DEFINITIVE STATEMENTS ON GARABANDAL THE LOCAL ORDINARY (1967) THE HOLY SEE (1970) THE PREVIOUS LOCAL ORDINARY (1996) THE LAST LOCAL ORDINARY (2022) THE CURRENT LOCAL ORDINARY HAS NOT YET COMMENTED The …More
DEFINITIVE STATEMENTS ON GARABANDAL
THE LOCAL ORDINARY (1967)
THE HOLY SEE (1970)
THE PREVIOUS LOCAL ORDINARY (1996)
THE LAST LOCAL ORDINARY (2022)
THE CURRENT LOCAL ORDINARY HAS NOT YET COMMENTED
The 1967 statement: The Catholic Transcript 23 May 1969 — The Catholic News Archive
SACRA CONGREGATIO PRO DOCTRINA FIDEI (Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith)
Protocol No: 1065/64 Roma, 21 April 1970.
Piazza del S. Uffizio, 11.
Your Excellency:
This office has received your letter of April 8, 1970, in which you expressed justifiable apprehension about the diffusion of the Garabandal movement in your Archdiocese and in which you asked for clear and reliable guidelines from the Holy See for dealing with this phenomenon.
The Holy See shares your preoccupation about the manifest and increasing confusion due to the diffusion of this movement among the faithful and desires with this letter to clarify its position on the matter.
This Sacred Congregation, despite requests from various bishops and faithful, has always refused to define the supernatural character of the events of Garabandal.
After the definitive negative judgement issued by the Curia of Santander, this Sacred Congregation, after attentive examination of the proceedings forwarded to this office, has often praised the prudence that characterized the method followed in the examination, but has still decided to leave the direct responsibility for the matter to the local Ordinary.
The Holy See has always held that the conclusions and dispositions of the Bishop of Santander were sufficiently secure guidelines for the bishops, in order to dissuade people from participating in pilgrimages and other acts of devotion that are based on claims connected with or founded on the presumed apparitions and messages of Garabandal. On March 10, 1969, this Sacred Congregation wrote a letter to this effect to the bishop of Santander who had also asked for a more explicit declaration of the Holy See in the matter.
However, promoters of the Garabandal movement have tried to minimize the decisions and the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Santander. This Sacred Congregation wants it to be clearly understood that the Bishop of Santander has been and continues to be the only one with complete jurisdiction in this matter and the Holy See has no intention of examining this question any further since it holds that the examinations already carried out are sufficient, as well as are the official declarations of the Bishop of Santander.
There is no truth to the statement that the Holy See has named an «Official Papal Private Investigator of Garabandal» and affirmations attributed to this anonymous personage to the extent that «the verification of the Garabandal apparitions lies completely in the hands of the Holy Father Pope Paul VI» and other such expressions that aim at undermining the authority of the decisions of the Bishop of Santander are completely unfounded.
In order to reply to certain doubts that you expressed in your letter, this Sacred Congregation wishes to assert that the Holy See has never approved, even indirectly, the Garabandal movement, that it has never encouraged or blessed Garabandal promoters or centers. Rather, the Holy See deplores the fact that certain persons and institutions persist in fomenting the movement in obvious contradiction with the dispositions of ecclesiastical authority, and thus disseminate confusion among the people, especially among the simple and defenseless.
From what has been said so far, you will easily realize that, though this Sacred Congregation certainly agrees with the contents of the note of May 10, 1969 (as published in various countries and especially in the French magazine, La Documentation Catholique, Sep. 21, 1969; n. 1.547, p. 821), it must say that it is inexact to attribute the part of the text that deals with the lack of supernatural character of the events of Garabandal to the Sacred Congregation, which has always striven to abstain from any direct declaration on the question, precisely because it did not consider it necessary to do so after the clear and express decisions of the Bishop of Santander. This is the genuine meaning of the letter written on January 21, 1970, by the Most Reverend Paul Philippe, Secretary of this Sacred Congregation, to the editor in chief of La Documentation Catholique.
In order to contribute further to your pastoral action in this matter, this office is enclosing other essential documents already published in other countries such as Spain, i. e. the two official notices of the Bishop of Santander, two letters of the Sacred Congregation to the same Bishop, and a letter to the Apostolic Delegate to Mexico.
