The Response of the Church

The whole question of apparitions is an interesting one. The fact is that they have been reported by otherwise impeccable witnesses in each generation since the Apostles. The Church has always regarded them with caution. The Mature consideration of the Church about them is roughly as follows: God gives us a Mountain to climb, and does give us the equipment necessary to reach the summit without further help. Yet the church is our Mother, she is not just a compendium of Rules. And a Mother knows a few things. Because of our weak human nature, the Church may offer individuals a little refreshment on the way up the mountain. To change the metaphor, true apparitions have been vouchsafed to individuals in each generation, not to add to the Deposit of Faith, but to give a Helping Hand. But they are not absolutely necessary. Those who do not wish to avail of them are under no compulsion to do so. Yet for some it would have been wiser if they had.

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The situation is complicated by the fact that God clearly gives the devil some power to raise False apparitions. There is also the medical fact that severe fasting and penances can give rise to hallucinations. The Church, wise and experienced mother that She is, knows well about these things. That is why it is mandated that nobody is to embark on 'extraordinary' penances or austerities without being under a Spiritual Director, who must be obeyed. If he or she says, "Your apparition, no matter how strongly you believe in it, is actually false. You must not respond to it or follow any of its suggestions," they must be obeyed. As G.K.Chesterton wrote, the Catholic Church makes the astonishing claim that sometimes, somebody else is wiser than you are.

One extremely clear guideline, that can be applied long before anybody goes to their Bishop, or even Parish Priest, is: If even one detail of the words or actions of an alleged Apparition or Revelation are contrary to the Faith, the entire enterprise must be totally rejected.

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Furthermore, it was the strict rule, up to the 1960s, that nobody who believed they were the recipient of a Special Revelation or an Apparition was allowed to say or write anything in public about it without being expressly permitted by the diocesan bishop or other lawful superior. Do you see the wisdom of all this? It is not the Catholic Way to make a blanket prohibition of something just because there are pitfalls or abuses. There is a Latin proverb: 'The abuse does not invalidate the [legitimate] use.' Some apparitions are, by reasonable standards, worthy of belief that they are genuine. There is nothing in Divine Revelation to say that they never happen: in fact, they are a 'normal', though rare, part of life in the Bible.

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Accordingly, the following DECLARATION, or one like it, is to be found in the front page of any Catholic book that treats of apparently supernatural events:

DECLARATION

In obedience to the decrees of Pope Urban VIII and other sovereign Pontiffs, the writer declares that the graces and other supernatural facts related in this volume as witnessing to the sanctity of Servants of God, other than those canonised or beatified by the church, rest on human authority alone; and in regard thereto, as in all things else, the writer submits himself without reserve to the infallible judgment of the Apostolic See which alone has power to pronounce as to whom rightly belong the character and title of Saint or Blessed.