The document stated that the Church’s responsibility is to first judge the facts, then allow public devotion if the examination is favorable, and finally pass judgment on the authenticity and supernatural character of the event.
For its part, the most recent Vatican writing on apparitions was issued in 2001 by the then Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. In a “Directory on popular piety and liturgy: principles and guidelines”, the congregation relied on the Catechism and its references to private revelation.
Citing the Catechism, it is stated that private revelations “do not belong to the deposit of faith,” and adds that their function is not to “improve” or “complete” the “definitive Revelation of Christ, but to help live it more.” fully at a certain time in history.”