Editing Marian apparition (section)

==Assessment by the Catholic Church==
{{See also|Normae Congregationis}}

[[File:History of the great reformation in Europe in the times of Luther and Calvin.. (1870) (14785634573).jpg|thumb|right|220px|Jetzer being tricked. Jetzer was a [[Order of Preachers|Dominican]] friar in [[Bern]], and some of his brothers tricked him into thinking he was receiving a revelation from the Virgin Mary. Eventually, he realized the truth. As punishment for this scandal, four Dominicans were [[burned at the stake]] by order of [[Pope Julius II]] with an audience of 30,000 people on May 1, 1509.<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=h_BMAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA217&dq History of the Great Reformation of the Sixteenth Century in Germany]'', Jean Henri Merle d'Aubigné, Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1870</ref>]]

The [[Catholic Church]] believes that supernatural Marian apparitions can occur, but also believes that many claimed apparitions are fabricated by the seer or the result of something other than divine intervention. For this reason, the Catholic Church has a formal evaluation process established for assessing claimed apparitions.

In 1978, the [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]] promulgated investigation guidelines in a document entitled "Norms of the Congregation for Proceeding in Judging Alleged Apparitions and Revelations", better known as {{lang|la|[[Normae Congregationis]]}}, a shortening of its Latin title.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19780225_norme-apparizioni_en.html|title=Norms Regarding the Manner of Proceeding in the Discernment of Presumed Apparitions or Revelations|publisher=[[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]]|date=1978-02-24}}</ref>

The 1978 norms were superseded by new guidelines issued by the [[Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith]] in May 2024. Investigations into alleged apparitions still ordinarily fall first within the jurisdiction of the local [[Ordinary (Catholic Church)|ordinary]] (i.e. diocesan [[Bishop (Catholic Church)|bishop]]). The document recommends incidents of phenomena should be carefully assessed, to make sure that they are not fraudulent or for monetary gain.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lowen |first1= Mark|title=Vatican tightens rules on supernatural phenomena|url= https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cekl9jd883yo|accessdate=May 17, 2024 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=May 18, 2024}}</ref>

"Six possible conclusions that can be reached when discerning a possible supernatural phenomenon, ranging from a declaration that an event is not of supernatural origin to authorizing and promoting piety and devotion associated with a phenomenon without affirming its divine nature."<ref name=McClellan>{{cite news |last1= McLellan|first1= Justin |title=Vatican publishes new norms to discern alleged supernatural phenomena|url= https://www.usccb.org/news/2024/vatican-publishes-new-norms-discern-alleged-supernatural-phenomena|accessdate=May 17, 2024 |publisher= Catholic News Service|date=May 17, 2024}}</ref> The bishop is to submit his findings to the Dicastery for review before publishing them.

Occasionally, an ecclesial authority will decide not to investigate the veracity of an apparition in itself but will permit religious practices related to it. [[Pope Leo XIII]], for example, authorized the use of a scapular described in the messages of [[Our Lady of Pellevoisin]] (France, 1876),<ref name=cruz>{{cite book|title=See How She Loves Us: 50 Approved Apparitions of Our Lady|first=Joan Carroll|last=Cruz|date=2012|pages=205–211|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OirGCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT205|publisher=[[TAN Books]]|location=[[Charlotte, North Carolina]]|isbn=978-0895558039}}</ref> but did not pass judgment on the supernatural character of the apparition itself.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/p/pellevoisin-apparitions.php|title=All About Mary: Pellevoisin Apparitions|website=[[The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute]]|access-date=2019-10-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413181236/https://www.udayton.edu/imri/mary/p/pellevoisin-apparitions.php|archive-date=2016-04-13|url-status=live}}</ref>

Under the new norms, a bishop or national conference will not make a declaration that these phenomena are of supernatural origin, but indicate by a "nihil obstat" (meaning "no objection") that they find no problematic elements with a reported phenomenon.<ref name=McClellan/> Even if a Catholic bishop sees no objection, belief in the apparition is never required of the Catholic faithful.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aleteia.org/2019/05/15/this-map-illustrates-500-years-of-marys-apparitions/|title=This map illustrates 500 years of Mary's apparitions|website=[[Aleteia]]|first=Philip|last=Kosloski|date=2019-05-15|access-date=2019-10-07|quote=Even if the Church recognizes an apparition as worthy of belief, no Catholic is obligated to believe in any private revelation, such as an apparition. The Church simply says that a person can find spiritual aid from an apparition if he or she so chooses.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Private and public revelation | work=Catholic Culture | url=http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/most/getwork.cfm?worknum=162 | access-date=January 11, 2012}}</ref> The Catholic faith is based on so-called Public Revelation, which ended with the death of the last living [[Twelve Apostles|Apostle]]. A Marian apparition, however, is considered [[private revelation]], which may emphasize some facet of the received public revelation for a specific purpose but can never add anything new to the [[deposit of faith]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Laurentin |first1=René |last2=Sbalchiero |first2=Patrick |title=Dictionnaire des «apparitions» de la Vierge Marie |language=fr |publisher=Fayard |year=2007 |isbn=9-782-21363-1011 |author-link=René Laurentin |author-link2=Patrick Sbalchiero |page=12}}</ref>

[[File:MarpingenErscheinungen1999L1070006 (2).jpg|thumb|right|220px|In [[Marpingen]], [[Germany]], Our Lady is said to have appeared several times to three groups of visionaries: in 1876–1877, then in 1934–1936, and in 1999. The investigation performed by the [[Bishop of Trier]] after the last apparition concluded in 2005 that "the events in Marpingen cannot be confirmed as being of supernatural origin".<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Louis |first=Justine |type=PhD |year=2008 |title=L'Église catholique face à l'extraordinaire chrétien depuis Vatican II: Mémoire de thèse |chapter-url=http://paroisse.aixlesbains.free.fr/public/pdf/TheseJustineLouis2004-2007.pdf |chapter=La Prudence Comme Mot d'Ordre |location=[[Lyon]] |publisher=[[Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3]] |language=fr |pages=150–151 |s2cid=160094467 |access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref>]]
In the Catholic Church, approval of a Marian apparition is relatively rare. The majority of investigated apparitions are rejected as fraudulent or otherwise false.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Apparitions Statistics, Modern: University of Dayton, Ohio|url=https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/a/apparitions-statistics-modern.php|access-date=2020-06-19|website=udayton.edu}}</ref> Recently rejected apparition claims include those of "Our Lady of Surbiton", denounced as fraudulent in 2007,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1563941/Vatican-rejects-woman%27s-Virgin-Mary-claim.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121223160531/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1563941/Vatican-rejects-woman%27s-Virgin-Mary-claim.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-12-23|title=Vatican rejects woman's Virgin Mary claim|first=Jonathan|last=Petre|date=2007-09-23|publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|access-date=2019-10-13}}</ref> and those associated with Holy Love Ministries in [[Elyria, Ohio]], condemned in 2009.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://catholicexchange.com/proclamation-on-holy-love-ministries-will-test-hearts-and-obedience|title=Proclamation on Holy Love Ministries Will Test Hearts and Obedience|publisher=Catholic Exchange|first=Patti|last=Armstrong|date=November 20, 2009|access-date=September 8, 2016}}</ref> Some whose apparition claims are rejected have seceded from the Catholic Church as a result and initiated new groups, as in the case of the [[Mariavite Church]], the [[Palmarian Catholic Church]], and the [[Fraternité Notre-Dame]].