Superstitious Catholics flocking to French church after so-called ,'sightings' of Jesus
Pastor Dale Morgan
Superstitious Catholics flocking to French church after so-called
'sightings' of Jesus*
18.11.06
Superstitious Catholics are flocking to a church on the French riviera
where both Jesus and the Virgin Mary are said to have appeared to
worshippers.
The so-called holy 'visions' are being taken so seriously they are being
investigated by a French Bishop and the Pope has been informed.
But the signs that a divine presence is in the room are not the
traditional dazzling lights or gentle breeze. Instead, the chosen ones
are suffering ectoplasmic vomiting and delirious convulsions more akin
to scenes from The Exorcist.
The so-called apparitions are taking place during meetings of the
Cap-Verdi prayer group at St Paul's Catholic Church in the glitzy Cote
d'Azur resort of Cannes. Believers say that Christ and the Virgin Mary
have been appearing to them on a regular basis over the past six months.
Church-goer Rita Gomez, who helps run the prayer group, said: "The
visions usually begin with the whole building trembling in the middle of
a prayer meeting.
"Then various worshippers will fall off their seats shaking violently or
being sick. When they come round a few minutes later, they say Christ or
the Holy Virgin has appeared and spoken to them."
One 14-year-old girl had fits and began smashing windows, then began
bleeding 'pinkish-yellow' blood, Miss Gomez said.
She added: "This might sound like the work of the devil rather than God,
but everyone who experiences a vision says it was Jesus and Mary that
appeared to them."
Worshipper Emmanuel Duchamp, 38, said he saw Christ 'standing before
him' in the church.
He added: "I wasn't ill, but I was overcome with a very warm feeling.
Then Jesus started talking and I began writing down everything he told
me. It was about cleaning my house and cleaning the homes of others to
prepare for the coming of the Lord."
Father Paul Fazzi, the parish priest of St Paul's, insisted there was
nothing extreme or 'cultish' about the Cap Verdi prayer group.
He said: "They are just a group of devout young people who come here
each week to pray. There has never been any strange business going on
that has ever given us cause for concern.
"We are keeping an open mind until we find out more, but all those who
have had experiences are very shaken by them and insist they are real."
Since news of the visions had spread over the past months, his Sunday
congregations had doubled and scores of new religious devotees had been
visiting the church each week in the hope of having an apparition of
their own, Father Fazzi said.
Bishop of Nice Monseigneur Louis Sankale sent his deputy, Father
Stephane Drillon, to investigate the phenomena at St Paul's.
A spokesman for the Bishop said a letter had also been sent to the
Vatican informing church leaders of the events in Cannes, adding: "We
are taking no official view at present on the veracity of what is going
on at St Paul's, but it has roused enough interest for us to send
someone to find out more.
The bishop's envoy Father Drillon said: "We are taking detailed
statements from everyone who claims to have experienced anything. On the
surface there appears to be something exceptional going on at St Paul's
Church, but we need to dig deeper to investigate the authenticity of this.
"The church never dismisses these kinds of claims out of hand, but it is
our policy to remain prudent."
The last apparition of the Virgin Mary officially acknowledged by the
Vatican is also said to have taken place in France.
The mother of Jesus is said to have appeared to 14-year-old farmer's
daughter Bernadette Soubirous in February 1858 in a mountain grotto in
the Pyrenees mountain town of Lourdes. The shrine, whose waters are said
to have miraculous healing powers, now attracts five million
superstitious visitors a year.