VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican has overhauled the way it evaluates alleged supernatural events, such as reported visions of the Virgin Mary, to protect against hoaxes and take into account news that goes viral.
Previously approved apparitions have made these places important pilgrimage sites, attracting millions of people every year:
– Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico: A native Mexican man named Juan Diego reported several apparitions of the Virgin Mary in 1531. For believers, the statue of the Virgin hanging in the basilica is a miracle in itself, created when Juan Diego carried flowers in his cloak after receiving one of the visions, and upon opening it, I discovered that the cloak displayed a detailed, colorful image of the Virgin.
– Lourdes, France: July 16 marks the anniversary of alleged visions of Mary in 1858 by a young girl, Bernadette Soubirous, and the discovery of supposedly healing spring water in southern France, near the Pyrenees.
– Fatima, Portugal: The three shepherd children said that the Virgin Mary appeared to them six times in 1917 and entrusted them with three secrets. The first two described an apocalyptic view of hell, predicting the end of World War I and the beginning of World War II, and the rise and fall of Soviet communism.
Some disputed Marian apparitions include:
-Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina: In 1981, six children and teenagers said they had seen apparitions of Mary on a hill in the village of Medjugorje, and some of the original “seers” claim to receive revelations all the time. The Vatican has been studying the phenomenon for years and officials said Tuesday that a decision was expected soon.
– Our Lady of All Nations, Amsterdam: One of the most egregious cases of misleading statements by Catholic authorities over the course of seventy years about the supernatural nature of alleged Marian apparitions. In 2020, the current bishop, with the support of the Vatican, confirmed the Vatican’s 1974 negative assessment of the supernaturality of the so-called ‘apparitions and revelations’.
-Army of Mary, Quebec, Canada: Following another misstep by bishops, the Vatican excommunicated members of the Army of Mary in 2007 after its founder claimed to have had Marian visions and declared himself the reincarnation of Christ’s mother.
