Falling cross video, a Halloween twist and the Mount of Olives

by T. Stanfill Benns | Oct 24, 2026 | New Blog

+Christ the King+

“And the Lord shall be king over all the earth” (Zacharias 14:9)

Introduction

Many readers may have recently seen videos of a huge crucifix falling and crushing to death a Novus Ordo “priest” in Ecuador.  This dreadful event occurred while he was delivering a sermon at what passes for “mass” — a sermon on the certainty of death and the right use of our time on earth. His words were simple, for an audience that perhaps was not particularly well-educated. And what he said was dramatically punctuated by his startling demise, caught on video. I think it is important that we look at this from the proper perspective and take to heart what the true message might be.

At any moment Christ could come as a thief. We could leave this earth as individuals at any time; we know this. We also live in the Last Days. Protestants, the Novus Ordo sect, even LibTrads speak about the nearness of the Final Judgment or at least some horrific end-times event. But it is hard to believe, given their actions, that they really take what they say they believe seriously. Some put away survival food and construct bunkers, as if they can hide from our Lord when He comes, like Adam and Eve. They secure their financial future, pay thousands for their children’s weddings, plan for a leisurely retirement, book their next cruise. It seems more like the times of Noah where they were conducting business as usual until the flood came and took them all away.

The NO cleric in Ecuador was trying to explain to people how precious our time is; how we must use it to love God, spend time with family and help others. Despite his Novus Ordo affiliation, he was saying nothing different than the saints have taught us. And precisely because our time is so short, his simple message is more poignant than it would be otherwise. Perhaps livestreaming his death during this sermon on time was God’s way of driving home the clear message that He could visit us with death at any time, or appear for the Final Judgment any day, and we need to prepare ourselves accordingly.  And maybe it was something more.

We must consider the fact that the sins of humanity Christ died for on the Cross are sins no longer atoned for by those only simulating the Holy Sacrifice. As one theologian has noted, “It is by Christ’s blood in the Mass that the anger of God is daily placated, the vengeance of the Divine Judge disarmed, that He no more curses the earth on account of man, whose mind and thoughts are prone to evil from his youth (Genesis 8.21). When this sacrifice for sins shall be no longer celebrated, ‘Then there remains but a certain dreadful expectation of judgment and the rage of a fire which shall consume the adversaries’” (Heb. 10: 26-27). (Rev. Nicholas Gihr, The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, 1942).  And when it is fraudulently celebrated, imagine God’s anger at such a sacrilege. God’s righteous and wrathful judgment and the lack of any acceptable offering to delay it may also be what prompted Him to broadcast this message.

The saints on the use of time

• “Do not waste your time with useless thoughts, but keep your mind fixed on the things of heaven, for this life is but a fleeting shadow.” —  Saint John of the Cross

• “We must not let a single moment pass without seeking to please God in all that we do, for our time is short and eternity is long.” — Saint Alphonsus Liguori
• “God gives us time so that we may learn to love Him better, and every act of service is an opportunity to grow in that divine love.” —  Saint Vincent de Paul

• “Let your life be a testament to the goodness of God, using every hour to spread kindness and truth to those you encounter along the way.” —  Saint Francis of Assisi

• “Work as if everything depends on you, but pray as if everything depends on God, for this balance is the secret to a well-ordered life.” I— Saint Ignatius of Loyola

• “Life is short, but the consequences of how we spend our time are eternal, so let us live each day as if it were our last.” — Saint Basil the Great
• “The brevity of life is a reminder that we must love with urgency, for we know not the day nor the hour when we shall be called.” — Saint Therese of Lisieux

The sinister story behind Halloween

Many older readers in this audience only reluctantly accepted Halloween as a children’s holiday as their children grew up and some may have even refused to acknowledge it at all. I have never seen what I am about to relay here mentioned anywhere before but it explains why Halloween may have become a national holiday in the first place. While doing research for another project, I discovered the following online:

“10 Ways to Celebrate Reformation Day October 31… Reformation Day celebrates the joyful beauty of the liberating Gospel of Jesus Christ. On October 31, 1517… Martin Luther took a stand against the traditions of the state and the Roman Catholic church to proclaim his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church. In effect, what Luther posted became the Five Solas of Protestant belief: “Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone according to Scripture alone for God’s glory alone.” Halloween, then, is the birthday of evangelical Christians.

