Our Lady of Emmitsburg

OUR LADY OF EMMITSBURG

OUR LADY OF EMMITSBURG TIMELINE

1957 (March 12):  Gianna Talone was born in Phoenix, Arizona.

1987 (September):  Gianna dreamed of Our Lady three nights in a row, prompting her to pray the rosary and attend Mass daily.

1988 (June):  While making a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, Gianna received her first locution from Our Lady and had a vision of the Child Jesus.

1988 (July):  Gianna and eight other young adults at St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church in Scottsdale, Arizona began receiving locutions and visions of Our Lady and Jesus.

1989:  A priestly commission in Phoenix investigated the apparitions at St. Maria Goretti. Phoenix Bishop Thomas O’Brien allowed the prayer group to continue.

1989 (December 19):  Gianna began receiving daily apparitions of Our Lady, except on Fridays.

1993 (January):  Gianna Talone and then-fiancé Michael Sullivan made a pilgrimage to the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Gianna received a vision during which Our Lady invited the couple to relocate to Emmitsburg.

1993 (November 1):  Gianna and Michael moved to the Emmitsburg area and began attending the Marian Prayer Group on Thursday nights. This was when she typically received an apparition with a public message. Attendance at the Thursday Marian Prayer Group swelled as news of the visionary spread.

1994 (August):  Mission of Mercy, a mobile health care organization serving poor, underinsured, and underserved patients, was launched by Drs. Gianna and Michael Sullivan in Pennsylvania and Maryland.

1995 (March 9):  In a message to Gianna, Our Lady designated Emmitsburg as the Center of her Immaculate Heart.

1995 (August 30):  Monsignor Jeremiah Kenney, Vice Chancellor of the Baltimore archdiocese, announced that since the Phoenix diocese had taken a neutral stance toward Gianna’s visions in 1989, Baltimore would follow suit.

1999:  Gianna began compiling The Hidden Life of Our Lord , the autobiography of the Child Jesus, narrated to her through interior locutions.

2000 (September 8):  The Baltimore archdiocese suspended the Thursday prayer meetings because it “finds no basis for [the apparitions]” (“Statement” 2000).

2001 (May):  Baltimore Archbishop Cardinal Keeler arranged a priestly commission to investigate the apparitions.

2002 (September):  The commission concluded that it could neither verify nor condemn the apparitions.

2003:  Cardinal Ratzinger, then-head of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, corresponded with Cardinal Keeler, supporting the Keeler Commission’s authority.

2004:  The Marian prayer group was reconstituted and began meeting monthly, first at a nearby farm, then at the Lynfield Event Complex, a conference center outside Frederick, Maryland.

2005:  The Foundation of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary was founded, in response to an Our Lady request, to provide information about the Emmitsburg apparitions and messages.

2005 (May):  Gianna began receiving interior locutions from God the Father.

2008 (Spring):  Fr. Edwin O’Brien was appointed Archbishop in Baltimore. Gianna wrote a letter to him informing him of the history of the apparitions in Emmitsburg and assuring him that she would comply with his wishes regarding the monthly prayer meetings held at the Lynfield Event Complex.

2008 (October 8):  Archbishop O’Brien released a Pastoral Advisory explaining the Church’s position on the Emmitsburg apparitions and requesting that Gianna and her supporters stop disseminating information about the apparitions and messages in the diocese of Baltimore.

2008 (October 13):  Gianna and her supporters discontinued the monthly prayer group at Lynfield.

2008-present:  Gianna has continued to report daily apparitions and locutions in her home.

FOUNDER/GROUP HISTORY

Gianna’s miraculous interactions with Our Lady began in 1987, when she dreamed of Our Lady three nights in a row. These dreamscame at a low point in Gianna’s life. She had received her Doctor of Pharmacology degree, worked at a major hospital in a high-paying position, and married her first husband. Within a few years, however, she had lost her job, her marriage was annulled by the Church, and she was struggling with the direction of her life. Following her dreams of Our Lady, Gianna began praying the rosary, going to Confession, and attending Mass daily. In 1988, she made a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, where she had a vision of the Child Jesus. Our Lady also spoke to her during her trip through an interior locution, telling her, “I am coming home with you in a special way. Once you were a lost lamb but now you have been found.”

