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POPE'S CONSECRATION FOLLOWS THAT OF PREDECESSORS IN ASKING FOR PROTECTION OF 'EVERYONE' AND NOT SINGLING OUT RUSSIA

It was a busy weekend in Rome, when it comes to mysticism.

There was Fatima.

The main statue from that place of famous apparitions was transported to the Vatican and received by the Pope, who prayed before it.

The next day, Sunday (10/13/13), he consecrated all people to her Immaculate Heart, the fourth Pope to conduct such a consecration (the preceding ones were Pius XII, Paul VI, and John Paul II).

He didn't specifically mention Russia, as his predecessors also did not (in 1917 the message from Fatima predicted that there would be a consecration of Russia, followed by a halt to that nation's reign of terror), but Sister Lucia had said the last consecration by John Paul II in 1984 had fulfilled the request and that the results were seen in the break up of the Soviet Union. More on that in a moment.

There was Akita: this site in Japan was officially named as one of ten shrines around the world invited to participate in a Marian weekend. That's significant because Akita involved dramatic messages about the future and a weeping statue. Its final message was on October 13, 1973.

There was Medjugorje, the as-yet unapproved apparition site in Bosnia-Hercegovina: although it wasn't named on the official list, it too was invited to participate and the pastor of the local church along with thirty-five villagers represented it. A commission continues its investigation. During the weekend, three bishops and an archbishop concelebrated Mass at the apparition site. (There is no word yet on Francis' view of it.)

Meanwhile, nearly 200,000 gathered at Fatima.

It is not yet clear why Francis chose to renew the Consecration -- though it probably can be attributed to his strong Marian devotion, including to Fatima.

In fact, upon ascendancy, Francis consecrated his papacy to Our Lady of Fatima.

A specific mention of Russia would perhaps have been a masterstroke in healing any initial rifts with those who are unnerved by some of his recent comments and have long demanded specific mention of Russia.

It was twelve years after the formal apparition that Sister Lucia said she had received additional communication from Heaven requesting the Pope to make the consecration mentioned in the second 1917 secret and it added more specifics, including that it be done in concert with the world's bishops.

There are many fascinating aspects of the consecrations and their histories.

A largely unknown one: it was the Portuguese bishops, acting on the original Fatima request, who asked Pope Pius XI to consecrate the world (with no specific mention of Russia) to the Immaculate Heart in 1938. Apparently he did not get a chance or chose not to act on that request.

This apparently kicked off the trend of consecrating the world instead of mentioning Russia in particular.

Was it because -- geopolitically -- there was worry about singling out that nation? Or simply that the Popes have considered an act mentioning the whole world as obviously including Russia? Is it because a consecration was not requested in the formal Fatima message in the 1917 secrets but rather just predicted there -- and that the request came privately years later to Lucia? Might the prediction of consecration be fulfilled one day by those in Russia itself, where even the leader is now openly proclaiming Christianity?

Astonishingly, in 1940 Sister Lucia wrote the next Pope, Pius XII, saying, "In 1929, through another apparition, Our Lady asked for the consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart, promising its conversion through this means and the hindering of the propagation of its errors. Sometime afterwards I told my confessor of the request of our Lady. He tried to fulfill it by making it known to Pius XI. In several intimate communications our Lord has not stopped insisting on this request, promising lately, to shorten the days of tribulation which He has determined to punish the nations for their crimes, through war, famine and several persecutions of the Holy Church and Your Holiness, if you will consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, with a special mention for Russia, and order that all the Bishops of the world do the same in union with Your Holiness."

She said the consecrations up to 1984 had not fulfilled all the requests. In that 1984 consecration, John Paul II -- who himself saw a sun miracle while recovering from the attempt on his life --  consecrated "the whole world, especially the peoples for which by reason of their situation you have particular love and solicitude."