Saturday, April 15 was held the very first meeting of the observatory of apparitions and mystical phenomena linked to the figure of the Virgin Mary. “It will be a question for the observatory of operating in an efficient way (…), of activating national and international commissions responsible for evaluating and studying the apparitions and mystical phenomena reported in various regions of the world”, has explained Father Stefano Cecchin, president of the Pontifical Marian International Academy to Vatican News, the official Vatican media.
Providing concrete support for the study, authentication and dissemination of cases of apparition and lacrimation – unexplained appearance of tears on a painting or a statue – in the world, such is the mission entrusted to this observatory. Equipped with a steering committee and a central scientific committee, composed in particular of specialists in Mariology – the branch of Christian theology which studies the place of Mary in the plan of God – the observatory will also be able to visit the land as needed.
A multidisciplinary collaboration to “clarify things”
He will collaborate with experts and researchers in a scientific and multidisciplinary way, underlines Stefano Cecchin, with the aim of “clarifying things, because often the so-called messages generate confusion, spread anxiety-provoking apocalyptic scenarios or even accusations against the Pope and the Pope. ‘Church “.
Father Gian Matteo Roggio, professor at the Pontifical Marianum Faculty of Theology, and Father Denis Kulandaisamy, an expert in Mariology, will be part of the team responsible, according to Father Cecchin, for “promoting activities of dissemination and high-level advice, in particular at the service of local churches and bishops (…) and the publication of the results of the research carried out”.