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AT TIME OF TURMOIL AND DRAMA, WHAT CAN BE SAID ABOUT END-OF-WORLD PROPHECIES?

We do not despise any prophecy, or at least any sincere Christian prophecy, however much we may disagree with aspects of such.

Often, all prophecy calling for major changes in the world is besmirched as "end-of-the-world" or "gloom-and-doom" stuff.

Some is. But the fact remains that major perturbations may occur, and in fact such has been indicated by some well-known apparitions.

Take the alleged ones in San Nicolas, Argentina to Gladys Quiroga, which have partial-Church approval.

On March 21, 1988, Gladys reported: "I have a vision:  I see the earth divided into two parts.  One part represents two-thirds and the other one-third, in which I see the Blessed Virgin. She is with the Child and from her breast rays of light go towards the part that represents two-thirds of the earth.  Immediately she says to me:  'Gladys, you are seeing the world half-destroyed. These rays of light are sent from my heart that wants to save as many hearts as it can. My heart is all-powerful, but it can do nothing if hearts are unwilling. The means to save souls are prayer and conversion.  Every soul must prepare so as not to be imprisoned eternally by darkness. Amen, Amen.'"

For your discernment. The book of messages containing that dire prophecy received an imprimatur (from the bishop of San Nicolas), at least for its Spanish edition.

At Akita, Japan, where messages to a nun named Agnes Sasagawa have been controversial (partly approved by one bishop, then rejected by his two successors), there was the warning that "If men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never have seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead..."

Such drastic language needs to be carefully tested. Throughout history, the devil has worked in the imagination of seers to produce especially oppressive outcomes, both to scare and discredit visionaries when such does not occur.

At the same time, one could interpret the third secret of Fatima as dramatic (it showed an angel about to torch the earth, but for the intervention of Mary), and at Medjugorje seers have indicated that their secrets include huge "chastisements" -- although certainly not the end of civilization. In Rwanda, apparitions at Kibeho carried stark prophecies (including "final judgment"), but only three of the original seven seers have been accepted by the Church, and those three did not have the more dramatic predictions. On March 27, 1982, the Virgin supposed told seer Marie-Clare Mukangano that the world "is on the edge of catastrophe."

She was one of the three approved seers. (Meanwhile Medjugorje is currently under the discernment of a Vatican commission.)

One prophecy we have followed intoned that "soon the world will not be the world you know. I am not speaking of a barren world, or one depopulated, but of the end of your technological era" (supposedly quoting an angel or Christ).

There are all kinds of rumors. There is the story about a woman who was born in South America with her hands together. When they were surgically parted, there was supposedly a message about the Lord coming. We can find no documentation for this. The same is true of a rumor that a Crucifix bled in front of 14 priests gathered for dinner in the Boston area.

Still, there is a strong prophetic pulse -- stronger even than after September 11 -- and much of it is due to the natural turmoil (which even skeptics are finding curious) as well as the credit crisis and skyrocketing oil.

Might we be facing the end of the world?

We don't believe that for a minute. We face change. We face purification (gladly). We should pray away catastrophe (not wait for it).

But major events will occur this century -- major ones -- and it is not unwise to pray for preparation physically, geographically, economically, and most importantly spiritually. With that, we find ourselves in joyous if challenging times!

As one viewer opined: "The secular media seems to place too much emphasis on doom and gloom predictions and ignores the central theme of all these messages: in spite of the events that are sure to transpire, those who place their faith and trust in Christ have nothing to fear."

[resources: The Day Will Come and The Last Secret]

[see also: Kibeho video]

[Additional note: Alarming e-mails are circulating, one saying, "Emergency! Emergency! Proclaim it from the rooftops. God's judgment is about to begin! 2009 will be a year of judgment for the world." We urge caution. There are also dreams. Wrote one viewer (who sought no publicity, and did not widely circulate it): "For your discernment, today I awoke at about 4:35 a.m. from a very realistic dream," wrote one viewer. "I dreamt that some visionaries had announced that a mini-chastisement would now begin. Then, something happened that caused waters to rise very fast and on a very widespread basis. It wasn't like the floods we're having now, but much more severe and dramatic. I think something from space landed in one of the oceans, or something of that nature, because the government knew about it in advance, as well as some privileged people (high-ranking government officials and families), but most didn't. It was close to Christmas, because I remember passing people who were going to practice Christmas carols. In my dream, I was in the family of a senator, and I was staying at his home which was on a high hill. The senator's house was only a mile away and we made it, but the waters were advancing. I was able to reach the senator through a special phone (regular phones weren't working).  He said that the visionaries were predicting another event about to happen, and I was sad because I could see that people didn't believe and they weren't repenting. I've had dreams and the gift of words of knowledge about major, global events, such as September 11. That's why I'm passing this along to you for your discernment."]