This is contrary to Catholic doctrine, contrary to the Bishop's contention that there is nothing contrary to Catholic doctrine in these apparitions.
These appartions sound like a rip-off of Fatima, and add nothing new to those.
"The Congregation of the Doctrine for the Faith has given me directives in this sense," the Bishop said, "that only the bishop of the diocese in question has the power to recognize an event of this kind."
IOW, Ratzinger doesn't want to touch this with a ten-foot pole.
I think there is a misunderstanding over who the "them" is here. The "them" mentioned are probably those who sin and don't repent, not those killed in the fire. There won't be pardon for them, because their chance for pardon has been lost.
Is Mary the one that is supposed to be saying this?
I wouldn't speak for Cardinal Ratzinger before knowing what he actually said about it. In June 1988, Cardinal Ratzinger gave definitive judgement on the Akita events and messages as reliable and worthy of belief.
IOW, Ratzinger doesn't want to touch this with a ten-foot pole.
What gives? The Bishop, or rather Cardinal Ratzinger, summarized the Church's standard investigative protocol for events such as this. The local ordinary always has complete jurisdiction for investigating these type of events. The CDF gets involved at the request of the local ordinary. Only in extraordinary circumstances would the Holy See step in to take a second look at decisions made by the local ordinary.
Medjugorje and Garabandal? Negative decisions by the local Bishops.
Lourdes? Positive affirmation by the local Bishop.