Part 2
It can be helpful to keep in mind that when the former Cardinal Ratzinger and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith did indeed examine a text which they concluded contained intrinsic doctrinal error, they did not hesitate to issue, when deemed appropriate, an officially promulgated “Notification” concerning the respective text due to its inherent doctrinal errors. (6) No such Notification has ever been issued by the postconciliar CDF regarding The Poem of the Man-God.
- A number of other posed objections against The Poem appear lacking in serious theological foundation. One objection states that the lengthiness of the speeches of Jesus and Mary manifests evidence of a lack of authenticity. This opinion cannot substantiate a conclusion of doctrinal error, but rather comprises a very subjective and personal opinion as to the appropriate duration, or lack thereof, of the teachings of Jesus and the dialogues of Mary.
Moreover, the objection posed that The Poem makes reference to a sexual element in the Original Sin and therefore is doctrinally erroneous also cannot be theologically substantiated. The Church has always permitted a significant diversity regarding concepts of the nature of the Original Sin committed by Adam and Eve, and both St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas in fact held that the material element of Original Sin (peccatum originale materialiter) included to some degree the aspect of concupiscence. (7) Such theological opinion certainly does not indicate a doctrinal error, regardless of a legitimate difference of opinion concerning the potential element of sexuality in relation to the first sin of Adam and Eve.
Yet a further objection of alleged doctrinal error is the reference found in The Poem that Mary is a “second-born of the Father” after Jesus, the Father’s first born. Far from constituting doctrinal error, this mariological position was first posited by the Eastern Church author, John the Geometer, in the tenth century. (8) This remains an acceptable mariological concept proximate to the Franciscan school of Mariology, is complementary to the eternal predestination of Mary with Jesus in the Incarnation, and is referred to by Blessed Pius IX in the papal statement defining the Immaculate Conception, Ineffabilis Deus. (9)
In addition, the extensive mariology contained in The Poem was also the subject of a 400 page study written by arguably the greatest Italian mariologist of the twentieth century and Consultor to the Holy Office, Rev. Gabriel Roschini, O.S.M. (10) In a letter of January 17, 1974, Father Roschini received the congratulations of Pope Paul VI for his work entitled, The Virgin Mary in the Writings of Maria Valtorta. The letter from the Secretary of State notes, “the Holy Father thanks you wholeheartedly for this new testimony of your respectful regards and wishes you to receive from your labor the consolation of abundant spiritual benefits.” (11) Neither the papal benediction granted by Pope Paul VI nor the papal congratulations issued through the Secretary of State would have been granted to a text based on a series of private revelations which were “forbidden” or declared “doctrinally erroneous” by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
In sum, The Poem of the Man-God constitutes a text which may be licitly read and discerned by the contemporary faithful Catholic. I would invite interested Catholics to examine The Poem for themselves, while always retaining a determinate commitment of obedience to the final and definitive judgement of the Church regarding these reported private revelations. I personally have found these writings to be particularly inspiring in bringing to yet greater light and life the fathomless mysteries of the life of our Incarnate God as contained in the ineffable and infallible Word of God in the New Testament.
The following documented evaluations may also be of assistance in an authentic and integral discernment and examination of The Poem of the Man-God:
His Excellency, Archbishop Alfonso Carinci, Secretary of the Congregation of the Sacred Rites (1946):
There is nothing therein which is contrary to the Gospel. Rather, this work, a good complement to the Gospel, contributes towards a better understanding of its meaning. (12)
Fr. Dreyfus, of the French Biblical and Archeological School, Jerusalem (1986):
I was greatly impressed on finding in Maria Valtorta’s work the names of at least six or seven towns, which are absent from the Old and New Testaments. These names are known but to a few specialists, and through non-biblical sources… Now, how could she have known these names, if not through the revelations she claims that she had? (13)
Msgr. Ugo Lattanzi, dean of the Faculty of Theology of the Lateran Pontifical University, Adviser to the Holy Office (1951):
The author could not have written such an abundant amount of material without being under the influence of a supernatural power. (14)
Fr. Marco Giraudo, O.P., Commissioner of the Holy Office in 1961, to Fr. Berti, representing the Order of the Servants of Mary (1961):
You have our complete approval to continue the publication of this second edition of Maria Valtorta’s Poem of the Man-God. (15)
Fr. Agostino Béa (future Cardinal), S.J., Rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute and Advisor to the Holy Office (1952):
I have read in typed manuscripts many of the books written by Maria Valtorta… As far as exegesis is concerned, I did not find any errors in the parts which I examined. (16)
Fr. Gabriel M. Roschini, O.S.M., Professor at the “Marianum” Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Rome, author of 130 books, and Advisor to the Holy Office (1972):