So unbeknownst to nearly all of us, we were helping Protestants celebrate their Reformation Day birthday by sending our children out to participate in an increasingly Satanic holiday every year. (After all, Luther was known to have had discourses with the Devil.) I am sure some of those Catholic haters among them have sniggered behind our backs for decades about the irony in all this, assuming, however that they realized it in the first place. I always thought that Halloween, positioned as it was the day before the feast of All Saints, a vigil day and fast day in previous times, was suspicious — feasting on a day previously dedicated to fasting. This is a reversal of the order God ordained, something Satan glories in. Now we have even more reason to refuse to celebrate this day, although something else should be arranged for children who will not understand its sinister implications.

Does trick or treat make more sense now? They tricked us into helping them celebrate the very beginning of the Great Apostasy that went on to destroy the juridical Church. The treat part was the fact that they managed to keep this hush-hush all these years and turn something holy into a celebration rather than a penance. Like all other holidays, Halloween has become a big commercial venture, further sweetening their pot. Historians claim this was once an ancient Druidic feast in Ireland and France, with roots that possibly go back even further. Establishing the feast of All Saints and All Souls Day was the Church’s practice of instituting Christian feasts to replace those of the pagans. In medieval times, children dressed as various saints and Old Testament figures and even participated in mystery plays. And this is how Catholics should celebrate this day.

Pray the exorcism prayer on October 31, and beg God to lift the veil from the eyes of Protestants whose ancestors were once our Catholic brethren.

The Mount of Olives and the Second Coming

It is currently reported in many Internet videos that fissures are appearing on the Mount of Olives that foretell Christ’s Second Coming. This is based on the prophecy of Zacharias, Chapter 14. But to set the stage for that chapter, the previous chapter should be read, for it contains much that will strike us as very familiar. Zacharias 13:1-12. “On that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: for the washing of the sinner, and of the unclean woman.  2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will destroy the names of idols out of the earth, and they shall be remembered no more: and I will take away the false prophets, and the unclean spirit out of the earth.  3 And it shall come to pass, that when any man shall prophesy any more, his father and his mother that brought him into the world, shall say to him: Thou shalt not live: because thou hast spoken a lie in the name of the Lord. And his father, and his mother, his parents, shall thrust him through, when he shall prophesy.

4 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be confounded, every one by his own vision, when he shall prophesy, neither shall they be clad with a garment of sackcloth, to deceive:  5 But he shall say: I am no prophet, I am a husbandman: for Adam is my example from my youth. 6 And they shall say to him: What are these wounds in the midst of thy hands? And he shall say: With these I was wounded in the house of them that loved me.  7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that cleaveth to me, saith the Lord of hosts: strike the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn my hand to the little ones.  8 And there shall be in all the earth, saith the Lord, two parts in it shall be scattered, and shall perish: but the third part shall be left therein.  9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined: and I will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say: Thou art my people: and they shall say: The Lord is my God.

10 And all the land shall return even to the desert, from the hill to Remmon to the south of Jerusalem: and she shall be exalted, and shall dwell in her own place, from the gate of Benjamin even to the place of the former gate, and even to the gate of the corners: and from the tower of Hananeel even to the king’s winepresses. And people shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more an anathema: but Jerusalem shall sit secure.  12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord shall strike all nations that have fought against Jerusalem: the flesh of every one shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.  13 In that day there shall be a great tumult from the Lord among them: and a man shall take the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall be clasped upon his neighbour’s hand. 14 And even Juda shall fight against Jerusalem: and the riches of all nations round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and garments in great abundance.  15 And the destruction of the horse, and of the mule, and of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts, that shall be in those tents, shall be like this destruction.”

