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John
Muir wrote: |
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Hi, guys —
My name is John, and I reside in Sydney, Australia.
I have a question I would like to put to you and your team of apologists. You will
be interested to know, I am a convert to the Catholic Faith, a former evangelical
Anglican. I dearly love the Catholic Faith and fully embrace the Church's teachings, having studied the Catechism thoroughly.
Of particular concern is the current craze, here in Sydney, with regard to Luisa Piccarreta
and the Kingdom Of The Divine Will. A good friend of mine is caught up in this and
she has become rather weird — her personality has changed. She has quoted Luisa Piccarreta's
writings to me and
I have read a considerable amount
of these volumes online. As far as I can see, Luisa's writings are definitely
heretical as they totally contradict the Catholic Faith.
Luisa's writings are private
revelations, and as you know, we are not bound to accept any private revelation, even
if it has been approved by the Church, — e.g., Lourdes and Fatima apparitions. However,
my friend is saying that, as Catholics, we are bound to accept and adhere to Luisa's
message. This would place Luisa's teachings on the level of public revelation. Nevertheless, as you know, all public revelation ceased at the end of the apostolic age and cannot be added to.
I am also aware that Luisa's writings were on the forbidden books list, but are now
under re-investigation by the Vatican as there are those who are promoting the cause
for Luisa's beatification!
- How can this be?
- What action should I take concerning my friend who is caught up in this?
She isn't
the only one, there are others as well — some of whom are in our parish!
- Should
I refer the matter to our parish priest, or just keep quiet for the moment until
the Vatican makes an official pronouncement?
Please advise me concerning this issue.
May God bless you richly,
John Muir
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| { Can you provide advice on handling someone caught up with the writings of Luisa Piccarreta? } |
Mike replied:
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Hi, John —
Although I have never heard of Luisa Piccarreta and the Kingdom Of The Divine Will, I found the following credible articles on Catholic
Culture on this confusing issue:
From Catholic Culture:
From my reading of the above articles, it appears that there is a complete
contradiction between the life, holiness and witness of Luisa Piccarreta and her "supposed" writings.
In the second article from Catholic Culture, "Luisa Piccarreta - Status of her Cause", under the paragraph titled: Her Writings, it
states:
| Writing under obedience, Luisa Piccarreta wrote two small texts Life
of the Blessed Virgin and Hours of the Passion, and later produced 36
numbered manuscripts, in which she elaborated what she received in prayer
about "living in the Divine Will." These texts were written
in her region's Italian dialet, rather than in standard Italian, a factor
which complicates accurate translation of the sense. A number of the
early volumes were reviewed, and published, by Blessed Annibale de Francia
(+1927), in his capacity as confessor and diocesan censor. In 1938, however,
this activity ended, when three of her works, annotated by another
person, were put on the Index of Forbidden Books. The balance
of her writings were taken into custody by the Holy Office (now called
the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith), where they remained
sequestered until 1994. |
Colin states that this was annotated by another person, but we don't know
who. As was stated in: Luisa Piccarreta: A Compilation:
Summary of the clarifications from the Archbishop of Trani, Italy, Giovanni
Picchierri, pertaining to the writings of Luisa Piccarreta
that some of this may be due to a bad translation. I certainly can't rule out
that there may be some bad will among another person that has brought about this
confusion.
The article also states:
The writings of Luisa Piccarreta have not been judged by this Dicastery:
as such they enjoy neither the official approbation, nor the official
condemnation, of this Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In
fact, they are currently being studied, by reason of competence, by the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints, after this Servant of God, independently
of the content of her writings, received the nihil obstat of the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith regarding her cause for beatification.
As such, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith makes, at this
time, no pronouncement on the writings in question. |
The above paragraph clears states that the Holy See has not made a decision
one way or the other on her writings, but holds her life, holiness and
example as a model for others.
She has been declared a Servant of
God.
The second article, under Prayer Groups it states:
The Postulation encourages prayer groups in the various dioceses of
the world, in order to spread Luisa's fame of holiness. It especially
desires that her great devotion to the Mother of God be imitated. It
urges, whenever possible, that groups be conducted under the guidance
of a prudent priest of proven orthodoxy. The supervision of prayer groups
falls under the competence of each diocesan bishop.
