Apparitions and Dogma
Apparitions have taken place within the Church since the very beginning and are a part of the apostolic tradition, since many examples of apparitions exist in the Holy Scriptures. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
- Throughout the ages, there have been so-called "private" revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ's definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.
Apparitions are considered to be welcome charismatic expressions of the faith. God permits the appearance of Jesus Christ, Mary, and the Saints to individuals. When the Church confirms that divine revelations to individual persons have taken place, she permits veneration. Such approvals do not constitute dogma. Marian apparitions are an example of such revelations. Although Popes approve Marian apparitions, promote them, or participate in related veneration, respectful distance from – even disapproval of – such papal teachings is allowable.
The Church views apparitions not as dogmatic innovations but as prophetic impulses, which reflame and renew the faith. Marian apparitions bring millions of people together and recreate faith, vigour, unity and solidarity, within the Mystical Body of Christ. For those, convinced about the certainty of the divine origin, the apparition is Fides Divina. Apparitions and other private revelations are never Veritates Catolicae, or Catholic teachings, because this would imply, that God improved his own revelation. For this reason, specific apparitions and private revelations are usually not the subjects of dogmatic publications. The Catholic Church rejects "private revelations" of Christian sects and non-Christian groups, that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Read more about this topic: Roman Catholic Dogma
Famous quotes containing the words apparitions and/or dogma:
“I can sit up half the night
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Not to allow his looks to tell
When I am unintelligible.
Fifteen apparitions have I seen;
The worst a coat upon a coat-hanger.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“The dogma of the mystic offices of Christ being dropped, and he standing on his genius as a moral teacher, ‘tis impossible to maintain the old emphasis of his personality; and it recedes, as all persons must, before the sublimity of the moral laws.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)