DICASTERY FOR THE DOCTRINE OF FAITH
August 1, 2024
About the Holy Mountain
Letter to the Bishop of Caguas (Puerto Rico)
Dear brother:
In the history of deep America we can find many women who have occupied a relevant place in the transmission of the faith, sometimes even more dazzling than the limited work that some priests could develop. In this regard, Pope Francis referred to “the presence of strong and generous women: baptizers, catechists, prayer leaders, missionaries, certainly called and driven by the Holy Spirit. For centuries women kept the Church standing in these places with admirable dedication and ardent faith” ( Querida Amazonia , 99). And he added “women make their contribution to the Church in their own way and by prolonging the strength and tenderness of Mary, the Mother” ( Ibid , 101). These women did not need Holy Orders for this; the power of Baptism, the impulse of the Holy Spirit and the closeness of the Blessed Virgin Mary were enough for them.
The words of the beloved Pope Francis are enough to express the beauty and the exact meaning of the figure of Elenita de Jesús, a woman like so many of our people, who lived under the impulse of the Holy Spirit, in charity and in the proclamation of the Gospel, inspired by a profound love for our Mother in heaven, the Virgin Mary.
In your decree of November 26, 2018, you said that Elenita was a woman who, as a missionary catechist, served the Church at a decisive moment in history, when the Catholic faith was seriously threatened. She did so by identifying herself intimately with her suffering people. In your letter of October 11, 2022, you explained very well that Elenita became an interpreter of a very poor people, “she walked personally among them as a disciple of Jesus and under the mantle of the Virgin Mary. She also made her own the hungers and needs of the humble people of our fields, as well as their yearning for faith and hope.” In the various narratives about Elenita, elements of her historical life and death are intertwined with other symbolic elements that make up the collective imagination and that, in various ways, become an expression of gratitude towards that beautiful figure of a woman.
From the testimonies collected in the aforementioned decree, you show that people called her “mother” because of the beautiful attitudes they saw in her: “her simplicity, her Christian virtues, austerity of life, spirituality, knowledge, personal gifts and catechistic ability.”
We know that Elenita had a strong devotion to the Virgin Mary. It is said that she carried with her a painting of the Virgin and that she had an image of the Virgin sent from Spain; that she had several Marian chapels built and that she promoted the invocation of the Virgin of Mount Carmel (cf. Summary of Monsignor Ramos Morales of September 8, 2022). Therefore, devotion to the Virgin of Carmen in the Sanctuary of the Holy Mountain would undoubtedly be a great joy for Elenita. The best tribute would be pilgrimages to the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Carmen, whom she loved so much, and trying to live dedicated to Jesus Christ and his Kingdom of love and justice.
It is true that in her life we find signs of her great union with the suffering Jesus Christ, and that in many of her gestures she continued her affection for Mary, the Mother of heaven. Various testimonies say that she resembled the Virgin and some, in an excess of admiration, made the mistake of affirming that she was the Virgin. Certain expressions that she herself perhaps used could be confusing, but, in those times, when the missionary catechists of these places felt very identified with some saint, they used words that really meant “I am of”, “I identify myself with”. Today we do not express ourselves in this way because it causes confusion. Therefore, any expression of appreciation for Elenita must avoid the impression of affirming that she was the Virgin Mary.
Having read with great attention the documentation you have sent – which contains various studies carried out by people with different points of view – and taking into account your considered opinion as Bishop, I consider that the care of the faith of the faithful demands a definitive clarification: an identification of Elenita de Jesus with Our Lord Jesus Christ, the only Redeemer, or with the Virgin Mary, the first cooperator in the work of her Son, must be completely avoided. In the face of any attempt to attribute to Elenita de Jesus the identity of the Lord, or of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the judgment can only be “ constat de non supernaturalitate ”. Elenita de Jesus is not the Virgin Mary. You are authorized to issue the corresponding decree with the provisions you consider necessary (cf. Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Norms for the Discernment of Alleged Supernatural Phenomena , 17 May 2024, Art. 21 §1). This should also apply with regard to unauthentic apparitions or blood remains that should not be venerated.
At the same time, as you have always indicated, it cannot be denied that the figure of Elenita de Jesús has great value for the Church in Puerto Rico and should be considered as an incentive to total dedication to the Kingdom of God. Certainly, it would be a joy for her if those who love her would use her figure as a motivation to give themselves solely to God and avoid directing toward her the gestures of worship that correspond to the Mother of Jesus Christ. It is better not to damage this treasure by distorting its original meaning.
The figure of Elenita speaks to us of love for Jesus Christ and Mary, she speaks to us of the dignity of women, she speaks to us of generous dedication, commitment, austerity. She also speaks to us, in a very eloquent way, about the care and defense of the poor, as the Aparecida Document says:
“Only the closeness that makes us friends enables us to deeply appreciate the values of today’s poor, their legitimate desires and their particular way of living the faith. The option for the poor must lead us to friendship with the poor […] In the light of the Gospel we recognize their immense dignity and sacred value in the eyes of Christ, poor like them and excluded among them. From this experience of faith, we will share with them the defense of their rights” (398).
May God grant that, avoiding everything that could create confusion, we turn our ears and hearts to the Gospel, which must resound day after day on the Holy Mountain, so that it may always be a place where Jesus Christ, the only Lord and Redeemer, is adored, as Elenita de Jesús, humble and poor among the poor, would surely have wished.
Please accept my warmest greetings and my appreciation for your pastoral work.
Victor Manuel Card. FERNANDEZ
Prefect
EX AUDIENTIA DIEI 01.08.2024
Franciscus
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