Why do we never hear about Our Lady of Beauraing and Our Lady of Banneux?

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Tis_Bearself

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These two apparitions were Vatican-approved and happened fairly recently.
Yet we rarely hear about them.
I wasn’t even aware they had occurred until I read about them on Wikipedia a year or so ago.

We hear far more about Medjugorje and Garabandal, neither of which are approved, than we do about Beauraing and Banneux…

Why is this?

Does Belgium have some reticence to publicize these? I’m thinking of how Portuguese officials seem to be very involved in promoting devotion at Fatima.

(Please note, this is a thread for addressing the question at hand and not for anyone who has some general problem with Marian apparitions to vent…thank you in advance)
 
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The same way most people in South America know little abotu Guadalupe.
Local devotions get all the press.
 
pianistclare said:
The same way most people in South America know little abotu Guadalupe.

Local devotions get all the press.
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Guadalupe is local, and so is Our Lady of Good Help (though I am sure many people don’t know about that either), but Knock, Fatima and Lourdes are not “local devotions” to the USA and yet everyone knows about them. Medjugorgje and Garabandal are also not “local” and yet are very well known, though I suspect their popularity often comes from being promoted by those who point to these apparitions as Mary being critical of post-Vatican II changes in the Church.

Additionally, I have been to Belgium 2 or 3 times (friend lives in Brussels) and never heard of these when I was over there…and it’s a fairly small country, I would expect to hear a mention, something…
 
Yes, I use that website a lot and find it very helpful when someone at church is promoting some apparition. Also for looking up apparitions that I hear about more recently, such as Our Lady of America and the apparitions of Jesus in Canton, Ohio to Rhoda Wise. But it is still not answering the question of why we never hear about Beauraing and Banneux in the USA. Especially since they are in the very small group of Vatican approved apparitions.

I actually have heard more about Kibeho than either of these, perhaps because so many priests from Africa are in USA now and because Africa is on the Pope’s radar screen for prayers and evangelization.
 
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Honestly, it probably boils down to money.

We hear a lot about Fatima, Lourdes, and Medjugorje because there are huge amounts of money involved, and they are promoted internationally in a major way. Contrariwise, the apparitions in Belgium make very little money and so aren’t advertised nearly as much.

The almighty dollar makes the world go round.
 
I was in Fatima in October for the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun. At one point I stopped into the tourist center across from the shrine just to see what other attractions and things were available in the region.

Front and center was a brochure on an upcoming conference regarding the promotion of local sacred sites for purposes of economic development. I simultaneously chuckled and winced.

An economic blessing is still a blessing. And there are many worse things to do on your vacation than go pray to Jesus and Mary at a shrine. But still…

Maybe the Belgian shrines just need some better promoters…
 
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It is sad, and it does feel contrary to the spirit of religion. But that’s from the idealistic POV.

The pragmatic POV says what you just said, economic stability produced by tourist dollars helps the region, and in this world literally everything is dependent on money to a greater or lesser degree.

And I agree, if those Belgians can promote waffles, they ought to be able to promote Our Lady! 😂
 
Well, my Belgian friend (native born Belgian) has a lot to say about his country and most of it is not so good and has to do with the fact that the government system is hopelessly confused and apparently the Flemish and French Belgians are always somewhat at odds with each other.

Still, it’s a nice country, so now I guess I have a good reason to go back and see the two shrines. And eat more waffles in front of the Mannekin Pis 😃
 
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My God what a beautiful place Belgium is:

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Stunning.
 
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SuperLuigi said:
I think Belgium has a problem with anything that doesn’t promote Islam or secularism.
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I think more the latter.
Belgians aren’t exactly in love with Islamic people, or people of color either. Basing this on what I have seen with my own eyes visiting there.
 
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