And from Zacharias 14: 14:

1 Behold the days of the Lord shall come, and thy spoils shall be divided in the midst of thee.

2 And I will gather all nations to Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses shall be rifled, and the women shall be defiled: and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the rest of the people shall not be taken away out of the city.

3 Then the Lord shall go forth, and shall fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is over-against Jerusalem toward the east: and the mount of Olives shall be divided in the midst thereof to the east, and to the west with a very great opening, and half of the mountain shall be separated to the north, and half thereof to the south.

5 And you shall flee to the valley of those mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall be joined even to the next, and you shall flee *as you fled from the face of the earthquake in the days of Ozias, king of Juda: and the Lord, my God, shall come, and all the saints with him.

6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that there shall be no light, but cold and frost.

7 And there shall be one day, which is known to the Lord, not day nor night: and in the time of the evening there shall be light:

8 And it shall come to pass in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem: half of them to the east sea, and half of them to the last sea: they shall be in summer and in winter.

9 And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day there shall be one Lord, and his name shall be one.

10 And all the land shall return even to the desert, from the hill to Remmon, to the south of Jerusalem: and she shall be exalted, and shall dwell in her own place, from the gate of Benjamin even to the place of the former gate, and even to the gate of the corners; and from the tower of Hananeel even to the king’s wine-presses.

11 And people shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more an anathema: but Jerusalem shall sit secure.

12 And this shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord shall strike all nations that fought against Jerusalem: the flesh of every one shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

13 In that day there shall be a great tumult from the Lord among them: and a man shall take the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall be clasped upon his neighbour’s hand.

14 And even Juda shall fight against Jerusalem: and the riches of all nations round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and garments in great abundance.”

Haydock commentary

Rev. George Leo Haydock applies the above verses to the Church as Jerusalem, not to the Jews. These are part of the verses the Jews claim for their promise when their messiah comes, but this promise has been transferred to the Church, for the Jews forfeited it by rejecting the true Messiah. What some of these videos suggest then is that the true Messiah has yet to come and will inaugurate a golden millennium at his coming. Other videos claim the fissures on the Mount of Olives point to the imminent coming of Our Lord as the Divine Judge and the final judgment. Christ gave the sermon on the Last Days of the world on the Mount of Olives and did much of his teaching on this mount. It is there that he also suffered his bloody sweat and betrayal by Judas. And it was on this mount that he ascended into Heaven. At His Ascension, an angel came down to announce that just as the Apostles and the Blessed Mother had seen Him ascend into Heaven, so again would He come back to earth (Acts 1: 10-11).

Haydock comments on the following verses in Zacharias 14:

“Ver. 4. Olives. Here the tenth legion was stationed, (Josephus, Jewish Wars vi. 3.) on the spot where Christ had denounced this judgment, and ascended into heaven, Luke xix. 41., and Acts i. 12. — South. We cannot shew the literal accomplishment. If it regard the latter times, this must be hidden. But it suffices that some great earthquake should take place, according to most interpreters,,,” And on verses 9-11 and 14:

“Ver. 9. One Lord. The apostles justly gave this title to Christ, John xiii. 14. He is possessed of all power, Matthew xxviii. 18., and Philippians ii. 10. Pastors are all subject to him. (Calmet) — The Pope styles himself, “servant of the servants of God,” since St. Gregory’s time. (Haydock)

“Ver. 10. Return. This in some measure was verified by means of the Machabees; but is rather to be taken in a spiritual sense, as relating to the propagation of the Church and kingdom of Christ, the true Jerusalem, which alone shall never fall under the anathema of destruction, or God’s curse. (Challoner)

“Ver. 11. Anathema. It shall not be sentenced to utter ruin. The Church may suffer losses, but cannot perish. (Calmet)

“Ver. 14. Even Juda, &c. The carnal Jews, and other false brothers, shall join in persecuting the Church. (Challoner) — The Jews shewed themselves the most virulent, 2 Corinthians xi. 24., and Acts viii., &c.”

