Papal Academy Launches Study Center to Evaluate Marian Apparitions

By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service

ROME (CNS) - The Pontifical International Marian Academy has created a commission to study and monitor cases of alleged Marian apparitions and other mystical phenomena.

The new "observatory" or monitoring body was officially inaugurated at the academy in Rome April 15 and will study cases that have not yet received an official church pronouncement regarding their authenticity.

"It is important to provide clarity because often presumed messages generate confusion, spread anxiety-inducing apocalyptic scenarios or even accusations against the pope and the church," he said in a written press release.

"How could Mary, mother of the church, undermine (the church's) integrity or sow fear and conflict, she who is mother of mercy and queen of peace?" he asked.

"At the same time, it is important to provide formative support because facing certain cases requires adequate preparation," Father Cecchin added.

The observatory will be made up of experts from different fields, including a lawyer specializing in safeguarding people who are susceptible to criminal manipulation, fraud or deceit.

The Holy Father's Intention for May 2023

For Church Movements and Groups

Stefano Cecchin, president of the

Its purpose is "to provide concrete support to the study, authentication and correct disclosure of such events, always in harmony with church teaching, relevant authorities and applicable norms of the Holy See," Franciscan Father

Father Cecchin said the body will set up commissions on the national and international level to "evaluate and study apparitions and mystical phenomena reported in various parts of the world" and to promote opportunities for keeping people updated and educated about the events and their "spiritual and cultural significance." The local commissions will also serve the local church and its bishops by acting as consultants and providing accurate informa-

The new monitoring body was inaugurated just as an alleged visionary in a town 30 miles from Rome faced increased scrutiny by law enforcement and the local bishop.

Gisella Cardia, who claims she receives messages from Mary on the third day of every month, is currently under investigation by the district attorney's office of Civitavecchia for "abuse of public credulity" or trust. A commission set up by the local bishop is also conducting its own investigation.

Cardia also claimed a statue of Mary that she bought in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, cried tears of blood. However, a private investigator recently provided evidence to law enforcement alleging that the blood came from

Cardia had been found guilty and convicted of bankruptcy fraud in a business she used to run before moving to Trevignano Romano and claiming to receive messages from Mary. Hundreds of people flock to the site the third of each month to hear the alleged messages.

We pray that Church movements and groups may rediscover their mission of evangelization each day, placing their own charisms at the service of needs in the world.

Censor Librorum

Rev. Timothy Hall: reappointed Censor Librorum for the Diocese of Winona-Rochester for a fiveyear term, effective May 15, 2023.

Minnesota Catholic Conference

Sr. Agnes Mary Graves, RSM: reappointed to the Minnesota Catholic Conference Life, Family and Healthcare Committee for a three-year term, effective June 1, 2023.

Child Abuse Policy Information

The Diocese of Winona-Rochester will provide a prompt, appropriate and compassionate response to reporters of sexual abuse of a child by any diocesan agent (employees, volunteers, vendors, religious or clergy). Anyone wishing to make a report of an allegation of sexual abuse should call the Victim Assistance Coordinator at 507-454-2270, Extension 255. A caller will be asked to provide his or her name and telephone number. Individuals are also encouraged to take their reports directly to civil authorities. The Diocese of Winona-Rochester is committed to protecting children, young people and other vulnerable people in our schools, parishes and ministries. The diocesan policy is available on the diocesan web site at www.dow.org under the Safe Environment Program. If you have any questions about the Diocese of Winona-Rochester’s implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, please contact Mary Hamann at 507-858-1244, or mhamann@dowr.org.

• Hard copies are distributed at DOW-R parishes on the first weekend of each month.

