Vatican Overturns Dutch Apparitions

Bishop Answers Request for Clarification Regarding the Amsterdam Apparitions
Updated: Sep 18




In answer to questions from clergy and faithful internationally, Bishop Josef Maria Punt, Bishop Emeritus from the Diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam, provides a brief history and clarification of the position of the Church regarding the apparitions of the Lady of All Nations. In his letter, the Bishop also explains the 1974 statement by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith

-Editor

DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL CLARIFICATION HERE.


Amsterdam Letter
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THE LADY OF ALL NATIONS AND THE CHURCH


Because of many requests, we asked Bishop emeritus Jozef Punt to give a short summary of the development of the position of the Church regarding the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as “The Lady of all Nations” or “The Mother of all Peoples,” (Amsterdam 1945 – 1959):


The Church and “the Lady of all Nations” have a long common history, on the diocesan level, as well as on the level of the universal Church. It started more than 70 years ago. Like most of my predecessors, I also had known the visionary very well. She was totally reliable and very down to earth. All her visions happened in the presence of others, and were recorded by others. As a bishop, we have a duty to “test the spirits,” to separate the “wheat from the chaff,” but also “hold fast to what is good.” I cannot describe 70 years of history in detail, but shall try to explain the central stages in this development.


In 1956, the first local Bishop, Johannes Huibers allowed the private veneration of the title, the image and the prayer of the Lady of All Nations, but prohibited public veneration. This was based on the advice of a diocesan commission, that could not yet establish a supernatural origin. Besides that, the apparitions were still going on. In 1957, Rome confirmed the Bishop’s disciplinary measure, adding that it did not rule out new information presenting itself in the future. After his retirement (1960), Bishop Huibers became more and more convinced of the authenticity of the apparitions, as is manifested in letters to his successor and to Rome, as well as in other documented testimonies.


In 1967, the then Bishop of Haarlem, Theodorus Zwartkruis, on the request of many faithful and in consultation with the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, decided to re-open the case. A new diocesan commission could not draw a clear conclusion, but tended to attribute a natural origin to the events. Yet, it advised the granting of permission for public devotion. In 1974, the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith did not state that the apparitions are false, but specified that the “non constat de supernaturalitate” position still existed, and in an official publication confirmed the prohibition of the public veneration from 1956 by Bishop Huibers.


In 1973, an unexpected development happened. The sisters of a convent of Eucharistic Adoration in Akita, Japan, had commissioned a wooden statue after the image of the Lady of all Nations, and daily prayed the prayer of Amsterdam. In July 1973, Sister Agnes Sasagawa heard a beautiful voice coming from the statue of the Lady of all Nations, giving messages. Also, healings, tears and other miraculous events at the statue happened, five times in the presence of the bishop himself. After extensive scientific investigation by the University of Akita, the local Bishop, John Shojiro Ito, on April 22, 1984 approved “the supernatural character of the events.” He made a pilgrimage to Amsterdam, and shortly before his death, he wrote a letter (February 28, 1989) to the Bishop of Haarlem, in which he confirms that he had approved the events regarding the statue of the Lady of all Nations in Akita, as consisting of a supernatural origin. There is also a deep relation of the Lady of all Nations with the Holy Eucharist, both in Akita and in Amsterdam.


In 1984, Rome modified its position regarding Amsterdam. The Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith advises the then local Bishop, Henricus Bomers, to consider making a distinction between the title and the apparitions, expressing that the Congregation was inclined to recognize the title. In the following years, there is ongoing correspondence between the local bishop and the Congregation about the possibility and the reality of such a distinction. On April 6, 1990, the Congregation states in writing that “the Bishop of Haarlem himself should judge the advisability” of this policy.


In 1995, Rome allows the public veneration. In that year, I was appointed auxiliary Bishop of Haarlem. At my introduction visit to the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, October 1995, the Prefect, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, brought up the issue of the devotion to The Lady of All Nations, and asked my opinion on this topic. I responded that I was in favour of allowing public devotion, without yet giving a judgement on the authenticity, but await further developments. The Prefect gave permission to this policy. On May 31, 1996, Bishop Bomers, together with me as his auxiliary bishop, therefore released a decree in which we allowed the public veneration of “The Lady of all Nations,” and left the question of the authenticity to the conscience of the faithful. The devotion sharply spread.