Certain verses from the prophet Isaiah seem similar to Zach, 14:4. For Isaias 13:9-13 reads: “Behold the day of the Lord shall come, a cruel day, and full of indignation, and of wrath, and fury, to lay the land desolate, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it…The stars of heaven and their brightness shall not display their light: the sun shall be darkened in his rising and the moon shall not shine with her light… the earth shall be moved out of her place, for the indignation of the Lord of hosts, and for the day of His fierce wrath.” And in Isaias 24:3, 5: “With desolation shall the earth be laid waste and it shall be utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word…And the earth is infected by the inhabitants thereof: because they have transgressed the laws, they have changed the ordinances, they have broken the everlasting covenant.” And in Isaias 24:19-20: “With breaking shall the earth be broken, with crushing shall the earth be crushed, with trembling shall the earth be moved …With shaking shall the earth be shaken as a drunken man, and shall be removed as the tent of one night: and the iniquity thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again.”

A total of “84,653 earthquakes were recorded worldwide in 2026, of which 6,866 reached magnitude 4 or above and 1,698 reached magnitude 5 or above,” and the year has not yet ended (https://earthquake.now/earthquakes/2026). Between 1960 and 1980 there were only 29 major earthquakes in the world. This was more than a threefold increase from the previous 20-year period. According to 2026 statistics, this is a fivefold increase. This does not factor in volcanic eruptions. The day of the Lord Isaiah refers to appears to be the one mentioned in Apocalypse 16:18. Other instances of earthquakes in Apocalypse also are notable. And it is difficult to speculate about what earthquakes could affect or correlate with what events that have been ongoing for the past several decades. But the one thing we do know is that the Day of the Lord, as mentioned by Isaiah, is the final judgment and probably refers to a pole shift. That is exactly how pole shifts are described in the research literature that exists at present.

Some believe a pole shift is imminent and is described in the Apoc. Ch 16: 17-21.

The Seventh Bowl of Wrath

“17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial upon the air, and there came a great voice out of the temple from the throne, saying: It is done. 18 And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and there was a great earthquake, such an one as never had been since men were upon the earth, such an earthquake, so great. 19 And the great city was divided into three parts; and the cities of the Gentiles fell. And great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the indignation of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And great hail, like a talent, came down from heaven upon men: and men blasphemed God for the plague of the hail: because it was exceeding great.”

What must precede Christ’s Second Coming and the Golden Gate

Zacharias 14:4 is linked by some with the Golden Gate, which sits opposite the place where Christ preached on the Mount of Olives. The stones of the gate are said to be coming loose somehow, possibly because of tiny seismological tremors. According to one Bible site: “Jewish tradition holds that the Messiah will enter Jerusalem through this gate. This belief is mirrored in Christian eschatology, where the return of Jesus Christ is anticipated to involve the Eastern Gate. The gate’s closure is traditionally dated to the 16th century when the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent sealed it,” after several troubling dreams of a holy man walking through it. Again, these prophecies refer to the Church and Christ’s Second coming. It is no coincidence that these fissures are appearing on the Mount of Olives, seeing that plans are going forward to rebuild the Temple.

“The Roman emperor Julian the Apostate tried to rebuild the temple in A.D. 363, but a series of unexplained events stopped the construction. “The Jews entered upon the undertaking, without reflecting that, according to the prediction of the holy prophets, it could not be accomplished…  It is said that on the following day when they were about to lay the first foundation, a great earthquake occurred… many were caught thereby, some perished immediately… A more tangible and still more extraordinary prodigy ensued; suddenly the sign of the cross appeared spontaneously on the garments of the persons engaged in the undertaking. These crosses were disposed like stars, and appeared the work of art. Many were hence led to confess that Christ is God, and that the rebuilding of the temple was not pleasing to Him; others presented themselves in the church, were initiated, and besought Christ, with hymns and supplications, to pardon their transgression” (Sozomen, ca. A.D. 375-447; Ecclesiastical History, Book V, Chapter XXII).”