• An online version may be viewed at www.dowr.org/offices/ courier/index.html

• To be added to the home delivery list free of charge, readers should send their names and addresses to:

Diocese of Winona-Rochester

The Courier 55 W Sanborn St. Winona, MN 55987 or nreller@dowr.org

�hat a privilege it is every spring to immerse oneself in the liturgies of Holy Week. The washing of the feet on Holy Thursday, the veneration of the cross on Good Friday, the journey through the pivotal readings from the Old Testament on Holy Saturday, the joyful resurrection of the “Alleluia” on Easter Sunday— all of it is meant to plunge us into the mystery of the dying and rising of the Lord Jesus.

At several points during the recent celebrations, I was reminded of a saying of

Bishop's Calendar

*indicates all are welcome to attend

May 1, Monday

7 p.m. - ConfirmationCrucifixion Church, La Crescent; with St. Peter, Hokah

May 2, Tuesday 11 a.m. - Holy Hour and Deans Meeting - Winona

2:30 p.m. - Clergy Personnel Committee Meeting - Winona

May 3, Wednesday 7 p.m. - Confirmation – St. Mary Church, Caledonia; with St. Patrick, Brownsville

May 4, Thursday

9 a.m. - Mass and BrunchHermits of St. Mary of Carmel Hermitage, Houston

1:30 p.m. - Holy Half Hour and DOW-R Finance Council Meeting

- Winona

May 5, Friday

6 p.m. - Confirmation - Ss. Peter & Paul Church, Mankato; my mentor, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago. It kept coming into my mind as a sort of mantra or refrain, prompted by so many of the gestures and readings of Holy Week. The Cardinal once famously commented that we live in a culture where “everything is permitted and nothing is forgiven.” In the typical Georgean manner, the saying is pithy, memorable, and dead right. Even the most casual survey of our society discloses the truth of the first part of the Cardinal’s adage. Men are allowed to be women, and women men. Male athletes, claiming a female identity, can dominate women’s sports. Transgender surgery, even when it amounts to the mutilation of children, is positively encouraged in many parts of our country, including my home state of Minnesota. Abortion, even to the moment of birth, is legal (indeed celebrated) in a number of states; assisted suicide of the suffering is considered a fundamental right of the individual and prerogative of the state.

But the truth of the second part of the Cardinal’s statement is equally obvious. Violations of the accepted secular orthodoxy today result in cancellation, elimination, permanent ostracization. If you doubt with St. Joseph the Worker, Mankato; All Saints, Madison Lake; Holy Family, Lake Crystal; and Immaculate Conception, St. Clair

May 7, Sunday

*10:30 a.m. - Confirmation and Dedication of an Altar - St. Ignatius Church, Spring Valley; with St. Patrick, LeRoy, and St. Finbarr, Grand Meadow

2 p.m. - Confirmation - St. Augustine Church, Austin; with Queen of Angels, Austin, and St. Edward, Austin

May 9, Tuesday

11:30 a.m. - Holy Half Hour and Presbyteral Council - Pax Christi Church, Rochester

May 10, Wednesday

7 p.m. - Confirmation - St.

Charles Borromeo Church, St. Charles; with Holy Redeemer, Eyota me, try posting something even mildly anti-woke on the internet. The Jacobin mob will be on you in moments. And if you read the ideologues behind wokeism, you will see that being, say, a white male, or an advocate of traditional religious values, makes you permanently a reprobate, with no hope of redemption. If you doubt me on this score, ask any woke enthusiast just how much apology or reparation is required to relieve an offender of his guilt. You will find that the answer is “never enough.” So, on the one hand, everything seems to be permitted, but on the other hand, nothing is ever really forgiven.