Once she returned home (at that time, she lived in Scottsdale, Arizona), she continued attending youth prayer group meetings at St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church. There, several young people as well as Father Jack Spaulding reported apparitions or locutions of Jesus and of Our Lady, appearing as Our Lady of Joy. These messages from Jesus have been published in six volumes of I Am Your Jesus of Mercy. In 1989, the diocese of Phoenix investigated the Scottsdale apparitions and took a neutral position on the matter.

In a November, 1992 vision, Our Lady pointed out Michael Sullivan to Gianna at a prayer meeting. Michael Sullivan, a medical doctor who had also struggled with his faith, had made a pilgrimage to Scottsdale and attended the same prayer meeting as Gianna. Like Gianna, Michael had had a successful career before experiencing spiritual and personal struggles including divorce and the abduction of a son. Though he was not a practicing Catholic at that time, he found himself praying the rosary and even making a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, where he volunteered as a doctor during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. By the time he visited Scottsdale in 1992, he had become a much more committed Catholic. In a vision, Our Lady informed Gianna that Michael would be her future husband. Gianna gamely introduced herself to him following her apparition. They dated for about two months before becoming engaged.

In January, 1993, Gianna and then-fiancé Michael Sullivan made a pilgrimage to Emmitsburg, Maryland to visit the National ShrineGrotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. Now run by Mt. St. Mary’s University, the site centers upon a replica of the 1858 apparition site in Lourdes, France, and also features a Glass Chapel and visitor’s center. A walkway winds through Stations of the Cross and a Rosary Walk, ending at the foot of a large metal Crucifix atop a wooded hill. This is where Gianna received her first apparition in Emmitsburg. Our Lady, clothed in a blue dress and white veil, invited Gianna and Michael to move to the small town, if they were willing. They were given three days to make the decision, and returned home to Arizona to consider the invitation.

On June 19, 1993, Gianna and Michael married in Arizona, at St. Maria Goretti Church. At the time of their wedding ceremony, there was a severe thunderstorm in Emmitsburg, and lightning struck St. Joseph Catholic Church. The church lost electricity for three days, but the light illuminating the statue of Our Lady at the front of the church remained lit. Some Emmitsburg parishioners, upon learning that Gianna’s wedding ceremony coincided with this event, deemed it miraculous.

In November, 1993, Gianna and Michael moved to the Emmitsburg area and began attending Masses and a weekly Marian PrayerGroup at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Emmitsburg. Gianna received a vision at her first prayer meeting, surprising fellow devotees when she fell to her knees and began conversing with Our Lady. Father Alfred Pehrsson, C.M., the parish pastor she had met during her January visit to Emmitsburg, explained to parishioners what had happened and implored them to keep quiet about what they had seen so as not to call undue attention to Gianna or the prayer group. Nevertheless, attendance at the Thursday Marian Prayer Group grew as news of the visionary spread. As many as 1,000 visitors attended weekly (Gaul 2002), including several priests, bishops from other countries, and even non-Catholic visitors. Close to 700,000 people attended between 1994 and 2008 (G. Sullivan 2008). Church groups throughout the region organized bus trips to Emmitsburg, and many families drove several hours to spend the day visiting the town. The numbers of conversions and confessions increased, and Fr. Pehrsson even heard confessions from Jewish and Protestant attendees (Pehrsson n.d.). Many attendees reported miracles during the service: a spinning sun or two suns, healings, and once, the lights of heaven visible in Gianna’s eyes during ecstasy. Every week, several rows of pews were reserved at the church for parishioners, but others had to arrive before noon (for the 7 PM service) in order to find a seat. Overflow crowds were directed to the church rectory across the street, where a television screen was set up so that all could see Gianna. Problematically, crowds set up blankets and chairs on the lawn and cemetery surrounding the church, and parked illegally throughout the small town. In response, some Protestant churches in the area opened their parking lots to pilgrims.

