How many Marian Appartitions have been approved by the Church?

[jas84173]

I am all to well aware of the most known such as Fatima, Lourdes, Guadalupe, Mt.Carmel; but what others are confirmed by the Church?

 

[phil19034]

I am all to well aware of the most known such as Fatima, Lourdes, Guadalupe, Mt.Carmel; but what others are confirmed by the Church?

From what I understand, technically, not many are confirmed by the Church. There are tons which the Church states that there is nothing about the apparition which prohibits devotion, but I don’t believe there are many where the Church actually declares the Marian Apparition to be actually be a real miracle.

Typically, the apparitions that are truly confirmed have a saints affiliated with them.

For example:
Fatima - Servant of God Sister Lucia Santos, and Saints Jacinta and Francisco Marto
Lourdes - St. Bernadette
Guadalupe - St. Juan Diego
Mt. Carmel - St. Simon Stock

I hope this helps

God Bless

 

[pianistclare]

• Guadalupe, Mexico (1531)
  “Throughout the continent, from the time of the first evangelization, the presence of the Mother of God has been strongly felt, thanks to the efforts of the missionaries. In their preaching, “the Gospel was proclaimed by presenting the Virgin Mary as its highest realization. From the beginning — invoked as Our Lady of Guadalupe — Mary, by her motherly and merciful figure, was a great sign of the closeness of the Father and of Jesus Christ, with whom she invites us to enter into communion”.(19) The appearance of Mary to the native Juan Diego on the hill of Tepeyac in 1531 had a decisive effect on evangelization.” vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_22011999_ecclesia-in-america_en.html
• Lezajsk, Poland (1578)
• Siluva, Lithuania (1608)
  “Letter to Card. Meisner, Special Envoy at the celebrations for the fourth centenary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Šiluva [Lithuania, 13-14 September 2008] (July 3, 2008).” vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/letters/2008/index_en.htm
• Laus, France (1664)
  “On Sunday during a Mass celebrated in the town of Laus in the French Alps, Bishop Jean-Michel de Falco of Gap, accompanied by numerous cardinals and archbishops from around the world, announced the official approval of the Church of the Marian apparitions to Benôite (Benedicta) Rencurel between 1664 and 1718.” catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican_recognizes_marian_apparitions_in_france/
• “Our Lady of Laus, approved on May 4, 2008” catholicnewsagency.com/news/expert_explains_churchs_criteria_for_confirming_marian_apparitions/
• Rue du Bac, Paris, France (1830)
  “Among the various medals of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the most diffuse must be the “Miraculous Medal”. Its origins go back to the apparitions in 1830 of Our Lady to St. Catherine Labouré, a humble novice of the Daughters of Charity in Paris.” vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html
• Rome, Italy (1842)
• La Salette, France (1846)
• Lourdes, France (1858)
  “Apostolic Journey to France on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes (September 12-15, 2008).” vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/travels/2008/index_francia_en.htm
• Champion, Wisconsin (1859)
  “On Dec. 8, 2010 –the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception– the bishop decreed with “moral certainty” that the Virgin Mary had indeed appeared to a young Belgian immigrant woman, Adele Brise, on three occasions in October of 1859. Since 1861, the site of those apparitions has been home to a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary under her title “Our Lady of Good Help.” Following a two-year investigation of the alleged apparitions, Bishop Ricken proclaimed them “worthy of belief,” and confirmed his diocese’s official recognition of the popular shrine.” catholicnewsagency.com/news/wisconsin-chapel-approved-as-first-us-marian-apparition-site/
• Filippsdorf, Czech Republic (1866)
• Pontmain, France (1871)
• Gietrzwald, Poland (1877)
• Knock, Ireland (1879)
• Fatima, Portugal (1917)
  “This solemn celebration concludes the mission the Holy Father has entrusted to me to represent him here in Fatima on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to the three shepherd children at Cova da Iria. Yesterday was a Saturday, as was that 13 October 1917.” vatican.va//roman_curia/secretariat_state/card-bertone/2007/documents/rc_seg-st_20071014_bertone-fatima_en.html
• Beauraing, Belgium (1932)
• Banneux, Belgium (1933)
  “LETTER OF JOHN PAUL II TO THE BISHOP OF LIÈGE ON THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE RECOGNITION OF THE APPARITIONS OF OUR LADY AT BANNEUX…In 1933, a few years before the Second World War, Mary appeared in Banneux as a messenger of peace.” vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_19990731_banneux_en.html
• Kibeho, Rwanda (1981)
  “The Mother of Jesus wished to appear in your country to several children, reminding them of the efficacy of fasting and of prayer, especially the recitation of the Rosary.” w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/april/documents/papa-francesco_20140403_ad-limina-rwanda.html

 

[Tis_Bearself]

There are different levels of “approval by the Church”. Apparitions usually are first investigated and approved by the local bishop. If the bishop approves, then the apparition is considered “not contrary to faith or morals” and Catholics are allowed to venerate Mary at the site. For most apparitions, that’s as far as it goes.

