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DICASTERIUM PRO DOCTRINA FIDEI
“APPUNTO”
FOR THE AUDIENCE
Mr. Gioacchino Genovese
Alleged Visionary – Diocese of Como
With a letter dated 29 July 2023, His Eminence Oscar Cardinal Cantoni, Bishop of
Como—notwithstanding the reply the Dicastery sent on 20 May 2023 concerning the
non-appropriateness of publishing a pronouncement regarding whether or not the
events concerning Mr. Gioacchino Genovese are of a supernatural
character—submitted for the Dicastery’s consideration the text of a
pronouncement he prepared about the experience spiritual experience that
occurred in the diocesan Shrine of Maccio di Villa Guardia, in the Diocese of
Como, dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity of Mercy, before officially
disseminating it in his diocese.
The Congresso of 15 September 2023 decided to prepare two letters to send
to the Bishop of Como:
- one of a public nature, offering reasons for not proceeding with the publication
of a pronouncement de supernaturalitate, along with encouragement to
continue in the pastoral appreciation of the spiritual experience that took
place in the Shrine of Maccio di Villa Guardia;
- the other of a confidential nature, reaffirming the possibility of publishing an
anthology of Mr. Genovese’s most relevant writings in order to clarify certain
phrases that risk being interpreted in a misleading way, and to communicate that
the matter in question is to be considered definitively concluded.
Therefore, we submit for Your Holiness’ consideration the draft of the two
above-mentioned letters (cf. attachments 1-2).
Following Your Holiness’ benevolent approval, the above-mentioned letters will
be delivered to His Eminence, Oscar Cardinal Cantoni.
+ Víctor Manuel Fernández
Prefetto
Ex Audientia die 25.09.2023.
Franciscus
Attachment 1
377/2010
4 October 2023
Your Eminence,
I am writing in response to the documentation sent by Your Eminence at the end
of July, in which you presented the case concerning the spiritual experience
that occurred in the Shrine of Maccio di Villa Guardia, in the territory of the
Diocese of Como.
After carefully studying the situation, I am happy to acknowledge that the whole
affair is imbued with positive elements that cannot be disregarded for the
spiritual good of the faithful who frequent the Shrine assiduously and with
religious intentions.
Furthermore, an examination of the documentation revealed several positive
elements, both spiritual and related to the doctrinal message of that
experience, as well as of the person involved, whose discretion, seriousness,
humility, and sincerity attest in favor of the credibility of his testimony.
Above all, the central message of the entire spiritual experience is to be
emphasized: namely, the affirmation of mercy as a fundamental trait of the very
identity of the Triune God—a theme that the theology and spirituality of our
times strongly reiterate.
St. John Paul II wrote, “in the situation of the Church and the world today,
many individuals and groups guided by a lively sense of faith are turning, I
would say almost spontaneously, to the mercy of God. They are certainly being
moved to do this by Christ Himself, who, through His Spirit, works within human
hearts. For the mystery of God the ‘Father of mercies’ revealed by Christ
becomes, in the context of today’s threats to man, as it were a unique appeal
addressed to the Church” (John Paul II, Encyclical
Dives in Misericordia,
2).
Also, Pope Francis, who repeatedly insists on the theme of mercy as a revelatory
trait of the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, affirms: “With our eyes fixed on
Jesus and his merciful gaze, we experience the love of the Most Holy Trinity.
The mission Jesus received from the Father was that of revealing the mystery of
divine love in its fullness. […] The relationships he forms with the people who
approach him manifest something entirely unique and unrepeatable. The signs he
works, especially in favour of sinners, the poor, the marginalized, the sick,
and the suffering, are all meant to teach mercy. Everything in him speaks of
mercy. Nothing in him is devoid of compassion” (Francis, Bull of Indiction of
the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy
Misericordiae Vultus, 8).
But mercy, Pope Francis says again, is the lintel that supports the Church: “All
of her pastoral activity should be caught up in the tenderness she makes present
to believers; nothing in her preaching and in her witness to the world can be
lacking in mercy. The Church’s very credibility is seen in how she shows
merciful and compassionate love. The Church ‘has an endless desire to show
mercy’. […] The time has come for the Church to take up the joyful call to mercy
once more. It is time to return to the basics and to bear the weaknesses and
struggles of our brothers and sisters. Mercy is the force that reawakens us to
new life and instils in us the courage to look to the future with hope” (Ibid.,
10).
Very interesting, then, is the theme of the Eucharist, whose centrality in the
context of the visions and locutions is quite evident, connected as it is with
the mystery of the Cross. It is also valuable to note how the visions and
locutions insist upon the relationship between Christ and the altar through the
symbolism of water.
The documentation contains particular references to the Church, considered as
Bride, as well as to the theme of vocations, the ministerial priesthood,
consecrated life, and the family.
Similarly, of particular spiritual interest is also the insistence on the
intertwining of love, freedom, and sin, which prompts a profound theological
reflection on the mystery of evil and merciful love.
Added to this are also the concrete effects produced by this spiritual
experience, such as the many conversions that have taken place and the many
vocations that have sprung up.
To safeguard the positive elements and fruitfulness of that spiritual
experience, the Dicastery reserves the right to evaluate the moral and doctrinal
elements of that spiritual experience and the use that is being made of it.
Now, coming to your request, I have been in discussion with the Holy Father and
would like to point out the following.
As is known, in the context of alleged apparitions and mystical phenomena,
perfect theology is not required; so the nature of the language used is often
recognized as imperfect and inadequate to account for what is experienced.
After 1933, the then Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office never directly
intervened again in recognizing the supernatural character or the authenticity
of alleged supernatural phenomena. In such questions, moreover, the
Congregation’s own decrees in recent decades have excluded any involvement of
the Dicastery: “one must avoid expressing that such a declaration was made in
agreement with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith” (2001); “the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith may not be involved at all in such a
declaration” (2008).
Therefore, this Dicastery does not deem it appropriate to comment on the
supernatural character of the above-mentioned spiritual experience.
Nevertheless, recognizing certain signs of an action of the Holy Spirit in the
midst of this experience, in light of the above, this Dicastery finds no
difficulty should Your Eminence decide to continue in the pastoral appreciation
of this spiritual experience. In fact, it is hoped that, treasuring the
spiritual fruits that have flowed forth in these years, the proclamation of the
merciful love of the Trinity may be intensified: the love that stimulates
conversion in people and that bestows the grace of abandoning oneself with
filial trust.
I am sure that the Lord will bless the efforts undertaken and will give greater
strength to grow in understanding the mercy that nourishes God’s actions toward
his creatures, as an indispensable trait of God’s very being, which is love, in
the Trinitarian unfolding of his truth as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Should Your Eminence deem it opportune, you may make this response from the
Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith public.
Certain of your understanding, and in union of prayer, in signifying the above
to you, I gladly take this opportunity to convey my respectful best regards.
In Christ,
Víctor Manuel Cardinal Fernández
Prefect
___________________________
His Eminence
Oscar Cardinal Cantoni
Bishop of Como
Piazza Grimoldi, 5
22100 Como
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