Worship at Site of Virgin Mary Apparition Banned

Story from BBC News No worship on 'Virgin Mary' hill By Prime Ndikumagenge BBC News, Bujumbura Page last updated at 22:49 GMT, Thursday, 29 January 2009 Worship has been banned on a small rural hill in Burundi, where a woman claims to see the Virgin Mary on the same day of every month. The 23-year-old's claims of an apparition have become so widely known that thousands of people gather on the hill at the same time to pray. But the governor of the northern province says the worshippers are troublemakers and they should stop. The Catholic church in the area is also investigating the claims of a "vision". The woman in question is called Euzebie and comes from a rural village known as Masinde, in the province of Kayanza. Sing and cry She claims to see the Virgin Mary on the 11th day of each month. Provincial governor Edouard Nduwimana says people come from all over the country, as well as nearby Rwanda and Uganda, to join Euzebie on the hill. He says they stay for three nights each month, from the 11th to the 13th, during which time they pray, bang drums, sing and cry. "Among the growing controversy surrounding the Euzebie saga, the archibishop of the northern diocese has formally advised worshippers to stop going to see Euzebie while the church investigates to confirm whether or not she has been seeing the Virgin Mary," said Mr Nduwimana, who also comes from Masinde village. Police are to start patrolling the hill in case the request is not met. According to followers of Euzebie, she began to see and talk to the Virgin Mary when she was four years old. Regina Pacis regularly travels for about an hour from another province in the north to see Euzebie. She claims she hears the voice of the Virgin Mary when she talks to Euzebie. But she says only a few people, with what she calls "a special gift", can also see her. Repenting sins Mubiligi is a senior magistrate in the capital Bujumbura. He started to worship with Euzebie last May. He claims he once saw a "miracle" when communal bread fell from the sky into the hand of Euzebie. Both say the message from the Virgin Mary focuses on repenting sins and loving one another. In a written message, the Archbishop of Kayanza, Monsignor Gervais Banshimiyubusa, said that in a country emerging from war, it was normal that people were attracted to a place where they believed they could receive relief for their suffering and mercy for their sins.

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This young woman has claimed to see the Virgin Mary since she was FOUR, and the Church is first getting around to investigating NOW, when she is TWENTY-THREE? Tsk, tsk. Can't help but think this smacks a bit of racism. I mean, there is the Mary Shrine at Lourdes, the Mary worshippers at Medjorie (spelling is probably wrong, I'm typing from memory) in Yugoslavia, the Mary worshippers in Guadalupe, Mexico, etc. etc. So, Africa cannot claim it's own Marian visions?

Zip Your Lip If You've Seen The Virgin Mary

From The Independent. Catholics ordered to keep quiet over Virgin visions By Jerome Taylor and Simon Caldwell Tuesday, 13 January 2009 Catholics who claim they have seen the Virgin Mary will be forced to remain silent about the apparitions until a team of psychologists, theologians, priests and exorcists have fully investigated their claims under new Vatican guidelines aimed at stamping out false claims of miracles. The Pope has instructed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly the Holy Office of the Inquisition, to draw up a new handbook to help bishops snuff out an explosion of bogus heavenly apparitions. Benedict XVI plans to update the Vatican's current rules on investigating apparitions to help distinguish between true and false claims of visions of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, messages, stigmata (the appearances of the five wounds of Christ), weeping and bleeding statues and Eucharistic miracles. Monsignor Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, a respected Spanish Jesuit archbishop, has been placed in charge of drawing up the handbook, known as a "vademecum", which will update the current rules set in 1978. According to Petrus, an Italian online magazine which leans towards conservative elements in the Vatican, anyone who claims to have seen an apparition will only be believed as long as they remain silent and do not court publicity over their claims. If they refuse to obey, this will be taken as a sign that their claims are false. The visionaries will then be visited by a team of psychiatrists, either atheists or Catholics, to certify their mental health while theologians will assess the content of any heavenly messages to see if they contravene Church teachings. If the visionary is considered credible they will ultimately be questioned by one or more demonologists and exorcists to exclude the possibility that Satan is hiding behind the apparitions in order to deceive the faithful. Guidelines for the approval of apparitions and revelations were last issued in 1978. They lay down that a diocesan bishop can "either on his own initiative or at the request of the faithful" choose to investigate an alleged apparition. He then submits a report to the Vatican for approval.

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I'm no religious historian or a follower of the Roman Catholic Church (I ran from that church as soon as I was old enough to defy my parents and say no, I'm NOT going), but seems to me that Benedict is so paranoid about the admittedly Marian legacy of his predecessor, Jean Paul II, that he is bending over backwards to remove ALL mystery from the Roman Catholic religious experience (not that great to begin with, believe me). Hmmm.... And is it just my imagination, or is something really strange going on here - Taylor Caldwell??? That is the combined name of the last names of the two authors of this article. Taylor Caldwell is one of my favorite authors - her actual name was Janet Miriam Holland Taylor Caldwell. I didn't agree with her politics (I'm an unabashed LIBERAL) but the woman sure could write about the workings of families and the inner dialogs that constantly take place within a human being. Given what she wrote about, I'm sure Taylor Caldwell would be smiling and nodding and going "yep," about this article...