02/02/2026
Fatima visionary: Final battle will be over marriage and family
𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘚𝘳. 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘢 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘰 𝘊𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢, 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺.
"The decisive battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan will be over marriage and the family,”
Sr. Lucia dos Santos, one of the three Fatima visionaries, confided to Cardinal Carlo Carrara several years ago, as he was working to found the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Rome.
On February 16, 2008, Cardinal Caffarra, then Archbishop of Bologna, travelled to San Giovanni Rotondo to celebrate Holy Mass at the tomb of St. Padre Pio. After the Mass, the cardinal granted an interview to the Italian outlet, Tele Radio Padre Pio, which first appeared in the March 2008 edition of the magazine, “Voice of Padre Pio.”
In the interview, Cardinal Caffarra also speaks about his devotion to Padre Pio, and the deep significance he and other mystics have for the world today.
Cardinal Caffarra is the founding president of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family. He has also served as a Member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, Member of the Presidential Committee of the Pontifical Council for the Family, and Member of the Pontifical Academy for Life.
He was created a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in March 2006. Cardinal Caffarra was one of Pope Francis’ 45 handpicked delegates chosen to attend the Ordinary Synod on the Family in 2015.
𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮.
𝘘. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 ‘𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘢’ 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘢𝘥𝘳𝘦 𝘗𝘪𝘰. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺.
I have had a great devotion to him since the beginning of my priesthood, because I had a rather unique experience. I had been a priest for some months and a brother-priest came to see me. He was much older, and was going through a serious crisis of faith. It is difficult to describe what a crisis of faith is like for a priest: a terrible thing! I told him: “Brother, I am too little; I don’t feel that I can carry such a burden. Go to Padre Pio.” He went, and while he was talking to Padre Pio he had a great mystical experience, in which he experienced, very strongly, the mercy of God. Now he is one of the best priests I know. There you have it. It all began like that.
𝘘. 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘗𝘢𝘥𝘳𝘦 𝘗𝘪𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺?
No, because I never had the courage to go to him, thinking that I would be wasting his time! […] I believe that Padre Pio belongs to the series of great mystics who have this characteristic: the most profound participation in the Cross of Christ, as they bear upon themselves the great tragedy of mankind today – atheism. Padre Pio, St. Gemma Galgani, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Mother Theresa, the Curé d’Ars all had the profound experience of sitting at the table with sinners, of living their experiences, of carrying, in different ways, the weight of the Agony in Gethsemane, testifying to the love of Christ who takes upon himself the suffering of the man who has left his Father’s house and doesn’t want to go back, even if he knows in his heart that he is better off in his Father’s house rather than tending pigs... Man today continues to imagine that he can live as if God did not exist; and we see the devastation this has caused.
𝘘. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘚𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘴 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘍𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 13 [2008], 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴 “𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘯.” 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘗𝘢𝘶𝘭 𝘐𝘐 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺.
Yes. At the start of this work entrusted to me by the Servant of God [now Saint] John Paul II, I wrote to Sister Lucia of Fatima through her bishop as one couldn’t do so directly. Unexplainably however, as I wasn’t expecting a reply, seeing that I was only asking for prayers, within a few days I received a very long letter with her signature – now in the Institute’s archives. In it we find written: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥: 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥.
In speaking to John Paul II, you felt too that this was the crux, as it touches the very pillar of creation, the truth of the relationship between man and woman, and among generations. If you touch founding pillar the entire building collapses, and we see this now, because we have arrived at this point, and we know it. And I’m moved when I read the best biographies of Padre Pio, on how this man was so attentive to the sanctity of marriage and the sanctity of the spouses, even with justifiable rigor on occasion.
