Crackdown by Pope Benedict on apparitions

[Denise]

I just received this and translated ot from the Italian. Although some words don't translate, you can get the message just by what you are understanding. Below I will add the Italian

.Exclusive - In `vademecum' a crackdown of Benedict XVI on the mariane apparitions. A `pool' of teologi, psichiatri and exorcists to the service of the Bishops in order to unmask it is made veggenti

CITTA' OF the VATICAN - Civitavecchia and Medjugorje represent only the more recent and clamorous cases: places in which presumed veggenti (visionaries) they say to have had and to continue to having apparitions of the Vergine, (Virgin) even if Ours Mrs.(I think they are saying Our Lady) would be limited to give they absolutely inconsistent messages from the theological and spiritual point of view. Result: the faithfuls find themselves confused because of manifestations that the Church still has not only recognized like veritiere (as true) but that difficultly will approve of also in future. As it is known, moreover, in matter it secure of the Church is maximum: hundreds are the rejected cases of apparitions and stamped like it is made single in last the fifty years. However, there is who continuous one to swear to see the Madonna, recalling in own places crowds of deprived of hope faithfuls, many times to the search of a miracle or a grace that, but, does not arrive. How to face, then, this phenomenon? How to avoid that not veritieri (as true) messages of the Mother of Christ to the humanity are diffused? The answers to these and other questions are contained in a `direttorio' (directive) that Benedict XVI has made to instruct to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and that soon will come rendered public and envoy to the diocesani Bishops of all the world.

With such document, than integral the Instructions already given in 1978 from the Vatican, the Pope asks the maximum severità (utmost) in the relative assessments the ascertainment for the veridicità (veracity) for the mariane apparitions. The Bishops, after to have insediato a Commission of psichiatri, psychologists, teologi (theologians) and pedagogists, will have to impose Hush (silence) to the pseudo-veggenti (false visionaries) . A first test bench will be this: the history teaches, from Lourdes to Fatima, Guadalupe to the Rooms (La Salette), than who really it has the gift of being in contact directed with the Madonna, follows, also because of enormous suffering, the directives of the local Church.

Therefore, who will not remain in Hush (silence) but it will make yes that the news of these presumed apparitions circles liberations, attracting around himself the presence of onlookers, journalists and faithfuls to the search of a grace detail, will have already given an indicative sign of the falsità of own misticismo. Same Maria, in fact, would not never convaliderebbe an action of disobedience regarding a Bishop, even if these were in error. According to point: the pseudo-veggenti will go visited from psichiatri and psychologists, possibly or atheists that catholic, in order to certify their health they lies and in order to verify if they are affections or less from pathologies than isterico or allucinatorio character or from manie of protagonismo. Third party step to complete: to ascertain the level of instruction of who proclama `mistico', in order to avoid itself that it can trick the ecclesiastical authorities and the faithfuls after to have carefully studied written of theology and mariologia.

In such sense, who is object of assessments from the ecclesiastical authority, will be called to deliver to the Commission insediata from the Diocese also the computer science equipment in its possession, comprised personal the computers, in order to concur to verify if she has never carried out searches in matter of apparitions in Internet, a rich instrument of information for who wanted `copiare' or to learn from true veggenti the theological sense of celestial messages. In the direttorio, moreover, it is asked the Bishops to assess if the pseudo-veggenti have directed or indirect economic interests in relation to the pilgrimages and the unavoidable sale of souvernirs religious in the places in which they say to see the Vergine Blessed soul Maria.

There is then the issue of the respect of the ortodossia: how much revealed the apparitions does not have to turn out in contrast neither with the Gospel neither with the doctrine of the Church but to be in harmony with they. It goes without saying, therefore, than if a `veggente' it attributes to the Madonna contrary phrases or concepts to the Mastery, it is from considering a mendace. If the own analysis did not have to turn out anomalies, and therefore the `veggente' it had to be thought credible, in last request it will have to be interrogated from or more demonologi and exorcists in order to exclude that behind the apparitions (as already it has happened tantissime other times in the history of the Christianity) hides Satana in order to draw in deceit the faithfuls.

