In this six-part series, I have provided a critical review of the Vatican’s new and radically revised “Norms of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith for proceeding in the discernment of alleged supernatural phenomena,” published on May 17, 2024.

Review of Three Grave Problems

The first three parts brought to light three grave problems with the document.

[Part One] In the past, when rank-and-file Catholics said an apparition is Church-approved it meant the Church judged it to be of supernatural origin and worthy of belief. Now Church authority will never render a judgment that an apparition is of supernatural origin. Church approval will simply mean the event is free of error (nihil obstat). This alone will cause great confusion – and division – among the faithful who will not recognize the distinction in this sleight of hand.

[Part Two] In the past, the judgment over an alleged phenomenon was under the authority of the local bishop. This respected the principle of subsidiarity. Moreover, it recognized the grace God entrusts to his bishop, a successor of the Apostles. It also manifests a sublime, though direct and mediate, interplay of God’s grace, human free will, and the human relationship between the recipient of the message and God’s established authority. Now, this judgment has been taken away from the bishop and will be exercised directly by the Pope (and his curia).

Not only does this violate the wise Catholic principle of subsidiarity, but it follows the current alarming trend of reducing the bishop to an administrative functionary of the curia.^[i] It also concentrates power in a small oligarchy, which by its very nature is much easier to subvert.

Even more concerning is that under these revised norms, God’s grace will not be allowed to work through even just one solitary good bishop. Instead of being able to receive God’s heavenly messages from at least one corner of the world, all the Catholic faithful will hear only what the current reigning pontiff and his curia deem acceptable. This situation will be extremely perilous if this ecclesial oligarchy is abusive, grossly immoral, or promotes doctrinal errors.

[Part Three] In the past, Church authorities used clarity, precision, and specific definitions when issuing documents. This made their teachings objective, easy to understand, and uniformly applicable. Unfortunately, the newly published norms follow the trend of using ambiguous language, which is highly subjective, obfuscating, and changeable in meaning. Thus, they will inevitably be applied prejudicially. Furthermore, the document’s ambiguous language contains “time bombs,” which when triggered can cause great destruction in the life of the Church.

Review of Grave Concerns

In [Part Four], I noted the converging lines of evidence which indicate these revised norms will be used to reverse the magisterium’s prior judgments. A well-established authentic Marian apparition which does not adhere to the ideology held by Francis is liable to be ‘cancelled.’

In [Part Five], I highlighted other “time bombs” concealed within these new norms: Authentic messages will be deemphasized and misrepresented, false messages can be promoted, and the truth will be greatly confused.

In sum, these new norms will make it far easier for the devil to deceive us and for men intent on usurping God’s authority to pretend to speak with His voice. And it will now be much harder for us to hear our Blessed Mother if, in Her great maternal solicitude, She wishes to warn us of impending dangers to the world and our salvation or to point out the paths that lead more directly and surely to God.

Hypocrisy Abounds

As previously mentioned, the Vatican summary states: “According to the new norms, the Church will exercise her duties of discernment [of alleged phenomena], based on the following:

“‘… (b) whether there is anything that conflicts with faith and morals in the writings or messages of those involved in the alleged phenomena in question;

(c) whether it is permissible to appreciate their spiritual fruits, whether they need to be purified from problematic elements, or whether the faithful should be warned about potential risks; …’ (I, 10).” [Norms of the Dicastery, emphasis added.]

The new norms also speak of “cases where from the alleged phenomena, ‘profit, power, fame, social recognition, or other personal interest’ (II, Art. 15, 4°) are derived, even to the point of ‘exerting control over people or carrying out abuses (II, Art. 16).’” [Vatican summary]

These are indeed indicators that an alleged phenomenon is problematic and may not be judged as supernatural. In fact, the Church has always used these to discern the spirits (cf. 1 John 4:1-6; 1 Cor 2:11-16). For example, the first criterion is always truth. The alleged phenomenon must correspond with the truth, not conflict with any infallible Catholic teaching, and not contain any error. The indicators listed above have been used in the past to preclude a phenomenon from being judged supernatural (e.g., at Medjugorje or in the “Divine Will” devotion).

Many faithful Catholics find the inclusion of these passages hypocritical. Why? Because these criteria indicate that the activity is not of God. In other words, they are not only used in “discerning the spirits” but are valid criteria for natural human activity as well. The inclusion of these indicators demonstrates the current hierarchy knows they are wrong, yet they themselves are repeatedly guilty of them!

Many of the current teachings promoted by Pope Francis and his curia conflict with faith and morals.^[ii] Every conceivable metric shows that the Catholic Church is in a terrible “free-fall” under Francis. For example, Mass attendance, Church tithing, and vocations to the priesthood and religious life are at all-time lows. And who can forget the idolatrous worship of the “pacha idol” in the Vatican just before the onset of Covid-19, Francis’ participation in pagan ceremonies in Canada, or his signing of the Abu Dhabi religious indifference document? The spiritual fruits from all these works are rotten and filled with “problematic elements.”

Under Pope Francis, the Catholic faithful have been shocked by scandals of unprecedented evil within the Church. A series of such scandals were recently documented by Elizabeth Yore at our Fatima Conference in Dallas (watch the video / listen to the podcast). They provide ample proof that Francis and his curia use their position to gain money, power, and other personal interests.

