THE FIVE CARDINALS, venerable gentleman in their seventies and beyond, sat looking expectantly at the pontiff who was seated at the head of the long highly polished mahogany table. The Pope had called a meeting of the inner circle only, comprising Cardinal Andretti, Cardinal Tsana, Cardinal Simons, Cardinal Fitz and Cardinal Desmond, so the reason for the assembly, they surmised, had to be important.
“Your Eminences. I have called you here today because I am deeply troubled.”
“In what way, your Holiness?” Cardinal Tsana asked.
“I will come to that, your Eminence but first I want to talk about the events that took place at Fatima in 1917.”
The Cardinals stirred as his words registered. They, of course, knew the story well for it was sacrosanct in the Catholic Church, and was known the world over as the 'Miracle of Fatima'. The fact that the Pope was now elaborating on a story that was an icon of the Catholic Church was both surprising and compelling.
“It was during one of her visitations that the Virgin Mary gave the children three messages. These messages were recorded by Lucia, the oldest child. The first and second messages,” the Pope said “related to the two World Wars - the First World War and the Second World War.” The pontiff reached into a small box placed before him on the table and took out a fold of paper which he then spread out. Looking up for a moment, he began to read from it.
“The war is coming to an end But if people do not cease to offend the Lord, another and more terrible one will break out during the next pontificate. When you see the night lit up by a great unknown light, know that it is a sign that God gives you the punishment of the world by another war, famine, and persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father...”
He lifted his eyes from the paper and looked around the table as he said, “The prophecy proved to be fairly accurate because, during the next pontificate, that of Pius XI, people in Western Europe did see an extraordinary display of lights in the night sky. A phenomenon of nature, we are told, known as the Aurora Borealis, which lasted for two hours, and, we are also told, these lights were so bright that in the Alps night workers were able to see by them. This occurred in January 1938 not long before the Second World War.”
He paused for reflection. “That war, as we know, was even more terrible than the First World War.”
The Pope gathered his thoughts before he spoke again because what he was about to tell them had been a closely guarded secret for many years. He had considered the matter at some length before deciding to divulge the secret to the men in the room.
“Your Eminences. What I am going to tell you now must not under any circumstances be repeated beyond these walls. I am going to reveal to you the third message given by Our Lady of Fatima to the three children. The one that’s known as the ‘Third Secret’.”
He paused as his words caused a notable stir around the table for no one other than Popes had been allowed to know the contents of the third message before. Now, the Pope was going to discuss it with them and their excitement was intense.
“Again, like the second message,” the Pope said, “ the Third Secret is prophetic.”
All eyes were upon him as he once again read from the sheet of paper.
“A man will be born that is marked with the 'Word of God’. When the Church is corrupted, this man will unite with Michael to battle the forces of darkness for the future of mankind. Death will follow for good and wicked alike and fire from the sky will destroy Peter’s rock. If good triumphs then the Church will rise again stronger than before, and peace will reign upon the earth. But if evil succeeds, the world will lapse into a new dark age. Satan will lead millions of souls to damnation and the whole world to eternal ruin.”
The Pope finished speaking and there was silence in the room. It was Cardinal Simons who finally spoke first, “It all seems a little unbelievable!”
“Unbelievable!” the Pope exclaimed. “Need I remind you that the messages of Fatima have been accepted by the Church as authentic.” He gave Cardinal Simons a scathing look and the Cardinal quickly responded.
“My apologies, your Holiness! I didn’t mean to imply that it wasn’t true. It just sounds all so…!”
The Pope cut him off before he could finish, regretting at once his angry outburst. “No, it is I that should apologize! You are right, of course, to have doubts. We wouldn’t be human if we did not. But I need only remind you of the visitation of Pope Leo the thirteenth.”
“Quite so, your Holiness”, Cardinal Simons conceded.
They all, of course, were familiar with the incident the Pope was alluding to. In eighteen eighty-four, on October the thirteenth, Pope Leo while celebrating Mass in the Vatican Chapel claimed that he overheard a conversation between Satan and our Lord.
“I can destroy your Church”
“You can? Then go ahead and do so.”
“To do so, I need more time and more power.”
“How much time? How much power?”
“Seventy-five to one hundred years, and a greater power over those who will give themselves over to my service.”
“You have the time, you will have the power. Do with them what you will.”
The Pope looked around at them all, then remarked, You may recall, that Pope Leo went immediately from the Chapel to his office to compose a prayer to St. Michael. He then gave instructions that it be said after all Low Masses everywhere.”
Again, the others in the room nodded for they knew the story well.
“One remarkable coincidence between this visitation and that of Fatima is that the miracle of the sun took place on the thirteenth of October, Nineteen Seventeen at Fatima, exactly thirty-three years later to the very day, that Pope Leo had his visitation!”
“Remarkable indeed!” Cardinal Tsana agreed.
