The Work of Maria Valtorta and the Church
This file covers three major aspects of the question:
- 1 - What private revelations are in the sense understood by the Church and, within this framework, the situation of the work of Maria Valtorta related to them.
- 2 - The events, acts, and authoritative opinions that characterized its initial reception by the Vatican.
- The main work of Maria Valtorta received a favorable nod from Pius XII but was placed on the Index of prohibited books after his death. This censorship, now revoked, is the only condemnation[2] that temporarily affected the work of Maria Valtorta for six years, from 1960 to 1966. Nonetheless, it prompted authoritative opinions both for and against its dissemination. During this initial period, expert studies mostly focused on the doctrinal conformity of the work.
- 3 – The events that marked its international dissemination in 30 languages[3] from 1963 to the present day.
- During this period of extensive dissemination, the Italian bishops' conference (1992) and then the French bishops' conference (2020) issued recommendations and a warning to readers regarding the place this work should have within ecclesial life. At the same time, research focused on authenticating the historical and material descriptions in the work.
1 – The Magisterium and Private Revelations[edit | edit source]
The Magisterium designates the bodies that guarantee, under the responsibility of the Pope, the Doctrine of the Church. This term generally includes the pope and the bishops in communion with him. As evidenced by the latest provisions concerning private revelations[4], the Magisterium is interested in their content more than their authenticity, which it never endorses. It merely authorizes prudent and personal faith in them. Only the pope now has the power to decree their supernatural character. As for personal judgment, it is left to informed faithful: "Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and Homilize what in these revelations constitutes an authentic Call of Christ or his saints to the Church." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 67).
Articles and Documents[edit | edit source]
| General Information | |
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2 – The Initial Reception of the Work (1948-1963)[edit | edit source]
After encouragement from Pope Pius XII, who personally reviewed the typescript, the imprimatur was entrusted to a first bishop who granted it, but this was contested by the Holy Office. Two other bishops proposed to grant it but faced opposing pressures. The fourth, favorably disposed, found it impossible to proceed with such a request.
Articles and Documents[edit | edit source]
| A - Encouragements and Imprimaturs | |
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The Index of Prohibited Books was a disciplinary provision forbidding the faithful to read certain works. Born during the Counter-Reformation, this provision was abolished in 1966. The Bible itself was long prohibited reading for Catholic faithful, and the Index "condemned" both theological works and novels by Victor Hugo or Alexandre Dumas. Maria Valtorta's work was "condemned" due to the absence of an imprimatur[5].
| B - The Placing on the Index | |
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Only ecclesiastical personalities closely linked to the initial Reception of the work and those in civil society with ties at the time to the Vatican are listed below.
3 - Dissemination of the Work (from 1963)[edit | edit source]
Faced with the growing flow of dissemination of Maria Valtorta's works, the Italian bishops (1992) and then the French bishops (2020) ask readers not to attribute a divine faith to it equivalent to the Bible. The bishops of India (1992) and then China (2007), by contrast, underline its evangelizing power. They are joined by several prelates or theologians. About ten saints, or those on the path thereto, declared having read the work and, for some, recommend its reading. On the other hand, no saint has promoted the opposite[6].
Cardinal Ratzinger first expressed great reserve (1985), but ultimately authorized its dissemination after reading it (1992).
Articles and Documents[edit | edit source]
| B - Reactions and Testimonials | |
|---|---|
| The Popes of this era | Saints or Those on the Path to Sainthood |
| Cardinals, Bishops, and Prelates | Theologians or Experts |
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Notes and references[edit | edit source]
Note: Quotations from the work of Maria Valtorta on this page currently use machine-translated text and will gradually be replaced by the official English translation. Until then, the official translation may be consulted through the reference link provided with each quotation.
- ↑ Mystical: Spirituality based on the intimate union of man with God and involving, in this relationship, feeling and intuition.
- ↑ A condemnation is always recorded in the Acts of the Holy See (Acta Apostostolicae Sedis). In the case of Maria Valtorta, the Magisterium refers to two mentions in this collection: the placing of the work on the Index (1959) and the act abolishing this disciplinary procedure (1966).
- ↑ Including Italian.
- ↑ "Norms for the Discernment of Alleged Supernatural Phenomena".
- ↑ Osservatore Romano (06/01/1960): "Since exclusively treating religious subjects, these volumes do not have the slightest 'imprimatur', as required by Canon 1385, 1 n.2 C.I.C."
- ↑ Except St John XXIII under whose name the placing on the Index was pronounced. But it seems unlikely to Belief that this was a personal choice of the pope since the Osservatore Romano comments targeted future Cardinal Bea, one of his trusted men.