What meaning should we take from these incidents? Clearly, it’s rash to read the messages too closely. In a general sense, they are a warning about the folly of turning away from God. But just as many ancients viewed Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah in a way that turned out to be erroneous, possibly there are some other ways to interpret the messages being given at the apparitions. For example, the phrase from the Akita apparitions, “fire will fall from the sky and wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad,” might be taken metaphorically rather than literally. Consider the following:
ENVIRONMENTAL: Another view of Marian apparitions could be to see them in terms of damage being done to the earth itself. A recent article in Science magazine cites that the world has between one and six billion “populations,” which are defined as the set of species that are in a specific geographic area. Of these populations, just under one percent are going extinct a year due to human activity, meaning we could lose one-third of all populations in about 30 years. Infertility rates are increasing as well, with some evidence pointing to chemical usage in society as a cause. Global warming has been well-publicized – this also could obviously be a tremendously destructive force in world history. While man’s involvement has not been proven, the evidence is strong that warming is happening.
DISEASE: According to various estimates, influenza killed 100 million in 1918-1920. The AIDS epidemic has taken over 25 million lives at latest count. The possibility of other new diseases becoming a threat is a very real one, as the SARS and bird flu outbreaks have shown. These pale, though, against the percentage of the world population that died in the Black Death of the Middle Ages. Still, disease has taken a great toll on humanity since the Fatima apparitions in 1917.
WAR: Obviously, weapons of mass destruction could kill a large part of the world’s population, and will be a threat to do so for the foreseeable future. But considering the toll of wars that have already happened is a disturbing exercise. Estimates of war-related fatalities in the 20th century are in the area of 200 million. As awful as that is, though, there were other centuries which, percentage-wise, were even worse – unless you take into account the advent of widespread abortion.
ABORTION: If abortion is viewed as the taking of human life, the fatality numbers start to become truly staggering. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, approximately 45 million abortions take place a year around the world. Counting from the liberalization of abortion laws in the early 1970s, the number gets well over 1,350,000,000. As a percentage of the world population, that is nearly a third of the average population in the last century, and does in fact make our time the most destructive period in human history. Interestingly, the Fatima apparitions happened in 1917, right before the great influenza outbreak of the 1920s, and the rise of communism; the Akita apparitions happened in 1973, right as much of the West was starting to allow abortion on demand.
SPIRITUAL: While the Marian messages can be interpreted in different ways, the basic theme is the loss of faith and the destruction that engenders. If we indeed are judged in any way consistent with traditional Judeo-Christian concepts, the outlook for humanity after our time here is not particularly encouraging, especially in light of Akita’s description of the “loss of so many souls.” While not a guaranteed measure of faith, church attendance has dropped dramatically since the 1960s, which certainly shows something about our loss of belief. Broken homes, suicide, drug abuse and other related perils have concurrently increased. Viewed in the perspective of the Marian messages, it is hard to miss the connection. We need to turn away from greed and violence, and move toward faith and generosity. It is not a call for fanaticism, but for reasonable belief in God and concern for each other. And the messages emphasize our need for prayer, especially the rosary, to bring our world’s proper balance back.
ENVIRONMENTAL: Another view of Marian apparitions could be to see them in terms of damage being done to the earth itself. A recent article in Science magazine cites that the world has between one and six billion “populations,” which are defined as the set of species that are in a specific geographic area. Of these populations, just under one percent are going extinct a year due to human activity, meaning we could lose one-third of all populations in about 30 years. Infertility rates are increasing as well, with some evidence pointing to chemical usage in society as a cause. Global warming has been well-publicized – this also could obviously be a tremendously destructive force in world history. While man’s involvement has not been proven, the evidence is strong that warming is happening.
DISEASE: According to various estimates, influenza killed 100 million in 1918-1920. The AIDS epidemic has taken over 25 million lives at latest count. The possibility of other new diseases becoming a threat is a very real one, as the SARS and bird flu outbreaks have shown. These pale, though, against the percentage of the world population that died in the Black Death of the Middle Ages. Still, disease has taken a great toll on humanity since the Fatima apparitions in 1917.
WAR: Obviously, weapons of mass destruction could kill a large part of the world’s population, and will be a threat to do so for the foreseeable future. But considering the toll of wars that have already happened is a disturbing exercise. Estimates of war-related fatalities in the 20th century are in the area of 200 million. As awful as that is, though, there were other centuries which, percentage-wise, were even worse – unless you take into account the advent of widespread abortion.
ABORTION: If abortion is viewed as the taking of human life, the fatality numbers start to become truly staggering. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, approximately 45 million abortions take place a year around the world. Counting from the liberalization of abortion laws in the early 1970s, the number gets well over 1,350,000,000. As a percentage of the world population, that is nearly a third of the average population in the last century, and does in fact make our time the most destructive period in human history. Interestingly, the Fatima apparitions happened in 1917, right before the great influenza outbreak of the 1920s, and the rise of communism; the Akita apparitions happened in 1973, right as much of the West was starting to allow abortion on demand.
SPIRITUAL: While the Marian messages can be interpreted in different ways, the basic theme is the loss of faith and the destruction that engenders. If we indeed are judged in any way consistent with traditional Judeo-Christian concepts, the outlook for humanity after our time here is not particularly encouraging, especially in light of Akita’s description of the “loss of so many souls.” While not a guaranteed measure of faith, church attendance has dropped dramatically since the 1960s, which certainly shows something about our loss of belief. Broken homes, suicide, drug abuse and other related perils have concurrently increased. Viewed in the perspective of the Marian messages, it is hard to miss the connection. We need to turn away from greed and violence, and move toward faith and generosity. It is not a call for fanaticism, but for reasonable belief in God and concern for each other. And the messages emphasize our need for prayer, especially the rosary, to bring our world’s proper balance back.