By Ferdinand G. Patinio
A Catholic Church official said they will follow the decision of the Vatican on the alleged Marian apparition which happened more than 60 years ago in Lipa City, Batangas.
According to Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines president Archbishop Socrates Villegas they will obey what the Holy See has said.
“Rome has spoken. The case is closed. We all obey. We always obey the Holy See,” Villegas said in a text message.
The Vatican has issued a decree stating that the reported apparition of the Virgin Mary to a Carmelite nun, Teresita Castillo or Teresina, at the Carmelite monastery in Lipa, Batangas in 1948, has no “supernatural origin.”
Lipa Bishops Mariano Gavial and Ramon Arguelles have both declared that the Marian apparition was worthy of belief.
Recently, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Roman Curia sent a communique to the Lipa Diocese reiterating that Pope Pius XII already ruled in 1951 that the apparition had no supernatural origin and that no miracle occurred.
“Her being the mother of Jesus is our first and constant reason for honoring her,” Villegas said.
The Lingayen-Dagupan prelate added, “We do not need apparitions to honor the Blessed Virgin.”