So says Joachim Bouflet, a historian and specialist in mystical phenomena.

"The mystical search is not noisy; it plays out in the most intimate places. We do not need to accumulate signs to believe; the Gospel should suffice," Bouflet told La Croix's Christophe Henning in an interview.

Bouflet's known for his extensive research on religious mystics and supernatural events.

The interview

La Croix : The text [the Vatican document on Marian apparitions], comes from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith: what does this mean?

Joachim Bouflet: In a society sensitive to the marvelous and the supernatural, it is an opportunity to invite people to distance themselves from these phenomena.

"It is important to remember that signs, whatever they may be, do not change our faith. This should lead to greater rigour in the face of such propositions.

"For example, why turn to the pseudo-mystic Maria Valtorta (1897-1961), when the Church does not recognise her writings as being of supernatural inspiration?

"Especially when there are so many authentic and recognised mystics, such as John of the Cross, Edith Stein, and Madeleine Delbrêl.

La Croix : Isn't it primarily the apparitions of the Virgin that are at the heart of this debate?

Joachim Bouflet: The apparitions of the Virgin nourish the imagination, but do they nourish faith? I am not certain.

"When pilgrims go to Rue du Bac in Paris, whether the Virgin appeared or not does not change their prayer to Mary.

"Do they even know that there has been no official recognition of the apparitions to Catherine Labouré [1806 - 1876, French member of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul]?"

What's the attraction?

La Croix : How do you explain the enthusiasm for these signs that could support the Christian faith?

Joachim Bouflet: Because there is a thirst for novelty: why do people overlook Padre Pio, who experienced many strange phenomena? Today, he is canonised and attracts less interest.

"Who is interested in Sister Mariam of Jesus Crucified, a Carmelite who died at the age of 32 in Bethlehem, in 1878?

"For many of our contemporaries, more than a mystical search, it seems to me to be an escape from reality, a way to reassure themselves with exaggerated devotions. As if we needed the extraordinary, denigrating a simple faith.

"Yet, the mystical search is not noisy; it plays out in the most intimate places. We do not need to accumulate signs to believe; the Gospel should suffice."

Faith

La Croix: Faith is incarnate; it is charity, concern for the poor, work for peace. Faith is at work; it does not need extraordinary signs.

If the apparitions themselves may not be essential, what significance can pilgrimages still have?

Joachim Bouflet: In Lourdes or Pellevoisin, for example, and in many other places of Marian prayer, there is a true pastoral ministry around Mary, whether there was an apparition or not.

Popular piety comes to pray to the Virgin and expects no other help. I trust in popular faith.

On the other hand, some use the supernatural to provoke emotion, sensationalism, escalation, which has nothing to do with faith.

Faith is incarnate; it is charity, concern for the poor, work for peace.

Faith is at work; it does not need extraordinary signs.

• First published in La Croix
• Christophe Henning is a journalist at La Croix International

As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, claims of weeping and bleeding statues, mystical visions and stigmata are officially just claims until proven otherwise.

Furthermore - the faithful are never obliged to believe in these particular events, says head of the Vatican doctrine office Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández.

The new guide

The last time these processes (norms) were re-evaluated was in 1978. Those norms are no longer useful or viable in the internet age, a review found.

Fernández says the new guide has been under development since 2019.

It was designed to provide a more streamlined process for evaluating claims of supernatural phenomena, eliminating confusion and error without suppressing the action of the Holy Spirit he says.

Established shrines like Lourdes, Fatima, Aparecida and Guadalupe are widely-known sites of miracles and Marian apparitions.

There are also hundreds of supernatural reports every year.

The Holy See has officially investigated only six cases since the 1950s. Most "were either handled differently or just not handled at all" the Dicastery says.

New norms

The new norms say local bishops must investigate supernatural phenomena by creating an Investigatory Commission.

Such a commission must include one theologian, one canonist and one expert on the specific occurrence.

The commission must submit its judgment for approval to the Vatican's doctrinal office.

Until the bishop receives the Vatican approval, he is not allowed to make any public pronouncement on the case.

The new norms envisage six main outcomes for cases being investigated.

The most favourable is that the church issues a noncommittal doctrinal green light, a so-called "nihil obstat".

This means there is nothing about the event that is contrary to the faith, and Catholics can therefore express devotion to it.

Alternatively, the bishop might be more cautious if he's aware of doctrinal red flags about the reported event.

The most serious envisages a declaration that the event isn't supernatural or that there are enough red flags to warrant a public statement that "adherence to this phenomenon is not allowed".

Vatican decisions

The Vatican will undertake its own investigations and reflections before confirming the bishop's decision or issuing a new judgment.

It may also decide the case needs further study before any comment can be made.

It could be that while some issues remain, the case's popularity among the faithful makes it difficult to discern, or that a group or individual is using the supernatural phenomenon for individual gain.

It might also be declared that there are critical issues in the phenomenon that need clarification or that the event is not of a supernatural nature.

