Apparitions
What do you think about the visions at Bayside in New York?
They are false and spurious. Anything you see indicating it comes connected with Bayside should be burned immediately. Some of the silliness that comes from there could be harmful to people with a week faith.
Reprinted July 4, 1997
In what year did the apparitions of Our Lady to Saint Juan Diego at Guadalupe
take place?
The year was 1531 on the hill called Tepayac, which is now a part of Mexico City.
Reprinted from November 21, 1997
Is it wrong for a Catholic not to believe in the apparitions at Lourdes and
Fatima?
Public revelation concluded with the deaths of the last Apostle. Catholics are obliged to believe all that God has given in public revelation, which can be found in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, as mediated to men by the teaching authority of the Church. No Catholic, however, is obliged to believe in any private revelations, even those which the Church declares are worthy of belief (such as those at Lourdes and Fatima), unless he himself is the subject of such revelation. Therefore, one can remain a Catholic in good standing even were he to doubt or deny the private revelations at Fatima and Lourdes, although there may be a possibility of venial sins of pride and lack of prudence in such doubt or denial. Furthermore, a Catholic may not deny or doubt the "possibility" or private revelation.
Reprinted from February 7, 1997
In your diocese a woman named Mary Jane Even claims to be receiving supernatural
locutions and revelations. Does the Diocese of Lincoln have anything to say
about this matter?
The Diocese of Lincoln has a clear statement about this matter and a copy of this statement can be obtained by writing or calling the Chancery office. A diocesan commission has carefully examined the claims of Mary Jane Even and concluded that there is nothing supernatural about her locutions and revelations. They are sometimes farfetched and even contain doctrinal error. No belief should be placed in them or in her.
Reprinted from January 10, 1997
Would it be a sin to believe in or support the visions and locutions of Mary
Jane Even?
It is difficult to see how sin, even serious sin, could be avoided in such
belief and support. Her alleged "visions and locutions" have been
determined by Church authorities to be totally devoid of any supernatural
character. Some of the doctrines she teaches are clearly false. Therefore,
supporting or believing her could involve spreading religious error. Sometimes
credulous people who believe her have suffered sever hardships for themselves
and their families, by moving to "safe havens" at enormous financial
and personal loss. Her supporters thus may have grave sins of injustice on
their consciences because of this. Also, she purports to foretell the future.
Participating or involvement in fortune telling, with any measure of belief,
is always sinful. Sometimes serious private "revelations' are due to
fraud or hallucinations. But sometimes they are due to demonic forces
Reprinted from January 22, 1999
Does Father Nicholas Gruner support the Holy Father and the pope support him?
No to both questions. Father Gruner is a priest who appears to be in rebellion against the Church. He is facing ecclesiastical discipline for his disorderly conduct. He has no particular relationship with the Holy Father. Indeed, he regularly has assigned to correct and teach the pope about what he (Gruner) claims he knows about the message of Our Lady of Fatima. Canonically, he is a priest of the Diocese of Avellino in Italy in disobedience to his bishop. Sister Lucy, the sole surviving seer of Fatima, repudiates Gruner and his views, as do all Catholic experts on Fatima. Sadly, however, Gruner continues to deceive and fool people, sometimes even devout persons.
Reprinted from January 22, 1999