‘Vatican has spoken on Lipa apparitions’

MANILA, Philippines — The Vatican has already ruled on the alleged apparitions of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace in Lipa, Batangas in 1948, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) told Catholics calling for the church to reopen the inquiry on the apparitions.

It has been more than seven decades since the Vatican declared that the 1948 apparitions at a Carmelite monastery in Lipa were not supernatural in character and origin.

“Rome has spoken on the matter in 1951 and has reiterated its position in 2015 – namely, that the alleged Lipa apparitions, on the basis of investigations done in 1949, had been judged to have ‘no sign of supernatural character or origin,’ ” CBCP president Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said.

He also said that “the 2015 decree has explicitly stated that ‘the matter of the phenomenon of Lipa is not subject to the authority of the local diocesan bishop.’ ”

In 2015, former Lipa, Batangas archbishop Ramon Arguelles formally declared the apparitions “supernatural in character and worthy of belief.”

The Vatican issued the decree stating that the Marian apparitions in Lipa have no “supernatural origin,” reversing Arguelles’ earlier declaration.

The controversy on the apparitions of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace resurfaced after exorcist priest Fr. Winston Cabading was arrested last May 13 by virtue of a warrant issued by a Quezon City court. He spent the weekend in detention and posted an P18,000 bail bond on May 15.

The warrant issued was based on a complaint filed by retired Sandiganbayan justice and former Commission on Elections chairperson Harriet Demetriou, who accused Cabading of offending religious feelings.

David admitted that they are “perplexed” by the case against Cabading.

“We are of course perplexed by this court case, because it does cause a scandal to the faithful.  This is especially true in the age of digital technology, when individuals and groups that are for or against the issue can quickly react against each other in various social media platforms in a manner bereft of Christian charity,” he said.

But David also admitted that the issue “may also be indicative of our own shortcomings as Church leaders in facilitating dialogues, especially when brothers and sisters in the same Catholic Church are in conflict with each other over matters of faith. We beg forgiveness for this shortcoming.”

He is also not certain if the court is the proper venue to address the issue.

“That a Catholic would feel the need to seek recourse to the civil court for the resolution of an issue that has to do with matters of faith is extremely disheartening, to say the least. I wouldn’t be surprised if the court rules it to be beyond its competence,” David said.

But since the case is already pending in court, the bishop said the CBCP would not be issuing any statement on the matter so as not to violate the sub judice rule.

David also said that there is no mention in Rome’s decision that the image associated with Lipa is demonic.

He explained that this was the reason the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission on the Doctrine of the Faith had earlier issued a pastoral advisory admonishing the faithful to desist from making serious comments, especially on social media.

“The judgment as to whether the events associated with the image were ‘demonic’ requires the serious discernment and guidance of bishops, who, up to now, have merely upheld the decision of Rome on the matter,” he added.