In 2002, in my continued responsibility as the new Bishop of Haarlem, I had to take a position on the Amsterdam apparitions. Already for several years, I was confronted with many requests from bishops and faithful to give clarity about the authenticity, and also in the light of the approval of Akita. I asked some theologians and psychologists to again study all the available material. On their positive advice, and in my responsibility as local bishop, I then approved the apparitions as “in essence consisting of a supernatural origin.” In a pastoral letter, I added that the approval does not imply a guarantee on each word or image, because the influence of the human factor always remains. I also recalled that private revelation, even if recognized as authentic, “does not bind the conscience of the faithful.”


In 2005, Rome required a small change in the prayer. The last sentence of the prayer read as follows: “May the Lady of all Nations, who once was Mary, be our Advocate. Amen.” Of course, the Blessed Virgin retains the name, “Mary.” The name is used throughout all the messages. In fact, Our Lady presents herself with the words: “I am the Lady, Mary, Mother of all Peoples”. What is meant is that this humble young woman, Mary of Nazareth, was chosen and elevated by the Lord to become, as St. John Paul II refers to her under the titles, “the Mother of all Humanity” and “the Mother of all Peoples.” But to avoid misunderstanding, and in obedience, the clause was changed. Now the most current form of the clause reads: “the Blessed Virgin Mary.”


The devotion has spread all over the world and is presently supported by hundreds of bishops and cardinals. The prayer is translated in almost all languages of the world. The first sentence of the prayer reads: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Father, send now your Spirit over the earth,” with special emphasis on “now.” Our world needs the Holy Spirit now, more than ever. If we honor Mary in the full greatness the Lord has granted Her, She then can fully execute her maternal power over the heart of her Son, and obtain for us a new descent of the Holy Spirit over our wounded world. That is the essence of this devotion. For this reason, millions of people are praying the Rosary and this prayer. At the Lady of All Nations prayer day in Germany, 2019, we were happy to receive a message of greeting and blessing on behalf of Pope Francis.



Jozef Marianus Punt
Bishop Emeritus of Haarlem-Amsterdam
15 September 2020

 

Mark Miravalle corrects the FAKE NEWS which incorrectly claimed Our Lady of All Nations was condemned. Our Lady of All Nations was NOT condemned. Thank God.

 

So five pages into this discussion and several public articles and videos later, we are getting confirmation that the Aleteia article that launched this whole debate has spread misinformation.

I am reminded of something Catherine Austin Fitts has often said: it is a tactic of the deep state to make us, the minion, waste our time and energy dealing with lies and misinformation. I think that a great deal of so-called Catholic media is just as infiltrated as other media today and that some of the things they publish are meant to divide, create arguments and further weaken the Church by tarnishing certain people or apparitions to weaken them in the minds of the faithful.

Is it just me or do others sense an increase in intensity of attacks to discredit figures of faith?

There is a book coming out soon in French that targets the reputation of a well-known French mystic and if it gets a lot of publicity, it will put a doubt on her authenticity in the minds of many. The book is a case of the ole manuscript found in a drawer after the death of the writer and published posthumously. People are already talking about it, putting the claims of the book on the table. This mystic is quoted so often in relation to other apparitions and other mystics and Saints that it feels like an attack on a much broader scale. And Catholics are taking the bait, taking up the public arguments about it.

In Amsterdam, Our Lady of All Nations asked us to pray for the Spirit to be sent to all nations so that we could all avoid degeneration, disaster and war. The translations of this prayer in French and Spanish uses the word corruption instead of degeneration and this is what I think of when I pray this prayer. Our biggest problem is the corruption within the Church.

Lord Jesus Christ
Son of the Father
Send now your Spirit
over the earth.
Let the Holy Spirit live
In the hearts of all nations,
That they may be preserved
From degeneration, disaster and war.
May the Lady of All Nations,
Who once was Mary,
Be Our advocate.
Amen.​

 

http://www.seitaihoshikai.com/us/index.html

 

For those who dont follow the link, Sr. Agnes of Akita' convent...

Information

• 
  24 Sep 2020
  
  Temporary closure of chapel / gardens
  
  Due to COVID-19 our chapel and the gardens are closed now.
  Neither pilgrims nor tourists will be able to enter the convent
  until Easter 2021 at the earliest.
  We are very sorry for this inconvenience.
  The next annoucement will be in March 2021.
  

