The Vatican Changes the Rules on the Supernatural Part 3

From 1978 until just recently, the Vatican used three classifications in evaluating alleged supernatural occurrences.  Then in May of this year, the Vatican changed the rules and added six new classifications.  Most significantly, the Vatican removed the bishops’ authority in determining whether an occurrence was supernatural.  Under the new rules, bishops no longer may approve an occurrence as supernatural.  That power has been reserved exclusively for the Pope.  In my two previous postings on this topic, I discussed the 1978 rules and the 2024 changes to those rules.  In this third part, I will examine how the Vatican is already implementing these new rules changes. 

Since announcing the rule changes in mid-May 2024, the Vatican has issued three official pronouncements on alleged supernatural events. 

Last month, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith confirmed a ruling by Bishop Marco Salvi of Civita Castellano, Italy, that determined the alleged apparitions received by Gisella Cardia and her husband Gianni were not supernatural.  Since 2014, the Cardias have been claiming to have received apparitions from the Blessed Mother, Jesus and God Himself in the small town of Trevignano Romano.   Issued last March, Bishop Salvi’s decision actually pre-dates the new Vatican rules. Bishop Salvi has also prohibited the clergy from visiting or celebrating the sacraments at the site of the alleged apparitions or participating in any events associated with the occurrences.  He further  prohibited the clergy for encouraging any devotion to these alleged apparitions.   Thus, the Dicastery’s decision to confirm Bishop Salvi’s judgment is not surprising.  In addition, local civil authorities have closed Gisella’s chapel and are pursuing legal action against the Cardias for possible fraud surrounding financial contributions associated with their alleged apparitions. Officially, the Dicastery has classified the Trevignano occurrences as “Declaratio de non supernaturalitate.”   See https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2024-06/doctrine-of-the-faith-confirms-ruling-on-alleged-apparitions.html and https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/258118/vatican-rules-supposed-apparitions-of-virgin-mary-near-rome-not-supernatural   

Invoking the new rules adopted in May 2024, the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith announced on 5 July 2024 that the alleged Marian apparitions received by Pierina Gilli in Montichiari in 1947 and again in Fontanelle in 1966 did not contain any theological or moral conflicts with the teachings of the Catholic Church.  Reportedly, Our Blessed Mother wished to be known as the Mystical Rose.  During one of her visits with Pierina, Our Blessed Mother reportedly told her, “The Lord is still protecting the good and is holding back a great punishment because of my intercession. Soon, one will recognize the greatness of this hour of grace.”  The apparitions were approved by the local bishop in 2019.  The Dicastery’s decision confirmed the local bishop’s approval and has been approved by Pope Francis. See https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_ddf_doc_20240705_lettera-devozione-mariarosamistica_sp.html  , https://www.ncregister.com/cna/cna-july-8-2024-mystical-rose , https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2024-07/dicastery-doctrine-faith-our-lady-rosa-mystica-approval-devotion.html  and https://zenit.org/2024/07/08/vaticans-positive-statement-about-mary-mystical-rose-after-study-of-marian-revelations/ 

Lastly, the Vatican has also confirmed the 1974 rejection of another alleged Marian apparition, the “Our Lady of All Nations” apparitions that took place in Amsterdam in 1945-1959. According to the recipient of the apparitions Ida Peerdeman, the Blessed Mary wished to be known as “Our Lady of All Nations” and accordingly an image of her with that title was painted.  The local diocese conducted an investigation of the alleged apparitions and in 1956, the bishop declared that he found no evidence of the supernatural.   In 1974, the Sacred Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith determined that these alleged apparitions were “constat de non supernaturalitate” (not supernatural). (See https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19740525_signora-amsterdam_en.html  ) This decision was approved by Pope St. Paul VI.  See https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2024-07/pope-paul-vi-ddf-our-lady-nations-amsterdam-false.html  , https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/258257/vatican-reveals-details-about-1974-ruling-on-alleged-lady-of-all-nations-apparition  ,   and https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2024/07/11/vatican-reveals-details-about-1974-ruling-on-alleged-lady-of-all-nations-apparition/ 

Over the last two months, we have seen some extraordinary actions by the Vatican regarding supernatural events.  First, the Vatican issued six new classifications for evaluating alleged supernatural occurrences and removed the bishops’ authority to approve supernatural occurrences.  Then, the Vatican issued three significant decisions on three separate alleged supernatural occurrences.  Two of the three (Our Lady of All Nations and the Trevignano apparitions to Gisella Cardia) confirmed previous decisions that the occurrences were not supernatural.  In the third instance (Our Lady Mystical Rose), the Vatican and Pope Francis approved the occurrences as supernatural. 

That the Vatican has rejected two prominent alleged Marian apparitions is not disconcerting.  We know that the devil often tries to confuse the faithful with false apparitions.  The Church must be vigilant in evaluating alleged supernatural occurrences.  We also know that at various times, God has sent Jesus, Our Blessed Mother, and some saints to bring messages to the world through private revelations.  Most noteworthy of these recipients of private revelations are St. Bernadette at Lourdes, St. Faustina and the Divine Mercy devotion, St. Catherine Laboure and the Miraculous Medal, and St. Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe, just to name a few.  The Church must as a measure of prudence carefully and thoughtfully evaluate each and every alleged supernatural occurrence.  The Church must exercise its due diligence so that the devil’s machinations do not mislead the faithful and diminish the importance  and impact of the legitimate supernatural occurrences.  In the case of Our Lady of All Nations and the Trevignano apparitions, the Church appears to be doing just that. 

There are three major disconcerting aspects of the Vatican’s changes to the way that they are now evaluating alleged supernatural occurrences.  First, several of the new rules are worded unnecessarily ambiguous.  Second, the new rules sharply restrict the bishops’ role in evaluating supernatural occurrences.  The bishops may no longer determine if an occurrence is supernatural; he can only determine that it is not supernatural.  At best, he can issue a nihil obstat, meaning that the occurrence does contain anything contrary to the teachings of the Church and he can encourage devotion to the occurrence.  Third, the new rules centralize the authority for evaluating alleged supernatural occurrences with the Vatican and entrust approvals solely in the Pope.  Under the new rules, only the Pope can approve definitively if an occurrence is supernatural.  The decree states, “23. In light of the aforementioned points, it is reaffirmed that, as a rule, neither the Diocesan Bishop, nor the Episcopal Conferences, nor the Dicastery will declare that these phenomena are of supernatural origin, even if a Nihil obstat is granted (cf. Par. 11, above). It remains true, however, that the Holy Father can authorize a special procedure in this regard.”  (See https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_ddf_doc_20240517_norme-fenomeni-soprannaturali_en.html  )

The new rules dramatically change the way that the Church evaluates alleged supernatural occurrences.  In recent decades, there have been an abundance of alleged supernatural occurrences. Several of these alleged occurrences are warning about corruption and apostasy within the Church and the Papacy.  Some argue that this proliferation of supernatural occurrences is because humanity is approaching the emergence of the anti-Christ and the return of our Lord and Savior. 

With so many alleged supernatural occurrences happening in recent decades, most notably Garabandal and Medjugorje, the new Vatican rules on evaluating supernatural occurrences will have a major impact.  May the Holy Spirit guide the Church and the faithful through these confusing times and protect us all from doctrinal error.