| The Marian Movement of Priests is a
private association of Catholic clergy and lay associate members
founded by Italian priest Fr. Stefano Gobbi in 1972. While visiting
the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima in Portugal he felt himself
inspired to begin this work, whose principal emphases are to
encourage Consecration, especially of priests, to the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, and whole-hearted fidelity to the Magisterium of the
Pope.
For this purpose Fr. Gobbi has traveled throughout the world
holding Cenacles of Prayer on every continent. Cenacle refers to the
gathering of the apostles around the Blessed Mother in the Upper
Room in which the Last Supper was celebrated and in which they
awaited the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In Cenacles of Prayer the
laity gather with the clergy, and with our Lady by praying the
rosary, and often celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, as they
pray for and await the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart, so ardently
desired by the Church and promised by Our Lady at Fátima. In the
almost three decades of this movement, many tens of thousands of
deacons, priests and bishops, including Cardinals, and millions of
religious and laity, have consecrated themselves to the Blessed
Virgin and pledged fidelity to the Magisterium at the Cenacles of
Prayer. In addition, besides the public Cenacles held in parish
churches throughout the world, many weekly, bi-weekly or monthly
Cenacles are held in private homes.
One aspect of the Movement which has resulted in some controversy
is the claim of Fr. Gobbi to receive interior locutions from the
Blessed Virgin, messages which are published in his spiritual diary To the Priests, Our Lady's Beloved Sons.. An interior locution is a mystical word, a
message received interiorly by a person while in prayer and which to
them is clearly not from their own mind or spirit. Naturally, the
person making such a claim is not the best judge of the authenticity
of the alleged mysticism. We are often subjectively certain of
things which prove to be false in reality. In the case of alleged
mysticism there is always the possibility of mental illness, fraud,
vivid imagination, or even the demonic. It is the task of a qualified
spiritual director to discern, in the first instance, the authenticity
of mysticism, basing himself on his knowledge of Catholic teaching,
the personality, character and prayer life of the alleged
mystic and his own experience in directing others. The spiritual
director is the Church's first line of defense in protecting individuals,
and the faithful in general, from false mysticism. The local bishop
is next, and then the Holy See, which alone can render a definitive
judgment. Any sincere person who believes himself to be experiencing
mystical phenomenon should be willing to undertake spiritual
direction, for their good and that of those whom they might influence.
From the beginning Fr. Gobbi has been under the care of a
spiritual director, one who judged his locutions to be authentic and
who determined which of the messages would be published. Contrary to
some published reports, Fr. Gobbi has never been subjected to any
other formal scrutiny. Two instances are sometimes attested to the
contrary. The first concerns the changing of the name of the book
from Our Lady Speaks to Her Beloved Priests, which was done
so as not to imply the certain authenticity of the messages. This
represented nothing more than prudent reserve, typical in such
matters, and was not a formal action of any entity in the Church.
The second instance is a letter from an official of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith asking Father Gobbi to
state explicitly that the messages are merely his own meditation.
Fr. Gobbi has said that in good conscience he could not deny what he
believed to be true. Seeking clarification of his responsibilities,
he sought counsel from a higher authority in the Holy See and was
assured that this letter was merely a request by the monsignor who
wrote it and not an act of the Congregation. Nonetheless, it is
perpetuated by some as judgment of the Holy See condemning Fr.
Gobbi. In reality, the Marian Movement of Priests continues to meet
regularly in Rome and elsewhere with the permission and
participation of bishops.
Unless a condemnation is warranted for the good of the faithful,
the authentication of mysticism usually takes place during a
canonization process, after the mysticism is obviously concluded
(because the person has died) and it can be viewed in the context of
the person's entire life. During life it generally stands on the
witness of responsible persons, such as a spiritual director, the
fame of sanctity of the alleged mystic and the fruits. This is
somewhat different from the phenomenon of an apparition, which has a
discrete beginning and end, and usually occurs independent of the
stage of prayer life of the person receiving it. Upon its conclusion
an apparition can be judged by the Church as an event in itself, as
was the case at Lourdes and Fátima. The mystic, however, finds
himself involved in phenomenon bound up with his own spiritual
perfection and related to his growth in prayer, a process only
concluded at death. Unless there is something to be condemned, it is
after death that it is usually judged by the Church, if at all.
The final judgment of the alleged mysticism of the Fr. Gobbi
rests, therefore, with the Church. In his favor, however, are the
opinion of his spiritual director, his own zeal to promote
Consecration to the Immaculate Heart and fidelity to the
Magisterium, the great numbers of lay, religious and priestly
vocations strengthened, and in some cases saved, through the Marian
Movement of Priests, and the good will shown him by very many members
of the hierarchy, including the Pope, who has received him and
encouraged him in his work on several occasions.
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