Throughout the 1990s, there was little controversy between apparition believers and Church leaders. The Baltimore Archdiocese at this time took a neutral stance, supporting the outcome of the 1989 Phoenix investigations. Gianna continued to have daily apparitions of Our Lady, and even began receiving interior locutions from God the Father and from Jesus.

In September, 2000, however, the Archdiocese suspended the Thursday prayer meetings at St. Joseph Catholic Church, releasing a statement indicating that it “finds no basis for [the apparitions]” (“Statement” 2000). This move may have been prompted by an apparent shift in the tone of the messages; in the late 1990s, they began featuring warnings and predictions of chastisement. That Thursday in September, 2000, supporters found a sign taped to the door of St. Joseph Church indicating that the prayer meeting would not be held that day (Clarke 2008). Many attendees, including a bus of pilgrims who had just arrived from Ireland, were understandably disappointed. In the months that followed, many supporters wrote letters to Baltimore’s Cardinal Keeler and to local newspapers expressing their disappointment and confusion.

Cardinal Keeler arranged a priestly commission in Baltimore to investigate the apparitions in 2001. Supporters maintain that the
Commission was unfair to Gianna, spending very little time with her and prohibiting her supporters (including theologians) from speaking on her behalf. Gianna was permitted to answer only the questions posed to her by the Commission, rather than tell her whole story.

The Keeler Commission issued a decision in September, 2002, concluding that “it did not believe in the claim” that Gianna was receiving authentic visions of Our Lady because it “did not find the evidence it needed to verify or condemn the visions” (Lobianco 2002). The Commission expressed concern over the “apocalyptic” content of the messages, arguing that “we should not encourage apocalyptic predictions or cater to a miracle-mania mentality” (as quoted in Keeler 2002). The Commission was also concerned that it saw “no perceptible development or progression” of the messages; over time, it argued, they did not become more complex as believers presumably matured in faith, nor did they follow the liturgical cycle (as quoted in Keeler 2002). Further, the Commission concluded that some messages were contrary to Church teachings; for example, Gianna’s messages predict an intermediate and non-corporeal, spiritual return of Jesus to earth as a child prior to the actual final coming of Jesus as an adult and “Just Judge.” Church authorities seem to reject the notion of this intermediate coming. Finally, the Commission was skeptical of both the conversions reported as a result of Our Lady’s messages in Emmitsburg, as well as what it termed the “growing addiction to the spectacular” that it believed was happening in connection with the apparitions (as quoted in Keeler 2002). As a result of the Commission Report, Monsignor Kenney in Baltimore released a statement saying that the Archdiocese had concluded the apparitions were not supernatural. In addition, Cardinal Ratzinger, then-head of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, corresponded with Cardinal Keeler (though his letter was not released to the public at the time) supporting the Keeler Commission’s authority to “conclude the matter with a decree of ‘constat de non supernaturalitate’” (Ratzinger 2003).

Gianna and Michael Sullivan, in addition to several of their supporters, wrote letters to diocesan authorities questioning the validity of the Keeler Commission’s conclusions and asserting that the apparitions were indeed valid. Michael Sullivan published online a letter he had written to Cardinal Keeler, copying dozens of U.S. bishops, asking why the prayer group had been suspended in 2000 and expressing concern that the Keeler Commission had been misinformed about the content of the messages (M. Sullivan 2003). In a 2006 vision, Our Lady told Gianna that the Church’s decision about the apparitions came from the local level (Cardinal Keeler), not from Vatican authorities, so the decision therefore carried less weight than it would if it had come from higher authorities. As Gianna later pointed out, “Cardinal Ratzinger does not himself conclude [that the apparitions are not supernatural] and … allows the authority to rest at a local level, that being with Cardinal Keeler and not the Holy See” (2006). Cardinal Keeler, in response, released Cardinal Ratzinger’s letter and reiterated his stance that the apparitions were not supernatural.