Based on the new ready instructions to being emanated from the Sede Saint in name and on behalf of Benedict XVI, than with the phenomenon of the mariane apparitions has already had to that making during its sent ultraventennale of Prefetto of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is therefore to attend a real crackdown, with `processi' longer, meticulous and rigid from the Dioceses, also for a corrected information to supply the faithfuls, so that vicissitudes much similar to those of Civitavecchia and Medjugorje are not taken place, where thousands of persons continue to accorrere in spite of the Vatican have not never recognized like veritieri there marked the supernatural phenomena.

Naturally, being to the `vademecum' made to write up from the Pope the competent Congregation, the same praxis `investigativa' will go employed in case someone had to allegate to see and to speak with Jesus, the Angels or the Saints or if quite (a case in province of Salerno is recent) manifested the stimmate ones or edichiarsse of having sacred statues and images that lacrimano in house. In order to know the thought of Benedict XVI in matter, enough to remember how much it declared, still Cardinal, to the journalist and writer Vittorio Messori: “In this field, more than ever, the patience is a fundamental element.


No apparition is indispensable to the faith, the Detection is finished with Jesus Christ”. Famous theologian René Laurentin, after years of searches, has taken a census beyond 2.450 mariane manifestations documented in the history of the Church. But on nearly 300 under way demands for surveying in the last century, the ecclesiastical authorities have attested officially like true only a dozen of apparitions. The last acknowledgment is that one of Ours Mrs. of Laus, in France, happened 8 May of 2008, but the faithfuls have had to attend 3 centuries before obtaining it. The other approved of apparitions are concentrated above all in Europe (Fatima, the Rooms, Tuy, Beauraing, Banneux, Siracusa), but also in Egypt (Zeitun), Syria (Damascus) and Ruanda (Kibeho).

At the beginning of this article we pointed out to Civitavecchia and Medjugorje: in the first case, she is a child to allegate to have had apparitions of the Vergine. Contextually, a statue of the Madonna di Medjugorje placed in the garden of its room, would have quite plants blood; the same phenomenon would have repeated in presence of then Girolamo Bishop Cricket, at first skeptical. The same Giovanni Paul II, put to acquaintance of the happened one, wanted for some hours that statue in its private nail head, but the Vatican is not never pronounced in favor of the apparitions and of the supernatural lacrimazioni. More complex the case than Medjugorje: they give beyond a quarter of century the Madonna would appear every day to the veggenti and once a month it would dictate a message for the humanity. But Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, skillful arm of the Pope, has not never hidden its skepticism: “From 1981, Maria would be appeared tens of thousands of times to Medjugorje.


This is a not assimilable phenomenon to other mariane apparitions”. _ for this the Vatican have ask to the roman Work pilgrimage (one of the more important agency than religious tourism that ago head to the Vicariato of Rome) of depennare from the catalogue the visit to the more famous locality of the Bosnia-Herzegovina, where however itself bring beyond two million of faithful the year.

The problem dov'è? Two factions have created themselves: a favorable one to the apparitions, and therefore from the part of the veggenti; the openly schierata other with the diocesano Bishop, Monsignor Ratko Peric, than like its defunct predecessore, does not believe to the veridicità of these phenomena and, never not coming listened, it has asked for a long time the veggenti presumed ones to live in the nascondimento and not to disclose some message attributed to the Madonna. Lacked obedience would be enough already to the Bishop, according to the intentional vademecum from Benedict XVI, in order to declare false the apparitions of Medjugorje.

Press article

Italian

Esclusivo - In un ‘vademecum’ il giro di vite di Benedetto XVI sulle apparizioni mariane. Un ‘pool’ di teologi, psichiatri ed esorcisti al servizio dei Vescovi per smascherare i falsi veggenti



