Sunday, April 30, 2023

Wisconsin national shrine given new name


Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay has given the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help a new name: the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, named after the Wisconsin town in which it is located.

The shrine’s rector said that the name change will “help address any confusion that has existed in the past related to the Blessed Mother’s title in reference to the National Shrine – including titles such as Our Lady of Good Health, Our Lady of Good Hope, Our Lady Help of Christians, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help.”

In 2010, Bishop Ricken decreed that “that the events, apparitions and locutions given to Adele Brise in October of 1859 [in Champion, WI] do exhibit the substance of supernatural character, and I do hereby approve these apparitions as worthy of belief (although not obligatory) by the Christian faithful.”

In 2016, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops designated the shrine as a national shrine.