I thought of Cardinal George’s bon mot during Holy Week, because the dying and rising of Jesus reveals precisely the reverse of what obtains in our secular culture. During the Holy Week liturgies, especially on Holy Thursday and Good Friday, we see practically all forms of human dysfunction. What brought the Lord to the cross was a demonic farrago of hatred, stupidity, violence, cruelty, institutional injustice, self-serving careerism, betrayal, denial, and gross indifference to the will of God. Though many of those responsible for the death of Jesus wrapped themselves in

May 11, Thursday

8:20 a.m. - Real Presence Radio

Live Drive - Co-Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, Rochester

May 13, Saturday

2 p.m. - CommencementHillsdale College, Michigan

May 15, Monday

5:30 p.m. - USCCB Religious Liberty Committee - Zoom

May 16, Tuesday

11 a.m. - Holy Half Hour and Pension Plan for Priests Board of Trustees - Winona

May 17, Wednesday

7 p.m. - Confirmation - St. Felix Church, Wabasha; with St. Agnes, Kellogg

May 18, Thursday

3:30 p.m. - MN Catholic Conf. Bishops' Meeting - Zoom

May 19, Friday

7 p.m. - Confirmation - St. Pius

X Church, Rochester; with St. Francis of Assisi, Rochester the mantle of righteousness or offered pathetic justifications for their behavior, in fact, all of them were exposed as frauds and sinners. The cross itself served as judgment on human folly and wickedness. In its light, there was no chance to hide. Of course, we would all love to live in a society where everything is permitted, where no decision of ours is ever subject to question or correction, where “I’m okay and you’re okay.”

But the cross of Jesus stands athwart all of this. It shines an unsparing light on our sin, especially our hidden sin; it convinces us, beyond doubt, that we are not okay. And this is all to the good, for if we never admit to sin, we will never be open to salvation.

At the same time, the accounts of the resurrection of the Lord disclose the opposite of the cancel culture. To the very people who had denied, betrayed, and abandoned him, Jesus does indeed show his wounds, lest they forget their sin, but then he utters the incomparably beautiful word “Shalom.” In any conventional telling of a story like this, the offended man, back from the dead, would certainly be intent upon revenge. But in the Gospel story, the man who had been hurt as fully as a person can be hurt, returned in forgiving love. And let us

May 20, Saturday

11 a.m. - ConfirmationCathedral of the Sacred Heart, Winona; with the Basilica of St. Stanislaus Kostka, Winona; St. John Nepomucene, Winona; St. Casimir, Winona; St. Mary, Winona; Holy Trinity, Rollingstone; and St. Rose of Lima, Lewiston

May 21, Sunday

2 p.m. - Confirmation - St. Ann Church, Janesville; with St. Joseph, Waldorf; All Saints, New Richland; and Sacred Heart, Waseca

May 23, Tuesday

9:30 a.m. - Holy Hour and College of Consultors - Winona

May 24, Wednesday

7 p.m. - Confirmation - St. Joachim Church, Plainview; with Immaculate Conception, Kellogg press the point, for the person in question was not only a man, but also true God. Therefore, they killed God, and God offered a word of peace and reconciliation. If any people in the history of humanity deserved to be cancelled it was all those who contributed to the death of Jesus, but instead they are forgiven. And this means (and it is the Good News of the Gospel that applies to every person up and down the ages) that every sin is forgiveable, that God cancels no one.

And so, to the culture that says “everything is permitted but nothing is forgiven,” we Christians should counter, “in light of the cross, we know that many things ought not be permitted” and in light of the Resurrection, that “everything in principle can be forgiven.” In that reversal of the present orthodoxy, we find a truly saving word.

-Most Rev. Robert Barron, Bishop of Winona-Rochester

May 25, Thursday

1 p.m. - Holy Hour and Bishop's Cabinet - Winona

May 26, Friday

6 p.m. - Baccalaureate Ceremony - Cotter Schools, Winona

May 27, Saturday

*10 a.m. - Diaconate Ordination of Seminarians Nicholas Gawarecki and Brian KleinBasilica of St. Stanislaus Kostka, Winona

May 30, Tuesday

9 a.m. - Word on Fire Show Recording - Rochester

May 31, Wednesday

7 p.m. - Confirmation - Sacred Heart Church, Heron Lake; with Sacred Heart, Brewster, and St. Francis Xavier, Windom