The idea of the five (5) Hopeful Mysteries was conceived by a local parishioner in the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. He proposed the idea to the Diocese where it was received with prayerful discernment and the reflections were honed and checked for theological accuracy. After much thought and review, Bishop William Wack granted his Impimatur & declaration of Nihil Obstat (that there are no obstacles to the Faith in the document). It was Bishop Wack’s intention to clarify that the Diocese is not promulgating a new set of universal mysteries but proposing the worthiness of a devotion that has emerged in the local Church of Pensacola-Tallahassee. Approval by the local Bishop, along with the Imprimatur, means that the Hopeful Mysteries are worthy of pious devotion anywhere.
