The year 2026 marks the twentieth anniversary of a very controversial notion: the woman known from 1967-2005 as Sr. Lúcia dos Santos, the last surviving seer of Fátima, was an impostor. This idea has roots going back into earlier decades but has taken on a very different face since January of 2006. I would like to go into this controversy and shed some light upon it.
The controversy has roots in events of October 1992. At that time, Anthony Cardinal Padiyara went to Coimbra to visit Sr. Lúcia at her convent. He asked Carlos Evaristo to serve as translator. Afterward, Evaristo recounted the conversation to Frère François de Marie des Anges and an unnamed friend of Frère François. The two gentlemen were baffled at some of the things Evaristo said. Frère François’ friend speculated that Evaristo could not prove the woman who spoke to Cardinal Padiyara was the real Lúcia.[1] The notion that this woman was not Lúcia was specific to the visit with Cardinal Padiyara.
Later, in January 2006, the notion of a world-wide imposture arose. At that time, Peter Dimond of Most Holy Family Monastery published an article entitled “The Whole Truth about the Consecration and Conversion of Russia and the impostor Sr. Lucy.”[2] This article was divided into a couple of sections, the second of which made the claim that there was an impostor Lúcia after 1960. Dimond raised various arguments in support of his assertion. It is enough to say that not a few of them were rooted in points of contention with the Church.
Following very shortly after the publication of Dimond’s article was the work of Dr. Marian Horvat of the organization Tradition in Action (TIA). Together with her co-worker Atila Sinka Guimarães, they inaugurated a more concerted effort than Peter Dimond, though evidence suggests that Horvat and Guimarães acted independently of Dimond.[3] Their work began between March and April of 2006 when a photo in the publication Inside the Vatican (ITV) was misattributed to portray Sr. Lúcia.[4] The error was later corrected in a subsequent edition of ITV (April, 2006).[5]
Despite the correction, Horvat embarked upon an effort to demonstrate that images pre-1967 and post-1967 Lúcia were not the same woman. The former person was labeled “Lucy I” (the “real” Lúcia) and the latter “Lucy II” (the alleged impostor) within TIA literature. Photos were gathered, labeled, and various observations made that highlighted or accentuated differences between the person in the different sets of photos.[6] Arguments went back and forth in 2006 and into subsequent years for or against Horvat’s assertion. Overall, the notion of an impostor Lúcia remained essentially a Catholic conspiracy issue on the margins, away from the “mainstream.” That is undoubtedly why many may only be aware of the issue through this essay.
In 2017, Dr. Peter Chojnowski decided to take up the mantle of what we can call the “Fake Lúcia Hypothesis” (FLH). Chojnowski had been involved with the organization “The Fatima Center.”[7] He was familiar with a lot of the discussions on Fátima put forth by the Center. By 2017, the FLH had come to Chojnowski’s attention and one of the Center’s other associates, Cornelia Ferreira, helped inspire Chojnowski to look into the matter.[8]
From that initial inspiration (and others), Chojnowski established his own organization entitled “Sister Lucy Truth” (SLT) in late 2017/early 2018.[9] SLT desired to answer the question once and for all whether “Lucy II” is “Lucy I.” Knowing this question would never be answered definitively through eyeballing photos, Chojnowski solicited donations from the general public to hire forensic experts. They would look at the evidence and render their judgments according to a self-described “scientific way.”
The work of finding, hiring and publishing the findings (“reports”) of the experts went from 2018 to 2022. Over the course of those four or so years, SLT published a range of material touching upon different areas such as maxillofacial structures, handwriting analyses, forensic artistry, and mathematical proportionality. The list was quite impressive to the average person, but more so the conclusions reached by the authors of the various reports. Not a few of them claimed that “Lucy II” was noticeably different than “Lucy I,” such that they found it hard to believe the person in the photos/videos were truly the same person.
SLT has created its own body of literature based largely upon the reports of its hired experts. Among this literature are videos on YouTube by the SLT associate Winn Young that translate the written reports into visual terms.[10] Doing so makes it easier for the average person to understand some of the otherwise detailed reports. Today, SLT has largely rested its laurels upon the credibility and expertise of said experts. It has, so to speak, thrown down the gauntlet before the Church and the world and made grave accusations against various ecclesiastical persons (even popes).
Arguably, Sister Lucy Truth has far surpassed its predecessors on the matter of the Fake Lúcia Hypothesis. As such, we will, in the next article, begin to dive into some of the organization’s materials, critique them, and ask some notable questions.
Editor’s note: at the time of publication, Dr. Chojnowski’s blog RadTrad Thomist is no longer accessible. However, these pages are accessible through the Wayback Machine.
[1] Frère François de Marie des Anges. “Incredible Expedient Of An Antifatimist Hierarchy At Bay A False Lucy Substituted For The True?.” The Fatima Crusader (Spring, 1993): 36ff.
[2] Peter Dimond. “The Whole Truth about the Consecration and Conversion of Russia and the impostor Sr. Lucy.” Most Holy Family Monastery (January, 2006).
[3] Cf. TIA Correspondence Desk. “The Controversy Grows…” Tradition in Action (April 21, 2006).
[4] Dr. Marian T. Horvat. “Two Sister Lucys of Fatima?.” Tradition in Action (April 5, 2006).
[5] Atila Sinko Guimarães (edit.). “You Are Conspiracy Maniacs.” Tradition in Action (April 14, 2006).
[6] Dr. Marian T. Horvat. “The Two Sister Lucys: Photos and Facts.” Tradition in Action (April 27, 2006).
[7] An organization founded by Fr. Nicholas Gruner in order to promote his understanding of the message of Fátima.
[8] Dr. Peter Chojnowski. “Tradition in Action’s Dr. Marian Horvat Acknowledges.” RadTrad Thomist (June 20, 2023).
[9] Dr. Peter Chojnowski. “It Begins: Sister Lucy Truth Incorporated is established.” RadTrad Thomist (November 17, 2017).
[10] Cf. Sister Lucy Truth YouTube Channel. See also Winn Young’s YouTube Channel.