This office hopes in this letter to have clarified a question that concerns not just your Archdiocese but also other dioceses.
With sentiments of deepest esteem and cordial respect, I am
Devotedly yours,
FRANC, Cardinal Seper. Praef.
That declaration was made in 1970. On October 11th 1996 the then Bishop of Santander, Jose Vilaplana, wrote this statement and said it is final.
“Some people have been coming directly to the Diocese of Santander (Spain) asking about the alleged apparitions of Garabandal and especially for the answer about the position of the hierarchy of the Church concerning these apparitions.
I need to communicate that:
1. All the bishops of the diocese since 1961 through 1970 agreed that there was no supernatural validity for the apparitions.
2. In the month of December of 1977 Bishop Dal Val of Santander, in union with his predecessors, stated that in the six years of being bishop of Santander there were no new phenomena.
3. The same bishop, Dal Val, let a few years go by to allow the confusion or fanaticism to settle down, and then he initiated a commission to examine the apparitions in more depth. The conclusion of the commission agreed with the findings of the previous bishops. That there was no supernatural validity to such apparitions.
4. At the time of the conclusions of the study, in 1991, I was installed bishop in the diocese. So during my visit to Rome, ad limina visit which happened in the same year, I presented to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith the study and I asked for pastoral direction concerning this case.
5. On Nov. 28, 1992, the Congregation sent me an answer saying that after examining the documentation, there was no need for direct intervention (by the Vatican) to take away the jurisdiction of the ordinary bishop of Santander in this case. Such a right belongs to the ordinary. Previous declarations of the Holy See agree in this finding. In the same letter they suggested that if I find it necessary to publish a declaration, that I reconfirm that there was no supernatural validity in the alleged apparitions, and this will make a unanimous position with my predecessors.
6. Given that the declarations of my predecessors who studied the case have been clear and unanimous, I don’t find it necessary to have a new public declaration that would raise notoriety about something which happened so long ago. However, I find it necessary to rewrite this report as a direct answer to the people who ask for direction concerning this question, which is now final: I agree with [and] I accept the decision of my predecessors and the direction of the Holy See.
7. In reference to the Eucharistic celebration in Garabandal, following the decision of my predecessors, I ruled that Masses can be celebrated only in the parish church and there will be no references to the alleged apparitions and visiting priests who want to say Mass must have approval from the pastor, who has my authorization. It’s my wish that this information is helpful to you.
My regards in Christ,
Jose Vilaplana
Bishop of Santander
Oct. 11, 1996
2022 STATEMENT FROM THE CURRENT LOCAL ORDINARY
Spanish Bishop Makes Statement on Alleged Apparitions at Garabandal
I have also found this website with statements from the Holy See / local Ordinaries (mostly in Spanish) which are dated and have protocol numbers, so are concrete proof. There is even a photocopy of the 1996 local Ordinary's statement (in Spanish) sent to the late Richard Salbato in 2001: OBISPADO DE SANTANDER
THE LOCAL ORDINARY (1967)
THE HOLY SEE (1970)
THE PREVIOUS LOCAL ORDINARY (1996)
THE LAST LOCAL ORDINARY (2022)
THE CURRENT LOCAL ORDINARY HAS NOT YET COMMENTED
The 1967 statement: The Catholic Transcript 23 May 1969 — The Catholic News Archive
SACRA CONGREGATIO PRO DOCTRINA FIDEI (Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith)
Protocol No: 1065/64 Roma, 21 April 1970.
Piazza del S. Uffizio, 11.
Your Excellency:
This office has received your letter of April 8, 1970, in which you expressed justifiable apprehension about the diffusion of the Garabandal movement in your Archdiocese and in which you asked for clear and reliable guidelines from the Holy See for dealing with this phenomenon.
The Holy See shares your preoccupation about the manifest and increasing confusion due to the diffusion of this movement among the faithful and desires with this letter to clarify its position on the matter.
This Sacred Congregation, despite requests from various bishops and faithful, has always refused to define the supernatural character of the events of Garabandal.
After the definitive negative judgement issued by the Curia of Santander, this Sacred Congregation, after attentive examination of the proceedings forwarded to this office, has often praised the prudence that characterized the method followed in the examination, but has still decided to leave the direct responsibility for the matter to the local Ordinary.
