A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance of Mary, the mother of Jesus. While sometimes described as a type of vision, apparitions are generally regarded as external manifestations, whereas visions are more often understood as internal, spiritual experiences. Throughout history, both Marian apparitions and visions have been associated with religious messages, devotional practices, and pilgrimage traditions.
In the Catholic Church, for a reported appearance to be classified as a Marian apparition, the person or persons who claim to see Mary (the “seers”) must claim to see her visually present in their environment. If the person claims to hear Mary but not see her, this is known as an interior locution, not an apparition. Also excluded from the category of apparitions are dreams, visions experienced in the imagination, and the claimed perception of Mary in ordinarily explainable natural phenomena.
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.
The 1978 norms were superseded by new guidelines issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in May 2024.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 typically fall first within the jurisdiction of the local ordinary (i.e., the diocesan bishop). The document recommends that incidents of phenomena be carefully assessed to ensure that they are not fraudulent or motivated by monetary gain.
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a department of the Roman Curia responsible for the religious discipline of the Catholic Church. The Dicastery is the oldest department among the Roman Curia’s departments. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome, just outside Vatican City. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible for promulgating and defending Catholic doctrine.
This institution was founded by Pope Paul III on 21 July 1542, as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition. It was then renamed in 1908 as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office of the Roman Rota. In 1965, it became the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF; Latin: Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei). Since 2022, it has been named the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. It is still informally known as the Holy Office (Latin: Sanctum Officium) in many Catholic countries. The sole objective of the dicastery is to “spread sound Catholic doctrine and defend those points of Christian tradition which seem in danger because of new and unacceptable doctrines.”
Marian shrines
Apparition request from Mary for the construction of a shrine on the place of the apparition. Such Marian shrines often become popular sites of Christian pilgrimage. The most-visited Marian shrine in the world is the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, which attracts approximately 10 million pilgrims annually. Other popular apparition-related Marian pilgrimage sites include the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima in Portugal (6 million visitors per year) and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France (1.5 million visitors annually).
(Wikipedia.org)
Eric Michel Ministries International, Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary Ministry of the TOFE & TOFI Marian Shrines Pelgrimages.