The Christian population in general has been taught to believe that we will all know when the end times are near because we will see these signs, and certainly the increase in earthquakes and natural disasters and plagues, constant wars in divers places, the terrible evil that exists in the world, fulfills those signs.  But where is that horrid political figure identified as Antichrist who will begin to persecute Christians and put them to death? They have not seen him yet and every time someone new appears that might fit the bill, they suggest that person is the one.  It is hard to understand how “Bible-believing Christians” and those identifying as Catholic can really think Christ’s Second Coming is imminent when they have not even identified Antichrist, the Man of Sin, or defined when the Great Revolt occurred.

St. Paul says of this: “And we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and of our gathering together unto him, that ye be not easily moved from your senses, nor be terrified, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle as sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means, for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and is lifted up above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God… Remember you not that I told you these things? …For the mystery of iniquity already worketh: only he who now holdeth will hold, until he be taken out of the way. And then that Wicked One shall be revealed” (2Thess. 2: 1-7).

Conclusion

So before anyone can anticipate the Second Coming, they must first identify the great revolt and specify who he who withholdeth is that is taken out of the way, that the man of sin be revealed. If one believes that:

• the great revolt happened beginning with the Reformation in 1517 and ended with the defection of the entire hierarchy in 1958;
• the proofs on this site that Antichrist has already come, and he who withholdeth was the papacy;
• that the Holy Sacrifice has been taken away by the usurpers in fulfillment of prophecy and this is why evil has exploded since it was abolished;
• that we cannot expect even a spiritual era of peace, i.e, the so-called “millennium”

then certainly it makes sense that the Mount of Olives may well be beginning to split in two and the Golden Gate could be “opened” by the great earthquake in Apocalypse Chap. 16. But as St. Paul warns, “Let no man deceive you…”  These gullible Christians and Novus Ordo types are ripe for even greater deception than they are involved in already. Prophecy has been manipulated to make it appear that things are other than they appear to be. And the Internet is the perfect breeding ground to promote these deceptions. Satan comes to us in all power signs and lying wonders. Therefore, stand fast. (2 Thess. 2: 9, 14).

Millenarianism and a possible link to the Fatima secrets

by T. Stanfill Benns | Oct 13, 2026 | New Blog

+St. Edward, King of England+

In the past, there’s been some objections to the designation by the Church of certain suppositions as not safe for belief, and this would include the recent topic we discussed in our last blog concerning the Millennium. The designation for that error as not safe appears to indicate that there will be some time of peace between the death of Antichrist and the Second Coming, as certain private prophecies and Scripture commentators predict. Below we see how the Church classified “not safe for belief,” and what that classification means.

“When an opinion which at one time the Church declared could not be safely taught is later established by new arguments, it can be accepted by Catholics without any implication that the doctrine of the Church has changed. There is no inconsistency in holding that a view which at one time could not be reasonably maintained because the arguments were insufficient can later be demonstrated by virtue of new proofs” (Rev. Francis J. Connell, “Does Catholic Doctrine Change?,” American Ecclesiastical Review, Nov., 1947).

What Rev. Connell says above is dependent on the assumption that there would be canonically elected popes to determine such things. And as we know, there is no possibility now that we will have another pope, nor as with other decisions of this nature, can he answer the question on whether it could still be speculated upon by approved theologians, who all disappeared with the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958. Pope Pius XII’s papal election constitution Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis is written ins such a way that that no other conclusion is actually rational. If you accept the vicar of Christ as God’s mouthpiece, then you must accept the fact that certain things cannot be done during an interregnum, and that if they are done despite what he legislates, that they are null, void and invalid. Obedience allows us no other choice.

We either believe that the Pope speaks with Christ’s voice or we don’t. It is either true or it is not true. If we don’t accept it, then I don’t see how anybody not accepting it can be members of the Catholic Church because it’s a tenet for belief. What probably needs to be done here is to track down why Catholics believe so strongly there would be an era of peace in the first place. And I think this can be laid up mainly to the Fatima apparition and messages given to the children. It’s appropriate that we mention that today since October 13 is the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun. Now I have explained in other articles on my site that I believe that there are some major, major problems with Fatima. And I say this with very good reason, having thoroughly researched it and prayed about it for a long time.

