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On the 108th anniversary of the “miracle” of the sun<\/strong> at Fatima and its documentation by anticlerical witnesses<\/strong>. A phenomenon that challenges<\/strong> all skeptical explanations.<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Today marks the 108th anniversary of the “miracle” of the sun of Fatima<\/strong><\/mark>.<\/p>\n First, a clarification: the Church recognizes the truthfulness<\/strong> of the visions of the three young seers of Fatima but there has never been an official recognition<\/strong> of the solar phenomenon that was observed at the Cova da Iria.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n An event that nonetheless surprises greatly and that puts in crisis<\/strong> any attempt at a skeptical explanation. We in fact find some important elements:<\/p>\n A contemporary skeptic should therefore try to explain<\/strong> the “miracle” of the sun in a natural and alternative way taking into account at least these four indisputable truths<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Yet, predictably, all the naturalistic theories<\/strong> proposed are forced to remove<\/strong> one of the elements in order to remain standing.<\/p>\n We have, for example, the thesis of the paranormal investigator Joe Nickell<\/strong>, who dismissed the event as a temporary distortion of the image on the retina<\/strong>, caused by prolonged exposure to sunlight, which can produce the illusion of motion.<\/p>\n An explanation that however fails to explain why many of those who gathered that day, largely believers, testified that they saw absolutely nothing<\/strong> despite straining to stare at the sun conditioned by the enthusiasm around them (among them the photographer accompanying the reporter of O’Seculo<\/i>).<\/p>\n Moving to naturalistic explanations from believers, Father Szaniszl\u00f3 Jaki<\/strong> hypothesized that the cause was the sudden meteorological change<\/strong> (from clouds to sun) that created an \u201cair lens\u201d of ice crystals which, moved by currents, would have simulated a “dance” of the sun<\/strong>.<\/p>\n This version also conflicts with point 4<\/strong>) and makes even more unusual the ability of the three young seers to predict in advance<\/strong> an unusual meteorological phenomenon, so much so that it gathered an immense crowd waiting for a prodigious event. Unusual yes, but it occurred other times, both before and after that day without generating particular astonishment.<\/p>\n Finally, there are those who take refuge in the standard explanation of collective hallucination<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Even in this case the thesis is forced to avoid that not all<\/strong> witnesses were believers and that not everyone saw<\/strong> it. Moreover, the scientific literature, in the very few confirmed cases of collective hallucination, has always linked them to hysteria<\/strong>, a clear psychopathological disorder impossible to diagnose in the thousands of people present at the site.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But let the facts speak<\/strong>.<\/p>\n On May 13, 1917<\/strong> three shepherd children of Fatima, Francisco and Jacinta Marto (9 and 7 years old) and their cousin L\u00facia dos Santos (10 years old), had the first of six Marian apparitions, reporting that the Virgin had promised them a prodigious event for October 13, 1917<\/strong>, on the occasion of the last apparition.<\/p>\n Thus on that date an estimated crowd of between 30,000 and 100,000 people<\/strong> (discordant accounts) went to the Cova de Iria and witnessed the “miracle of the sun” of Fatima.<\/p>\n According to contemporary reports, collected by Catholic newspapers<\/strong> and by secular and even anticlerical outlets<\/strong> such as O S\u00e9culo<\/i> and Di\u00e1rio de Not\u00edcias<\/i>, the sun seemed to oscillate in the sky, change color and approach the Earth, without spectators reporting eye damage.<\/p>\n The magnitude of the phenomenon was such as to convince even critical observers from the press to document the event<\/strong>, confirming its extraordinariness.<\/p>\n Among them Avelino de Almeida<\/strong>, editor-in-chief of \u201cO S\u00e8culo\u201d<\/em>, a socialist Lisbon daily of positivist and anticlerical orientation, who had previously ridiculed<\/strong> the events of Fatima several times. He went to the site precisely to document the lies of the three children and put an end to that story.<\/p>\n And yet, two days later, he published a front-page article entitled: “Phenomenal things! How the sun danced<\/strong> at noon in Fatima”<\/i>.<\/p>\n The anticlerical journalist notes that \u00abone witnesses a unique and incredible<\/strong> spectacle for those who were not witnesses of it\u00bb<\/i>. At a precise moment in the morning, he saw the whole \u00abimmense multitude turn toward the sun<\/strong>, which reveals itself free from the clouds, at the zenith\u00bb<\/i>.<\/p>\n He himself became an eyewitness: \u00abThe star looks like a disc of dark silver and it is possible to stare at it<\/strong> without the slightest effort. It does not burn, it does not blind. One might say an eclipse is taking place\u00bb<\/i>. Shortly thereafter, he adds, \u00abthe sun trembled<\/strong> and had sudden movements never seen before outside all cosmic laws, the sun “danced”\u00bb<\/i>1<\/a><\/sup>A. de Almeida<\/b>, “O S\u00e9culo”<\/i>, 15 Oct. 1917<\/span>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\nThe miracle of the sun challenges skeptical explanations<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nThe anticlerical journalist documented the event<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nThe secret testimony of Pius XII<\/h2>\n
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