The Holy See has always held that the conclusions and dispositions of the Bishop of Santander were sufficiently secure guidelines for the bishops, in order to dissuade people from participating in pilgrimages and other acts of devotion that are based on claims connected with or founded on the presumed apparitions and messages of Garabandal. On March 10, 1969, this Sacred Congregation wrote a letter to this effect to the bishop of Santander who had also asked for a more explicit declaration of the Holy See in the matter.
However, promoters of the Garabandal movement have tried to minimize the decisions and the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Santander. This Sacred Congregation wants it to be clearly understood that the Bishop of Santander has been and continues to be the only one with complete jurisdiction in this matter and the Holy See has no intention of examining this question any further since it holds that the examinations already carried out are sufficient, as well as are the official declarations of the Bishop of Santander.
There is no truth to the statement that the Holy See has named an «Official Papal Private Investigator of Garabandal» and affirmations attributed to this anonymous personage to the extent that «the verification of the Garabandal apparitions lies completely in the hands of the Holy Father Pope Paul VI» and other such expressions that aim at undermining the authority of the decisions of the Bishop of Santander are completely unfounded.
In order to reply to certain doubts that you expressed in your letter, this Sacred Congregation wishes to assert that the Holy See has never approved, even indirectly, the Garabandal movement, that it has never encouraged or blessed Garabandal promoters or centers. Rather, the Holy See deplores the fact that certain persons and institutions persist in fomenting the movement in obvious contradiction with the dispositions of ecclesiastical authority, and thus disseminate confusion among the people, especially among the simple and defenseless.
From what has been said so far, you will easily realize that, though this Sacred Congregation certainly agrees with the contents of the note of May 10, 1969 (as published in various countries and especially in the French magazine, La Documentation Catholique, Sep. 21, 1969; n. 1.547, p. 821), it must say that it is inexact to attribute the part of the text that deals with the lack of supernatural character of the events of Garabandal to the Sacred Congregation, which has always striven to abstain from any direct declaration on the question, precisely because it did not consider it necessary to do so after the clear and express decisions of the Bishop of Santander. This is the genuine meaning of the letter written on January 21, 1970, by the Most Reverend Paul Philippe, Secretary of this Sacred Congregation, to the editor in chief of La Documentation Catholique.
In order to contribute further to your pastoral action in this matter, this office is enclosing other essential documents already published in other countries such as Spain, i. e. the two official notices of the Bishop of Santander, two letters of the Sacred Congregation to the same Bishop, and a letter to the Apostolic Delegate to Mexico.
This office hopes in this letter to have clarified a question that concerns not just your Archdiocese but also other dioceses.
With sentiments of deepest esteem and cordial respect, I am
Devotedly yours,
FRANC, Cardinal Seper. Praef.
That declaration was made in 1970. On October 11th 1996 the then Bishop of Santander, Jose Vilaplana, wrote this statement and said it is final.
“Some people have been coming directly to the Diocese of Santander (Spain) asking about the alleged apparitions of Garabandal and especially for the answer about the position of the hierarchy of the Church concerning these apparitions.
I need to communicate that:
1. All the bishops of the diocese since 1961 through 1970 agreed that there was no supernatural validity for the apparitions.
2. In the month of December of 1977 Bishop Dal Val of Santander, in union with his predecessors, stated that in the six years of being bishop of Santander there were no new phenomena.
3. The same bishop, Dal Val, let a few years go by to allow the confusion or fanaticism to settle down, and then he initiated a commission to examine the apparitions in more depth. The conclusion of the commission agreed with the findings of the previous bishops. That there was no supernatural validity to such apparitions.
4. At the time of the conclusions of the study, in 1991, I was installed bishop in the diocese. So during my visit to Rome, ad limina visit which happened in the same year, I presented to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith the study and I asked for pastoral direction concerning this case.
5. On Nov. 28, 1992, the Congregation sent me an answer saying that after examining the documentation, there was no need for direct intervention (by the Vatican) to take away the jurisdiction of the ordinary bishop of Santander in this case. Such a right belongs to the ordinary. Previous declarations of the Holy See agree in this finding. In the same letter they suggested that if I find it necessary to publish a declaration, that I reconfirm that there was no supernatural validity in the alleged apparitions, and this will make a unanimous position with my predecessors.
