Mgr Mario Crovini and Maria Valtorta

Mgr Mario Crovini was deputy of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office and chief censor of the Catholic Church. He was therefore an assistant to Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani. In the 1960s, he had to deal with two particular cases: that of Padre Pio and that of Maria Valtorta.

The case of Padre Pio

In 1960, Padre Pio faced maneuvers and persecutions from his Capuchin brothers. The order was bankrupt following bad financial investments in the 1950s, while Padre Pio saw donations pouring in for the foundation of his hospital, La Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza. To appropriate the funds received, pressure was put on the Padre, spreading slanders, multiplying vexations and prohibitions. They even went so far as to place microphones in his room, in his confessional. He was accused of guilty relations. The Holy Office was at the crossroads between opponents and supporters of the holy man. In 1952 Mgr Giovanni Pepe, book censor, placed eight books speaking of Padre Pio on the Index, which led to his dismissal since he had done so without the approval of Pius XII.

On April 20, 1960, the year in which the work of Maria Valtorta was placed on the Index, Cardinal Ottaviani dispatched to San Giovanni Rotondo his deputy, Mgr Mario Crovini, who acquitted Padre Pio of all the charges brought against him. This did not please the Capuchins who appealed directly to the Pope to mandate an apostolic visitor, Mgr Maccari, who arbitrated against Padre Pio and the decree of Cardinal Ottaviani was annulled.

The case of Maria Valtorta

It is important to understand the moral strictness of Mgr Crovini to comprehend the importance of what follows:

In 1982, wrote Emilio Pisani, I met by chance Mgr Mario Crovini in Rome, in the bookstore "Propaganda Mariana". He had been a collaborator of Cardinal Ottaviani at the Holy Office. The owner of the bookstore, who knew me well, introduced me to him. In a mood to confide, he spoke to me about the 1959 condemnation in these terms: "We immediately repented having placed the Work of Maria Valtorta on the Index." He must have known a lot, but an imprudence on my part stopped him, and he said no more. I still regret it to this day!

What did this repentance mean? Who was encompassed by this "we"? Was it repentance specific to Mgr Crovini? What did "immediately" mean? We do not know exactly. We can only conjecture based on the events that followed the placing on the Index:

In December 1960, Fr. Berti was summoned by the Holy Office (the origin of the placing on the Index) where he found a more favorable atmosphere for dialogue with the new commissioner who received him. The reason for this initiative is unknown. Fr. Berti reported to his interlocutor, Father Marco Giraudo, a Dominican, the words of Pius XII in 1948 as well as the written favorable positions. The quality of the signatories seemed to impress the commissioner.

In January 1961, Fr. Berti returned four times to the Holy Office with a report and some documents that had been requested of him. Father Giraudo took advice from his hierarchy and granted a moderate, but verbal authorization for the new edition:

"You have our full approval to continue the publication of this second edition of The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me (Poema del Uomo-Dio) by Maria Valtorta. We will see how well the work will [be] homilized."

He reports this episode in his affidavit. This relenting apparently influenced the Holy Office which published a brief note minimally extending the Index to this new edition.