Turmoil now surrounds the alleged visions, apparitions, and locutions of an alleged seer from Itapiranga, Brazil.
It’s as yet unclear what the final stance of the Church will be. The current bishop hasn’t yet rendered a verdict. His predecessor, Monsignor Carillo Gritti, did, approving the supernaturality of the events between 1994 and 1998 though not those occurring since that time (and up to the present). The key visionary, Edson Glauber, still asserts he sees Mary as well as Joseph and Jesus. He has appeared twice in the New York area as well as extensively in Italy and Slovenia.
But last February — unbeknownst to the Catholic media — the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome apparently issued an internal letter of warning after receiving a letter concerning the shrine and alleged apparitions. (We are still refining translations of it.)
In that note, according to rough preliminary interpretation, the Congregation strongly recommended that the local prelate “take all necessary measures” not to broadcast Glauber’s messages “from the prelature of Itacoatiara” (the local diocese). The document cited problems with a priest involved at the apparition’s shrine — which had been consecrated by Bishop Gritti (who is now deceased).
It also suggested there be “no further mention of worship celebrated in the shrine dedicated to ‘Our Lady Queen of the Rosary and Peace of Itapiranga.'”
And it asked Glauber as well as an organization associated with his apparitions to refrain from further dissemination of messages.
It’s unclear whether the Congregation’s recommendations — strongly worded, according to that preliminary translation — pertain to reputed messages received recently or also to those from 1994 and 1998, the period that met with approval (and that were thus the focus of articles on Catholic news websites, including this one and outlets such as the National Catholic Register).
Those messages, as well as some more recent ones, are also the focus of a book by a major Marian theologian, Dr. Mark Miravalle, of Franciscan University, who understood the situation as having met with at least partial approval.
Thus does confusion reign.
We attempted more than a month ago to contact the Diocese of Itacoatiara but have not yet met with success. While deciding, last summer, not to attend his apparitions in the U.S., we as yet withhold judgment. Glauber declined repeated requests for interviews by Spirit Daily, citing the delicacy of his situation with his bishop. However, the extent of that situation was not known until now.
Bishops in Slovenia and Italy have also been made aware of the Congregation’s recommendations.
That dicastery, under Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, was seen as clamping down on apparitions. It likewise halted public messages from a seer, Ivan Dragicevic, from Medjugorje (first reported here) and put a stop to certain public appearances by other visionaries. In July, Cardinal Müller’s tenure was ended, however, by Pope Francis, who has himself expressed misgivings about daily alleged missives (saying the Virgin was “not a postmaster”).
On July 1, 2017, Pope Francis named Luis Ladaria Ferrer to succeed Müller as Prefect of the CDF.
Those involved with Itapiranga assert that “lies” were spread about the association by a priest after the death of Bishop Gritti and that the decree is thus incomplete and “erroneous.” They complain that it fails to mention a second seer, Glauber’s mother, Maria do Carmo, who likewise met with approval by the now-deceased Bishop Gritti. The Congregation’s document was not a formal “Notification” of condemnation, as was issued, under Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, against another seer, Vassula Ryden, from Switzerland.
We will strictly adhere to any final determination by the local bishop and will report any actions or statements he makes. Those around Glauber indicate they are not “obliged” as yet to enter into silence, though the Congregation’s requests are sure to dampen enthusiasm for the alleged circumstances at this remote city along the Amazon.