CCC reference for Public/Private Revelation and Appararitions

[RichSpidizzy]

I was doing a little research and am trying to find the Church’s official statements on Apparitions and Public/Private Revelation.

Now I know that the Church teaches that public revelation ended with the death of the last apostle, and any revelation after that is considered private revelation and individual Catholic’s are free to believe or not believe in any Church approved private revelation. So Catholics are free to believe in the aparitions of Fatima, Lourdes, Guadalupe or they can choose not to believe in these apparitions and can still be considered faithful Catholics.

Now that’s what I know, but can anyone tell me where I can find this teaching in some form of official capacity? Also, if someone could tell me if there are any tips or tricks on reading the Catechism, I am never able to find what I’m looking for even though I’m sure it must be in there somewhere.

 

[Fidelis]

Here is what the CCC says:

**66 ** "The Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new and definitive Covenant, will never pass away; and no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ."28 Yet even if Revelation is already complete, it has not been made completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of the centuries.

**67 ** Throughout the ages, there have been so-called “private” revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ’s definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.

Christian faith cannot accept “revelations” that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment, as is the case in certain non-Christian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such “revelations”.

Also, here’s a helpful article on this subject from *This Rock * magazine:
catholic.com/thisrock/2000/0011bt.asp

I normally don’t have much trouble finding what I need in the Catechism. The index is pretty helpful but it’s very general, meaning to find something *very * specific, you have to determine what general category something might be in and look for it there. It would be nice to have kind of an “apologetics concordance” to the CCC to reference controversial questions and answers.

It also helps to use an on-line version which has a search engine, like the one linked below.
scborromeo.org/index2.htm

 

[RichSpidizzy]

Thanks Fidelis! That is exactly what I was looking for!