Again, the Pope paused to give them time to digest his words. Then he said, “Why have I decided to disclose the Third Secret to you all? Because I now believe that the events described in it have already begun!”
The atmosphere was electric as he continued. “You are, of course, all aware of the events that took place in Northern Ireland where, thanks to the heroics of a certain Captain Lewis, the life of our dear brother, Monsignor Cronin, was spared. I am now of the opinion that what occurred at the abbey in Belfast that night may have greater significance than was first realized.”
The men around him were spellbound as the pontiff continued,
“The Monsignor has informed me of something quite extraordinary about Captain Lewis!”
Pausing to formulate his words, the Pope then said, “Apparently, after the attack, the Monsignor states that Captain Lewis' clothes were torn as one would expect. The Captain's trousers had split exposing one of his thighs. The Captain's thigh has the letters 'Y,' 'H,' 'W,' H' branded on it. These letters, as we all know, make up the sacred tetragrammaton. He also has the numbers: 6724 78 374 burnt into the flesh there.”
“How so, your Holiness?” the German, Cardinal Fitz asked.
“It appears that the markings were caused by the engine block of an armoured car that the Captain commanded. He was outside the vehicle when it hit a landmine and exploded. It seems that the engine block of the vehicle landed on his thigh. The metal was hot, causing the engine number to be burnt into his flesh. This happened four or five months before the attack on the abbey took place”
“Your Eminences, please!” the Pope insisted as the Cardinals started to talk among themselves. “I know that most of you are already aware of many of the details concerning Captain Lewis following the newspaper coverage at that time. Under normal circumstances, one would, no doubt, conclude that the letters on the Captain's leg that also make up the sacred tetragrammaton are just coincidental and no more. I too thought that! “
Again, he searched their eyes with his own and saw that he had their full attention. “It would seem, however, from an unimpeachable source, that the markings on the engine block, the letters, and numbers that is, do not match up with the markings on the Captain's leg.”
“Surely, that can't be, your Holiness?” Cardinal Fitz said with conviction.
“Wait, there's something else!” the Pope went on. “One of Cardinal Tsana's studies, as we all well know, is numerology and its significance as far as theology is concerned.” He smiled at Cardinal Tsana as he said it and the other men in the room also looked in Cardinal Tsana's direction.
“In fact, your Eminence, why don't you, yourself, explain what the numbers appearing on Captain's Lewis' thigh next to the tetragrammaton mean” he suggested turning to Cardinal Tsana.
“Certainly, your Holiness”, Cardinal Tsana acknowledged, and he took up from where the Pope had left off. “Based on the Hebrew alphabet rather than the English, I have established that the numbers 6724 78 374 translate into the 'WORD OF GOD'.”
The men in the room broke into a chorus of disbelief The Pope silenced them quickly. “Please!” he implored holding up one hand to hush them. “I will now tell you something else, and then you can judge for yourselves the significance of the markings on Captain Lewis' thigh and how it connects with the Third Secret!”
No one spoke as the Pope then exclaimed, “His name!”
The Cardinals around him were bemused so the pontiff elaborated.
“The Captain's first name is 'Lechaim' which is not a Christian name as such. It is, in point of fact, Jewish! Take the letters in the name 'Lechaim' and rearrange them.”
“They spell Michael!” Cardinal Tsana uttered disbelievingly as the realization sank in.
“Quite so!” the Pope agreed. “Lechaim is an anagram of the name, Michael”.
They were stunned for, if the Pope were correct, the implications of what he was telling them were truly alarming. Cardinal Fitz, never one to hold back, asked, “The secret stated that... 'When the Church is corrupted.' Is such a thing possible, your Holiness?”
The Pope responded, “It would be foolish of us to ignore the past and those events that have reflected badly on us. The inquisition for instance! Of course, then again, 'when the Church is corrupted' may be a reference to a spiritual decline within the Church. After all, we have been faced with many moral issues these last few years. The celibacy of priests, the abortion question and many others. All round the world, Christianity is suffering, people are being persecuted and wars reign happily everywhere.”
Cardinal Desmond, the American Cardinal, chimed in, “What makes you so certain that Captain Lewis is the one referred to in the Third Secret, your Holiness and who is Michael?”
“Of course, I can’t be certain but it seems quite remarkable that the Captain is branded so, and that the letters of his name can be rearranged to spell Michael.”
“And Michael?” Cardinal Desmond repeated.
“Saint Michael springs to mind!” the Pope replied.
The Cardinals looked at one another and some found it difficult not to laugh. Saint Michael no less! Certainly, if one believed in angels then Michael, the archangel, leader of all the angels who remained faithful to God would be a logical choice, but they were men of this century even if they were priests. Surely, angels were a product of the past when men for the most part were kept in ignorance. No one chose to voice this view, however.