But I do believe Our Lady appeared there. I do believe that she told Sr. Lucia certain things, maybe up to the 1930s, in addition to those secrets given to the three children, and that she reported accurately her vison of the Trinity at Tuy. But there was a concerted effort, which can be proven and shown to be true, to totally use Fatima as a vehicle to steer the faithful to ecumenism. This was explained at length in The Phantom Church in Rome. The first thing I’d like to mention as far as that demonstration is the fact that in one of the messages related to us by Father Goncalves, Our Lady told Lucia that when Lucia was praying to Our Lady, Our Lady told Lucia that the Pope would consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, but it would be late. And that’s what was reported for many, the sentence structure seemed off. I know tthat sounds funny, but even when I was not all that into researching things, it just seemed strange that it would be put that way.

Pius XI fails to consecrate Russia

And then some more recent Novus Ordo writers came out and said, no, no, it translates as “too late.”  Now I’m not sufficiently familiar with the Portuguese language to say with any certainty whether that’s valid or not, but it makes a lot more sense to me than late. And it’s borne out by the fact that at the time Our Lady appeared to the children, the Russian Revolution hadn’t even broken out yet, not until November of 1917. Now, if you look at this from that point of view, and the fact that Pius XI is specifically mentioned in one of the secrets, I think it’s quite clear that what Our Lady was asking Pius XI to do was consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart before things got out of hand and communism was established in that country. So why didn’t he do it? Perhaps his advisors were ill-informed, he was preoccupied with other matters, or his prayers on the subject indicated otherwise. There’s just no way of knowing why it wasn’t done when Our Lady asked for it to be done.

But I think the consequences are pretty clear. The consequences show us that communism prevailed. Russia did spread her errors, and that’s what Our Lady predicted if the consecration was not made. She told the children on July 13, 1917: “IF My requests are heeded, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions against the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated. In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, which will be converted, and a time of peace will be given to the world.” There again, everything makes sense today if you end this message of Our Lady with the word “triumph.” for Our Lady would triumph when Christ comes to cast the false prophet and Antichrist into Hell, and perhaps she will manifest herself in some way at this time.

But the last two sentences on July 13 appear to contradict everything that is said prior to that.  Why would she say a certain period of peace would be granted despite the fact that the consecration wasn’t done and Russia spread her errors?  It makes sense that if it wasn’t done the way she asked it to be done, there wouldn’t be a peace because the very fact that Russia spread her errors and World War II commenced was punishment for Pius XI not consecrating Russia to her as she requested and not enough of the faithful saying the Rosary and making their First Saturdays. Maybe the peace she was referring to was a false peace? I would doubt that, but there was a certain period of peace between the end of World War II and the death of Pope Pius XII. Not very long, but then the enemy’s plans were already well underway.

Questions about the secrets

In the article The Fatima Controversy on this site, we read: “Many events reported in Frere Michel’s work, (The Whole Truth About Fatima), when linked to other events, seem to point to the fact that Pope Pius XII had serious doubts about Fatima following 1952. These doubts seem to have surfaced, several appear to agree, during the poisoning of Pope Pius XII as related by his own physician in August 1952. These deep reservations seem to have been more or less confirmed over a two-year period (1952-54); perhaps discoveries made about the true state of affairs in the Holy Office once Montini was no longer pro-secretary of state?). In 1952, after issuing the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on July 7, Pope Pius XII reportedly commissioned the Austrian Jesuit Schweigl to present 31 questions regarding the conversion of Russia to Sr. Lucia, who possibly by that time was deceased. Was Pius XII perhaps suspicious that Russia was not the true focus of the apparition? Was it possible he even suspected she was no longer alive? Schweigl later revealed his previously undisclosed mission to the Vatican 2 council fathers (according to Frere Michel). He also told them that “…in 1952, the Archbishop of Coimbra demanded that the replies given by Sister Lucia not be published without authorization of the Holy Office.” And that authorization was never given.

