Current:Home > FinanceVatican updates norms to evaluate visions of Mary, weeping statues as it adapts to internet age and hoaxers-DB Wealth Institute B2 Reviews & Ratings
Vatican updates norms to evaluate visions of Mary, weeping statues as it adapts to internet age and hoaxers
lotradecoin hardware wallet support View Date:2024-12-25 14:35:51
Vatican City – The Vatican's doctrinal office has released new norms regarding alleged supernatural phenomena such as apparitions of Mary, weeping statues and other supposed mystical events.
For centuries, apparitions of Mary at sites such as Fatima, Portugal and Lourdes, France – eventually declared by church authorities as having divine origin – have become the basis for shrines visited by millions of pilgrims each year.
But in a new document replacing the church's 1978 rules, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) declared that the Vatican and the local bishop will no longer formally declare such phenomena to be of divine origin. DDF chief Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez said in a press conference on Friday introducing the new norms that the Vatican would no longer affirm "with moral certainty that (such phenomena) originates from a decision willed by God in a direct way." Instead, after careful analysis, they would limit themselves to authorizing devotion and pilgrimages, he said.
The new rules give the final word to the Vatican, requiring the bishop to conduct an investigation, formulate his judgment, and submit it to the DDF. The DDF will then respond with one of six possible outcomes. They range from a "nihil obstat" ("nothing stands in the way") allowing the bishop to promote the phenomena and invite devotion and pilgrimage; to proceeding with caution since some doctrinal questions are still open; to advising the bishop not to encourage the phenomena; to declaring based on concrete facts that the phenomena does not have divine origin.
Fernandez said that since examination of alleged religious phenomena took many years, these new rules would help the church reach decisions much more quickly, which is essential in the internet age where such claims spread very quickly.
In most cases, these apparitions have led to a growth in faith, leading to shrines that are at the heart of popular devotion, he said. But the cardinal also cautioned that they could lead to "serious issues that harm the faithful" and could be exploited for "profit, power, fame, social recognition, or other personal interest." The faithful could be "misled by an event that is attributed to a divine initiative but is merely the product of someone's imagination, desire for novelty, or tendency to lie," he said.
Neomi De Anda, executive director of the International Marian Research Institute at the University of Dayton, told the Associated Press the new guidelines represent a significant but welcome change to the current practice while restating important principles.
"The faithful are able to engage with these phenomena as members of the faithful in popular practices of religion, while not feeling the need to believe everything offered to them as supernatural as well as the caution against being deceived and beguiled," she said in an email.
- In:
- Vatican City
- Catholic Church
veryGood! (87)
Related
- 'Alien: Romulus' movie review: Familiar sci-fi squirms get a sheen of freshness
- Cook Inlet Natural Gas Leak Can’t Be Fixed Until Ice Melts, Company Says
- US Olympic ski jumper Patrick Gasienica dead at 24 in motorcycle accident
- 5 Reasons Many See Trump’s Free Trade Deal as a Triumph for Fossil Fuels
- As Baltimore’s Sewer System Buckles Under Extreme Weather, City Refuses to Help Residents With Cleanup Efforts
- Spain approves menstrual leave, teen abortion and trans laws
- A new study offers hints that healthier school lunches may help reduce obesity
- House Bill Would Cut Clean Energy and Efficiency Programs by 40 Percent
- Usher Cancels Atlanta Concert Hours Before Show to Rest and Heal
- Unsolved Mysteries Subject Kayla Unbehaun Found Nearly 6 Years After Alleged Abduction
Ranking
- Walmart boosts its outlook for 2024 with bargains proving a powerful lure for the inflation weary
- Dear Life Kit: My husband is living under COVID lockdown. I'm ready to move on
- Biden set his 'moonshot' on cancer. Meet the doctor trying to get us there
- Kate Spade 24-Hour Flash Deal: Get This $380 Backpack for Just $99
- White House says deals struck to cut prices of popular Medicare drugs that cost $50 billion yearly
- One Direction's Liam Payne Shares He's More Than 100 Days Sober
- Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke's 21-year-old Son Levon Makes Rare Appearance at Cannes Film Festival
- Kate Spade 24-Hour Flash Deal: Get This $380 Backpack for Just $99
Recommendation
-
Sofía Vergara Responds After Joe Manganiello Says Her Reason for Divorce Is “Not True”
-
4 pieces of advice for caregivers, from caregivers
-
House rejects bid to censure Adam Schiff over Trump investigations
-
See RHOBH's Kyle Richards and Kathy Hilton's Sweet Family Reunion Amid Ongoing Feud
-
Ex-YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki dies a year after stepping down. Who is the current CEO?
-
With student loan forgiveness in limbo, here's how the GOP wants to fix college debt
-
The science that spawned fungal fears in HBO's 'The Last of Us'
-
Dakota Pipeline Protest Camp Is Cleared, at Least 40 Arrested