 

Another article. Sad to say but in today's world one has to wonder about the motives behind statements coming out of this particular section of the hierarchy....esp. when the union of all nations seems there to be built upon only a material/secular foundation.....as in NWO! Will the image of Akita be included in the order?

Vatican reaffirms rejection of so-called apparitions of Our Lady of All Nations

https://aleteia.org/2020/10/20/vati...alled-apparitions-of-our-lady-of-all-nations/

 

The discussion continues:

Continued Discussion on the Lady of All Nations

https://www.motherofallpeoples.com/post/continued-discussion-on-the-lady-of-all-nations

 

New update from Dr. Mark Miravalle...

Comment on Statement from Bishop of Amsterdam Responding to CDF Letter on the Lady of All Nations (motherofallpeoples.com)

Bishop Johannes Hendriks, Bishop of Haarlem-Amsterdam, has issued a statement (Dec. 30, 2020) concerning a letter of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith which confirms its previous position of 1974 concerning the Lady of All Nations. In the 1974 statement, the Congregation stated that the supernatural character of the apparitions could not be established, and therefore invited the faithful at that time to refrain from making references to public devotion and the supernatural character of the apparitions. However, since 1974, the Congregation had significantly modified its own position and, in 1995, granted permission for public devotion to the Lady of All Nations after direct consultation with Congregation Prefect, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. This subsequently led to the official approval of public devotion by Bishop Bomers and auxiliary Bishop Punt in 1996. Six years later, in 2002, Bishop Punt approved, in essence, the supernatural character of the apparitions.

It is surprising, therefore, to hear that the Congregation is now returning to the 1974 non constat de supernaturalitate position, which designates that the supernatural character of the apparitions cannot be established at this time, in light of the significant positive developments after 1974, including repeated permission (1995) and documented allowance (1983) for the approval of public devotion by CDF Prefect, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, later to become Pope Benedict XVI. The Lady of All Nations apparitions have never received the constat de non supernaturalitate condemnatory judgment, and therefore should in no sense be considered as “false” apparitions.

It is even more puzzling that the Congregation refers now to some form of confirmation of a negative opinion of the apparitions and devotion by Pope St. Paul VI in early May of 1974, when from that time to the present, a period of 46 years, no official mention of a papal confirmation of the negative judgment on the supernatural character of the Amsterdam apparitions has ever been voiced by the Congregation, either officially or publicly. Moreover, the Congregation has offered no theological reasons for this reversal of the significant positive developments concerning the Lady of All Nations status and devotion over the past half century.

Yet another inconsistency with this new CDF instruction is the continued constat de supernaturalitate Church approved status of the mystical experiences of Akita, Japan, which issued from a wooden statue of the Lady of All Nations in a Japanese convent. Bishop John Ito issued his positive recognition of the supernatural character of the Akita events (1984) after documented consultation with the same Cardinal Josef Ratzinger as acting CDF Prefect.

Nonetheless, we respond in obedience to the instruction of the Congregation at this present stage of the journey concerning the Lady of All Nations apparitions, and from January 1, 2021 onwards, will cease all distribution of messages and references to the supernatural character of the apparitions, for as long as the Congregation maintains its present disciplinary position. The Prayer of the Lady of All Nations, along with the title, image, prayer days, and other forms of devotion may continue, according to the new instruction, as long as they do not presume to make a judgment about the authenticity of the apparitions.

It is probable that the principal theological concern with the reported Lady of All Nations messages centers upon the frequently referred to title and role of Our Lady as human “Co-redemptrix” with Jesus, the only divine Redeemer, as well as the request for the proclamation of a new dogma of Our Lady as “Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate.”

We, therefore, seek an open and transparent theological dialogue, as is so often encouraged by our Holy Father, Pope Francis, in situations such as these. We would like to initiate a public dialogue concerning the authentic magisterial teaching of the subordinate and singular role of the Mother of the Redeemer, with and under Jesus, in the work of Redemption, which is expressed in the title, “Co-redemptrix.” This Marian title has been repeatedly used by Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Pius XI, St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. Pio of Pietrelcina, Sr. Lucia of Fatima, and numerous saints, bishops, theologians, and mystics, as it is deeply embedded within the Church’s Tradition, for over 500 years.

