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nobody
Guest
What are the official channels that Church rulings on apparitions are to be disseminated to the rest of the Church?
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Catholic2003
Guest
Apparitions are not disseminated to the rest of the Church. The era of public revelation is over; there is only private revelation today.
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goldenautumnday
Guest
Forgive me, but I do not understand what you mean.
Prophets before Christ; personal revelations afterwards?
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thistle
Guest
I think what NOBODY is asking is when there are alleged apparitions, for example, like Medjogorie, where do we go to find out if such apparitions are approved or not. Does the Vatican have a communication channel for finding what is approved or not?
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little_flower_1
Guest
as far as i know, there aren’t any. i think ppl have to look to the bishops of the diocese the apparitions occur in.
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nobody
Guest
Yes, thistle, that is what I meant. Thank you.
I would also think that for very well known apparitions, the Church would somehow take the initiative to inform the people of a ruling.
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nobody
Guest
How do we do that? Especially when the bishop is in a far-away country?
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Catholic2003
Guest
From the Catechism:
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LSK
Guest
No, I understand what both are saying.
The apparitions are not revealing anything new in terms of doctrine or dogma - that is what must be understood.
The Vatican has, through the years, made certain pronouncements regarding Marian apparitions and/or visitations of Our Lord Jesus to private individuals. Those are looked at and studied. The Church makes a decision and if that which has been revealed to the individual is not heresy, that will go far to help the Church leaders to determine if it is a true visitation or not. They also look at the behavior or the ‘seer’. Father Benedict Groeschel, when he was interviewed on this very subject, says that he often finds himself comparing the behavior of the person or persons claiming to have received a visitation from a member of the Church Triumphant or from Our Lord Jesus to the behavior of St. Bernadette, when she was being visited by Our Lady. He uses her as his ‘standard’, so to speak.
You might get more information from the Vatican website itself.
The apparitions are not revealing anything new in terms of doctrine or dogma - that is what must be understood.
The Vatican has, through the years, made certain pronouncements regarding Marian apparitions and/or visitations of Our Lord Jesus to private individuals. Those are looked at and studied. The Church makes a decision and if that which has been revealed to the individual is not heresy, that will go far to help the Church leaders to determine if it is a true visitation or not. They also look at the behavior or the ‘seer’. Father Benedict Groeschel, when he was interviewed on this very subject, says that he often finds himself comparing the behavior of the person or persons claiming to have received a visitation from a member of the Church Triumphant or from Our Lord Jesus to the behavior of St. Bernadette, when she was being visited by Our Lady. He uses her as his ‘standard’, so to speak.
You might get more information from the Vatican website itself.
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Seatuck
Guest
One can contact the Bishop directly or there are occaisionally other sources that will do this.
www.apparitions.org is one. Always look for proof such as letters from Bishops etc.
www.apparitions.org is one. Always look for proof such as letters from Bishops etc.
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Forest-Pine
Guest
The difference between public revelation and private revelation is that public revelation affects the deposit of faith. It therefore ended in the age of the apostles. Private revelations do continue. These have no moral bearing on the faithful; only on the person(s) the revelation is revealed to. Private revelations cannot clash with public revelation. In other words, if a private revelation says something we know to be false because it contradicts public revelation, then the public revelation trumps and the private revelation is declared false.
Most private revelations do not have publicity further than their own corner of the world. For the rare few which reach further, information is promulgated through the bishops’ conferences, I would assume. For instance, I know that of the particular apparition in question, it was made clear to all bishops and priests that they are not allowed to participate in their official capacities in any way, shape, or form. It is my understanding that the church cannot restrict their personal adherence to whether an apparition is true or not, but can restrict their public adherence and require them to be obedient to the church’s decision (even if they personally disagree).
A website you might like to check out is apparitions.org/
ETA: Seatuck and I were writing at the same time. How funny!
Most private revelations do not have publicity further than their own corner of the world. For the rare few which reach further, information is promulgated through the bishops’ conferences, I would assume. For instance, I know that of the particular apparition in question, it was made clear to all bishops and priests that they are not allowed to participate in their official capacities in any way, shape, or form. It is my understanding that the church cannot restrict their personal adherence to whether an apparition is true or not, but can restrict their public adherence and require them to be obedient to the church’s decision (even if they personally disagree).
A website you might like to check out is apparitions.org/
ETA: Seatuck and I were writing at the same time. How funny!
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nobody
Guest
Forest-Pine said:
Is that an “official” site? What did the faithful do before the internet? What about people that don’t have access to the internet?
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Forest-Pine
Guest
No, not official.
Before the modern age of technology, word spread quite a bit slower and travel was not nearly so accessible. So, before the Internet, the problem was definitely diminished. Nonetheless, once can always contact her own bishop who would then procure the information from his colleague in the proper location.