CITTA’ DEL VATICANO - Civitavecchia e Medjugorje rappresentano solo i casi più recenti e clamorosi: luoghi in cui presunti veggenti dicono di aver avuto e di continuare ad avere apparizioni della Vergine, anche se Nostra Signora si limiterebbe a dar loro messaggi assolutamente inconsistenti dal punto di vista teologico e spirituale. Risultato: i fedeli si trovano disorientati a causa di manifestazioni che la Chiesa non solo non ha ancora riconosciuto come veritiere ma che difficilmente approverà anche in futuro. Come si sa, peraltro, in materia la cautela della Chiesa è massima: centinaia sono i casi di apparizioni bocciati e bollati come falsi solo negli ultimi cinquant’anni. Tuttavia, c’è chi continua a giurare vedere la Madonna, richiamando nei propri luoghi folle di fedeli disperati, molte volte alla ricerca di un miracolo o di una grazia che, però, non arriva. Come affrontare, allora, questo fenomeno? Come evitare che si diffondano messaggi non veritieri della Madre di Cristo all’umanità? Le risposte a questi e ad altri quesiti sono contenute in un ‘direttorio’ che Benedetto XVI ha fatto istruire alla Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede e che presto verrà reso pubblico e inviato ai Vescovi diocesani di tutto il mondo. Con tale documento, che integra le Istruzioni già impartite nel 1978 dal Vaticano, il Papa chiede la massima severità negli accertamenti relativi alla constatazione della veridicità delle apparizioni mariane. I Vescovi, dopo aver insediato una Commissione di psichiatri, psicologi, teologi e pedagogisti, dovranno imporre il silenzio agli pseudo-veggenti. Sarà questo un primo banco di prova: la storia insegna, da Lourdes a Fatima, da Guadalupe a La Salette, che chi realmente ha il dono di essere in contatto diretto con la Madonna, segue, anche a causa di enormi sofferenze, le direttive della Chiesa locale. Dunque, chi non resterà nel silenzio ma farà sì che la notizia di queste presunte apparizioni circoli liberamente, attirando attorno a sé la presenza di curiosi, giornalisti e fedeli alla ricerca di una grazia particolare, avrà già dato un segno indicativo della falsità del proprio misticismo. Maria stessa, infatti, non convaliderebbe mai un atto di disobbedienza nei confronti di un Vescovo, anche se questi fosse in errore. Secondo punto: gli pseudo-veggenti andranno visitati da psichiatri e psicologi, possibilmente sia atei che cattolici, per certificare la loro salute mentale e per verificare se siano affetti o meno da patologie di carattere isterico o allucinatorio o da manie di protagonismo. Terzo passo da compiere: appurare il livello di istruzione di chi si proclama ‘mistico’, per evitare che possa ingannare le autorità ecclesiastiche e i fedeli dopo aver attentamente studiato scritti di teologia e mariologia. In tal senso, chi è oggetto di accertamenti da parte dell’autorità ecclesiastica, sarà chiamato a consegnare alla Commissione insediata dalla Diocesi anche le apparecchiature informatiche in suo possesso, compresi i personal computer, per consentire di verificare se abbia mai effettuato ricerche in materia di apparizioni in Internet, uno strumento ricco di informazioni per chi volesse ‘copiare’ o imparare da veri veggenti il senso teologico di messaggi celesti. Nel direttorio, inoltre, si chiede ai Vescovi di accertare se gli pseudo-veggenti abbiano interessi economici diretti o indiretti in relazione ai pellegrinaggi e all’inevitabile vendita di souvernirs religiosi nei luoghi in cui dicono di vedere la Beata Vergine Maria. C’è poi la questione del rispetto dell’ortodossia: quanto rivelato dalle apparizioni non deve risultare in contrasto né con il Vangelo né con la dottrina della Chiesa ma essere in armonia con essi. Va da sé, dunque, che se un ‘veggente’ attribuisce alla Madonna frasi o concetti contrari al Magistero, è da considerare un mendace. Se proprio dalle analisi non dovessero risultare anomalie, e quindi il ‘veggente’ dovesse essere ritenuto credibile, in ultima istanza dovrà essere interrogato da uno o più demonologi ed esorcisti per escludere che dietro alle apparizioni (come è già avvenuto