There are so many alleged apparitions today that the pastors of the Church must intervene to discern their authenticity. A recent Vatican document has clarified many uncertainties

by Don Gabriele Cantaluppi

In recent months, the news came that Monsignor Antonio Tremolada, bishop of Brescia, has allowed the cult of Maria Rosa Mistica, based on the alleged apparitions to Pierina Gilli (1911-1991) at Fontanelle di Montichiari. More recent are the events in Trevignano (Rome), which began in 2016 when Gisella Cardia reported some apparitions of the Madonna, accompanied by tears of blood from a statue and messages.

The woman, however, openly challenged the negative decision of the bishop of Civita Castellana, while the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, after a careful investigation, prohibited the cult. Instead, approval was given for the veneration of the Madonna dello Scoglio in Placanica in Calabria, while that of the Lady of All Peoples in Amsterdam was definitively prohibited. And the list of these interventions by the ecclesiastical authority could continue, involving numerous countries.

While recognizing the absolute freedom of God's action in human history, today it seems that the search for miracles and adherence - often fanatical - to divine messages is not an expression of true faith, but above all masks a spiritual "poverty"; at most it manifests a confused search in bazar of a “do-it-yourself” religion to satisfy man’s thirst for the infinite. After all, it is enough to approach the mass media and social media to discover an undergrowth of visions, apparitions, messages, and come across stigmatized people, holy men, gurus, magicians, sorcerers.

A great mystic and doctor of the Church, the Spanish Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591), in his treatise The climb to Mount Carmel states: "Whoever today wanted to question the Lord and ask him for some vision or report, would not only commit a foolish act, but would offend God." That is, he would demonstrate that he does not have faith in the Word revealed in Jesus, transmitted by the Bible and Tradition, and that he only wants to seek novelties or other confirmations.

The Church has always been cautious in endorsing these manifestations. One of the greatest experts in Mariology, the French priest René Laurentin (1917-2017), in his monumental Dictionary of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary, published in Italian in 2010, has classified over two thousand Marian apparitions from the beginning of Christianity to today, but only fifteen – a very limited number – have received official recognition. And Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger suggested calling “apparitions” only those supernatural phenomena that are perceived by everyone and that constitute interpersonal encounters, such as those of the risen Jesus to the apostles, and instead calling “visions” those that happen to a single person, even when that person is surrounded by many people.

Faced with the repetition of events of this type, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has published the Rules for proceeding in the discernment of alleged apparitions and revelations, approved by Pope Francis and entered into force on May 19, 2024, the Solemnity of Pentecost. Since some events of presumed supernatural origin raise doubts and could even be harmful, on the one hand these new Standard they encourage diocesan bishops "to appreciate the pastoral value and also to promote the diffusion of this spiritual proposal", but they entrust them with the serious task of making the faithful cautious towards these presumed manifestations of God's love and of protecting them from any deception.

With the new ones Standard, which replace those of Paul VI in 1978, the ecclesiastical approval regarding a private revelation can only declare that "the relative message contains nothing that contradicts faith and good morals", reiterating that the faithful are not obliged to accept the authenticity of these events, since they are based only on human faith. No judgment is expressed regarding the character of supernaturality.

At the same time, paying attention to the development of devotion in a place, the possibility of a subsequent intervention of another nature remains open, but only the Pope can authorize a procedure different from that indicated by the Rules. Before making a decision public, the diocesan bishop must consult the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to possibly obtain final approval.

However, it must be added that these Standard they also want to avoid that an excessive prolongation of decision-making times prevents one from enjoying the spiritual richness generated by these events as they manifest themselves. Most of the sanctuaries, which are privileged places of piety of the people of God, have not had any declaration of supernaturality regarding the events linked to their origin. It is the sense of faith who sensed the action of the Holy Spirit, while there were no critical issues that required intervention by the pastors.

Popular devotion is an important value and must be preserved to announce God even to those who struggle to understand the language of the wise. Humility is an important requirement in this regard and it is no coincidence that the Madonna always manifests herself to simple people, without particular theological preparation. Venerated with a thousand titles and names, Mary fulfills the task of facilitating the steps of the creature towards the Creator. "A Christian without the Madonna - warned Pope Francis - is an orphan. Even a Christian without the Church is an orphan. A Christian needs these two women, two mother women, two virgin women: the Church and the Madonna."  And Luigi Santucci, a Catholic novelist and poet of the last century, affirmed that «the apparitions of the Madonna in Lourdes are perhaps the true beginning of contemporary history, which, despite appearances, is more a blessed than a cursed history».