The Vatican's doctrinal department can at any time change its pronouncement on a supernatural event.

While the new norms prevent bishops and the church from definitively declaring phenomena as supernatural, the pope may "authorise a special procedure in this regard".

Source

• The Times of India
• AP News
• UCA News
• Religion News Service

A few months ago, Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa announced that alleged apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to a local nun in 1948 were supernatural.

But last month, Archbishop Arguelles stated the Holy See had re-iterated an earlier negative ruling on the apparitions.

The Holy See considers the phenomenon "not supernatural in origin".

Devotion to the apparitions of the "Mediatrix of all Grace" is very popular with the local people, including the archbishop.

One of the phenomena associated with the apparition is rose petals that seem to fall from heaven.

The petals were reportedly emblazoned with images of Jesus, Mary and the saints.

In 2009, Archbishop Arguelles officially lifted a 1951 ban by the Philippines hierarchy on public veneration of the image of the "Mediatrix of all Grace".

This ban came despite a positive ruling on the phenomenon by a local bishop at the time.

Archbishop Argeulles formed a new commission to re-examine the apparition and related phenomena.

About a year later, the Vatican shut it down.

Then, in September 2015, Archbishop Arguelles released an official statement of approval of the apparitions

He declared "that the events and apparition of 1948 also known as the Marian phenomenon in Lipa and its aftermath even in recent times do exhibit supernatural character and is worthy of belief".

The Vatican made him revoke this statement.

Complicating the matter further are reported, but unsubstantiated, death-bed statements by some of the bishops on the 1951 committee.

The bishops reportedly said that they ruled the way they did under duress, specifically the threat of excommunication.

Sources

• Catholic News Agency
• Image: The Filipino Connection

The Diocese of Sora-Cassino-Aquino-Pontecorvo made the announcement on June 5 concerning the self-styled Universal Christian Church of the New Testament.

This followed an examination by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of what the diocese termed "very grave abuse".

Issuing the decree required the approval of the Pope.

A diocese statement noted the group obliged "the faithful not to receive sacraments, to disapprove of the Pope's teaching and authority, not to entertain relations with priests and their parish communities, and not to observe ecclesiastical discipline".

The diocese said the group is "committed to spreading false religious doctrines and teachings that distort the Bible and are outside the truth of the sacred text".

In 1947, Giuseppina Norcia reportedly saw an apparition of the child Jesus in the town of Gallinaro.

This was followed by subsequent apparitions in 1974, and her family built a chapel on the site the following year.

Samuele Morcia, the son-in-law of Giuseppina Norcia, took over the prayer groups dedicated to the "apparition" after Norcia's death in 2008.

He turned the groups into a sect based on a cult of personality.

He claimed that Norcia had transferred to him her capacity to receive messages and prophecies from Christ.

The group holds that Gallinaro is the "New Jerusalem," and it has attracted tens of thousands of worshippers from across Italy.

Many prayer groups have spread dedicated to the worship of the supposed apparition of the child Jesus.

In establishing themselves as the Universal Christian Church of the New Testament last year, the group committed an act of schism and thus incurred automatic excommunication, the diocese stated.

The diocese stressed that "all the faithful of the diocese must be informed" of the consequences of "this very grave abuse".

Sources

• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Crux

Speaking to reporters on his flight back from a short visit to Sarajevo in Bosnia, Pope Francis was asked about the status of a Vatican investigation into the alleged apparitions.

Pope Francis said a study from a commission headed by Cardinal Camillo Ruini had been delivered to him.

"They did good work, good work," the Pope said.

He went on to say that he had discussed the matter with the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Müller.

The Pope added that he believes the CDF had considered the matter at a regular meeting late last month.

"But, we're at this point of making decisions . . . and then they will be announced . . . but only some guidelines will be given to bishops on the lines they will take," the Pope said.

Six children first reported visions of the Virgin Mary in Medjugorje in 1981.

Some of the alleged visionaries, now adults, say they still experience apparitions every day and that the Madonna has told them secrets.

In 2013, the CDF told US Catholics they were not allowed to participate in events that would give "credibility" to the claimed apparitions.

During his session with reporters, Pope Francis also made a brief reference to his upcoming encyclical on the environment.

Speaking about young people and their attachment to computers and mobile phones, the Pontiff referred to "relativist, hedonistic, consumeristic" material online.

"And we know that consumerism is a cancer of society and relativism is a cancer of society and of this I'll speak in the coming encyclical that will come out within the month," Francis said.

Sources

• Catholic News Agency
• Reuters
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: CTV News

Cardinal Angelo Amato told a Rome conference: ""There is no fourth secret and there are no other hidden secrets."

Cardinal Amato said he had "the privilege" of reading the original manuscripts of the secrets of Fatima when he served as secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 2002 to 2008.

"I meditated on them at length because they cast a light of faith and hope on the very sad events of the past century, but not only," he said.

