The Petrus Report

Posted by Censor Librorum on Jan 28, 2009 | Categories: Bishops, Humor, Popes, Scandals

The current book by my armchair is The Power and the Glory: Inside the Dark Heart of John Paul II’s Vatican by David Yallop.   In the chapter, “The Marketplace” the author discusses the discreet, but powerful involvement of money in the popular  Medjugorje pilgrimage site.   A series of local bishops declared the apparitions a hoax and the visionaries liars, but so far the Vatican has  declined to make a pronouncement.  

On page 221 of the book the  author quotes this gem from  a member of the Secretariat of State about Medjugorje: “Of course its a fraud but the money is genuine.” our-lady-statute.jpg

On January 6, 2009, the conservative Italian Catholic website “Petrus” broke a story that Pope Benedict has instructed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to prepare a vademecum, or handbook, on how to deal with alleged Marian apparations and visions such as those at Medjugorje. It actually amounts to an update of a 1978 document on the same subject.

It would reportedly require individuals who said they have experienced appearances or visions of the Virgin Mary to remain silent while their claims are investigated carefully by Church authorities.

The document was also rumoured to specify that local bishops should set up commissions composed of psychiatrists, psychologists, theologians and priests to investigate the claimed apparitions.

The commission is supposed to establish whether the visionary seems psychologically unstable; whether trickery or economic interests may be involved; whether any alleged revelation is consistent with church teaching; and whether there are grounds to suspect demonic influence.

One interesting winkle: according to the Petrus report the alleged seers will be required to turn over their computers to investigators, who are supposed to determine if they’ve gone online researching miracles and wonders–suggesting that perhaps they wanted to minic other famed incidents.

In the background to these alleged new guidelines lurks the continuing controversy over Medjugorje, the Bosnian site where the Virgin Mary has been delivering revelation to a group of local seers since 1981. Medjugorje has become a pilgrimage destination for millions of devotees every year, despite the fact the church has never authenticated the visions. Pope John Paul II was a believer.

Vatican concern has also been shaped by ferment in Italy over the “Madonnina” or “little Madonna” of Civitavecchia–a small statute of the Virgin, originally purchased in Medjugorje, which has reportedly been shedding tears of blood  since the mid-1990s. madonna_di_civitavecchia.jpg

In May 2008, his excellency Andrea Gemma, 78,  bishop emeritus of the Isernia-Venafro Diocese northeast of Rome  and one of Italy’s best known exorcists, announced in Petrus that the Catholic Church had officially stated that the Blessed Mother had never appeared in Medjugorje and that the entire operation was the “work of the devil.” When asked to be more specific about the interests motivating involvement in Medjugorje, the bishop declared, “I’m referring to the devil’s shit, money.”

The fact that many priests from around the world continue to lead pilgrimages there is “a disgrace,” the bishop added. “The phony seers and their assistants make money hand over fist, while at the same time the devil creates dissension between the faithful and the Church.”

The well known theologian Rene Laurentin, after years of research, has recorded over 2,450 Marian documented events in the history of the church. But out of almost 300 requests for investigation initiated in the last 100 years, church authorities have officially certified as true only a dozen appearances. The most recent recognition is “Our Lady of Laus,” in France, which took place on May 8, 2008.

The local diocese declared the apparition as authentic in 1665. It only took the Vatican three and a half centuries to concur.  

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2 Responses to “The Petrus Report”

  1. Benny the Bridgebuilder Says:

    This is a really interesting area which is putting the Vatican through its paces.

    Ireland has a major Marian apparition shrine at Knock, in County Mayo. This dates from late 19th century and I have to declare an interest as a relation was among those who were reported to have witnessed the apparition. I was reared on Knock and it was almost an article of faith.

    Canon Horan constructed a basilica on the site and Pope John Paul II visited it in 1979.

    These apparitions are very controversial. I don’t believe in any of them myself but I was very taken by the sheer force of the faith of those pilgrims at Lourdes when I visited it many years ago. The faith was inspiring, the commercialisation of the site was disgusting. But the visit was unforgettable.

  2. pilgrim Says:

    Turning over computers…? I don’t think so in Medjugorje’s case. The claimed apparitions have gone on for 28 years now and I would imagine that there have been a few upgrades in hardware and software since then. Anyway, it is highly unlikely that the Medjugorje visionaries would be sitting in front of computers researching apparitions in 1981. Was the internet up and running then.

    Anyway, here’s an update on the Petrus vademecum story sourced from: National Catholic Register

    • A Vatican official has denied a document is being prepared about how to deal with alleged Marian apparitions and visions, such as those at Medjugorje.

    According to some reports that have circulated in the last few days, Pope Benedict has instructed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to prepare a vademecum, or handbook, on the matter. It reportedly would require individuals who said they have experienced appearances or visions of the Virgin Mary to remain silent while their claims are investigated carefully by Church authorities.

    The document was also rumored to specify that local bishops should set up commissions composed of psychiatrists, psychologists, theologians and priests to investigate the claimed apparitions.

    But according to a Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith official who spoke with Register correspondent Edward Pentin, there is no truth to these reports. The official stated emphatically that no work is underway on a vademecum or on any other type of document regarding the question of how to handle claims of apparitions

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