In the previous two articles, questions were raised about the scholarship of Sister Lucy Truth (SLT). Presently, we will develop these questions further by looking at one of the organization’s experts, Ms. Dragica Brayovic, and a studied conclusion she made regarding one of the biological sisters of Sr. Lúcia for SLT.
Introduction to the Matter
In May 2022, Dr. Chojnowski wrote an article about a 1990 video containing footage of a biological sister of Sr. Lúcia.[1] He doubted whether the woman truly was a sibling of Lúcia and consulted with Dragica Brayovic of Australia. She holds a Bachelor of Design degree, an Advanced Diploma of Naturopathy, and has a background in Curanderismo, Ayurvedic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, astrology, astro-herbalism, and meditation.[2] Brayovic was consulted by Chojnowski in 2022 (as well as in 2019) due to her purported abilities as a super-facial recognizer with an 80-87% success rate.[3] After reviewing the materials sent by Chojnowski, Brayovic concluded that the woman in the video was not a sister of Lúcia.
The Documentary Itself
The video Chojnowski questioned is entitled “A Irmã Lúcia.”[4] It was broadcast in Portugal in May of 1990 and was hosted by Ruy Ferrão. The video was the last of the three-part series “Os Três Pastorinhos.” The series features both contemporary as well as stock footage about Fátima. Among the latter are black and white videos featuring three biological sisters of Lúcia: Teresa, Gloria, and Maria dos Anjos. Teresa is the woman in the video that SLT questions. We can identify her because she mentions her daughter is a Carmelite with Lúcia and the dos Santos family members and their activities were recorded by Lúcia in her Fifth and Sixth Memoirs.[5]
SLT’s Writings on the Documentary
SLT published two specific writings on the 1990 documentary. The first is an introductory article by Chojnowski entitled “Brayovic Super-Recognizer Analysis – ‘Older Sister’.” The second is a one-page PDF from Brayovic and dated May 18, 2022.[6] We shall refer to Chojnowski’s introduction as “SLTA” and the PDF as “Brayovic report.”
Why Question the Documentary?
SLTA questions the identity of the woman in the video because 1) her name was not given, 2) her discourse is “very general and lacking in any kind of specificity of memory,” and 3) she knows nothing of either Lúcia’s life in the convent, nor of her own daughter’s (also a Carmelite). It is true that Teresa was not named by Ferrão. Interestingly, neither was Gloria. Given that this is stock footage and Ferrão only presented two short clips of Teresa, what else might she have said that did not survive the cutting room floor? Also, did SLT consult, or at least inquire after, the original, unedited footage?
According to SLTA, the following question was put to Brayovic: “…[W]e asked Ms. Brayovic if this woman being presented as an ‘older sister’ of Sister Lucia was actually Sister Lucy II in lay clothing.” The conspiratorial nature of this tantalizing characterization hides an otherwise obvious question: why associate the alleged impostor “Lucy II” with the woman in the video? The only feasible answer is Teresa and the older Lúcia look alike. These features are unmistakable when one watches the video and compares them with photos and video of Lúcia from 1967-2005.[7] Additionally, Teresa is wearing glasses, which accentuate her features and make for an easy comparison with Lúcia, who herself wears glasses. Also, Teresa’s voice has a higher, tinny tone—a feature shared by Lúcia.
Drilling Down
The above facts would be particularly devastating to SLT’s case for an impostor Lúcia. How, then, did Brayovic conclude Teresa was not a sister of Lúcia? SLTA provides both a background as well as its methodology. The first paragraph sets up the rest of the article with a basic explanation of the “A Irmã Lúcia” video and that this video was presented to Brayovic. The article gives some basic facts about the video itself, such as it being in black and white, and claims the date of filming is unknown. The second paragraph provides a simple background of Lúcia’s family.
Poor Research and Methodology?