“Yes! Saint Michael!” the Pope reaffirmed. “Remember that it was Michael that overcame Lucifer and the renegade angels and cast them out of heaven. You may also recollect that Saint John speaks of the great conflict at the end of time, which reflects also the battle in heaven at the beginning of time.”
“You may be right!” Cardinal Tsana agreed. “Tradition gives Saint Michael four tasks. To fight against Satan. To rescue the souls of the faithful from the power of the enemy, especially at the hour of death. To be the champion of God's people, the Jews in the Old Law, and Christians in the New Testament. To call away from earth and bring men's souls to judgment. He is, in fact, the patron of the Church.”
For some seconds everyone was silent as they absorbed the Cardinal’s words. Cardinal Andretti was the first to break the silence, “If we suppose for now that Captain Lewis and the third secret’ are linked, what is the Church's next step, your Holiness?”
“A good question” the Pope acknowledged. “That is the reason I have called this meeting so you can help me decide our next course of action. Whatever we decide here today, for the time being, our discussions must be kept confidential. No one other than those in this room must know, and no one is to discuss these matters outside this room. Is that quite clear?”
“Quite so, your Holiness!” Cardinal Desmond, the American uttered. “And where is Captain Lewis at this time?”
“He's in the Philippines on the island of Luzon. Manila, in fact.”
They continued to discuss the matter for some hours but they could not agree on a solution. Finally, it was decided that an agent of the Church should be sent to Manila to report the movements of the Captain. In the meanwhile, the matter would be left in abeyance unless events overtook them. Cardinal Tsana was entrusted with the task of arranging for a suitable person to be sent to the Phillippines to seek out Captain Lewis and report back.
“Well, I think that will be all for now!” the Pope said as he dismissed them. “We'll meet again if and when something materializes that gives credence to the possible connection between Captain Lewis and Sister Lucia's prophesy.”
Ten minutes later the cardinals had gathered in Cardinal Tsana's office.
“I thought it went very well!” Cardinal Fitz said.
“That part about the markings on Captain Lewis' thigh was masterful!” Cardinal Simons exclaimed.
“But how did you know what the third secret was?” Cardinal Andretti asked.
Cardinal Tsana beckoned them to sit down on the chairs that had been placed around his desk. He then sat down at his desk facing them and spoke. As he did so, he could not hide the satisfaction in his voice.
“I make it a point to know about these things!”
Cardinal Tsana, or rather the organization he was employed by, had the money to pay for the best and the seals that had been placed on Lucia dos Santos' records had been opened and carefully resealed by experts. It had been done years before and now this foresight on his part was starting to pay dividends. While the Pope and the Monsignor were being fed red herrings, the pair of them wouldn't be concentrating on the issue at hand; namely, the Vatican Bank and the missing millions. It gave them, Cardinal Tsana hoped, just a little more time and that was all he needed.
“The markings on the Captain's leg? That was a fabrication?” Cardinal Simons asked.
“Not quite!” Cardinal Tsana responded. “As luck would have it, the noble captain does bear the letters, 'Y,' 'H,' 'W,' H' on his leg.”
“But the numbers that were mentioned. Surely they do not mean, 'The word of God?'“
“Of course not! They were just the serial numbers of the engine block, no more. I told the Pope that the markings and numbers on the Captain’s thigh do not match those on the engine block to give substance to the notion that there is a supernatural link between Captain Lewis and the third secret,” he said smilingly. “So I lied.”
The men before him smiled back.
“It does seem odd that the Captain should have the Tetragrammaton on his leg though!” Cardinal Andretti remarked.
“A coincidence, nothing more!” Cardinal Tsana said, “And a lucky coincidence at that.”
“But the name, surely that's odd?” Cardinal Andretti persisted.
“Again, just a coincidence!” Cardinal Tsana answered but it serves our purpose well.
“What about the Captain?” Cardinal Andretti then asked.
“He will be taken care of, have no fear of that.” Cardinal Tsana replied as he got up and went across to the cocktail cabinet in one corner. “Sartori and Sam are in the Phillippines now!”
“As agents of the Church?” Cardinal Fitz jested.
They all laughed.
“A drink gentlemen to celebrate the future,” Cardinal Tsana proposed. “Soon our plans will come to fruition and we will rule alone here.”
As Cardinal Tsana poured drinks for the others, he congratulated himself. The combination of a senile Pope and a demented Monsignor provided the ingredients for complete success. In one of Monsignor Cronin's more lucid moments, he had conveyed to the Cardinal that he had seen the markings on the Captain's leg that night at the abbey. It had been this one piece of information that had given Cardinal Tsana the idea of concocting the story of Captain Lewis and his connection with the third secret’.
Cardinal Tsana held up his glass and the others held theirs up also. “Here's to Captain Lewis, and the Archangel Michael. May they rest in peace.” The other Cardinals chuckled and then drank lustily.