When Pope St. John Paul II consecrated the world to Mary the second time, in communion with all the bishops of the world, he wanted to make sure it was done. He went to consult with Sr. Lucia, then the only surviving visionaries of Fatima. She informed him that Our Lady said it was done.
Then when Pope St. JPII revealed the 3rd secret, he once again confirmed it was done.
If it is good enough for Our Lady, good enough for Sr. Lucia, good enough for Pope St. JPII, it is good enough for me.
I understand the theory out there, that since the promised conversion of Russia and subsequently of the world did not happen, and Our Lady does not lie, then there must be some deficiency in the consecration. For all you know, the Church and JPII could have lied about the veracity of Sr. Lucia’s statement, or reported only partially what she said, or put her under duress to make that statement. Now, that’s a very damning accusation.
To this theory, I have the following problems:
– Our Lady initially wished that the 3rd secret to be not hidden and that the consecration to be done right away, definitely before Russia turned communist. The instruction to consecrate Russia specifically and the promise of conversion therefore was appropriate for that timeline. However, due to a number of factors, the message never reached the Pope until many years later. At that time the world situation has changed and the Pope decided not to act on it. By the time Pope St. JPII decided to examine the message in 1981, consecrating only Russia no longer made sense, as communism and the subsequent atheism was a global threat. With the original timeline changed, and the situation different, the promised conversion timeline can be changed too.
– Our Lady always deferred to the Church authority, especially when the Church is trying to implement her message the best she can according to the pastoral circumstances of the time, I doubt Our Lady would be very happy with those who go against the Church on her behalf.
– in the bible, there were examples in which God changed the timeline of promised events or removing some of them altogether, as people repented or failed to act etc.