Santarém [Portugal], Jan 6, 2014 (Ecclesia) - University professor [at the University of Coimbra School of Letters] and paleography expert Maria José Azevedo Santos examined the manuscript of the third part of the secret of Fatima and considers it to be an "authentic" document.
"The Church never had any doubts that the document was original, and, if the Church calls upon science to present its reading, we could, of course, find a contradictory element, which did not happen, it is an authentic, true, document, that came out of the hands of Sister Lucia," says Maria José Azevedo Santos in declarations to the official paper of the Marian shrine, 'Voz de Fátima'...."We were able to compare the letter with other manuscripts of Sister Lucia and reach the conclusion that this one, that is not signed, is by the same author, that is the scientific conclusion."... . "My testimony is truly unique, because the task I received is also unique, I was the first lay woman to be in direct contact with the aforesaid document, with prior authorization of His Holiness, Pope Francis, granted to the delegated of the Bishop of Leiria-Fátima," says the researcher....The document, held under the custody of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, had left the archives twice, at the request of Pope John Paul II, following the attempt [on his life] on May 13, 1981, and in the year 2000, when the Prefect of the Congregation came to Coimbra, as a Papal emissary, to proceed to the recognition of the document with Sister Lucia.
[Source: Ecclesia, in Portuguese]