Many good clergy and bishops have been ‘cancelled,’ suppressed, or bullied into silence. Synods have been hijacked to promote heterodoxy. Latin Mass parishes have been decimated and religious orders destroyed. These are but a few examples that the current hierarchy is exerting unjust control over people and carrying out abuses.

By this document, the authors condemn themselves and judge their work as not being from God.

THE SOLUTION IN THREE STEPS

Step One: Be Aware of the Diabolical Disorientation

So, what can YOU and I do? Remembering the warning expressed by Sister Lucia, we must first realize the current Church hierarchy is afflicted by a diabolical disorientation. In a letter to Mother Martins dated 16 September 1970, she wrote:

“It is painful to see such a great disorientation and in so many persons who occupy places of responsibility… It is because the devil has succeeded in infiltrating evil under the cover of good, and the blind are beginning to guide others, as the Lord tells us in His Gospel, and souls are letting themselves be deceived… And the worst is that [the devil] has succeeded in leading into error and deceiving souls having a heavy responsibility through the place which they occupy…”

We must also remember the importance of the Message of Fatima in dispelling this diabolical disorientation. Moreover, we must be convinced that matters will only be resolved when we heed Our Lady of Fatima’s requests. In her final public interview (with Fr. Fuentes on Dec. 26, 1957), Sister Lucia provided the solution:

“[Our Lady] said to my cousins as well as to myself that God is giving two last remedies to the world. These are the Holy Rosary and Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. These are the last two remedies which signify that there will be no others. …

“Look, Father, the Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Holy Rosary. She has given this efficacy to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all, spiritual, … that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary.”

Step Two: Remain Constant

We must specifically be on guard regarding any novel developments which stem from these radically revised norms. Sadly, it will no longer be sufficient to maintain “this apparition has Church approval and therefore we can trust it.” We must remain vigilant and cautious regarding future “approved” apparitions, evaluating any alleged supernatural messages according to the infallible, perennial, and unchanging Rule of Faith. Naturally, this means we have to study and learn well the authentic Catholic Faith.

We must also remain faithful to those supernatural messages which Church authority has already judged as worthy of belief, especially Our Lady’s Message at Fatima. We should realize that Fatima is a ‘summit and summary’ of all the messages Our Lady has brought us and the heavenly message for our times.

All of this rests upon our faith in God and trust in Our Lady. Jesus Christ does not change. Truth does not change. God is absolutely in charge of all things. The Holy Trinity has and will continue to provide us with what we need to save our souls. We are already absolutely certain that Our Lady has promised salvation to those who embrace devotion to Her Immaculate Heart and that their souls will be loved by God as flowers placed be Her to adorn His throne (June 13, 1917). Likewise, She assured us:

“My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God.”

Step Three: Live the Message of Fatima

And last of all, Father Nicholas Gruner (R.I.P.), the founding director of The Fatima Center, reminds us to live the Fatima Message:

“Stay focused on and live the Fatima Message. Do what Our Lady asks of you to help bring about Her promised Triumph of Her Immaculate Heart. Perform the Five First Saturdays Devotion and promote the necessity of – and pray for – the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the Pope in union with all the Catholic bishops of the world.”

To live the Message of Fatima, we must first cease offending God and amend our lives. This is the constant call to repent and do penance which St. John the Baptist preached and by which Our Lord began His public ministry. This call to conversion – to turn away from sin and return to God – is at the very heart of the Gospel. It was often repeated by St. Michael and Our Lady at Fatima.

Those striving to remain constantly in the state of grace must also be willing to console Our Lord and Our Lady, to offer reparation for the multitude of mankind’s sins, and to pray very much for sinners (many of whom have no one to pray for them). In this we do well to imitate the heroic example of Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto.

A simple way I have found to remember the key elements to living the Message of Fatima is by sending up to Heaven a “Roman Catholic S.O.S.” Each letter in this mnemonic device (R, C, S, O, S) stands for an important aspect of the Fatima Message. [1] Rosary: Pray the Rosary every day; [2] Consecration: Beg God for Russia’s consecration and consecrate yourself to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; [3] Scapular: Always wear the Brown Scapular; [4] Offer: Offer prayer and penance – especially our daily duty – for the conversion of sinners and salvation of souls; and [5] Saturday: Practice the First Saturday Devotion every month.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

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ENDNOTES:

^[i] We have already seen this method followed in both the suppression of the Traditional Mass and governance over religious orders. The local bishop has always had authority over the liturgy within his diocese, but with the document Traditionis Custodes (2021), Pope Francis has attempted to seize this divinely granted right from every bishop. Since time immemorial a local bishop has had the authority of establishing a religious order within his diocese. Yet Pope Francis has also stripped them of this divine right and responsibility (Authenticum Charismatis, 4 Nov 2020).

^[ii] If you are unaware of these errors which amply demonstrate a grave doctrinal crisis currently in the Vatican, then you may be interested in reading the Denziger-Bergoglio. This work is a compilation of many errors publicly endorsed by Pope Francis. The authors are priests who choose to remain anonymous, most likely to avoid vengeful retaliation.

The post “Time Bombs” Within the New Vatican Norms for Supernatural Apparitions [Part 6] first appeared on The Fatima Center.

These views are those of the Fatima Center and do not necessarily reflect the views of Immaculata South Africa

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Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.