PRELIMINARY NOTE
Origin and character of these
norms
During the annual
Plenary Session in November 1974, the Fathers of this Sacred Congregation
examined the problems relative to presumed apparitions and to the revelations
often connected with them and reached the following conclusions:
1. Today, more than in the past, news of these apparitions is diffused
rapidly among the faithful thanks to the means of information (mass media).
Moreover, the ease of going from one place to another fosters frequent
pilgrimages, so that Ecclesiastical Authority should discern quickly about the
merits of such matters.
2. On the other hand, modern mentality and the requirements of
critical scientific investigation render it more difficult, if not almost
impossible, to achieve with the required speed the judgments that in the past
concluded the investigation of such matters (constat de supernaturalitate, non
constat de supernaturalitate) and that offered to the Ordinaries the
possibility of authorizing or prohibiting public cult or other forms of
devotion among the faithful.
For these
reasons, in order that the devotion stirred among the faithful as a result of
facts of this sort might manifest itself in full communion with the Church, and
bear fruits by which the Church herself might later discern the true nature of
the facts, the Fathers judged that in this matter the following procedure
should be promoted.
When
Ecclesiastical Authority is informed of a presumed apparition or revelation, it
will be its responsibility:
a) first, to
judge the fact according to positive and negative criteria (cf. infra, no. I);
b) then, if this examination results in a favorable
conclusion, to permit some public manifestation of cult or of devotion,
overseeing this with great prudence (equivalent to the formula, “for now,
nothing stands in the way”) (pro nunc nihil obstare).
c) finally, in light of time passed and of
experience, with special regard to the fecundity of spiritual fruit generated
from this new devotion, to express a judgment regarding the authenticity and
supernatural character if the case so merits.
I. CRITERIA FOR JUDGING, AT
LEAST WITH PROBABILITY, THE CHARACTER OF THE PRESUMED APPARITIONS OR
REVELATIONS
A) Positive Criteria:
a) Moral
certitude, or at least great probability of the existence of the fact, acquired
by means of a serious investigation;
b) Particular
circumstances relative to the existence and to the nature of the fact, that is
to say:
1. Personal
qualities of the subject or of the subjects (in particular, psychological
equilibrium, honesty and rectitude of moral life, sincerity and habitual
docility towards Ecclesiastical Authority, the capacity to return to a normal
regimen of a life of faith, etc.);
2. As regards
revelation: true theological and spiritual doctrine and immune from error;
3. Healthy
devotion and abundant and constant spiritual fruit (for example, spirit of
prayer, conversion, testimonies of charity, etc.).
B) Negative Criteria:
a) Manifest error
concerning the fact.
b) Doctrinal
errors attributed to God himself, or to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or to some
saint in their manifestations, taking into account however the possibility that
the subject might have added, even unconsciously, purely human elements or some
error of the natural order to an authentic supernatural revelation (cf. Saint
Ignatius, Exercises, no. 336).
c) Evidence of a
search for profit or gain strictly connected to the fact.
d) Gravely
immoral acts committed by the subject or his or her followers when the fact
occurred or in connection with it.
e) Psychological
disorder or psychopathic tendencies in the subject, that with certainty
influenced on the presumed supernatural fact, or psychosis, collective hysteria
or other things of this kind.
It is to be noted
that these criteria, be they positive or negative, are not peremptory but
rather indicative, and they should be applied cumulatively or with some mutual
convergence.
II. INTERVENTION OF THE
COMPETENT ECCLESIASTICAL AUTHORITY
1. If, on the occasion of a presumed supernatural
fact, there arises in a spontaneous way among the faithful a certain cult or
some devotion, the competent Ecclesiastical Authority has the serious duty of
looking into it without delay and of diligently watching over it.
2. If the
faithful request it legitimately (that is, in communion with the Pastors, and
not prompted by a sectarian spirit), the competent Ecclesiastical Authority can
intervene to permit or promote some form of cult or devotion, if, after the
application of the above criteria, nothing stands in the way. They must be
careful that the faithful not interpret this practice as approval of the
supernatural nature of the fact on the part of the Church (cf. Preliminary note
c).
3. By reason of
its doctrinal and pastoral task, the competent Authority can intervene motu
proprio and indeed must do so in grave circumstances, for example in order to
correct or prevent abuses in the exercise of cult and devotion, to condemn
erroneous doctrine, to avoid the dangers of a false or unseemly mysticism, etc.
4. In doubtful
cases that clearly do not put the good of the Church at risk, the competent
Ecclesiastical Authority is to refrain from any judgment and from any direct
action (because it can also happen that, after a certain period of time, the
presumed supernatural fact falls into oblivion); it must not however cease from
being vigilant by intervening if necessary, with promptness and prudence.
III. AUTHORITIES COMPETENT TO
INTERVENE
1. Above all, the
duty of vigilance and intervention falls to the Ordinary of the place.
2. The regional
or national Conference of Bishops can intervene:
a) If the
Ordinary of the place, having done his part, turns to it to judge the matter
with greater certainty;
b) If the matter
pertains to the national or regional level; always, however, with the prior
consent of the Ordinary of the place.
3. The Apostolic
See can intervene if asked either by the Ordinary himself, by a qualified group
of the faithful, or even directly by reason of the universal jurisdiction of
the Supreme Pontiff (cf. infra, no. IV).
IV. ON THE INTERVENTION OF THE
SACRED CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH
1. a) The
intervention of the Sacred Congregation can be requested either by the
Ordinary, after he has done his part, or by a qualified group of the faithful.
In this second case, care must be taken that recourse to the Sacred
Congregation not be motivated by suspect reasons (for example, in order to compel
the Ordinary to modify his own legitimate decisions, to support some sectarian
group, etc.).
b) It is up to
the Sacred Congregation to intervene motu proprio in graver cases, especially
if the matter affects the larger part of the Church, always after having
consulted the Ordinary and even, if the situation requires, the Conference of
Bishops.
2. It is up to
the Sacred Congregation to judge and approve the Ordinary’s way of proceeding
or, in so far as it be possible and fitting, to initiate a new examination of
the matter, distinct from that undertaken by the Ordinary and carried out
either by the Sacred Congregation itself or by a special Commission.
The Present
Norms, deliberated in the Plenary Session of this Sacred Congregation, were
approved by the Supreme Pontiff, Paul VI on 24 February 1978.
In Rome, from the
palace of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 25 February
1978.
Francis Cardinal Šeper
Prefect
Jérôme Hamer, O.P.
Secretary
