Despite their obvious seriousness, their great import, it is still true that some of Our Lady’s warnings at Fatima remain somewhat mysterious. Right now, we can look just at the warnings that were about what would happen if the consecration of Russia didn’t happen. For instance, what exactly did she mean by “annihilation of nations”? Now I’ve had a few ideas pop into the old brain, and I’m just putting them out here for some consideration.

… and what’s next? (Hint: keep in mind what Italians like to do to dictators when they’ve had enough of them…) A while ago Mike Matt asked me how it could possibly be worse. I said, “Oh, I don’t know. How about someone smarter, more wiley and less obvious, more politically skilled and more plausible, and 20 years younger?” “Has Bergoglio reached the end of his usefulness? And if so, what’s next on the agenda?

The Plague of Darkness All our problems might soon be solved all in one big BANG! Fire from the sky? Maybe it wasn’t about what we thought it was about. And then the long, long winter… Sing along now… Hey, I’ve just had a thought! Wouldn’t it be funny if the whole Norcia Quakes thing – the domino effect that has destabilized the entire fault system of the Appenines for nine months now – was just the opening act of the same much larger play?

A rare guest post. Back when we started WUWTS, I had several collaborators for the duration of the Synods, but most of them have returned to their own respective corners of the world, while we toil on. But of course I’m still in touch with many of them privately, and Fr. Parochus just contacted me to ask if he could put in a word of defence for the Real Blessed Mother, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven, of all the angels and saints, against this imaginary usurper that Pope Bergoglio seems to want to put in her place.

For various reasons I’ve been digging around in my old blog posts from February 2013, and files and other things looking into the events that led up to the resignation of Pope Benedict and the election of his successor. I’ve had many, many (insert lots more “many’s”) conversations about the whole thing and still don’t really have solid answers. But one thing that still irritates me is the (probably) well-meaning Catholics, all desperate to take the press release version on face value.

So, I once read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and it was depressing. I mean, it was REALLY depressing. Maybe not quite on the level of “The Road,” but really, really, really depressing. It made me hate people, and not want to be one. I saw the movie, of course, when it came into theatres, and at that time just kind of accepted that it was not much more than a description of how life is now.

Soooo… Fatima Day huh? Hope the world doesn’t end in fire and screaming… If you listened to the pope’s stuff in Fatima today one might have missed quite a lot of the whole controversy. You might have come away thinking Fatima is all about sharing, and encountering, and fluffy bunnies. I’ve never been much of a Fatima person. It all seemed like a very deep rabbit hole it was best to stay well out of.

Maybe I’m finally maturing, but these days when I listen to something like this I can’t help but think that the person lamenting really needed to prioritize better. You’re the queen, for Pete sake. You have responsibilities. And suicide is a bad example to young people. So, not one of her counsellors said, “Yeah, OK. He left you. Get over it. Greeks are jerks. Everyone in the Med knows that except you, apparently.

Did you know the Anglicans invented political correctness? I was covering the Worldwide Anglican Communion while it was busy melting down over homosexuality a few years ago. After a while the relevance of the whole thing just ran out and I, and all the rest of the world, lost interest. But while it was going on, I gave some thought to the larger implications. Remember that weird old gay Anglican bishop?

(If it’s stuck in my head, I see no reason to suffer alone… But I’ll spare y’all the ten hour version which you can click on here.) ~ Crazy Uncle Leo. Poor old guy, prolly thought 2+2 was going to equal 4 forever. 36. Wherefore, strictly adhering, in this matter, to the decrees of the Pontiffs, Our Predecessors, and confirming them most fully, and, as it were, renewing them by Our authority, of Our own initiative and certain knowledge, We pronounce and declare that ordinations carried out according to the Anglican rite have been, and are, absolutely null and utterly void.