They create a new diocesan sanctuary in Spain after receiving Vatican support

The Archbishopric of Mérida-Badajoz (Spain) has announced that on September 15 the hermitage of Our Lady of Chandavila will be erected as a diocesan sanctuary after receiving the nothing stands in the way of the Vatican.

This has been announced by Mons. José Rodríguez Carballo, Archbishop of Mérida-Badajoz, who, in a media appearance has shared the interest of Pope Francis and the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, “in promoting worship, pilgrimages and the place itself, keeping the message alive,” which he added, “can be synthesized in three words: peace, forgiveness and prayer.”

Bishop Rodríguez has also conveyed the specific mandate that the Pontiff conveyed to him during a recent private audience in relation to the place where some alleged apparitions took place in the 40s and 50s of the 20th century: “Joseph, maintain that atmosphere of simplicity and of austerity,” he told him.

For this reason, the prelate has stressed that “for our part we will never favor commerce, even if it is religious commerce” in the surroundings of the Chandavila hermitage, which on September 15 will be declared a diocesan sanctuary during a solemn Eucharist.

For the archbishop, it is “a first step”, because the focus is on it becoming a national sanctuary, with the approval of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, and, finally, an international one, with the assistance of the Vatican authorities.

The interest in having its international character recognized responds to the fact that “many Spanish compatriots come to Chandavila, but also many Portuguese.” To serve the abundant Portuguese pilgrims, the Archbishopric of Mérida-Badajoz is already planning to schedule the celebration of Masses in Portuguese, with the idea of ​​“welcoming pilgrims from that country with dignity and adequately.”

Our Lady of Sorrows of Chandavila

The hermitage dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows of Chandavila is located in the region of La Codosera in the Archdiocese of Mérida-Badajoz, in western Spain, in an enclave located one kilometer from the border with Portugal.

Erected in 1947, its origin dates back to the supposed apparitions of the Virgin of Sorrows to two girls, Marcelina Barroso and Afra Brígido, in May 1945 on a chestnut tree trunk.

As highlighted by the Brotherhood of Our Lady of Sorrows of Chandavila in the sanctuary websitethe Virgin’s message to the girls “focuses on the request to the world of penitence for the fishermen, and prayer, especially through the celebration of the Eucharist in which the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross is renewed, as ways to achieve forgiveness and peace.”

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the alleged apparitions, the Vatican granted the celebration of a jubilee year in 2020.