Referring to the national media’s coverage of a self-professed visionary’s claims of apparitions by Our Lady at the shrine, Fr Gerry Moloney, CSsR, says it is “extraordinary” that this should have attracted so much attention.
Referring to the ‘visionary’ at the heart of this ‘nonsense’ and his media savvy pre
ss releases and media alerts, Fr Moloney writes, “It is funny how Our Lady is getting her agents to issue press releases these days to advise people of her comings and goings when in the past she was happy to appear unannounced to simple, unsuspecting folk. Why not tweet while she’s at it?”
He says in the December editorial, “this kind of phenomenon seems to coincide with times of hardship and uncertainty” such as recession and national despair, and he cites the moving statue phenomenon in Ballinspittle in the 1980s as another example.
The reasons why people of every age and background are drawn by such ‘visions’ are varied. “No doubt some people are seeking some assurance, some hope, some solace, some certainty in these difficult times for Church and state – and look for heavenly interventions to provide it.”
He suggests, that in the best case scenario, if those who gather at Knock in response to ‘visionary’ Joe Coleman’s press releases “use that time to pray and to express their faith”, it is, nonetheless, according to Fr Moloney, symptomatic of “an unhealthy faith and it is doing damage to an already damaged Church”.
He continues, to seek these phenomena out, or to place credence in them, “is a sign of a weak faith; of a people looking for signs and portents rather than relying on the Good News we have already been given.”
Looking at the history of Marian apparitions, Fr Moloney notes that they are “nothing new.” However, he adds that what is so troubling about so many of them - especially in recent decades – is the content of the ‘alleged messages’.
“Invariably, they are negative in tone. Mary is issuing warnings or threats. People better behave – or else.”
The Editor of Reality adds, Our Lady in these messages is “big into doom and gloom, heavy on fear and foreboding.”
The Redemptorist priest concludes, “As Catholics, we have the Bible and tradition and the teachings of our Church to guide us. We do not need dancing suns and regular Marian pronouncements to show us the way.”
He adds, “It is bringing religion into disrepute, and is leaving the Catholic Church open to ridicule.”
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