John Paul II waving from a fire? What separates this from the various apparition claims in moldy bread, rotten potatoes, tree trunks and reflections is that the source isn’t a little old lady in East Podunkville, but the director of the Vatican News Service.
Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10.
2 Comments
October 16, 2007 at 6:59 am
If Adventists claimed that EGW was the person waving in that picture I hardly belief that this would be reported in such favorable tones. If this was a claim by a mormon or christian scientist would the mainline and evangelical community refrain calling these groups sects and cults?
I just don’t understand why this is newsworthy.
October 16, 2007 at 9:00 am
None of the groups you mention ever allege such things. Period.
But apparitions are a regular part of Catholic life. Some are “approved” by the Church, including Fatima, Lourdes, Guadalupe, etc. Some are not, but there remains a huge promotional industry surrounding them (Medjugorje, Garabandal). Then there are the bizarre ones that people in every city report from time to time (waffles, potatoes, windows, fire, etc.).
While no Catholic has to believe such things, the Catholic Church does promote the belief that they can and do happen. Visions such as these–”ghost stories”–were one of the foundations for the Catholic Church’s teachings on purgatory, as you can see here: http://wquercus.com/faith/purgatory.htm
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