We also seek to open dialogue concerning the century old international Catholic movement founded by Cardinal Desire Mercier in 1915, which calls for a solemn papal definition or “dogma” of the role of Mary as Spiritual Mother of all humanity, grounded upon her unique human role with Jesus in the Redemption. This international Catholic movement has received the support of over 600 cardinals and bishops, and over 8 million faithful just within the last 25 years. A movement of this historic ecclesial magnitude should neither be ignored nor summarily dismissed.

The solemn proclamation of this Marian doctrine remains critically important to testify to unique role of the Immaculate Virgin with our divine Redeemer in the historic work of salvation, as the New Eve with the New Adam, and to allow her, through our free consent, to exercise her full intercession in her role as the Mother of All Peoples, in protecting the People of God and the world from the multiform evils and disasters which presently threaten our troubled world. This definition is also important because her humanity should form our humanity, and her example directly calls for our own human participation in the Redemption accomplished by Jesus. This is why a new and open theological dialogue about the Co-redemptrix role and its potential definition remains imperative.

We therefore begin the dialogue on the Co-redemptrix title and the movement for a fifth Marian dogma with the following articles:

The Role of Mary in the Redemption, A Document of the Theological Commission of the International Marian Association,


https://eccematertua.com/sites/ecce/files/ecce_mater_tua_vol_1_02-mary_in_redemption_23-37.pdf

Pope Francis, the Humility of Mary, and the Role of Co-redemptrix,

https://www.lastampa.it/vatican-insider/en/2020/04/19/news/pope-francis-the-humility-of-mary-e-the-role-of-co-redemptrix-1.38737242


Apologia Pro Dogma Sua: Ecclesial, Anthropological, and Contemporary Global Fruits from A Potential New Marian Dogma

https://eccematertua.com/sites/ecce/files/miravalle_apologia_pro_dogma_sua_article.pdf

A Bishop Explains Mary for Protestants,

https://catholicexchange.com/a-bishop-explains-mary-for-protestants

As with the historic cases of strong temporary disciplinary prohibitions against the Divine Mercy apparitions and messages, and the mystical experiences and public appearances of St. Padre Pio, both of which were later reversed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (Holy Office), the Congregation can certainly alter or even reverse its present negative judgement concerning the supernatural character of the Lady of All Nations. We earnestly pray in Christian faith and hope for new clarification, dialogue, theological explanation, and ultimately a future positive development by the CDF concerning the reported apparitions of the Lady of All Nations. More factual details about the history of the previous positive development concerning this devotion will be forthcoming. Meanwhile, we continue obediently, peacefully, and confidently along this Marian journey towards a deeper understanding and consequent love of Mary, our Mother, and as Pope St. John Paul II repeatedly referred to her, the universal and spiritual “Mother of individuals and peoples.”

Dr. Mark Miravalle

Editor, Mother of All Peoples

January 1, 2021

###

 

Thank you, Booklady! God bless Dr. Miravalle! Here’s a little refresher from December 2019 to trace the development if anyone is interested.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nc...s-guadalupe-homily-and-mary-co-redemptrix?amp

 

I remember reading God wanted to crush Herod and send him to the pit of hell where he belonged; but the Blessed Mother kept petitioning God to have mercy on his soul. So Herod got to live longer than God would have allowed because of the prayers of the Blessed Mother who hoped against hope Herod would repent of his sinful behaviour.

Eventually Blessed Mother had to admit there was not going to be a repentance from the proud Herod and handed him over to God. Herod died very soon after a dreadful death eaten up by worms if I remember correctly, God have mercy.

I honest to God think Blessed Mother is praying for God to have mercy on the Lavender Mafia in the hope they will repent and turn back to God. We have to support our Heavenly Mother in her petitions, because mother knows best. But in all honestly, I fear it will be like Herod all over again. And when that dreadful day comes and Blessed Mother hands the lavender Mafia over to God, they can get ready for a terrible end. God forgive them, they know not what they do when they attack the Mother of Jesus Christ in her efforts to save humankind from the clutches of evil and eternity in hell.

Someone somewhere in high office has been putting our Heavenly Mother through hell on earth when they use their authority to silence her efforts to save us. God have pity on anyone who fights Blessed Mother, they are fighting God Himself. And see how we suffer as a result.

 

Julia, this is a fabulous post!!!!!!!
I agree with you. I totally agree with you. Right now the Blessed Mother wants conversions, yes, even from the lavender mafia. You have summed up what I have felt.

 

Oh, I honestly think you are very correct, Julia. This seems very inspired to me, so praise God for that!