That is a very interesting idea.

I do tend to think she means in a very literal sense, and in the way that most people tend to think of her pronouncement: that there will be a catastrophe of unparalleled significance and people will die by the millions.

The BVM tends to speak very plainly during Marian apparitions (even using local dialects with visionaries, rather than the language of the dominant cultures or literate); for whatever reason, God values plan speech, and even the speech and simple thoughts of the uneducated rather than the convoluted ideologies of academics (this may mean I'm in danger)...  

That being said, what you have pointed out may also be a dimension of what she refers to. A lot of her statements have multiple meanings that are only comprehended after a considerable lapse of time, which is both mysterious and awe-inspiring.

Quote from: Immaculata001

I do tend to think she means in a very literal sense, and in the way that most people tend to think of her pronouncement: that there will be a catastrophe of unparalleled significance and people will die by the millions.

How else would've she said it if she meant to signify a "death by sub-replacement fertility"? Right after showing the children the terrible vision of hell is when she said "various nations will be annihilated" (cf. The True Story of Fatima p. 28 [PDF p. 30]). Also, "the sins that bring most souls to Hell are the sins of the flesh."

I think the only way she could have said it in a way for people to understand is that people would stop having children -- but there again, within that cultural and historic context, people would not have understood that. We are living in times that are so radically altered that we forget that there is so much about our modern age that Catholics in other centuries couldn't possible have understood. Even if she had phrased it like that, as people not having children, people could not have understood because they didn't have birth control and they also couldn't understand any mentality that avoids family life and children. It would simply be seen as abhorrent.

On the other hand, I actually am saying you could be right -- so many of her pronouncements and manifestations are multi-faceted because they are supernatural. For instance, there's a lot of about the tilma with her apparition at Guadalupe that has baffled scientists.  Again, there would be no way to convey that to people in that time period, but it only became obvious with the scientific advances of the modern age (the Lanciano miracle is another example, as we're able to identify the tissue and DNA)...

We don't understand everything God has planned. I also get the sense with these apparitions that a lot of the info is censored, for lack of a better term, to protect us psychologically and spiritually, in the same manner she only showed the visionaries hell for a moment, at Fatima. I believe the children said that it would have scared them to death?

It could have referred to what happened during World War II. Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia all disappeared from the map.
During the first part of the Gulf War Iraq annexed the nation of Kuwait. While this was temporary it was said that Saddam Hussein had similar intentions  with respect to other nations in the region. He was stopped but that may not prevent some other similar situation from occurring in a future confused world war situation.        

I don't see it your way, Poche.  Your view would make an abortion loving, ɧoɱosɛҳųαƖ deviancy loving, protestant dominant nation like the U.S. into some kind of demi-savior.  It's true that Our Lord can use any object He wants for His plans, but the lapse in time is lacking.  I think the people being infused with ideas of going childless is probably closer to the truth.