The Postulation also encourages prayer to Luisa, and the careful documentation
and reporting of any favors received through the intercession of the
Servant of God. However, in keeping with the norms of the Holy See, while
there may be private prayer and veneration (i.e., outside the church
setting), there must be no public cultus of Luisa, as would be given
to a blessed or saint (public liturgies or devotions, images in churches,
etc.) . This would constitute a grave obstacle to the Cause, as it belongs
to the Holy Father alone, with the Beatification of an individual, to
permit public veneration. [Clarifications 10, 12-13] |
In lieu of what I've pointed out above, I would bring this issue, along
with the above printed out articles, to your parish priest for him to address.
I would politely talk to him about ensuring that the local bishop is aware
of the specific local issues you are concerned about.
On all Marian apparitions, the Holy See first touches base with the local
bishop for his assessment of the validity of any apparitions, Marian or otherwise. This obviously
assumes the bishop is loyal to the Holy See on all issues of faith and
morals. If he is not, the bishop has no credibility and therefore you would want to petition the Apostolic Nuncio in Washington D.C. or Rome.
Many times lay people can unintentionally get "caught up" in
a Marian apparition that has not been approved by Rome. The problem is
that over time, the "messages" start saying things that make
no sense or a "group" develops and certain people (in the group)
start making decisions for the group as if they had the authority of the
Vatican.
I'm all for Catholic parishioners starting private home prayer meetings
on a regular basis, but many times part of the structure of their prayer
meetings include reading messages from unapproved Marian apparitions.
In my opinion, it's like saying:
Let's invite the devil to our prayer meeting :-)
Your friend said:
As Catholics we are bound to accept and adhere to Luisa's message.
In the second article in the paragraph titled: Interpreting her
Writings it states:
| The Servant of God's writings should be interpreted according to the
mind and teaching of the Church. Even if they are ultimately judged to
be of supernatural origin, they necessarily correspond also to the mystic's
own mentality, which was that of a simple pious person and not a theologian.
In keeping with Catholic theology, this must be taken into account in
judging what she wrote down of her mystical experiences. |
Hope this helps,
Mike
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Nettie commented:
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Hi, John —
As an aside, I got involved in a newly-started group studying Luisa's writings about
eight years ago, but something about her writings didn't quite set right with me so we abandoned the group after a few weeks.
The fanaticism of the lady you
wrote about with Luisa's writings, can lead to — a kind of Gnosticism.
Hope this helps,
Nettie
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Mike replied:
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John —
I can confirm Nettie's experience. I was also in a Catholic prayer group
that met on First Saturdays. The "coffee talk" after the four hour
prayer meeting led to comments along the line of, I'm paraphrasing:
| There are so many other Catholics who don't know what we know. We are
so blessed to know what is coming through these unapproved Marian messages
we have been reading. |
To clarify what Nettie means by Gnosticism above: the Gnostics claimed to
have a special or secret knowledge that no one else had.
Side note: When I started to contest certain opinions, I got thrown out
of the Catholic prayer meeting. Interestingly, it was the day before the Fourth of July.
Isn't it nice to be family! : )
Mike
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Ateliers commented:
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Hi Mike,
I'm studying the message
of Luisa and I have found in her message a lot of beautiful heroism.
Sometimes
people who read the Bible can misunderstand her message. It is similar
to interpreting Luisa's writings; they have been interpreted
with the supernatural help of Jesus. Someone who is full of pride will
not use them wisely, and to be honest, someone who does not understand
the truth announced by Jesus and the Church, will not comprehend
them well.
Comprehending is not a Gnostic issue. We know that someone
who loves Jesus will want to know all about Him. Learning more about
Jesus is not a Gnostic issue. If we want to live the life of Christ, we
have to be informed about the proper way to follow Him. The Lord also
says to us that there are many things He wanted to say to the Apostles,
but because the Apostles were not ready, the Spirit would have to teach
them. If this is true for the Apostles, it is true also for all in his
Church who are walking in history and searching for God, striving
to learn about Him, more and more. The truth revealed by the Bible has
to be more and more understood and explained, and
I think that Luisa,
like many other saints, has explained more about what the revelation
has to say.
To offer all of himself to God in a constant prayer is one of the teachings that
we talk about in Luisa's writings
Ateliers
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Mike replied:
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Hi, Ateliers —
I'll stick with what I have said.
Instead of studying the messages from an unapproved seer, which may be good but may
be demonic:
This is what Catholics are bound to believe. Can you answer these questions:
- What are the second and third Commandments?
- What are the Fruits of the Holy Spirit?
- What are the three theological virtues?
- What is the ninth Commandment?
- What are the Precepts of the Church?
