For centuries the Catholic Church has had to deal with controversies generated by people who claim to have experienced apparitions of the Virgin, to have found sacred statues that cry or to mysterious mystical locutions. The latest scandal took place very close to the Vatican, in the town of Trevignano Romano, less than an hour from Rome, where a supposed psychic made gold – a devotee gave her up to 123,000 euros – saying that she was communicating with a virgin who I cried blood and multiplied pizzas. Pope Francis, very attached to the figure of the virgin, and also very sensitive to popular devotions, has decided to take action on the matter to remove those who try to enrich themselves at the expense of the beliefs of the most vulnerable and has ruled that from From now on it will be the Holy See that will have the last word on the alleged apparitions and other alleged supernatural phenomena.
The Vatican presented the new norms this Friday, an update of those that were in force until now, which are 45 years old. They were signed in 1978 by Croatian Cardinal Franjo Seper and were made to differentiate mysticism from deception, but they had not been made public until December 2011. The problem is that, with the arrival of social networks and mass media , the reach of scammers is increasing. The psychic Gisella Cardia, from Trevignano Romano, for example, explained her false miracles on television and broadcast her calls live thanks to the Internet.
The new Vatican regulations establish six categories of judgment on the alleged phenomena, instead of the three that existed until now. The 1978 regulations indicated that after an investigation, one could choose three paths: declare that there was a “declaration of supernaturality,” rule out supernaturality when it was evident that there was nothing miraculous about this phenomenon, or decide that More development on the phenomenon was necessary before ruling it out. Now there will be many more grays, but the fundamental thing is that the Vatican opts for caution by ruling out that it is the Church that should pronounce on supernaturality. That is to say, the maximum that can be reached is a “no objection” that does not oblige the Holy See to say that these phenomena have occurred, but will limit itself to considering that there are positive spiritual elements to promote pilgrimages if They don’t see anything wrong with it.
The underlying problem is that these supposedly inexplicable apparitions are also a huge generator of conversions and new religious vocations, as has been the case of the apparitions in Fátima, in Portugal, or Lourdes, in France, which have also become very popular destinations. popular pilgrimage. The Vatican’s indication seems to be not to touch these already established sanctuaries. More caution is aroused by the alleged apparitions of Medjugorge, in Bosnia Herzegovina, since June 1981. Benedict XVI, during his pontificate, commissioned a commission made up of theologians and experts to study the consistency of these apparitions, investigations where serious doubts have arisen about everything it. The Vatican has not yet officially approved them, but it has not prevented pilgrimages either. According to what the prefect of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith, Argentine Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, said in a press conference, with the new norms it will be “easier” to reach a conclusion.
On a practical level, the first discernment should be made by the local bishops, who may allow the faithful to do so in a case of this nature if they see that it is something that does not go further and does not present dangers. If it is proven that the phenomenon is growing and can be dangerous, that is when the bishop must intervene and involve the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, that is, the Vatican, something that has not always happened until now. “There have been cases in which for seventy years the bishops argued about whether something was supernatural or not and there were those who wondered where the Dicastery was,” lamented Cardinal Fernández, who recalled that it can reach the point of excommunicating the fraudsters. Now, the Vatican will have the final say to avoid confusion and fraud.
In the event that the elements collected “are sufficient”, an investigation commission will be created whose members will include at least a theologian, a canonist and an expert chosen based on the nature of the phenomenon, whose meetings will be held in the presence of a notary Specifically, the Vatican warns that we must be particularly attentive to those supposed psychics who follow “a search for profit, power, fame, social notoriety, personal interest closely linked to the fact” or do not present “psychological alterations or psychopathic tendencies in the subject.” , which may have exerted an influence on the alleged supernatural event.” They also underline the moral gravity of those who take advantage of faith to abuse the most desperate.