In late August of 1952, shortly after sending Schweigl to speak to Sr. Lucia, while Montini was still acting as Pope Pius XII’s pro-secretary of state in the Vatican, Frere Michel reports that Pope Pius XII fell gravely ill, according to his physician Galeazzi-Lisi. According to Frere Michel and one account online, Galeazzi-Lisi attributed the illness to “chromic acid poisoning” caused by the pope’s toothpaste.  This report came from John-Peter Pham, an American priest who served in the Vatican diplomatic service. What Galeazzi-Lisi failed to mention is that he had referred Pius XII to the dentist who prescribed the chromic acid treatments. The pope’s gastritis returned the following year and on the advice of Galeazzi-Lisi, the pope received unorthodox treatments for the condition, according to Pham. Pius XII received these same treatments again in January of 1954 when he became gravely ill with gastritis and a diaphragmatic hernia.

According to William E. Barrett’s biography of Paul 6, Shepherd of Mankind, shortly after the death of the former Archbishop of Milan in August of 1954, Pius XII told Montini he would be appointed to the empty see. The official announcement of his appointment was not made, however, until November of 1954.

Barrett also confirms the pope had suffered quietly from his stomach condition for some time before it worsened in January of 1954. During the time span of Pope Pius XII’s illness, August of 1952 to December of 1954, the pope had learned many disturbing things about Montini. It was shortly before his illness worsened that Pope Pius XII discovered Montini’s true role as a U.S. agent, working first with the OSS and later the CIA. Ill or not, the pope took action. Following the additional discovery that Montini was actively cooperating with the Communists, had failed to inform him of a schism in China, and that some of the information he had leaked to the Soviets resulted in the assassination of bishops and priests sent secretly into Russia, he informed Montini of his dismissal as pro-secretary of State. And perhaps, following his dismissal, and Pius XII’s eventual recovery from the poisoning he suffered, he began to discover certain connections regarding Fatima and Montini’s activities that also alarmed him.

Fatima as a political vehicle

Frere Michel asks in his work: “Why did the Holy Office, in 1956-1957, suddenly demand the manuscript of the third Secret when it was no longer offered to it, and had refused the manuscript in 1944? Bishop da Silva had permission to read the Secret, but …he stubbornly refused to open it. They knew that after him, it would fall to the Patriarch of Lisbon to open it and divulge it to the world in 1960, or upon the death of Sister Lucy prior to 1960. Perhaps they feared that the seer would grant the future Bishop of Leiria, Msgr. Venancio, permission to read it. In short, one could be certain that if the Secret remained in Portugal, it would certainly be revealed to the world in 1960.” Frere Michel then goes on to speculate that forces suspicious of the Fatima Secret did not wish it to be left in the hands of the Portuguese hierarchy who might certainly release it, whether it was providential to do so or not. And he concludes that the Holy Office wished to reserve that decision to itself.

“To provide an excuse, they requested a photocopy of all writings of Sister Lucy. Yet, it was clear that only one thing really mattered: transferring the original text of the Secret from Leiria to Rome, to snatch it from the hands of its future recipient, Cardinal Cerejeira” (Ibid.). The delivery of the photocopies of Sr. Lucy’s writings and the Third Secret to the Vatican is seen by Frere Michel to be a sort of hostile takeover, to prevent Cerejeira from releasing the secret. But the corruption of the Fatima Secrets and their message may well have begun under the very cleric primarily responsible for promoting the American Proposition heresy of John Courtney Murray, Felix Morlion. Morlion was great friends not only with Murray, but with Roncalli, Maritain and Montini. Morlion’s propaganda program, the Apostolate of Public Opinion, was set up in Lisbon with the help and blessing of Cerejeira. It was the perfect vehicle for moving Americans to support the Cold War and the anti-communist campaign carefully engineered to promote democracy. It is no wonder that the CIA funded Fatima prayer campaigns. It is interesting to note that Montini was the first to promote the false version of the Fatima prayer, “lead all souls to heaven.” The true and original prayer was “assist the poor souls in Purgatory especially the most abandoned,” and it was given a 100 days indulgence.