Meanwhile, in 2004, supporters resurrected the Marian Prayer Group. Since 2000, they had not been permitted to hold these meetings on Church property, but they reasoned that they could hold meetings on private property, particularly if they did not hold Mass or offer Sacraments. The prayer group met at a nearby farm monthly, participants sometimes huddling in a barn during inclement weather. Later, the group moved to the Lynfield Event Complex, a conference center outside Frederick, Maryland thatcould hold larger crowds. As many as 1,000 people attended this prayer meeting some months, despite the absence of Mass and Sacraments. The prayer group became more formally organized during this time period, as a core group of volunteers video recorded Gianna during ecstasy and audio recorded the message, posted public messages to a website, handled donations for the conference center rental fees, compiled messages into book series, and handled the production of Our Lady of Emmitsburg statues, prayer cards, and pins. Two websites (Foundation for the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary and Private Revelations 12:1) were created to provide factual information and transcripts of messages.

During this time period, opposition to the apparitions from some local Catholics and diocesan leaders also grew. Another website, Cult Watch , took a negative view of the apparitions, supporters, and visionary. Father Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D., Gianna’s spiritual advisor, was silenced when Cardinal Keeler ordered Fr. Kavanaugh’s superior to temporarily restrict the priest from attending the monthly prayer meetings. Father Alfred Pehrsson, the parish priest at St. Joseph who had since been relocated to another parish, was also asked by his superiors not to speak about the Emmitsburg apparitions. Both men have remained reticent to speak about the Emmitsburg events.

In 2007, Fr. Edwin O’Brien was appointed Archbishop in Baltimore upon Cardinal Keeler’s resignation. With the change in leadership, Gianna wrote a letter to Archbishop O’Brien informing him of the history of the apparitions in Emmitsburg and assuring him that she would comply with his wishes regarding the monthly prayer meetings held at Lynfield. Archbishop O’Brien did not respond to Gianna’s letter directly, but instead released a Pastoral Advisory in 2008 repeating the Church’s position that the messages were not supernatural. While he admitted in the Pastoral Advisory that there is nothing necessarily sacrilegious about the messages, he asserted his view that the “alleged apparitions are not supernatural in origin” (O’Brien 2008). He further “strongly” cautioned Mrs. Gianna Talone-Sullivan not to communicate in any manner whatsoever, written or spoken, electronic or printed, personally or through another in any church, public oratory, chapel or any other place or locale, public or private, within the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Baltimore any information of any type related to or containing messages or locutions allegedly received from the Virgin Mother of God.

The Pastoral Advisory further warned Catholics against “participat[ing] in any activity surrounding these alleged apparitions or who seek to disseminate information and promote them here in the Archdiocese.” Archbishop O’Brien closed his letter by saying he wanted to “resolve the divisions created by this situation.”

Local supporters were outraged, many of them questioning whether Archbishop O’Brien overstepped his authority by attempting to regulate the activities of Catholics even off church property. Gianna, however, wrote to Archbishop O’Brien thanking him for “clarifying the many unresolved questions his predecessor [Cardinal Keeler] left unaddressed” (2003). She declared in her letter that she would no longer attend monthly prayer meetings at Lynfield and that she was neither affiliated with nor responsible for the activities of The Foundation of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary . In her letter, which she also published online, she urged her supporters to “heed the Bishop’s cautions.”

Gianna has continued to report daily apparitions and locutions in her home. The Foundation of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary and Private Revelations 12:1 still operate, compiling and interpreting previous Emmitsburg messages for online newsletters. In 2013, the newsletter of the Foundation was received by people in 54 U.S. states and territories and 145 nations. As of February, 2014, internet users from 188 countries have made over 9 million visits to the website of the Foundation.

DOCTRINES/BELIEFS

Those who believe in the Emmitsburg apparitions have discerned by various means that the apparitions are legitimate. In interviews that I conducted with supporters in 2011 and 2012, many pointed out that Gianna was a “yuppie” with some wealth, an advanced degree in Pharmacology, and a job—in other words, with much to lose by claiming to receive apparitions. These individuals did not believe that Gianna would report seeing Our Lady and risk public scrutiny if it weren’t true. Gianna has even undergone testing twice while in ecstasy: once at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center in 1993 under the supervision of Marian theologian Fr. René Laurentin, and again at Johns Hopkins University in 2003 by Dr. Ricardo Castañón. Both times, doctors determined that her brain scans were consistent with those of other visionaries in ecstasy. Detractors have accused Gianna of heading a “cult” or reveling in her fame. Some supporters, however, have been quick to point out that Gianna is merely a conduit of the divine.

