A newly expanded compendium of
visions of the Virgin Mary shows how the very idea of such apparitions
has been met with skepticism and preoccupation within the church, from
early Christian times to the present.
Experts in Mariology presented the Italian edition of the Dictionary of
"Apparitions" of the Virgin Mary, translated from the original 2007
French publication with the addition of some 150 new entries, at a news
conference near St. Peter's Square Dec. 13.
The 1,600-page volume lists more than 2,400 claims of people who over
the centuries alleged to have seen Mary, as well as the consequences of
such announcements. Only 15 of these have been officially recognized by
the church, a confirmation of the caution with which the reports have
historically been received.
French Father Rene Laurentin, a co-author of the book, acknowledged the diffidence regarding such claims.
"The apparitions are not seen with the most benign eye by the church,"
he said, citing the difficult histories of even the most popular and
accepted visions. "Apparitions are the least scientifically studied, the
most hidden and most controversial of all theological subjects."
Father Laurentin, an expert on the sanctuary at Lourdes, France, and
other shrines inspired by Marian apparitions, said in the introduction
to the book that he had been working for more than 50 years on the
catalog at the request of bishops and the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith. The goal, he said, was "to put to rest the many
misunderstandings and confusion" surrounding visionary claims.
But new diagnostic techniques and modern psychology can help at least in
eliminating the claims of people suffering from hallucinations or other
pathologies, the experts said at the presentation.
Dr. Tonino Cantelmi, professor of psychiatry at the Pontifical Gregorian
University and president of the Italian Association of Catholic
Psychiatrists and Psychologists, said advanced neuro-imaging tests such
as the PET scan demonstrate that a specific part of the brain shows
activity during what could be described as ecstatic experiences.
In the past, Cantelmi said, psychologists and psychiatrists tended to
believe that all such alleged experiences were psychological in origin.
Researchers are now saying, he said, "that there may be something that
is not psychologically explainable."
Father Laurentin said that studies in California and Italy using
electroencephalograms showed that visionaries were neither asleep,
dreaming, hallucinating or having seizures during their experiences but
that their brains were in a normal state.
Father Paolo Scarafoni, rector of the European University of Rome and
professor of theology at the Legionaries of Christ's Pontifical Regina
Apostolorum University, said that even though the church must be
cautious in its approach to claims of apparitions, the alleged visions
should be respected "because they involve millions of people."
Even those apparitions that have not been officially recognized by the
church are celebrated in shrines around the world by millions of
Catholics, he said, and "the door should not be closed on those, but
should be studied slowly before final judgment is made."
The co-author of the book is journalist and historian Patrick
Sbalchiero. It is published by Edizioni Art, a publishing house
associated with the Legionaries of Christ.
SIC: CNS/INT'L