The Vatican is preparing to release a document that guides how to discern supernatural phenomena.
The Holy See Press Office announced that the upcoming document will be published on May 17, and a live-streamed press conference will feature Prefect for the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández.
Fernández has previously said the dicastery is “in the process of finalizing a new text with clear guidelines and norms for the discernment of apparitions and other phenomena,” according to the National Catholic Register.
An “apparition” refers to an instance in which a divine entity — such as a saint, the Virgin Mary, or Christ himself — makes itself known to a person on Earth. The concept is a recurring theme in the Bible, and most Christian denominations affirm the belief that such brushes with the supernatural can still occur today in various capacities.
The Catholic Church urges “extreme prudence” before ascribing phenomena to a supernatural force, warning that being too quick to attribute divine origin to explainable occurrences can damage the faith and warp belief.
Alleged apparitions are usually documented and scrutinized by the diocesan bishop’s office and then forwarded to Rome for further investigation.
The last time the Vatican doctrinal office released guidance on apparitions was in 1978 under Pope Paul VI. That document, “Norms Regarding the Manner of Proceedings in the Discernment of Presumed Apparitions or Revelations,” was released due to the increased influence of mass media.
The Miracle of Fátima in 1917 is perhaps the most well-documented apparition in the modern day. After the Virgin Mary’s alleged series of appearances to several peasant children that promised a public miracle, tens of thousands of people in Fátima, Portugal claimed to witness the sun move erratically across the sky and produce radiant colors for several minutes.
The Catholic Church recognized the “supernatural” aspect of the event in 1930. A decade later, Pope Pius XII formally approved the Fátima apparitions.