tantissime altre volte nella storia del cristianesimo) si nasconda Satana per trarre in inganno i fedeli. In base alle nuove istruzioni pronte ad essere emanate dalla Santa Sede in nome e per conto di Benedetto XVI, che con il fenomeno delle apparizioni mariane ha già avuto a che fare durante il suo ultraventennale mandato di Prefetto della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, c’è dunque da attendersi un vero e proprio giro di vite, con ‘processi’ più lunghi, meticolosi e rigidi da parte delle Diocesi, anche per una corretta informazione da fornire ai fedeli, in modo che non si verifichino vicende molto simili a quelle di Civitavecchia e Medjugorje, dove migliaia di persone continuano ad accorrere malgrado il Vaticano non abbia mai riconosciuto come veritieri i fenomeni soprannaturali ivi segnalati. Naturalmente, stando al ‘vademecum’ fatto redigere dal Papa alla Congregazione competente, la stessa prassi ‘investigativa’ andrà impiegata qualora qualcuno dovesse asserire di vedere e parlare con Gesù, gli Angeli o i Santi o se addirittura (è recente un caso in provincia di Salerno) manifestasse le stimmate o edichiarsse di avere statue ed immagini sacre che lacrimano in casa. Per conoscere il pensiero di Benedetto XVI in materia, basta ricordare quanto egli dichiarò, ancora Cardinale, al giornalista e scrittore Vittorio Messori: “In questo campo, più che mai, la pazienza è un elemento fondamentale. Nessuna apparizione è indispensabile alla fede, la Rivelazione è terminata con Gesù Cristo”. Il noto teologo René Laurentin, dopo anni di ricerche, ha censito oltre 2.450 manifestazioni mariane documentate nella storia della Chiesa. Ma su quasi 300 richieste di indagine avviate nell’ultimo secolo, le autorità ecclesiastiche hanno attestato ufficialmente come vere solo una dozzina di apparizioni. L’ultimo riconoscimento è quello di Nostra Signora di Laus, in Francia, avvenuto l’8 maggio del 2008, però i fedeli hanno dovuto attendere 3 secoli prima di ottenerlo. Le altre apparizioni approvate sono concentrate soprattutto in Europa (Fatima, La Salette, Tuy, Beauraing, Banneux, Siracusa), ma anche in Egitto (Zeitun), Siria (Damasco) e Ruanda (Kibeho). All’inizio di questo articolo accennavamo a Civitavecchia e Medjugorje: nel primo caso, è una bambina ad asserire di aver avuto apparizioni della Vergine. Contestualmente, una statua della Madonna di Medjugorje collocata nel giardino della sua abitazione, avrebbe addirittura pianto sangue; lo stesso fenomeno si sarebbe ripetuto in presenza dell’allora Vescovo Girolamo Grillo, in un primo momento scettico. Lo stesso Giovanni Paolo II, messo a conoscenza dell’accaduto, volle per alcune ore quella statua nella sua cappella privata, ma il Vaticano non si è mai pronunciato a favore delle apparizioni e delle lacrimazioni soprannaturali. Più complesso il caso di Medjugorje: da oltre un quarto di secolo la Madonna apparirebbe ogni giorno ai veggenti e una volta al mese detterebbe un messaggio per l’umanità. Ma il Cardinale Tarcisio Bertone, braccio destro del Papa, non ha mai nascosto il suo scetticismo: “Dal 1981, Maria sarebbe apparsa decine di migliaia di volte a Medjugorje. Questo è un fenomeno non assimilabile ad altre apparizioni mariane”. Per questo il Vaticano ha chiesto all’Opera romana pellegrinaggi (una delle più importanti agenzie di turismo religioso che fa capo al Vicariato di Roma) di depennare dal catalogo le visite alla più famosa località della Bosnia-Erzegovina, dove comunque si recano oltre due milioni di fedeli l’anno. Il problema dov’è? Si sono create due fazioni: una favorevole alle apparizioni, e dunque dalla parte dei veggenti; l’altra apertamente schierata con il Vescovo diocesano, Monsignor Ratko Peric, che come il suo defunto predecessore, non crede alla veridicità di questi fenomeni e, non venendo mai ascoltato, ha chiesto da tempo ai presunti veggenti di vivere nel nascondimento e di non divulgare alcun messaggio attribuito alla Madonna. Basterebbe già la mancata obbedienza al Vescovo, secondo il vademecum voluto da Benedetto XVI, per dichiarare false le apparizioni di Medjugorje.