However, as it is so simple to call or even fly all over the world now (not to mention just looking it up on Google), and we can easily do the same thing as the bishop (drop a letter in the mail, send an email, or make a phone call) it would seem logical that many would now advise going straight to the bishop of the diocese in question. The default is still (as it was) to contact your own chancery, though.
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thistle
Guest
I sent an email some days ago to Pope Benedict’s official email address at the Vatican asking about Medjegorie. Of course I wouldn’t expect His Holiness to personally respond but in fact I did not get a response from anyone!
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nobody
Guest
Well please let us know if you get a response!
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otm
Guest
Part of the confusion is that the Church can make one of three statements:
It helps to keep in mind that the possibility that Mary, or Christ, or one of the other saints may be appearing to some one or more individuals is no where and no way more powerful than Christ making Himself physically present to each and every one in the Eucharist.
It constantly amazes me that people will spend thousands of dollars, weeks of time, and the indignities of travel in a country that is much less physically hospitable than ours to be near someone who allegedly is having appearances of Mary, when all they would have to do is walk, or drive short distance to be physically in the presence of her Son Our Lord.
Going back to 1 through 3 above, 1 & 3 are rulings; 2 is not a ruling (another way of saying it is that there is not enough evidence to make a finding either psotively or negatively). It is made in Latin, which may lend to the confusion.
I guess it is fine, all things being equal, to read about the apparitions and alleged apparitions, but if you are doing so, you might ask yourself one penetrating question (one that requires a good deal of self-honesty) and that is this: Is your reading and research leading you much more closely to Christ?
If it is not, you might want to find something else to read and research; the Bible might be a good place to start.
Another way of asking the question: for all the wonder and awe, the degree of facination and the time and effort you are putting into the apparition or alleged apparition, are you devoting an equal or greater amount to Christ?
Or are you bordering on making an idol of the issue?
- there is a supernatural occurance;
- The church cannot say that there is a superntural occurance;
- the Church can say there is not a supernatural occurance.
It helps to keep in mind that the possibility that Mary, or Christ, or one of the other saints may be appearing to some one or more individuals is no where and no way more powerful than Christ making Himself physically present to each and every one in the Eucharist.
It constantly amazes me that people will spend thousands of dollars, weeks of time, and the indignities of travel in a country that is much less physically hospitable than ours to be near someone who allegedly is having appearances of Mary, when all they would have to do is walk, or drive short distance to be physically in the presence of her Son Our Lord.
Going back to 1 through 3 above, 1 & 3 are rulings; 2 is not a ruling (another way of saying it is that there is not enough evidence to make a finding either psotively or negatively). It is made in Latin, which may lend to the confusion.
I guess it is fine, all things being equal, to read about the apparitions and alleged apparitions, but if you are doing so, you might ask yourself one penetrating question (one that requires a good deal of self-honesty) and that is this: Is your reading and research leading you much more closely to Christ?
If it is not, you might want to find something else to read and research; the Bible might be a good place to start.
Another way of asking the question: for all the wonder and awe, the degree of facination and the time and effort you are putting into the apparition or alleged apparition, are you devoting an equal or greater amount to Christ?
Or are you bordering on making an idol of the issue?
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goldenautumnday
Guest
Well, I think is partly what the OP was looking for. Learning more about the apparitions of Lourdes and Fatima may increase your faith and bring you closer to Christ. However, other alleged apparitions may bring you further away. On the surface they may appear to be helpful, but turn out to lead you astray. So, it would seem that the Vatican should help with informing the faithful about which private revelations are true and which are not. I understand that one could contact the Bishop directly over that apparition, but it would seem that the Vatican would be the best place.
Paul
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puzzleannie
Guest
if you do get a response it will likely refer you to the local bishop, who has jurisdiction in his diocese to ascertain the validity of so-called apparitions and locutions.
there is no need or vehicle for the Vatican to promote any apparitions because they are not binding on Catholics for belief or practice, so no need to disseminate them. It is usually done by word of mouth, often getting a boost if the seer is considered for sainthood after their death.
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otm
Guest
The question, however, is not really about approved apparitions, but those which have not been approved officially.
a lot of the heat comes from the issue of approval, and to the best of my knowledge, the Church has never approved of an apparition while it was in progress. Thus, the questions that come up about apparent apparitions which are alleged to be occuring in the here and now create quite a stir; some take the position that since it (or they) are not positively approved now, that they are rejected. That is not necessarily the case.
My other comments were directed to current apparent alleged apparitions; they continue to create very strong feelings, and not a little attention. One needs to ask, if one is drawn to them, what the driving force of the draw is: is it something that is actually increasing faith, or is it simply a draw to the mysterious?
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