Church says 1948 Lipa apparitions ‘worthy of belief’

A recent decree by Lipa Archbishop Ramon C. Arguelles states with "moral certainty" that the Marian apparitions that supposedly took place in the Batangas city in 1948 did indeed happen and are worthy of "belief based on prudence as humanly possible," a Marian expert said.

According to a report on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines' news site, mariologist Marwil N. Llasos said in a talk last Sunday that Arguelles' decree "states that indeed the Blessed Mother appeared to a Carmelite postulant named Teresita Castillo several times in 1948, making herself known as the Mediatrix of All Grace."

Llasos added, "Our conscience can thus rest at ease that it was truly the Blessed Mother who came to visit us in 1948."

Fr. Melvin Castro, founder of the Confraternity of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace, expressed gratitude for the formal recognition of the event, saying in a statement quoted by the CBCP that Arguelles' four-page document confirmed what Mediatrix devotees "knew by instinct."

“Love triumphs in the end. The love of the Lord and our Lady triumphs. Now our generation is called to perpetuate the memory and relevance of the Lipa apparitions. Let us heed the call of Our Lady for Total Consecration to Her Immaculate Heart. Salve Mediatrix!” Castro said. — Rie Takumi/BM/JST, GMA News