Stampa articolo

[MarieT]

its interesting this should turn up.

Theres a parishioner who calls me yesterday to discuss medj from his work lol....he is sooo adamant he can convince me to the contrary. I wonder what gives him such hope that i would believe more of what he says against the investigations of the relevant church authorities and the Pope himself. lol ...poor fella

not only did he interrupt a movie i was watching with my children, but silly me gets up at his request to send him all the documentation i had against medj.....it took me ages and after a while i said 'enough'

i ended with a courteous email that i did not want to hear any responses to those emails if they were contrary to the church's stance on them.
He acknowledges that Bishop Peric is against it but he in his wisdom thinks he knows better than an experienced Bishop and predecessors and commissioners set up to investigate the phenomena. i wonder how he does believe medj is authentic......he admits he has never been, but 'so-and-so' went and felt it was 'great' soooooooo....

so-and-so has convinced him that its great....fine lol
i gave him a subtle advice that rome is about to put an end to it and not to become too attached......

he asked how i knew......

i responded that events from rome have clued us in....such as the chief vatican exorcist condemning it as 'diabolical' ...'work of the devil'....hoax et al

then the spiritual director of the alleged medj 'seers' having his priestly faculties removed..... action taken against him by rome..signed by the Pope himself (articles here on semperfi).....

to this stage....no response from the parishioner to emails sent....either he is respecting my wishes or is perhaps (God willing) having second thoughts
...
thanks for article sis
m7

[MarieT]

sis,
i sent the article to someone to translate for me seeing you mentioned there were some words you had issues with.

the response came back that the italian in the article has grammatical errors - spelling mistakes and the composition of some of the sentences are inaccurate - very poor - some big words were used in instances but it falls back in other sections.

marie

[KevinSymonds]

BETTER TRANSLATION:


Benedict XVI to crack down on
alleged apparitions
http://www.papanews.it/

Exclusive - In a “Vademecum” the crackdown by Benedict XVI on Marian apparitions. A ‘pool’ of theologians, psychiatrists and exorcists at the service of the bishops for exposing false visionaries

VATICAN CITY [January 8, 2009] - Civitavecchia and Medjugorje represent the most recent and sensational cases: places where the alleged visionaries say they have had and continue to have apparitions of the Virgin, even if Our Lady would simply give them absolutely inconsistent messages from a theological and spiritual point of view . The result: the faithful are bewildered because of the display that the Church not only has not yet recognized them as truthful, but will hardly approve them in the future. As we know, however, the caution of the Church is very great in the matter: there are hundreds of cases of apparitions rejected and branded as false in the past fifty years. Nevertheless, there are those who continue to swear to see Madonna, drawing to their places crowds of desperate faithful, many times in search of a miracle or a grace that, however, does not come. How then, to deal with this phenomenon? How to prevent the spreading of untruthful messages of the Mother of Christ to mankind? The answers to these and other questions are contained in a ‘directory’ Benedict XVI has made to instruct the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and that will soon be made public and sent to the diocesan bishops of the whole world. With this document, which integrates the Instructions already issued in 1978 by the Vatican, the Pope calls for the greatest severity in the verifications related to the establishment of the truthfulness Marian apparitions. The bishops, having set up a commission of psychiatrists, psychologists, theologians and educators, should impose silence on the pseudo-visionaries.

This will be a first test: history teaches, from Lourdes to Fatima, from Guadalupe in La Salette, that those who really have the gift of being in direct contact with the Madonna, follow the directives of the local Church, even in the face of enormous sufferings. Therefore, one who will not remain silent but causes the news of these alleged apparitions to circulate freely, attracting around themselves the presence of the curious, journalists and the faithful in search of a particular grace will have already given a sign that shows the falseness of their mysticism. Mary herself, in fact, would never validate an act of disobedience against a bishop, even if they were in error.

The second point: the pseudo-visionaries will be visited by psychiatrists and psychologists, possibly either atheists or Catholics, to certify their mental health and to verify whether or not they are suffering from diseases of a hysterical or hallucinatory character or from delusions of leadership.