If you are having troubles with these questions, basic stuff that all Catholics should know, you should be reading
the Catechism,
not unapproved messages.
You said:
It is similar
to interpreting Luisa's writings; they have been interpreted
with the supernatural help of Jesus.
- But how can any individual correctly discern whether they are receiving the supernatural help of Jesus or the supernatural voice of the devil?
That's the problem!
You said:
Someone who is full of pride will
not use them wisely, and to be honest, someone who does not understand
the truth announced by Jesus and the Church, will not comprehend
them well.
Comprehending is not a Gnostic issue. We know that someone
who loves Jesus will want to know all about Him. Learning more about
Jesus is not a Gnostic issue. If we want to live the life of Christ, we
have to be informed about the proper way to follow Him.
No, someone who is humble will not use unapproved messages that have no
doctrinal weight on what the Catholic must believe for salvation.
- How do
you know whether you understand the truths of Jesus appropriately?
- Have you read
the Catechism?
Yes, comprehension of Catholic teachings is not a Gnostic issue.
Comprehension of something as Catholic teaching (that is not Catholic teaching),
is prideful and leads to Gnosticism, a heresy that says only a chosen few
know and understand the teachings of Jesus, the others do not.
You said:
The Lord also
says to us that there are many things He wanted to say to the Apostles,
but because the Apostles were not ready, the Spirit would have to teach
them. If this is true for the Apostles, it is true also for all in his
Church who are walking in history and searching for God, striving
to learn about Him, more and more.
Correct, the Spirit does teach them, through the Church. Those Apostles
today, are the cardinals and bishops of the Catholic Church that are in
union with the Holy Father.
We hear the voice of the Apostles from them!
If we wish to live the life of Christ and be informed about how to follow
Him, it's a simple process:
Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church .
Hope this helps,
Humbly,
Mike
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Hertha Öman commented:
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Dear brother in Christ,
Pax!
I found a discussion about Piccarreta on your website AskACatholic.com.
- I wonder if you've had any more issues related to this?
I have been experiencing the same problem as our brother John Muir. A good friend of mine got involved in this movement and even his personality has changed! He's dragging other people to it too, poorly catechized people, myself included. I realized something was off (at that time I was reading Abandonment of Fr. Caussade and chapters of the 3 Ways of the Spiritual Life by Fr. Garrigou-Lagrage), thanks be to God, I stopped going to the meetings. Now I focus on the Holy Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and good theology, as you suggested to the other lady in the conversation.
I've been praying a Rosary Crusade against heresies in Marian groups (many members of the Piccarreta group are from my Praesidium of the Legion of Mary), but I couldn't find much support.
People think it is OK, that Piccarreta's teachings foster submission to God's Will . . . I find it sad to see how people ignore the perennial teachings of the Church and fall for that.
Many thanks and God bless!
Hertha Öman
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Mike replied:
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Dear Hertha,
No, I haven't received any other issues from any of my visitors.
That said, I'd be more than happy to add your two cents to what everyone else has said either on this web posting or the one below:
Mike
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Hertha commented:
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Dear brother,
Happy First Friday of the month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary!
Sorry, but I've been trying to add my comment; I can't find the reply on these postings:
- Can you provide advice on handling someone caught up with the writings of Luisa Piccarreta?
(Answers/2006_04APR/2006AprOnLuisaPiccarreta.cfm)
- What is the Catholic response to the Kingdom of Divine Will and do you have any thoughts?
(Answers/2007_11NOV/2007NovOnTheKingdomOfDivineWill.cfm)
- Are these postings closed for more comments?
Pax!
Hertha
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Mike replied:
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Hertha,
Our site is not a forum so you will find no way to post a reply. My team is focused on our mission as seen at the top of each page:
AskACatholic.com . . . A faithful resource for confused Catholics and anyone seeking to learn the truth about the Church and Her Teachings.
We are a new breed of Catholic Christians who listen, clarify teachings, and correct misperceptions about the True Church Our Blessed Lord Jesus established on St. Peter and his successors in 33 A.D.: the Roman Catholic Church. Dialogue with us! |
Visitors come to our site to ask questions or get answers to questions we have already answered. Period.
If you wish to comment on a posting you can reply to this e-mail, and I will consider adding your comment to what has already been said.
Mike
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Hertha commented:
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OK, understood.
Happy Friday!
Many thanks for the explanation and for your amazing work! We are so much in need of good platforms for clarification in these times!
God bless!
Pax!
Hertha
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