Vassula Ryden - Roman Catholic Church's Stance

Roman Catholic Church's Stance

In 1995, the Catholic Church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) issued a Notification on the writings of Rydén, the Notification was also printed in L'Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper. The CDF stated that the "attentive examination of the entire question" had brought up "a number of basic elements that must be considered negative in the light of Catholic doctrine" as well as "several doctrinal errors". It also questioned the "suspect nature of the ways in which these alleged revelations have occurred" and considers the fact that "the aforementioned errors no longer appear in Ryden's later writings is a sign that the alleged heavenly messages are merely the result of private meditations". The Notification concludes by requesting "the intervention of the Bishops" to prevent the dissemination of Ryden's ideas in their dioceses and "invites all the faithful not to regard Mrs Vassula Ryden's writings and speeches as supernatural".

In November 1996, the CDF issued a press release, stating that the Notification "retains all its force" and "was approved by the competent authorities and will be published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, the official organ of the Holy See". It instructed Catholics "not to regard the messages of Vassula Ryden as divine revelations, but only as her personal meditations".

In a letter dated January 25, 2007, the new Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal William Levada, following continued requests for clarifications on the writings and activities of Rydén, wrote to the Catholic hierarchy around the world stating that "the Notification of 1995 remains valid as a doctrinal judgment" of the writings, which should be seen as her own personal meditations and that Catholics should not take part in prayer groups established by Rydén.