Only a small handful of bishop-approved apparitions go on to be recognized by the Vatican, and that is the list that pianistclare posted for you. Edited to add, with the exception of Champion, Wisconsin (Our Lady of Good Help) to Adele Brise. I don’t think that one has gotten the official Vatican recognition yet - it has been approved at the local bishop level only.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

The Miracle Hunter website is a good resource for seeing the status of Marian apparitions.

miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/

 

[Michael85]

Here is a page with some info on apparitions: fisheaters.com/apparitions.html

 

[commenter]

There are different levels of “approval by the Church”. Apparitions usually are first investigated and approved by the local bishop. If the bishop approves, then the apparition is considered “not contrary to faith or morals” and Catholics are allowed to venerate Mary at the site. For most apparitions, that’s as far as it goes.

Only a small handful of bishop-approved apparitions go on to be recognized by the Vatican, and that is the list that pianistclare posted for you. Edited to add, with the exception of Champion, Wisconsin (Our Lady of Good Help) to Adele Brise. I don’t think that one has gotten the official Vatican recognition yet - it has been approved at the local bishop level only.

True.
I wonder what the level of “approval by the Church” is a reflection of. For instance, if the *Vatican *approves an apparition and/or private revelation, does that mean there is a higher degree of credibility? Or does that only mean, as I would think, that the Church thinks this given message has useful application over a wider area than one that might be intended only for a given city. In other words, maybe a diocesan-only approved apparition might be no less, and no more, credible than a Vatican approved one. I don’t think there are different levels of credibility here, just these levels: Public Revelation; Approved Private Revelation; and other stuff.

The other thing is the distinction between approval of apparitions, and approval of private revelations. Sometimes the Church will examine a set of reported statements possibly from Mary, and approve it - like Fatima, in 1930. But a great deal of other information comes out later, in various ways. This information tends to be identified with the Approval, but it is probably never formally approved or disapproved by the Church. But people think it is.

 

[Roseeurekacross]

There is also Zeitoun, Egypt. This is under the Egyptian ( is it Coptic?) Bishop

zeitun-eg.org/zeitoun1.htm

 

[Tis_Bearself]

True.
I wonder what the level of “approval by the Church” is a reflection of. For instance, if the *Vatican *approves an apparition and/or private revelation, does that mean there is a higher degree of credibility? Or does that only mean, as I would think, that the Church thinks this given message has useful application over a wider area than one that might be intended only for a given city. In other words, maybe a diocesan-only approved apparition might be no less, and no more, credible than a Vatican approved one. I don’t think there are different levels of credibility here, just these levels: Public Revelation; Approved Private Revelation; and other stuff.

The Miracle Hunter website I posted has a pretty long discussion of this.
It’s my understanding that the Council of Trent put the local bishop in charge of determining credibility and that what he says, goes, so the Vatican choosing to lend its special stamp of approval to an apparition or not does not make it more or less credible. I would tend to think that when the Pope or the Vatican chooses to pay attention to a specific apparition, it’s because they think that apparition might carry a special message of importance for the Catholic faithful worldwide at that particular time, not because they are saying it’s more likely Mary appeared there than in the diocese of Bishop Smith somewhere else.

The other thing is the distinction between approval of apparitions, and approval of private revelations. Sometimes the Church will examine a set of reported statements possibly from Mary, and approve it - like Fatima, in 1930. But a great deal of other information comes out later, in various ways. This information tends to be identified with the Approval, but it is probably never formally approved or disapproved by the Church. But people think it is.

In some cases I think the Church has disapproved some of the information that comes out later. I’m thinking of Our Lady of La Salette, where one of the seers, Melanie Calvat, released a number of updates and revisions of her revelations years after the original apparition. Some of her writings were disapproved by the Church and I believe even put on the Index of Forbidden Books.