Supporters can easily access several years’ worth of messages from Our Lady of Emmitsburg through the websites of The Foundation of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary and Private Revelations 12:1, and many individuals re-read those messages, finding new meanings each time. Some messages have garnered more attention than others. During my fieldwork in Emmitsburg from 2010 to 2013, I witnessed occasional conversations about those messages bearing warning of catastrophe. Two important examples are the June 1, 2008 message warning of “another body in orbit around your solar system” and destroying “60-70% of the world’s population,” and the December 31, 2004 message warning of the “earth being spun off its axis.” A few individuals in Emmitsburg speculated that the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which NASA reports shifted the earth on its axis by four inches, fulfilled this prophecy.

Another common theme in the messages is that people should pray for priests and apostates. The September 15, 2003 message cautions: “The Church will always stand because of my Son, but what is in jeopardy are the souls of many of my priest s, my Bishops and my Cardinals who will have to atone and who will be held accountable for misleading the flock.” A common refrain for priests and lay Catholics, however, is to pray for them. The August 31, 1995 message is typical: “Pray for Mercy, little children, and desire Love and forgiveness for all people.”

Given the opposition from certain local priests to the Emmitsburg apparitions, supporters have also been heartened by Our Lady’smany messages assuring them that she is not leaving Emmitsburg. The February 5, 2006 message, for instance, assures listeners that Emmitsburg is the Center of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart despite opposition from some Church leaders, then continues, “Know that I am not leaving and that I intercede for all good things for you before the Throne of God.” The October 5, 2008 message (just before the Pastoral Advisory was released) repeats this theme: “know that I am here with you. I am not leaving , even if you think I am far away.”

Supporters hold a variety of opinions about the Archdiocesan stance on the apparitions. While most all supporters have obeyed the spirit of the Pastoral Advisory by not holding prayer meetings and not speaking about the apparitions unless asked, many have continued to question the authority of Archbishop O’Brien to prohibit prayer meetings that convene on property not belonging to the Catholic Church. Further, many supporters adhere to the Church teaching on private revelation, that believers may “ welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church” (“Catechism” 1.1.2.67). In Emmitsburg, many individuals reason that nothing in the messages conflicts with Church teaching, scripture, or tradition, and thus they are free to believe in them. They believe that the Keeler Commission, which concluded that apocalyptic teachings were troubling and that the messages about the return of the Child Jesus in an intermediate spiritual reign prior to the actual Final Coming contradicted Church teaching, was misinformed.

RITUALS/PRACTICES

Due to prohibitions, practices relating to the Emmitsburg apparitions have changed greatly over time. Prior to September 2000, St. Joseph Catholic Church in Emmitsburg hosted a Marian Prayer Group in the church every Thursday. Pilgrims from around the world would attend the 8:30 AM weekday Mass, followed by private prayer and afternoon Confession. Many would visit the National Shrine Grotto of Lourdes, National Shrine of Elizabeth Ann Seton, and other sites in town. The prayer service was held in the evening, featuring Mass, Rosary prayers, and a healing service. Devotees often stayed until late in the evening.

From 2004-2008, the prayer group met monthly to pray the Rosary. These services did not occur on Church property, did not feature Mass, and did not offer Sacraments. Nevertheless, they attracted hundreds of pilgrims.

Now that the prayer group has been disbanded, the Foundation of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary is encouraging supporters to hold monthly Marian Days of Prayer in their own homes. There is no way to measure how many people are involved in this endeavor, but in my time in Emmitsburg, I have never heard of anyone organizing a prayer group specifically for the Marian Day of Prayer. I have, however, spoken to several people who incorporate Our Lady of Emmitsburg into their daily devotions. They may mention her name during a Litany (“Our Lady of Emmitsburg, Pray for Us”), carry prayer cards with her image, or keep statues of her in their homes. Many people continue to read Our Lady of Emmitsburg messages, since many of them are accessible via websites and printed books. The Foundation and Private Revelations 12:1 compile messages and interpretations in electronic newsletters that are distributed worldwide. The newsletter of the Foundation was distributed in 54 U.S. states and territories and 145 nations in 2013.

