Two Italian Journalists Assaulted by
Vatican Bodyguards at Bertone Event

     Sept. 26, 2007: Fort Erie, Ontario: Two Italian journalists, whose research leads them to conclude that there is still a part of the Third Secret yet to be released, were physically assaulted at a recent event conducted by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone to promote his book L’Ultima Veggente di Fatima (The Last Seer of Fatima).

     Dr. Antonio Socci, author of The Fourth Secret of Fatima, and Dr. Solideo Paolini, author of Do Not Despise Prophecy, were at the September 21 event at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome, which was attended by government dignitaries, bankers, Vatican prelates and members of the Press.

     As Dr. Socci is a well-known journalist and television personality, his book caused quite a stir in Italy and around the world. Cardinal Bertone’s The Last Seer of Fatima was an attempt, albeit an unsuccessful one, to disprove the main thesis of Socci’s book. Apart from many indicators that the entire Third Secret was not revealed, Socci’s book contains the testimony of Archbishop Capovilla, the personal secretary of Pope John XXIII who admitted to Dr. Solideo Paolini that there were indeed two texts of the Third Secret.

     Shortly before the event started, inside the auditorium, Socci had asked Father Federico Lombardi, Director of the Vatican Press Office, for permission to speak with Cardinal Bertone. Father Lombardi refused, insisting that the Cardinal will take no questions. Socci and Paolini then went to the entrance of the “Aula Magna” (the “large auditorium” of the University) in the hope of speaking with the Cardinal when he arrived. Upon seeing Dr. Socci, Cardinal Bertone darted to a side entrance to avoid Socci’s question.

     Vatican bodyguards immediately descended upon Dr. Socci demanding that he stop speaking to reporters and ordering him to leave. When Socci responded, explaining that he was simply a journalist who had a right to be there, they began pushing and shoving him.

     “It is outrageous,” Socci was quoted in Il Corriere della Sera, “I only wanted to ask a one-minute question and have a quick answer: yes or no. But Cardinal Bertone, having been notified of my presence, went out a service door and entered directly into the conference hall. It was a strange tactic that caused all the witnesses to laugh [at Bertone].”

     “After that”, Dr. Socci continued, “three Vatican bodyguards pushed me outside the premises saying that I could not be interviewed there. A ridiculous scene which shocked all of my colleagues who were present, and it also stunned me since I am a strong defender of the Vatican”.

     Solideo Paolini, who was with Socci, likewise suffered brutal treatment from Vatican bodyguards who wrestled his cell phone from him, bruising his hand in the process.

     Dr. Paolini has a recording of Archbishop Capovilla admitting that there are indeed two different texts of the Third Secret. Dr. Socci was playing the recording for newspapermen when the bodyguards forced him off the property.

     The Italian newspaper Il Giornale reported, “To the journalists there, Socci played a recording with the voice of Capovilla who on June 21, 2007, said ‘There was something else, apart from the four pages, an attachment, yes.’ Words that would strengthen the theory of the existence of a second sheet of paper with the interpretation of the Secret.”

     Catholic Family News editor John Vennari said: “Bertone’s flight from Socci and Paolini, his refusal to answer honest questions, and the brutal treatment these two journalists received by Vatican Security cannot but add to the conviction that Bertone has something to hide regarding the Third Secret’s full disclosure.”

     For additional information on this important and highly controversial topic, including the probable reasoning behind the Vatican’s aggressive handling of Dr. Socci and Dr. Paolini and how it relates to the highly contentious status of the Third Secret of Fatima, see “Bertone’s Cover-up of Third Secret Continues to Unravel”.

From: The Fatima Center, 452 Kraft Road, Fort Erie, Ontario, L2A 4M7, Canada
Contact: Coralie Graham
Day hours: 905-871-7720
After hours: go to Ext. 103
Fax: 905-871-5274
Email: fatimapress@thefatimacenter.com
Website: www.fatima.org

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