Msg Base:  AREA 5  - ASK FATHER            CIN ECHO   AMDG
  Msg No: 248.  Wed  2-19-92 17:23  (NO KILL)  (MAILED)
    From: Father Mateo
      To: Jeff Stevens
 Subject: Medjugorje, Valtorta

+-
| Greetings, Father, from Steubenville, Ohio.  I pray God is blessing you
| greatly,,,
| .
| My first question is on what the Church HAS said about the "appearances"
| of Our Lady at Medjugoje, Yugoslavia.  I know full well that the
| Magesterium has made no official proclomations regarding the validity of
| the appearances, but I would like to know what HAS been said
| authoritatively in the way of comments, and the opinions of prominent
| Catholic clergy and theologians,,,Mostly curiousity drives me here.
| .
| On the second topic, I have a vested interest.  My roomate and many on
| campus here at the Franciscan University of Steubenville are reading the
| _Poem of the Man God_, the five volume description of the life of Christ
| by Maria Valtorta.  I have read conflicting reports about this book at one
| time being on the Index of Forbidden Books )Which I don't understand
| either, and would like a clarification on,,,(, about a false papal )?(
| imprimatur, and various other stories,,,could you clear this up for me?
| Thank you,,,
| .
| May God richly bless you,,,
| .
|                                  +Jeff+
+-[JS=>FM]
 
Dear Jeff,
 
I think you have answered your own question about Medjugorje: NOTHING
has been said officially about the apparitions.  The report of the
Bishops' Commission in Yugoslavia in January, 1991 simply said that the
evidence so far is inconclusive.  There is no proof that Mary has
appeared.  It "cannot be confirmed" whether the apparitions are real or
not.  D. Scott in the OSV article of June 23, 1991 wrote: "For now,
Catholics must still await the final judgement of the Church on
Medjugorje."  "Prominent Catholic clergy and theologians" largely
ignore the apparitions; those who don't ignore them are squabbling
among themselves.
 
About Maria Valtorta and her book, the Catholic Periodical Guide is
silent.  I went through the volumes from 1948 to 1991.  I have seen a
28-page collection of quotations made by a critic hostile to the book.
He is not a theologian, and I have not checked the accuracy of his
quotes.  However, if the citations are accurate, I would say: leave
that book alone.  It is the work of a sick, sick woman.  Her "Christ,"
"Mary," and "Apostles" are light years away from our Bible and our
liturgy.  We have tons of work to do to learn God's Word in Sacred
Scripture and to make it known.  Let us use our time to do it.
 
I would rather take my Bible into the presence of the Blessed
Sacrament, and read and beg the Lord to show me what is truly in His
inspired Word.  I am REALLY uncomfortable, after reading those 28 pages
of quotes, and I am very sad about Miss Valtorta.  I hope she's OK. She
died in 1961.
 
                              X X X
 
Because someone canceled an appointment with me, I was able to go to
the library again.  I found that Miss Valtorta's poem was put on the
Index of Prohibited Books on December 4, 1959.  There is no Index
anymore, so there is no canonical penalty for reading Valtorta, but I
would assume that the reasons for the work's condemnation are still
lurking.  It may be spiritually harmful to the untrained reader.
 
There is a mention of the book in Osservatore Romano for February 26,
1948.  Our files of OR don't go back that far, so I could not read the
article.
 
                                        Sincerely in Christ,
 
                                        Father Mateo