The third step to do: determine the level of education of the one being proclaimed a ‘mystic’ so as to avoid one who might mislead the church authorities and the faithful after having carefully studied writings on theology and Mariology. In that sense, one who is under investigation by church authorities will be called upon to deliver to the Commission established by the Diocese the informational equipment in his possession, including personal computer, to make it possible to verify whether he has ever done research in the field of apparitions on the Internet, a wealth of information for those wishing to copy or learn the theological meaning of heavenly messages from true visionaries.

In the directory, also, the bishops are asked to determine whether pseudo-visionaries have direct or indirect economic interests in connection with the pilgrimages and in the inevitable sale of religious souvenirs in the places where they say they see the Blessed Virgin Mary. Then there is the question of respect for orthodoxy: all that is revealed by the apparitions should not result in being contrary either to the Gospel or doctrine of the Church but be in harmony with them. Needless to say, therefore, that if a visionary attributes to the Madonna phrases or concepts contrary to the Magisterium, he or she is to be considered false.. If directly from the analysis nothing abnormal should result, and then the visionary be considered credible, ultimately that visionary will have to be questioned by one or more demonologists and exorcists to exclude the possibility that Satan (as has happened already so many other times in the history of Christianity) is hiding behind the apparitions in order to deceive the faithful. Under the new instructions ready to be issued by the Holy See on behalf of Benedict XVI, who already had to deal with the phenomenon of Marian apparitions during his more than twenty-year mandate as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, one can therefore expect a real crackdown with longer, more meticulous and strict processes on the part of the Dioceses, also in order to provide correct information to the faithful, so that no more events will take place like those in Civitavecchia and Medjugorje, where thousands of people continue to come even though the Vatican has never recognized as true and supernatural the phenomena reported there. Of course, according to the ‘Vademecum’ whch the Pope had written for the competent Congregation, the same investigative practice will be used if someone should claim to see and talk to Jesus, the angels or the saints, or even (a recent case is in the province of Salerno) manifest the stigmata or say they have statues and sacred images that shed tears in the house.

To know the mind of Benedict XVI on the subject, it suffices to remember what he said, while still a Cardinal, to the journalist and author Vittorio Messori: “In this field, more than ever before, patience is a fundamental element. No apparition is indispensable to the faith, Revelation ended with Jesus Christ. The well-known theologian Rene Laurentin, after years of research, has recorded over 2,450 Marian documented events in the history of the Church. But out of almost 300 requests for investigation initiated in the last century, church authorities have officially certified as true only a dozen appearances. The most recent recognition is that of Our Lady of Laus, in France, which took place May 8, 2008, but the faithful had to wait three centuries before obtaining it. The other approved apparitions are mainly concentrated in Europe (Fatima, La Salette, Tuy, Beauraing, Banneux, Syracuse), but also in Egypt (Zeitun), Syria (Damascus) and Rwanda (Kibeho).

At the beginning of this article we mentioned Civitavecchia and Medjugorje; in the first case it is a little girl that claims to have had apparitions of the Virgin. In that context, a statue of Our Lady of Medjugorje placed in the garden of her home would have wept blood; the same phenomenon was supposed to have been repeated in the presence of then Bishop Girolamo Grillo, who was initially skeptical. John Paul II himself, when made aware of what happened, wanted that statue in his private chapel for several hours, but the Vatican has never come out in favor of the apparitions and the tears as being supernatural. More complex is the case of Medjugorje: for more than a quarter of a century, the Madonna would appear every day to the visionaries, and once a month would speak a message for mankind. .But Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Pope's right-hand man, has never hidden his skepticism? Since 1981, Mary would have appeared tens of thousands of times in Medjugorje. This is a phenomenon that cannot even be compared to other Marian apparitions”.. For this reason, the Vatican has asked Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi (one of the most important agencies of religious tourism which belongs to the Vicariate of Rome) to delete from their catalogue visits to the most famous place in Bosnia-Hercegovina, where, nevertheless, more than two million faithful are visiting every year. Where is the problem? Two factions have been created: one in favor of the apparitions, and therefore on the side of visionaries; the other one openly sided with the diocesan bishop, Msgr. Ratko Peric, who like his late predecessor, does not believe in the truthfulness of these phenomena, and after never having been listened to, already some time ago requested the alleged visionaries to live a hidden life and not disclose any message attributed to the Madonna. This failure to obey the Bishop would already be enough, according to the ‘Vademecum’ devised by Benedict XVI, to declare the apparitions of Medjugorje to be false.