Additionally, many supporters were and continue to be active in their local parishes, attending Mass frequently, visiting the Grotto regularly, praying the Rosary and other prayers, and reading books about the lives of the saints. In general, Emmitsburg believers in the apparitions tend to fall in line with other conservative Catholics in terms of their attitudes toward social and political issues and Church authority. Like many “highly committed” Catholics, many individuals support their Church’s opposition to birth control, abortion, and same sex marriage (D’Antonio 2011; D’Antonio, Dillon & Gautier 2013; Dillon 2011a, 2011b); to be sure, many of the Emmitsburg messages take a conservative stance on these issues.

ORGANIZATION/LEADERSHIP

Prior to the 2008 Pastoral Advisory, a network of volunteers organized the prayer group and the dissemination of messages. Tasks included videotaping Gianna during her vision, transcribing the messages, maintaining websites, collecting donations for the conference center rental (from 2004 to 2008), managing crowds of attendees, and leading Rosary prayers during services.

The Foundation was established to be, and remains, an important depository of information about the apparitions. Private Revelations 12:1 is another helpful source of historical information. Both organizations maintain websites easily accessible by any internet search engine, the Foundation of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary and Private Revelations of Our Lady of Emmitsburg . Both organizations officially are located in Pennsylvania and are thus outside the jurisdiction of the Baltimore Archdiocese and its prohibitions. Notably, Gianna disavowed any involvement with The Foundation in her 2008 response to the Pastoral Advisory.

ISSUES/CHALLENGES

The major challenge in Emmitsburg is the Church’s position on the apparitions. Some parish priests remain adamantly opposed to them, and there is some anecdotal evidence of animosity between certain parish priests and apparition supporters in Emmitsburg. Some local lay Catholics also oppose the apparitions, so much so that supporters frequently censor themselves in the presence of certain individuals. Cult Watch occasionally posts new articles deriding the apparitions and visionary.

Following the termination of the monthly prayer meeting at Lynfield, the unofficial hub for apparition supporters was St. Peter’s Bookstore, an Emmitsburg bookstore and coffee house that had been founded as a service to Our Lady of Emmitsburg to serve as a repository of information about the apparitions. St. Peter’s offered book compilations of messages, knowledgeable employees and owners willing to share information about the apparitions, an inviting seating area conducive to discussing the apparitions, and other Catholic items. The business had been quite successful while the prayer group still met near Emmitsburg, even organizing a major lecture series, and was a favorite hangout for local Catholics and Catholic pilgrims visiting the Grotto. Many supporters, therefore, were disappointed when St. Peter’s went out of business in 2012.

With the appointment of Archbishop Lori in Baltimore in 2012, some individuals hoped that the Archdiocese would ease its prohibition on a Marian Prayer Group in Emmitsburg. No formal restrictions have been placed on Gianna in the Archdiocese since Archbishop O’Brien left Baltimore. There has been some interest in organizing a Marian prayer group that would not include Gianna’s visions and messages, and some of the Daughters of Charity at the Basilica have organized a few such meetings. As for the apparitions, there is currently no way to measure how many people continue to believe and to support them, since the prayer group has not been permitted to convene since 2008. While supporters are hopeful that Church leaders will reverse their decision about the Emmitsburg apparitions, many speculate that the apparitions will be approved only when Gianna’s visions and locutions cease, or through divine intervention.

REFERENCES

Catechism of the Catholic Church. 1993. Accessed from www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM on 13 February 2014.

Clarke, Paul A. 2008. The last word? Frederick News Post , December 14, Local News section. Accessed from www.fredericknewspost.com on 13 March 2010.

D’Antonio, William V., Michele Dillon, and Mary Gautier. 2013. American Catholics in Transition. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

D’Antonio, William V. 2011. “New Survey Offers Portrait of U.S. Catholics.” National Catholic Reporter , October 24. Accessed from http://ncronline.org/AmericanCatholics on 14 January 2012.