Ferrão provided an important source notation in the first video: in 1966, there were “…[S]ome unpublished documents collected . . . for the celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of the apparitions, black and white images, interviews with characters who are no longer counted among the living.”[8] If one checks SLTA, there is no mention of the “A Irmã Lúcia” video being the third part of the “Os Três Pastorinhos” series. How thorough was SLT’s research into the video series? Oddly, in the second paragraph of SLTA, the birth and death dates are provided for all Lúcia’s siblings, except Teresa. Why is this information omitted? It is baffling that the one person at the heart of this entire matter has the weakest presentation.
From here, SLT’s presentation regretfully becomes quite convoluted.
Pictures or Picture?
The third SLTA paragraph explains how it presented information to Brayovic: “…[W]e gathered pictures of the sisters of Sister Lucia of Fatima, even one of them all together which was taken in the late 1960s, and presented them, along with the video, to Ms. Brayovic for her professional facial analysis.” Apparently, there were several photos of dos Santos sisters “gathered” by SLT, along with one featuring all four. These images and the video, we are told, were presented to Brayovic. What follows next is where the confusion enters.
After the six paragraphs that form the first half of SLTA, there is a brief statement as to why SLTsought Brayovic’s assistance. This statement is followed by the two questions posed to Brayovic. The second question was “Is Subject 1 [Teresa], any of the sisters of Lucia dos Santos, as these are comprehensively portrayed in the picture below.” Note the sudden change from the pictures to the picture. How many pictures of Lúcia’s sisters were provided to Brayovic?
After the two questions posed to Brayovic, SLTA immediately presents three photos. The first is a still of Teresa from the 1990 documentary. The second is a photo of all four sisters, and the third is one of Lúcia (the alleged “Lucy II”) taken in May of 2000. Some text descriptions of these three photos are provided, as well as a translation of Teresa’s remarks in the documentary. Brayovic’s report has the same exact three images found in SLTA and Brayovic relays that her “task” was “To review 3 images.” The same three images in SLTA are positioned to the far right of the report.
Brayovic further states she “was provided with an additional four images of Sister Lucy II for further facial reference.” These four images are not provided in the report and so we must turn to SLTA. Underneath the translations of Teresa’s discourse in SLTA is the section “Additional Images that were analyzed.” Seven (not four) photos are presented here. The first four are close-ups of Lúcia as a Carmelite from around the year 2000. Are these the four photos mentioned in Brayovic’s report? If so, why were they not included in the report? The remaining three photos in the “Additional Images” section of SLTA are of Lúcia’s sisters: two of Maria dos Anjos[9] and the earlier black and white still of Teresa. Brayovic says nothing about having received the two images of Maria. Were these two images of Maria shown to Brayovic before she wrote her report? If so, why was this fact not specified there? If Brayovic was not shown them prior, why not? Lastly, what value do these two photos have as they are not of Teresa?
The presentation of the information by SLT about what photos were shown to Brayovic and when is unclear. The best interpretation of the data appears to be that SLT gave the three images (plus the four Lúcia close-ups) to Brayovic. In this scenario, the most important photo is the one of all four dos Santos sisters from the late 1960s as it appears to have largely influenced Brayovic’s conclusion. If this interpretation of SLT’spresentation is accurate, was Brayovic furnished with more photos of Teresa? If not, why? Also, what is the provenance of the photo in question and is SLT licensed to publish it?
Some Observations
If Brayovic was not afforded more photos of Teresa, then that questions Brayovic’s conclusion. A larger sampling would have placed her conclusion upon a surer foundation. Having this foundation is important given how SLT has made grave accusations of criminal activity against key people of the Catholic Church. Brayovic worked with SLT in 2019 and knew its mission. To protect herself and the burgeoning field of super-facial recognition, did Brayovic herself ask for more images? If so, why was this fact not reported? If she did not ask, why?
Consider also what was stated in an earlier article: SLT claims it is conducting a criminal investigation.[10] Criminal cases (as opposed to civil) have stricter rules in a court of law. If SLT took Brayovic’s conclusion here to a court within the United States, SLT must satisfy reasonable doubt (as opposed to preponderance of evidence).[11] Would Brayovic’s conclusion, if based upon one photo of Teresa in it among other people, satisfy reasonable doubt?
