New
claims that messages from alleged visionary Charlie Johnston have been
approved by the Church are false, the Archdiocese of Denver clarified on
Wednesday.
Mrs.
Beckie Hesse, who posts on Johnston’s blog under the name “Beckita,”
seemed to claim in a Feb, 7, 2017 blog post that Johnston’s alleged
visions “have been fully approved by the Church.”
“In
order to ensure that the faithful are correctly informed, it is
necessary to publicly state that Mrs. Hesse’s claim is false,” the
Archdiocese said in a statement in response to the post.
“The
events of 2016/17 have shown that Mr. Johnston’s alleged visions were
not accurate and the Archdiocese urges the faithful not to condone or
support further attempts to reinterpret them as valid,” the statement
concluded.
Charlie
Johnston is a blogger who claims to have received visions and messages
from the Blessed Virgin Mary, the angel Gabriel and other saints for
most of his life. He has blogged about his visions and predictions since
2014 on a Wordpress site entitled “The Next Right Step.”
His
predictions include warnings of a worldwide civil war, as well as many
political predictions, including that President Barack Obama would not
finish his second term and the toppling of the U.S. government. He has
also written about how to survive if the U.S. government were to start
rounding up conservative Christians into detention camps.
Since
1998, Johnston has warned about “The Storm”, a period of major
political and more upheaval, which he claims the world is in the midst
of right now. He has predicted a rescue from “The Storm” at the hands of
the Blessed Virgin Mary by October 2017. As his many of his predictions
regarding the election and other events proved inaccurate, Johnston
announced after Inauguration Day that he was stepping aside from the
public scene. Hesse has been posting from his blog this month.
Johnston
has said his followers should not focus on his predictions, but instead
on doing the will of God in the moment, hence the title of the blog.
But
those same predictions garnered enough attention and followers that
Archbishop Samuel Aquila with the Archdiocese of Denver launched an
investigation into his writings and speeches. A special commission
composed of two theologians and a canonist reviewed material from his
blog, videos of presentations from various parts of the country, and an
archive of his writings from as far back as 1998.
The
findings of the commission, which were released in a statement in March
2016, urged extreme caution among the faithful when it came to
Johnston’s messages, and also announced that Johnston would not be
approved as a speaker for the Archdiocese.
“After
reviewing the commission’s findings and in keeping with his pastoral
office, Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver has decided to strongly
advise the faithful to exercise prudence and caution in regards to Mr.
Charlie Johnston’s alleged divine visions and messages. As has been
demonstrated with other alleged apparitions, the danger exists of people
placing greater faith in a prediction than in Christ’s words and
promises,” the Archdiocese announced in a statement last year.
“For
those who are disappointed by this finding, the archdiocese encourages
them to seek their security in Jesus Christ, the sacraments, and the
Scriptures. The faithful should also remember Christ’s words: ‘But about
that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the
Son, but only the Father’ (Mt. 24:36).”