Dillon, Michele. 2011a. “Trends in Catholic Commitment Stable over Time.” National Catholic Reporter . October 24. Accessed from http://ncronline.org/AmericanCatholics on 14 January 2012.

Dillon, Michele. 2011b. “What is Core to American Catholics in 2011.” National Catholic Reporter , October 24. Accessed from http://ncronline.org/AmericanCatholics on 14 January 2012.

Eck, Larry and Mary Sue. 1992. “Jesus, I Trust in Thee: An Interview with Michael Sullivan, MD.” Medjugorje Magazine, July-August-September, 17-27.

Faricy, Robert, SJ and Rooney, Lucy, SND de N. 1991. Our Lady Comes to Scottsdale: Is It Authentic? Milford, OH: The Riehle Foundation.

Fortney, Sarah. 2007. “The Voices of Faith.” Frederick News Post , January 8, Local News section. Accessed from www.fredericknewspost.com on 13 March 2010.

Foundation of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary. n.d. “Messages of Our Lady of Emmitsburg.” Accessed from www.centeroftheimmaculateheart.org on 13 February 2014.

Gaul, Christopher. 2003. “Vatican Supports Action to Suppress Visionary. Accessed from www.archbalt.org/news/crsullivan.cfm on 13 March 2010.

Gaul, Christopher. 2002. “We Do Not Believe in the Apparitions.” Accessed from www.emmitsburg.net/cult_watch/news_reports/we_do_not_believe.htm on 13 March 2010.

Gaul, Christopher. 1995. “Brief History of St. Joseph’s Church.” The Catholic Review , November 1.

Keeler, William Cardinal. 2002. “Letter to Fr. O’Connor,” December 5. Accessed from www.emmitsburg.net/cult_watch/commission_report.htm on 12 June 2012.

Keeler, William Cardinal. 2003. “Decree,” June 7. Accessed from archbalt.org/news.upload/SullivanDecree.pdf on 19 March 2010.

Kenney, Rev. Msgr. Jeremiah F. 2002. “Letter to Gianna Talone-Sullivan,” September 24.

Lobianco, Tom. 2002. “Church Takes Neutral Stance on Apparitions. Frederick News Post , December 8, Local News section. Accessed from www.fredericknewspost.com on 13 March 2010.

Moving Heart Foundation. n.d. “Background.” Accessed from http://www.movingheartfoundation.com/Background.htm on 3 February 2014.

O’Brien, Archbishop Edwin. 2008. “Pastoral Advisory,” October 8. Accessed from www.archbalt.org/news/upload/Pastoral_Advisory.pdf on 21 May 2010.

O’Brien, Archbishop Edwin. 2002. “Letter to Father O’Connor,” December 5. Accessed from www.emmitsburg.net/cult_watch/commission_report.htm on 13 March 2010.

Pehrsson, Fr. Al C.M. n.d. “Our Lady of Emmitsburg: Testimony 1993-2006.” Audio CD distributed by Foundation of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Ratzinger, Cardinal Joseph. 2003. “Letter to Cardinal Keeler,” February 15. Accessed from www.archbalt.org/news/upload/decreeRatzinger.pdf on 21 May 2010.

“Statement Concerning the Alleged Apparitions to Gianna Talone-Sullivan in Emmitsburg.” 2000. Accessed from http://www.tfsih.com/Misc/Unsigned%20Decree_09-08-00.pdf on 30 January 2014.

Sullivan, Gianna. 2008. “Letter.” Accessed from www.emmitsburg.net/cult_watch/rm/GiannaPastoralAdvisoryResponse.pdf on 21 May 2010.

Sullivan, Gianna. 2006. “Letter.” Accessed from www.pdtsigns.com/giannaupdate.html on 21 May 2010.

Sullivan, Michael. 2003. “Letter.” Accessed from www.emmitsburg.net/cult_watch/rm/Sullivan_rebuttal.pdf on 21 May, 2010.

Author:
Jill Krebs

Post Date:
23 February 2014

 

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