We read the following, purportedly from Mary, concerning the Third Apparition of Fatima, July 13, 1917, concerning the cessation of World War 1 but also the then-future World War 2:
The war is doing to end; but if people do not
cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the pontificate of Pius
XI. (Mark Miravalle, Private Revelation: Discerning with the Church [2007], 1387 of 1854, Kindle ed.)
On Mary informing the three Fatima seers the incorrect pontiff,
Mark Miravalle, a leading Roman Catholic Mariologist, wrote that:
To the objection that the Second
World War, (September 1, 1939-1945), actually began during the pontificate of
Pope Pius XII, Sr. Lucia has responded that the war in fact began with the Nazi
occupation of Austria in 1938, which took place during the pontificate of Pius
XI. The promised light that would illuminate the night as a sign of the
forthcoming war corresponds with the reported “aurora borealis” that lit up the
European skies (and beyond) on January 25, 1938. War would be a punishment
permitted by God due to sin, a just punishment because the human cooperation
and conversion necessary to avert justice through acceptance of divine mercy
was not satisfied. (Mark Miravalle, Private Revelation: Discerning with the
Church [2007], 1406 to 1414
of 1854, Kindle ed.)
Another Catholic apologist who tried to salvage the prophecy
from the Third Apparition is Robert Sungenis:
As we all know too well, that
prophecy became a reality in 1938-1939 when World War II began. Pius XI died on
February 10, 1939, but already in…
·
September 1938 Germany annexed Czechoslovakia
and occupied it in March 1939. (Robert A. Sungenis, Fatima: Fulfilled But
Still Foreboding [State Line, Pa.: CAI Publishing, Inc., 2021], 1-11)
The problem is that no historian believes that the
annexation of Austria by Germany, called “Anschluss,” is when World War 2 began
(not even conservative Roman Catholic historians). However, be that as it may,
it does show that Roman Catholics, like Latter-day Saints, have to appeal to
historical contingencies and engage in nuanced interpretations of prophecies
and revelations (note: Fatima is an approved Marian apparition).
On the nature of prophecy, see:
Resources on Joseph Smith's Prophecies
For more on Lucia's failed prophecies, see:
Retconning Fatima: How Lucia updated a Prophecy of Our Lady of Fatima about the End of World War 1
