Faitma Lesson - Amnesty

In August of 1917 when the three seers of Fatima were jailed they began saying the Rosary and after a couple of decades the prisoners knelt and joined in. Benedict XVI visited a Rome jail the week before Christmas not to lead the Rosary or to express the wisdom of little Jacinta who reminded us shortly before she died that penance is necessary to amend lives and save immortal souls. The Pontiff visit was designed to increase the awareness of the deplorable overcrowding conditions of the Italian jails in order to protect the dignity of the prisoners. Reuters reported that when Benedict XVI was leaving the prisoners chanted 'amnesty, amnesty, amnesty'.

The Italian government may pardon criminals before they have paid their debt to society just as many feel God pardons sinners without doing penance. People are continually making statements about their deceased relatives and friends such as 'he is in a better place now' and 'she is looking down on us' or you read in obituaries that say he passed on to heaven. These types of statements are repeated and believed not just by Protestants but many Catholics and religious who take for granted that God will pardon all of us. In 1953 Father Ricardo Lombardi founder of the movement 'For a better world' published his short conversation with Sister Lucy in which he first asked Sister if this movement was an answer to the words Our Lady spoke.
Sister Lucy answered, "Certainly that great renovation is necessary if humanity does not seek to perfect itself, given the way in which it behaves now, only a limited part of the human race will be saved."
The Jesuit replied, "Do you believe truly that many are going to Hell. Personally I hope that God will save the greater part of humanity."
Sister Lucy then said, "Father, numerous are those who are damned."
The priest further insisted by saying, "It is certain that the world is a cesspool of vices and sin. But there is always a hope for salvation."
Sister Lucy seemed a little frustrated when she said, "No, Father, many many will be lost."

In July 1917 Our Lady told the children, "You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go." Then in a conversation published in 1957 Sister Lucy told Fr. Fuentes, "Father, the Most Holy Virgin is very sad because no one has paid attention to Her Message, neither the good nor the bad."

Homer Sweeney

Sources:
Yahoo News, Reuters Rome
Fatima: Tragedy and Triumph
Fatima in Twilight
The True Story of Fatima
The Devil's Final Battle - 1st edition

Published Tradition In Action January 27, 2012