Vatican authorizes the faithful to worship Our Lady of the Rock in Italy

Within the framework of the new norms for the study of apparitions, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has authorized the faithful to worship, although with caution and without confirming the supernatural facts, to Our Lady of the Rock in Calabria (Italy).

Since the publication last May of the new Rules to proceed in the Discernment of alleged supernatural phenomenathe Dicastery led by Cardinal Víctor Fernández has issued several statements in recent months about certain “alleged” apparitions.

After validating the appearances of Maria Rosa Mystica in Italy, deny the supernatural facts about the “Virgin Mary of Trevignano”, also in Italy, and confirm the negative verdict on alleged apparitions of “Our Lady of all Nations” in Amsterdam, the Vatican has spoken again.

This July 16, the positive decision on the spiritual fruits of the apparitions narrated by the visionary Cosimo Fragomeni, an 18-year-old farmer to whom the Virgin Mary appeared for the first time in 1968, was made public.

Although the supernatural origin of the events has not yet been approved, Cardinal Fernández has confirmed the determination of Nothing stands in the way (Nothing opposes), stating that there are no doctrinal drawbacks in the message.

This has been declared by the Dicastery through a letter addressed to the Bishop of Locri-Gerace, Mons. Francesco Oliva, who previously wrote to the Holy See so that the diocesan Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Scoglioin Santa Domenica di Placanica (Calabria), continues to bear fruit and confirm to the pilgrims who come that they are in communion with the Catholic Church.

In the letter, the cardinal points out that “in the secularized world in which we live, in which so many spend their existence without any reference to transcendence, the pilgrims who approach the Sanctuary of the Scoglio “They are a powerful sign of faith.”

Likewise, remember that this determination should not be conceived “as an approval of the supernatural character of the phenomenon”, but rather as the recognition of an “experience of the Spirit.”

In this way, he invites the Bishop to promote its dissemination through pilgrimages and authorizes the faithful to give their support to these events “through prudent vigilance.”

The appearances of Our Lady of the Rock (Our Lady of the Rock)

Cosimo Fragomeni was a simple 18-year-old peasant. In 1968 he observed a beam of light coming from a cliff near his house for 4 days.

These flashes preceded the supposed apparitions of the Virgin Mary who, according to the visionary, called him to conversion and prayer. The Mother of God would also have asked that that place become a center of spirituality where people could encounter the mercy of God.

Cosimo, who later became a Franciscan tertiary, placed a statue of the Virgin Mary in that place. After the arrival of numerous pilgrims from all over Italy and some abroad, it soon became a chapel, and later a large sanctuary.

On February 11, 2016, Bishop Francesco Oliva elevated the place of worship to “Diocesan Sanctuary” with the title of “Our Lady of the Rock” and since 2017 it has been guarded by the Missionaries of Evangelization.

The Dicastery asks for vigilance to avoid manipulations

Cardinal Fernández emphasizes in his letter that especially people who suffer and suffer from illnesses come to this Sanctuary and highlights its “intense spiritual activity of prayer and listening.”

However, at the same time it urges us to maintain vigilance “so that there is no manipulation of people, improper economic exploitation, serious doctrinal errors, which could cause scandals, harm the faithful and undermine the credibility of the Church.”

He also points out that the Virgin Mary means for pilgrims a “clear expression of the mercy of the Lord” and affirms that visiting the Sanctuary is “a way of recognizing their own inability to carry out the fatigues of life and their burning need and desire.” of God”.

“In such a valuable context of faith, a renewed announcement of the kerigma It will still be able to illuminate and enrich even more this experience of the Spirit,” says the cardinal.

In this way, Msgr. olive has confirmed that the faithful are authorized to worship, although “in a prudent manner.”

Furthermore, he emphasizes that this “does not imply a declaration of the supernatural nature of the phenomenon” and therefore Catholics are not obliged to believe in it.