CDF: Norms on discerning presumed apparitions now in English
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has published new translations
of the Norms regarding the manner of proceeding in the discernment of presumed apparitions
or revelations into various languages from their original Latin.
The idea
behind the move, according to CDF Prefect Cardinal William Levada, is to help bishops
worldwide determine the credibility of “extraordinary phenomena of presumed supernatural
origin” in the light of faith.
The Norms, which were first drawn up by the
Servant of God Pope Paul VI in 1978, are now available on the congregation's website
www.doctrinafidei.va in six languages including English.
Below the
text of the Preface by CDF Prefect Cardinal William Levada
PREFACE
1.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is competent in questions regarding
the promotion and safeguarding of the teaching of faith and morals. It is also competent
to examine difficulties regarding to the proper understanding of the faith, such as
cases of pseudo-mysticism, presumed apparitions, visions and messages attributed to
supernatural sources. In regard to these very delicate tasks, more than thirty years
ago this Dicastery prepared the Normae de modo procedendi in diudicandis praesumptis
apparitionibus ac revelationibus. This document, formulated by the Members of
the Plenary Session of the Congregation, was approved by the Servant of God, Pope
Paul VI, on 24 February 1978, and subsequently issued on 25 February 1978. At that
time the Norms were sent to Bishops for their information, without, however,
being officially published, as the norms were given for the direct aid of the Pastors
of the Church.
2. Over the years this document has been published in various
works treating these matters, in more than one language, without obtaining the prior
permission of this Dicastery. Today, it must be recognized that the contents of these
important norms are already in the public domain. Therefore, the Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith believes it is now opportune to publish these Norms,
providing translations in the principle languages.
3. In the Ordinary Assembly
of the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God held in October 2008, the issue of the
problems stemming from the experience of supernatural phenomena was raised as a pastoral
concern by some Bishops. Their concern was recognized by the Holy Father, Benedict
XVI, who inserted the issue into the larger context of the economy of salvation, in
a significant passage of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Verbum Domini.
It is important to recall this teaching of the Pontiff, which is an invitation to
pay appropriate attention to these supernatural phenomena: “In all of this, the
Church gives voice to her awareness that with Jesus Christ she stands before the definitive
word of God: he is ‘the first and the last’ (Rev 1:17). He has given creation
and history their definitive meaning; and hence we are called to live in time and
in God’s creation within this eschatological rhythm of the word; ‘thus the Christian
dispensation, since it is the new and definitive covenant, will never pass away; and
no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our
Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Tim 6:14 and Tit 2:13)’. Indeed, as the Fathers
noted during the Synod, the ‘uniqueness of Christianity is manifested in the event
which is Jesus Christ, the culmination of revelation, the fulfilment of God’s promises
and the mediator of the encounter between man and God. He who ‘has made God known’
(Jn 1:18) is the one, definitive word given to mankind.’ Saint John of the
Cross expresses this truth magnificently: ‘Since he has given us his Son, his only
word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything at once in this sole word –
and he has no more to say… because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts,
he has spoken all at once by giving us this All who is his Son. Any person questioning
God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behaviour
but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely on Christ and by living
with the desire for some other novelty’ (Ascent of Mount Carmel, II, 22).”
Bearing
this in mind, the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, notes the following: “Consequently
the Synod pointed to the need to ‘help the faithful to distinguish the word of God
from private revelations’ whose role ‘is not to complete Christ’s definitive revelation,
but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history.’ The value of private
revelations is essentially different from that of the one public revelation: the latter
demands faith; in it God himself speaks to us through human words and the mediation
of the living community of the Church. The criterion for judging the truth of a private
revelation is its orientation to Christ himself. If it leads us away from him, then
it certainly does not come from the Holy Spirit, who guides us more deeply into the
Gospel, and not away from it. Private revelation is an aid to this faith, and it demonstrates
its credibility precisely because it refers back to the one public revelation. Ecclesiastical
approval of a private revelation essentially means that its message contains nothing
contrary to faith and morals; it is licit to make it public and the faithful are authorized
to give to it their prudent adhesion. A private revelation can introduce new emphases,
give rise to new forms of piety, or deepen older ones. It can have a certain prophetic
character (cf. 1 Th 5:19-21) and can be a valuable aid for better understanding
and living the Gospel at a certain time; consequently it should not be treated lightly.
It is a help which is proffered, but its use is not obligatory. In any event, it must
be a matter of nourishing faith, hope and love, which are for everyone the permanent
path of salvation.”
4. It is my firm hope that the official publication
of the Norms regarding the manner of proceeding in the discernment of presumed
apparitions or revelations can aid the Pastors of the Catholic Church in their
difficult task of discerning presumed apparitions, revelations, messages or, more
generally, extraordinary phenomena of presumed supernatural origin. At the same time
it is hoped that this text might be useful to theologians and experts in this field
of the lived experience of the Church, whose delicacy requires an ever-more thorough
consideration.
William Card. Levada Prefect
Vatican City State,
14 December 2011, Feast of Saint John of the Cross.