Magisterium and private revelations

The Church’s Magisterium in Light of Private Revelations about Mary

Magisterium and private revelations

The decree by which Pius XI declared the heroic virtues of Saint Gemma Galgani contains the following clause:

(Congregatio Rituum, Lucen in Italia: Beatificationis et canonizationis Servae Dei Gemmae Galgani Virginis saecularis. Super dubio. Anconstet de virtutibusin Acta Apostolicae Sedis 24 (1932), 57).
«By this decree, there is no judgment, as in the past, on the supernatural graces of the Servant of God»

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This phrase has a singular importance that goes beyond the specific cause addressed by the decree. It attests to the usual reserve of the Church Hierarchy regarding phenomena that can only be believed with human faith. The practice established by Benedict XIII distinguishes between virtues and graces, involving a judgment on the part of the Hierarchy in the canonization process of a servant of God, limited to the heroic character of the virtues, explicitly excluding visions, apparitions, and private revelations.

However, in some cases, the Magisterium intervenes with a far more favorable and extensive approval than it usually offers, consisting in allowing adherence, according to prudence, to private revelations likely to be authentic. The memory spontaneously goes back to the revelations made by Lord Jesus Christ to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque and to the Mother of God revealed to Saint Bernadette Soubirous (Lourdes).In these two cases, for example, the Magisterium produced such an abundance of universal documents that its approval is hardly explicable as a generic permission, a sort of *nihil obstat*. In both cited cases, there was certainly, on the part of the Magisterium, an effort to support both the fact of the two revelations and their authenticity, in such a way that the opinion of some theologians who even spoke about *infallibility* regarding this matter. Without affirming en bloc what they affirm, but also without forgetting the authoritative teaching of Vatican II on the doctrinal function:> (Lumen Gentium 25).> «The religious submission of will and intellect is, for a special reason, due to the authentic magisterial teaching of the Roman Pontiff, even when he does not speak ex cathedra. Therefore, his supreme magisterium should be reverently acknowledged, and his teachings sincerely adhered to, according to one’s judgment and will. These are manifested chiefly by the nature of the documents, or by frequent repetitions of the same doctrine, or by the mode of speaking»It seems to us that in the cases of Paray-le-Monial, Sacred Heart of Jesus, and Lourdes, the Magisterium committed itself solemnly, or even infallibly. And consequently, on the part of the faithful, a priori rejection of both facts would not be heretical, as it is only a question of human faith, but always gravely temerary, considering the consent granted to them by the Magisterium of the Church.Therefore, with regard to private revelations, the Magisterium fulfills a double function:– Negative norm: when it ensures that in a particular private revelation there are no elements contrary to public Revelation and its possible definitions, thus guaranteeing the authenticity of the private revelation.– Positive norm: when it recognizes the authenticity of the revelation and promotes its message and spirit for the benefit of the Church.

The prudence of the Hierarchy in dealing with private revelations, and more generally with any charismatic manifestation, does not consist in aspiring to transcend the Spirit as if citing Him before a tribunal, but in respecting the divine Spirit, whose authentic manifestations can be distinguished from fanaticism only through prolonged examinations and much prayer.

The prudence of the Church is manifested in its conscious surrender to the gradual, luminous evidence of God’s work.

The position of the Magisterium regarding private revelations and the role of Mary in the history of salvation are explored in Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Redemptoris Mater, which illuminates the journey of Mary’s faith and its place in divine revelation.

Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Theological Marian Studies, Marian Apparitions, and the Master’s in Mariology.