6. Given that the declarations of my predecessors who studied the case have been clear and unanimous, I don’t find it necessary to have a new public declaration that would raise notoriety about something which happened so long ago. However, I find it necessary to rewrite this report as a direct answer to the people who ask for direction concerning this question, which is now final: I agree with [and] I accept the decision of my predecessors and the direction of the Holy See.
7. In reference to the Eucharistic celebration in Garabandal, following the decision of my predecessors, I ruled that Masses can be celebrated only in the parish church and there will be no references to the alleged apparitions and visiting priests who want to say Mass must have approval from the pastor, who has my authorization. It’s my wish that this information is helpful to you.
My regards in Christ,
Jose Vilaplana
Bishop of Santander
Oct. 11, 1996
2022 STATEMENT FROM THE CURRENT LOCAL ORDINARY
Spanish Bishop Makes Statement on Alleged Apparitions at Garabandal
I have also found this website with statements from the Holy See / local Ordinaries (mostly in Spanish) which are dated and have protocol numbers, so are concrete proof. There is even a photocopy of the 1996 local Ordinary's statement (in Spanish) sent to the late Richard Salbato in 2001: OBISPADO DE SANTANDER
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As for those who promote these things – an important document was issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in November 1996 and placed in L'Osservatore Romano. It stated:
“Regarding the circulation of texts of alleged private revelations, the Congregation states: The interpretation given by some individuals to a decision approved by Paul VI on 14 October 1966 and promulgated on 15…More
As for those who promote these things – an important document was issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in November 1996 and placed in L'Osservatore Romano. It stated:
“Regarding the circulation of texts of alleged private revelations, the Congregation states: The interpretation given by some individuals to a decision approved by Paul VI on 14 October 1966 and promulgated on 15 November of that year, in virtue of which writings and messages resulting from alleged revelations could be freely circulated in the Church is absolutely groundless. This decision actually referred to the “Abolition of the Index of Forbidden Books” and determined that after the relevant censures were lifted, the moral obligation still remained of not circulating or reading those writings which endanger faith and morals. It should be recalled however, that with regard to the circulation of texts of alleged private revelations, Canon 823#1 of the current code remains in force: “the Pastors of the Church have the … right to demand that writings to be published by the Christian faithful which touch upon faith or morals be submitted to their judgement”. Alleged supernatural revelations and writings concerning them are submitted in first instance to the judgement of the diocesan Bishop, and in particular cases, to the judgement of the Episcopal Conference and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.”
In a speech reported in the 18th September 1996 edition of L’Osservatore Romano, Pope John Paul II stated: “Some members of the People of God are not rooted firmly enough in the Faith, so that the sects, with their deceptive proselytism, mislead them to separate themselves from true communion in Christ. Within the Church community, the multiplication of supposed “apparitions” or “visions” is sowing confusion and reveals a certain lack of solid basis to the faith and Christian life among her members.”
“Regarding the circulation of texts of alleged private revelations, the Congregation states: The interpretation given by some individuals to a decision approved by Paul VI on 14 October 1966 and promulgated on 15 November of that year, in virtue of which writings and messages resulting from alleged revelations could be freely circulated in the Church is absolutely groundless. This decision actually referred to the “Abolition of the Index of Forbidden Books” and determined that after the relevant censures were lifted, the moral obligation still remained of not circulating or reading those writings which endanger faith and morals. It should be recalled however, that with regard to the circulation of texts of alleged private revelations, Canon 823#1 of the current code remains in force: “the Pastors of the Church have the … right to demand that writings to be published by the Christian faithful which touch upon faith or morals be submitted to their judgement”. Alleged supernatural revelations and writings concerning them are submitted in first instance to the judgement of the diocesan Bishop, and in particular cases, to the judgement of the Episcopal Conference and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.”
In a speech reported in the 18th September 1996 edition of L’Osservatore Romano, Pope John Paul II stated: “Some members of the People of God are not rooted firmly enough in the Faith, so that the sects, with their deceptive proselytism, mislead them to separate themselves from true communion in Christ. Within the Church community, the multiplication of supposed “apparitions” or “visions” is sowing confusion and reveals a certain lack of solid basis to the faith and Christian life among her members.”