Continue reading

But Ivan Dragicevic reportedly had an "apparition" in a private residence in a town in Missouri instead.

According to the Medjugorje Today website, Mr Dragicevic "consoled" about 75 people in the private home.

Medjugorje Today said people came by private invitation and no one was charged admission.

Mr Dragicevic had been scheduled to speak at Lindenwood University in St Charles, Missouri, in an event organised by the local Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich Foundation.

About 1000 people were expected to attend.

But Archbishop Robert Carlson of St Louis issued a memo on March 3 to priests and deacons in the archdiocese.

"I have received a request from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to remind everyone that they are not to participate in events that promote the so-called visionaries of Medjugorje and in particular Mr Ivan Dragicevic," the memo stated.

It added that an event scheduled for March 18 had been cancelled, and that no other such events should be scheduled.

In 2010, the CDF launched an investigation into the alleged visions at Medjugorje.

In 2013, the apostolic nuncio to the United States wrote to every diocese in the country about events involving Medjugorje seers.

The nuncio's letter, written at the request of the CDF prefect, stated that Catholics "are not permitted" to participate in meetings which take for granted that the supposed Marian apparitions in Medjugorje are credible.

The CDF had stated that, based on research to date, it was not possible to state that there were apparitions or supernatural experiences.

Therefore Catholics should not attend "meetings, conferences or public celebrations" during which the credibility of such "apparitions" would be taken for granted.

Mr Dragicevic travels back and forth between Bosnia and the United States speaking at various churches and experiences visions almost on demand.

Following the cancellation of the March 18 event, Mr Dragicevic stated "I have always been obedient to the authority of the Church and I will continue to remain in total obedience".

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• Te Deum blog
• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Medjugorje San Remo

Whether glimpsing the blessed Mary in a grilled cheese or eyeing up Nebuchadnezzar in a freshly crisped bagel, we all know that Americans are constantly beset by visions of biblical figures in toasted food products.

Now scientists say they've shed more light on how this happens in the first place.

The phenomenon is known as facial pareidolia (pronounced pari-DOH-lee-a) and is a subset as apophenia - a general term that describes our tendency to see patterns in even random data. Continue Reading

"The spirit of curiosity generates confusion and distances a person from the Spirit of wisdom, which brings peace", said Pope Francis in his homily at morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta.

Curiosity, the Pope continued, impels us to want to feel that the Lord is here or rather there, or leads us to say: "But I know a visionary, who receives letters from Our Lady, messages from Our Lady".

However, the Pope commented, "Our Lady is the Mother of everyone! And she loves all of us. She is not a postmaster, sending messages every day."

Such responses can, "distance us from the Gospel, from the Holy Spirit, from peace and wisdom, from the glory of God, from the beauty of God."

"Jesus says that the Kingdom of God does not come in a way that attracts attention: it comes by wisdom.

"Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus would say that she had always to stop herself before the spirit of curiosity," he said.

"When she spoke with another sister and this sister was telling a story about the family, about people, sometimes the subject would change, and she would want to know the end of the story. But she felt that this was not the spirit of God, because it was a spirit of dispersion, of curiosity.

"The Kingdom of God is among us: do not seek strange things, do not seek novelties with this worldly curiosity. Let us allow the Spirit to lead us forward in that wisdom, which is like a soft breeze," Pope Franics said.

Jesus tells his disciples not to "run in pursuit" of signs of his Second Coming, the pope said.

Pope Francis was reflecting on Luke's gospel 17:20-25, in which the Pharisees ask Jesus when the kingdom of God will come.

Sources

• Vatican Radio
• Catholic Herald
• Image: Aint No God

A French journal, La Vie, had reported that the Medjugorje commission appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in March 2010, and chaired by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, would present its report to the Pope by the end of 2012.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the report was "not true" and that the commission's findings will take longer.

"I have spoken with Cardinal Ruini and I can assure you that it will take longer," Father Lombardi told the National Catholic Register in the United States.

"Among other things, the commission must first give its opinion to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to discuss, so it'll be a long time yet."

Father Lombardi's remarks match those made by allegedly informed, but unnamed, sources quoted in Bosnian media, saying many more conversations need to take place.

After the commission's report is examined by the congregation, it will be given to the Pope who will have the final say.

The commission, which has been working in strict secrecy, is studying the phenomenon of reported Marian apparitions which began in the small town in the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina (then Yugoslavia) in 1981.

These apparitions continue regularly to this day, according to the shrine's six "seers", attracting hundreds of thousands of pilgrims each year.

The local hierarchy, however, has sought to discourage the "Medjugorje phenomenon", prompting the Vatican to carry out its own investigation.

Source:

National Catholic Register

Image: Medjugorje.ws

The "Norms regarding the manner of proceedings in the discernment of presumed apparitions or revelations" were approved by Pope Paul VI in 1978 and distributed to the world's bishops, but never officially published or translated into modern languages.

However, over the past three decades, unauthorised translations have appeared around the world, according to Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Continue reading