Thread: Spanish Inquisition revisited ???

Pope orders bishops to root out false claims of visions

The Pope has ordered thorough investigations to be carried out into people who claim they have seen visions of the Virgin Mary.



By Simon Caldwell
Last Updated: 5:54PM GMT 12 Jan 2009

The Pope plans to publish criteria to help his bishops distinguish between true and false claims of visions of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, messages, stigmata, weeping and bleeding statues and Eucharistic miracles. Photo: GETTY


He is hoping to cut down on an explosion in the number of bogus heavenly apparitions with new guidelines to help his bishops to root out frauds.
Benedict XVI plans to publish criteria to help them to distinguish between true and false claims of visions of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, messages, stigmata, weeping and bleeding statues and Eucharistic miracles.
In some cases exorcists will be used to determine if a credible apparition is of divine origin or whether it is demonic.
The guidelines will come in a "vademecum", or handbook, which is in its final stages and will be published soon by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
It sets out step-by-step instructions on how Church authorities should deal with claims of such supernatural phenomena.
The Pope is said to be deeply concerned by the explosion in the number of pseudo-mystics who, claiming a direct line to God, set themselves against the bishops and lure the Catholic faithful out of the Church and into disobedient cults.
When a claim of heavenly apparitions occurs, the local bishop will need to set up a commission of psychiatrists, psychologists, theologians and priests who will investigate the claims systematically.
The first step will be to impose silence on the alleged visionaries and if they refuse to obey then this will be taken as a sign that their claims are false.
The visionaries will next be visited by psychiatrists, either atheists or Catholics, to certify their mental health and to verify whether they are suffering from conditions of a hysterical or hallucinatory character or from delusions of leadership.
The third step will be to investigate the person's level of education and to determine if they have had access to material that could be used to falsely support their claims.
The new document will also instruct the bishops to see if the visionaries and their associates stand to gain financially from making their claims.
The content of any heavenly messages will also be scrutinised to see if it is harmony with the teachings of the Church.
If the visionary is considered credible they will ultimately be questioned by one or more demonologists and exorcists to exclude the possibility that Satan is hiding behind the apparitions in order to deceive the faithful.
The Pope decided to act because instances of private revelations continue to multiply, with new cases reported around the world every year.





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This article just leaves me "gobsmacked" !


Someone should tell him that we are in the 21st century now !

^ Uh, huh... A truly enlightened sect of the Christian faith emboldened to maintain their grip on the populace by demonizing anyone whose visions don't fall between the lines of accepted dogma...

Originally Posted by Muadib

^ Uh, huh... A truly enlightened sect of the Christian faith emboldened to maintain their grip on the populace by demonizing anyone whose visions don't fall between the lines of accepted dogma...

"A truly enlightened sect of the Christian faith" I don't think so. The RCC have been in error since the beginning. Most christians feel sad that the world considers the RCC to in any way represent christians or christianity.

Looney Catholics. Nutjobs the lot of them.
I had cause to attend a ceremony in one of their Churches once, a line of (9?) year old girls and boys kneeling before a guy dressed in all sorts of ceremonial robes while he hand fed them wine and biscuits, the pomp and ceremony and solemness of it all was too wierd, like some sort ancient primitive ritual.

Originally Posted by Milkman

These "citings" of the Virgin Mary, and bleeding or weeping statues are claims made by people who consider themselves Christian, and if their "faith" is very strong, they may think they are seeing these things, when in actuality, their brain (and faith) is creating the illusion.

As it is for almost all religions - when you have a chance, Google up '"temporal lobe epilepsy god"

The first link is usually the one you want to read.

Originally Posted by Dug

Looney Catholics. Nutjobs the lot of them.
I had cause to attend a ceremony in one of their Churches once, a line of (9?) year old girls and boys kneeling before a guy dressed in all sorts of ceremonial robes while he hand fed them wine and biscuits, the pomp and ceremony and solemness of it all was too wierd, like some sort ancient primitive ritual.

Most Christian rituals and celebrations were combined / merged with earlier pagan versions by the Romans (Emperor Constantine), to effectively unite and monopolize them all.

Originally Posted by Dug

Looney Catholics. Nutjobs the lot of them.
I had cause to attend a ceremony in one of their Churches once, a line of (9?) year old girls and boys kneeling before a guy dressed in all sorts of ceremonial robes while he hand fed them wine and biscuits, the pomp and ceremony and solemness of it all was too wierd, like some sort ancient primitive ritual.

Not catholic. least i've never heard them do that. different in some other cultures maybe. no not wine and biscuits. jasus.

Originally Posted by Happyman

The content of any heavenly messages will also be scrutinised to see if it is harmony with the teachings of the Church. If the visionary is considered credible they will ultimately be questioned by one or more demonologists and exorcists to exclude the possibility that Satan is hiding behind the apparitions in order to deceive the faithful.

So, if the Virgin Mary appears and condemns priests for buggering children will that be considered Satans' work