[amateur translation from the Italian by Fr. Philip Pavich OFM]

[Denise]

Mark sent this to me as well and basically it says the very same thing that the translation engine said. I guess it is looked at differently depending on what side of the fence you are on.

ANYWAY...............Medjugorje is BUSTED! Bout time!

[Denise]

Gee, let me see....why am i not surprised?

[Johnna]

I am not surprised either. In fact I would have been surprised by anything less! If they were going to be satiated by anything other than approval, they would have been quiet and gone away a long time ago.

[MarieT]

in all honesty, i cannot believe people would fall for medj. Many years ago i read a book by fr laurentin on it and was very uneasy about the whole thing. The messages themselves were also unusual.

i think (as bishop andrea gemma stated) that rome is about to put an end to this fac'ade...cant wait

marie

[Denise]

I just received the final translation.


PETRUS: the daily on-line on the apostolate of Benedict XVI. http://www.papanews.it/
Exclusive - In a “Vademecum” the crackdown by Benedict XVI on Marian apparitions. A ‘pool’ of theologians, psychiatrists and exorcists at the service of the bishops for exposing false visionaries

VATICAN CITY [January 8, 2009] - Civitavecchia and Medjugorje represent the most recent and sensational cases: places where the alleged visionaries say they have had and continue to have apparitions of the Virgin, even if Our Lady would simply give them absolutely inconsistent messages from a theological and spiritual point of view .

The result: the faithful are bewildered because of the evidence that the Church not only has not yet recognized them as truthful, but will hardly approve them in the future. As we know, however, the caution of the Church is very great in the matter: there are hundreds of cases of apparitions rejected and branded as false in the past fifty years. Nevertheless, there are those who continue to swear to see the Madonna, drawing to their places crowds of desperate faithful, many times in search of a miracle or a grace that, however, does not come. How then, to deal with this phenomenon? How to prevent the spreading of untruthful messages of the Mother of Christ to mankind?

The answers to these and other questions are contained in a ‘directory’ Benedict XVI has made to instruct the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and that will soon be made public and sent to the diocesan bishops of the whole world. With this document, which integrates the Instructions already issued in 1978 by the Vatican, the Pope calls for the greatest severity in the verifications related to the establishment of the truthfulness of Marian apparitions. The bishops, after setting up a commission of psychiatrists, psychologists, theologians and educators, will have to impose silence on pseudo-visionaries.

This will be a first test: history teaches, from Lourdes to Fatima, from Guadalupe to La Salette, that those who really have the gift of being in direct contact with the Madonna, do follow the directives of the local Church, even in the face of enormous sufferings. Therefore, one who will not remain silent but causes the news of these alleged apparitions to circulate freely, attracting around themselves the presence of the curious, journalists and the faithful in search of a particular grace will have already given a sign that shows the falseness of their mysticism. Mary herself, in fact, would never validate an act of disobedience against a bishop, even if they were in error.

The second point: pseudo-visionaries will be visited by psychiatrists and psychologists, possibly either atheistic or Catholic, to certify their mental health and to verify whether or not they are suffering from diseases of a hysterical or hallucinatory character or from delusions of leadership.