Conclusion
Sister Lucy Truth claims that the woman presented as a sibling of Lúcia dos Santos in the 1990 documentary is a “fraud,” one that “only adds to the entire mystery of the Fatima Crime.” However, Sister Lucy Truthhas serious questions to answer as to how it proceeded in this matter. The organization gave an unclear presentation to the public. The best interpretation demonstrates that there is shared responsibility between Sister Lucy Truth and Dragica Brayovic over not having a larger sampling of photos for a surer examination and conclusion.
Pending answers to the questions raised here, Brayovic’s report falls under suspicion of being fatally flawed. Likewise, the integrity of Sister Lucy Truth to perform a competent examination of the facts in its self-proclaimed “criminal investigation” is called into question. One goes with the other in this case and demonstrates perfectly the necessity of choosing a robust and cautious manner of proceeding in such grave matters.
[1] Dr. Peter Chojnowski. “Brayovic Super-Recognizer Analysis – ‘Older Sister’.” Sister Lucy Truth (May, 2022); see also Chojnowski. “Announcement: New Report from Super Facial Recognizer.” RadTrad Thomist (May 28, 2022).
[2] Dragica Brayovic. “About.” DB Designs (date unknown); Dragica Brayovic. “About Dragica Brayovic.” Earth Body Healing (date unknown); Dragica Brayovic. “A quick ‘what I do’ Intro.” Earth Body Healing YouTube Channel (June 24, 2025).
[3] Cf. “Australia’s top super recogniser stuns experts with skills.” Sunday Night Yahoo News (September 10, 2017); Lynne Malcolm. “Super-recognizers.” ABC Radio National (March 11, 2018); Genelle Weule. “So, you think you’re good at recognizing faces.” ABC (March 10, 2018); Dr. Peter Chojnowski (edit.). “Brayovic Super-Recognizer Analysis.” Sister Lucy Truth (July, 2019).
[4] Ruy Ferrão. “A Irmã Lúcia.” RTP Arquivos (May 16, 1990). For more about Ferrão, see the IMDB website.
[5] Fr. Louis Kondor, SVD (edit.), Fatima in Lucia’s own words II (Fátima, Portugal: Secretariado dos Pastorinhos 2004), 63ff.
[6] Dragica Brayovic. “Facial Recognition Analysis.” Sister Lucy Truth (May 18, 2022).
[7] Cf. “Irmã Lúcia.” Agência Ecclesia YouTube Channel (February 12, 2015); “A Santa do povo.” José Carlos Vieira YouTube Channel (October 2, 2018).
[8] “…alguns documentos inéditos recolhidos em 1966 para as celebrações do cinquentenário das aparições, imagens a preto e branco, entrevistas com personagens que já não se contam no número dos vivos….” Ferrão also notes in the third video (29:50) that the images were obtained from RTP Arquivos and the Archives of the Sanctuary of Fátima.
[9] The first photo is unidentified by SLT. It appears to be a digital still from the January, 1980 documentary by Manuel Varela entitled “O Mistério de Fátima,” which is presently available on the RTP Arquivos website. The section wherein Maria dos Anjos appears is between the 6:00 – 8:00 minute mark. The SLTA view source information names the photo as “unnamed-3.png.” The second photo of Maria dos Anjos has a lower third at the bottom with her name and is from the May, 1917 program “Maria, de Fátima” (also available on RTP Arquivos) around the 5:40 mark.
[10] Cf. Dr. Peter Chojnowski. “Criminal Case.” RadTrad Thomist (October 3, 2018). “The Phantom Sister Lucy Theory: An Attempt to Derail a Criminal Investigation.” Sister Lucy Truth (2024).
[11] Cf. Will Erstad. “Civil Law vs. Criminal Law: Breaking Down the Differences.” Rasmussen University (March 21, 2022).