how this happened.

Reply: Then we have no good reason to doubt the testimony of the actual participants, the children who saw Our Lady and reported her words, vouched for by an event unique in recorded history. It was a demonstration of the power of God, and the truth of the Catholic Faith.

*9 It was an inexplicable event, awaiting a solution.

Reply: that would be plausible if it had happened 'out of the blue' with no warning. In fact, it occurred precisely as predicted. It is indefensible to ignore the fact that it was predicted to the hour (even though this was misunderstood: it was noon by the sun – God's timekeeping, not man's) – and therefore the Lady has every right to credibility.

*10 But you don't know how it happened yourself.

Reply: That is because I am not God. I do not expect to know everything that He does. It was a demonstration of the existence and power of God, and a statement that our everyday understanding of the structure of the Universe falls short of the reality. It was also a corroboration of the words of warning, solution and promise.

*11 It is against the traditions and laws of my religion.

Reply: That is an indication that these things in your religion need to be modified to fit the reality.

*12 Well, I refuse to believe in God, or that he did this.

Reply: Why? On what principle?