Formal approval for French Marian apparitions
Avignon, May. 5, 2008 (CWNews.com) - A French bishop has given formal approval to Marian apparitions that occurred in the 17th century in the Alpine town of Laus.
Bishop Jean-Michel di Falco of Gap said that after a thorough investigation he was persuaded that the visions seen by Benoite Rencurel between the years 1664 and 1718 were of "supernatural origin." The bishop said that the Church "has committed in an official way to say to pilgrims: 'You can come here in total confidence.'" He encouraged pilgrims to come to the shrine of Our Lady of Laus "and find spiritual renewal."
Benoite Rencurel began to see visions of the Virgin Mary when she was 17 years old. An illiterate girl from a peasant family, she disclosed that the Virgin had asked for the construction of a church on the site, and had emphasized God's mercy toward sinners. The apparitions won tentative approval from the local diocese in 1665, and the church of Our Lady of Laus was built.
The Marian shrine eventually won a wide reputation as a site where miracles occurred, and today about 120,000 pilgrims flock to the church in Laus every year.
The official recognition of the apparitions is the first such authoritative finding by Church officials in France since the formal approval of the apparitions at Lourdes.
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