Luisa Piccarreta - Status of her Cause
For several years an incongruity has existed between the fame of holiness of Luisa Piccarreta, which includes the beatification of one of her spiritual sons, Blessed Annibale de Francia, and the establishment of a Cause for her own beatification, and the confusion and controversy surrounding her name and spirituality, especially in the United States. It has never seemed justified to attribute this confusion to the Servant of God, but rather to poor translations, rash interpretations of her writings, and a lack of theological competence by some who try to explain her writings. For this reason, EWTN has always urged Catholics to use great caution, until such time as clarity could be brought to the situation by ecclesiastical authority.
Toward this end, EWTN contacted the Holy See and the new Archbishop of Trani, Italy, Giovanni Picchierri, where Luisa lived and died and where in 1994 the Diocesan phase of a Cause for her Beatification was opened. Until the Cause arrives at the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints for its Roman phase, the Archbishop is the competent ecclesiastical authority. This contact resulted in a letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the sending of the Promoter of the Faith, Father Bernardino Bucci, OFM Cap., to the United States, both to answer EWTN's questions and to meet with various groups who promote the spirituality of Luisa Piccarreta. His official capacity is certified by the Archdiocese in the Certificate he supplied. Deacon Bill Steltemeier and myself met with Fr. Bucci for several hours, during which time he answered our questions and provided the following important clarifications, many of them in writing (as documented below). I have summarized our meeting and the documents as follows:
The Servant of God
Luisa Piccarreta lived a holy life of prayer and suffering, attested to by her contemporaries and with a fame of holiness to this day. She was always obedient and submissive to the Church in everything. This is precisely known, since from 1884 until her death in 1947 she was under the care of confessors appointed by her bishop. On this basis the Archbishop of Trani, with the permission of the Holy See, opened her Cause for Beatification in 1994. The investigation to date has confirmed these facts without any doubt. Any attribution of heterodoxy to her constitutes a grave injustice [Clarifications 1-6]
Her Writings
Writing under obedience, Luisa Piccarreta wrote two small texts Life of the Blessed Virgin and Hours of the Passion, and later produced 36 numbered manuscripts, in which she elaborated what she received in prayer about "living in the Divine Will." These texts were written in her region's Italian dialect, rather than in standard Italian, a factor which complicates accurate translation of the sense. A number of the early volumes were reviewed, and published, by Blessed Annibale de Francia (+1927), in his capacity as confessor and diocesan censor. In 1938, however, this activity ended, when three of her works, annotated by another person, were put on the Index of Forbidden Books. The balance of her writings were taken into custody by the Holy Office (now called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith), where they remained sequestered until 1994.
In that year, the Holy See authorized the Cause for the Beatification of Luisa Piccarreta, now designated Servant of God, by granting it the nihil obstat. Retaining the originals, the Congregation allowed the Postulation to photocopy the writings for study and the production of a critical edition, now in process. Some other copies of the writings, however, are in circulation, both from before 1938 and reproduced and translated from the 1994 photocopies. These latter have neither the approval or the imprimatur of the Archbishop of Trani, who is the legal owner of Luisa's writings. While the Archdiocese has allowed some small publishers to exhaust their stocks of the first two books (Life of the Blessed Virgin and Hours of the Passion), in the future the Archdiocese alone will produce the authorized translations of the writings, based on the critical edition. The Postulation is not now granting, or encouraging, publication and promotion of the writings (except as noted above), so as not to create obstacles to the Cause. [Clarifications 7-9, 11, 14; Communique]
As for the status of the writings with the Holy See, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith affirmed the following in a letter to EWTN of 4 October 2003,
The writings of Luisa Piccarreta have not been judged by this Dicastery: as such they enjoy neither the official approbation, nor the official condemnation, of this Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In fact, they are currently being studied, by reason of competence, by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, after this Servant of God, independently of the content of her writings, received the nihil obstat of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith regarding her cause for beatification.
As such, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith makes, at this time, no pronouncement on the writings in question.
Interpreting her Writings
The Servant of God's writings should be interpreted according to the mind and teaching of the Church. Even if they are ultimately judged to be of supernatural origin, they necessarily correspond also to the mystic's own mentality, which was that of a simple pious person and not a theologian. In keeping with Catholic theology, this must be taken into account in judging what she wrote down of her mystical experiences. At this stage in the Process there is no definitive interpretation of her work. The Diocesan Process is judging only her life and heroic virtues, not the writings. The critical edition of the writings, with commentary, being produced by the Postulation will be consigned to the Holy See, which alone can give the writings a definitive judgment and explanation. [Clarifications 2-3,7-8]
Conferences
In 1998 the now retired Archbishop of Trani, Carmelo Cassati, ordered the suspension in the United States of Divine Will Conferences, because of the controversies noted earlier. The current Archbishop is only authorizing certain qualified individuals, conversant with both the totality of the writings and Catholic theology, to speak on Luisa's spirituality in the name of the Postulation. Asked who in the United States is so authorized, Fr. Bucci answered "Io" (I), that is, he alone. However, he also noted that the Archbishop of Trani has authority only over those subject to him, and so another diocesan Bishop could authorize Conferences in his own diocese on his own authority and judgment. These conferences would not represent the Postulation, however. So, while unable to regulate what local bishops might allow, the Postulation is not encouraging conferences given by individuals without the recognized competence in both Luisa's writings and Catholic theology. (Clarifications 14).
Reading her Writings
The Postulation does not have the authority to prohibit the reading of Luisa's writings that are in circulation, though it is discouraging their promotion by those without the requisite credentials. It is also prohibiting new publications of the writings, which as the copyright owner it can do, with force of law if necessary. Its desire at this time is for the study and promotion of her life, and is allowing the two small volumes ( Life of the Blessed Virgin and Hours of the Passion) to be used. [Clarifications 8, 14].
Prayer Groups
The Postulation encourages prayer groups in the various dioceses of the world, in order to spread Luisa's fame of holiness. It especially desires that her great devotion to the Mother of God be imitated. It urges, whenever possible, that groups be conducted under the guidance of a prudent priest of proven orthodoxy. The supervision of prayer groups falls under the competence of each diocesan bishop.
The Postulation also encourages prayer to Luisa, and the careful documentation and reporting of any favors received through the intercession of the Servant of God. However, in keeping with the norms of the Holy See, while there may be private prayer and veneration (i.e. outside the church setting), there must be no public cultus of Luisa, as would be given to a blessed or saint (public liturgies or devotions, images in churches, etc.) . This would constitute a grave obstacle to the Cause, as it belongs to the Holy Father alone, with the Beatification of an individual, to permit public veneration. [Clarifications 10, 12-13]
Answered by Colin B. Donovan, STL 15 October 2003
This item 5974 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org
