Question: will the new guidelines on apparitions and other phenomena released by the Vatican this week boost an apparition in the United States known as “Our Lady of America”? (you can view them here.)

This is asked because those new guidelines present six classifications for apparitions. To wit: Nihil Obstat, Prae oculis habeatur; Curatur; Sub mandato; Prohibetur et obstruatur; and Declaratio de non supernaturalitate. (You’re excused if you can’t immediately commit those to memory.)

It’s two of them—the Nihil Obstat and Curatur—that may be of special interest.

As viewer and Our Lady of America devotee John Palumbo asks, “Could the action of Archbishop Paul F. Leibold and Archbishop Daniel Piliarzic of Cincinnati back in 1963 granting the Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat to the Prayer to Our Lady of America as directed by Our Lady and the medal (requested by Our Lady), and image of Our Lady as she appeared in 1956, as well as the booklet on the messages that were approved by Archbishop Leibold, be considered approval if applied to recent directions from Vatican?”

A Nihil Obstat, say the new guidelines, will mean that “without expressing any certainty about the supernatural authenticity of the phenomenon itself, many signs of the action of the Holy Spirit are acknowledged. The bishop is encouraged to appreciate the pastoral value and promote the dissemination of the phenomenon, including pilgrimages.” That was done with the Our Lady of America messages.

For those unacquainted: the apparitions were experienced by a humble nun, Sister Mildred Mary Ephrem Neuzil, in a convent at Fostoria, Ohio. They allegedly occurred from 1938 to 2000 and as Palumbo points out, the messages were granted the imprimatur by Archbishop Leibold of Cincinnati, who served as Sister Mildred’s spiritual director and commemorated the apparitions with two plaques and a medal.

A request was made, allegedly by the Virgin Mary, for her image as described by Sister Neuzil to be placed in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, a request thus far unheeded.

There is currently just one apparition in the U.S. and Canada, Our Lady of Good Help, in Champion, Wisconsin, officially recognized as supernatural. The seer there is now under consideration for the cause of sainthood.

Sister Mildred claimed communication with Christ, the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, and angels. The focus of the messages is the need for purity and sanctification of families if America—which Sister Mildred said was supposed to spiritually lead the world—is to avoid “a terrible purification.”

Stay tuned.

As for Medjugorje in Hercegovina, the most famous apparitions since Fátima, the bet here is that if not a Nihil Obstat (and God forbid, if not outright rejected, which is highly unlikely), it will receive the designation, Curator: “Various or significant critical elements are noted, but the phenomenon is already spread widely, and verifiable spiritual fruits are connected to it. Therefore, a ban that could upset the faithful is not recommended, but the local bishop is advised not to encourage the phenomenon.”

[resources: Our Lady of America Messages,  Our Lady of America: Our Hope for the States, and Our Lady of America website]

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