The third step to be done: determine the level of education of the one being proclaimed a ‘mystic’ so as to avoid one who, after having carefully studied writings on theology and Mariology, might mislead church authorities and the faithful. In that sense, one who is under investigation by church authorities will be called upon to deliver to the Commission established by the Diocese the informational equipment in his possession, including personal computers, to make it possible to verify whether he has ever done research in the field of apparitions on the Internet, a wealth of information for those wishing to copy or learn the theological meaning of heavenly messages from true visionaries. In the directory the bishops are also asked to determine whether the pseudo-visionaries have direct or indirect economic interests in connection with the pilgrimages and in the inevitable sale of religious souvenirs in the places where they say they see the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Then there is the question of respect for orthodoxy: all that is revealed by the apparitions should not result in being contrary either to the Gospel or the doctrine of the Church but be in harmony with them. Needless to say, therefore, that if a visionary attributes to the Madonna phrases or concepts contrary to the Magisterium, he or she is to be considered false. If nothing abnormal should result directly from the analysis, and the visionary then be considered credible, that visionary will finally have to be questioned by one or more demonologists and exorcists to exclude the possibility that Satan (as has happened already so many other times in the history of Christianity) is hiding behind the apparitions in order to deceive the faithful.

Under the new instructions ready to be issued by the Holy See on behalf of Benedict XVI, who already had to deal with the phenomenon of Marian apparitions during his more than twenty-year mandate as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, one can therefore expect a real crackdown with longer, more meticulous and stricter processes on the part of the Dioceses, also in order to provide correct information to the faithful, so that no more events will take place like those in Civitavecchia and Medjugorje, where thousands of people continue to come even though the Vatican has never recognized the phenomena reported there as true and supernatural. Of course, according to the ‘Vademecum’ which the Pope had to be written for the competent Congregation, the same investigative practice will be used if someone should claim to see and talk to Jesus, the angels or the saints, or even (a recent case is in the province of Salerno) manifest the stigmata or say they have statues and sacred images that shed tears in the house.

To know the mind of Benedict XVI on the subject, it suffices to remember what he, while still a Cardinal, said to the journalist and author, Vittorio Messori: “In this field, more than ever before, patience is a fundamental element. No apparition is indispensable to the faith. Revelation ended with Jesus Christ.” The well-known theologian Rene Laurentin, after years of research, has recorded over 2,450 Marian events documented in the history of the Church. But out of almost 300 requests for investigation initiated in the last century, church authorities have officially certified only a dozen appearances as true.

The most recent recognition is that of Our Lady of Laus, in France, which took place on May 8, 2008, but the faithful had to wait three centuries before obtaining it. The other approved apparitions are mainly concentrated in Europe (Fatima, La Salette, Tuy, Beauraing, Banneux, Syracuse), but also in Egypt (Zeitun), Syria (Damascus) and Rwanda (Kibeho).

At the beginning of this article we mentioned Civitavecchia and Medjugorje; in the first case it is a little girl that claims to have had apparitions of the Virgin. In that setting, a statue of Our Lady of Medjugorje placed in the garden of her home was supposed to have wept blood; the same phenomenon was supposed to have been repeated in the presence of then Bishop Girolamo Grillo, who was initially skeptical. John Paul II himself, when made aware of what happened, wanted that statue in his private chapel for several hours, but the Vatican has never come out in favor of the apparitions and the tears as being supernatural.

More complex is the case of Medjugorje: for more than a quarter of a century, the Madonna is supposed to have appeared every day to the visionaries, and once a month to have spoken a message to mankind. .But Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Pope's right-hand man, has never hidden his skepticism. “Since 1981, Mary would have appeared tens of thousands of times in Medjugorje. This is a phenomenon that cannot even be compared to other Marian apparitions”. For this reason, the Vatican has asked Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi (one of the most important agencies of religious tourism which belongs to the Vicariate of Rome) to delete from their catalogue visits to the most famous place in Bosnia-Hercegovina, where, nevertheless, more than two million faithful are visiting every year.

Where is the problem? Two factions have been created: one in favor of the apparitions, and therefore on the side of visionaries; the other one openly on the side of the diocesan bishop, Msgr. Ratko Peric, who like his late predecessor, does not believe in the truthfulness of these phenomena, and after having never been listened to, already some time ago asked the alleged visionaries to live a hidden life and not disclose any messages attributed to the Madonna. This failure to obey the Bishop would already be enough, according to the ‘Vademecum’ devised by Benedict XVI, to declare the apparitions of Medjugorje to be false.
[amateur translation from the Italian by Fr. Philip Pavich OFM]