Pope Pius IX and La Salette

Fatima would not be the first secret to be co-opted by enemy forces. Many modern-day prophecies have been shamelessly falsified or corrupted in some way. There are parts of the 1846 La Salette secret that were completely manipulated by Melanie Calvat’s confessor and are so misconstrued that it really did not reflect what Our Lady told Melanie and Maximin. That being said, I also think that some of the real truths of what was said in the La Salette secret shine through quite clearly. I say this because there was a separate secret that the children were asked to write out and hand to Pope Pius IX. Given what the pope said after reading that, I don’t think that there can be much doubt that Pius IX believed what Our Lady told Melanie to be true and obeyed her requests. This is recorded in one volume that I have here on the Secret and the apparition of La Salette, (Mary Fabyan Windeatt, The Children of La Salette, 1951).  After reading it, Pope Pius IX was asked what it said, and he just quoted from Holy Scripture: that if we don’t do penance, we shall all perish. So, I think it’s pretty clear. He certainly didn’t discount it; he understood and took to heart what was said. Had Pope Pius XI followed the example of his predecessor I might not be writing this today.

Windeatt related in her work that Melanie asked how to spell ‘infallibility’ and ‘Antichrist,’ also the word ‘defiled.’ Having asked those particular questions, and then later Pope Pius IX convening the Vatican Council in 1869, I think it’s pretty telling that obviously there was some other secret that was to be relayed only to the pope, and that whatever that secret was, he took it most seriously.  The council legislated that the pope has supreme power and authority over everyone, even all the bishops, all the priests, each one of us personally. And as Melanie Calvet herself would later say, as did St. Catherine of Siena and Pope Pius XI, “The pope is Christ on earth.” This is something people don’t understand and absolutely refuse to comprehend. But if they had, many of the dangers we face today could have been avoided or mitigated.

Conclusion

The subject of Millenarianism had been a hot topic for decades. The popular belief at the time that Pope Pius XII made his decision about the topic was that following Antichrist’s reign, the Church would enjoy a spiritual revival of sorts and a holy pope, even a Great Monarch would reign, (although this belief about the Monarch was born of legends that long preceded any Catholic prophecies so-called). Clearly that cannot happen now, and once a decision is finally made on a disputed topic, it may no longer be discussed or debated. This Pope Pius XII taught in Humani generis below.

“Nor must it be thought that what is expounded in Encyclical Letters does not of itself demand consent, since in writing such Letters the Popes do not exercise the supreme power of their Teaching Authority. For these matters are taught with the ordinary teaching authority, of which it is true to say: ‘He who heareth you, heareth Me’… Generally, what is expounded and inculcated in Encyclical Letters already for other reasons appertains to Catholic doctrine. But if the Supreme Pontiffs in their official documents purposely pass judgment on a matter up to that time under dispute, it is obvious that that matter, according to the mind and will of the Pontiffs, cannot be any longer considered a question open to discussion among theologians.

“This deposit of faith our Divine Redeemer has given for authentic interpretation not to each of the faithful, not even to theologians, but only to the Teaching Authority of the Church. But if the Church does exercise this function of teaching, as she OFTEN has through the centuries, either in the ordinary or in the extraordinary way, it is clear how false is a procedure which would attempt to explain what is clear by means of what is obscure. Indeed, the very opposite procedure must be used. Hence Our Predecessor of immortal memory, Pius IX, teaching that the most noble office of theology is to show how a doctrine defined by the Church is contained in the sources of revelation, added these words, and with very good reason: “in that sense in which it has been defined by the Church.”

The question must be asked, now that the Church in Rome is occupied by the enemy, how could Russia ever convert? Is such a conversion to the Novus Ordo under the guise of a Catholic revival in the offing? If Leo 14 dies soon from his cancer will the next pope be a Traditionalist and make everything all better again? Will it be staged to coincide with the expected Jewish Millenium? Nothing would surprise us at this point, nor should it. Everything possible will be attempted to deceive the elect. Whatever lies ahead, may God grant us the strength to stand firm in the faith, and persevere until the very end.

St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Little Flower, let fall a shower of roses

by T. Stanfill Benns | Oct 3, 2026 | New Blog