Italian woman’s alleged visions of Virgin Mary, including warning of COVID-19 pandemic, not supernatural: bishop
An Italian woman’s alleged visions of the Virgin Mary — which gained her social media followers and donations — are not supernatural, a bishop has declared.
Gisella Cardia of Trevignano Romano, a town about 30 miles northwest of Rome, claimed to see apparitions of the Blessed Mother, Jesus and God after she brought home a statue of Mary from a 2014 trip to Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, according to the Catholic News Agency.
The statue weeps blood, multiplies food and sends her daily messages, including one where Mary warned her of the then-impending COVID-19 pandemic, Cardia claimed.
She drew hundreds of people to monthly prayer gatherings she organized, during which she revealed what the messages she received said. Cardia even created a nonprofit organization that accepted donations and a chapel, which was ultimately shuttered by the Trevignano city government.
In April 2023, Marco Salvi, the bishop of Civita Castellana, the diocese that includes Trevignano Romano, published a statement asking people not to attend Cardia’s meetings. He also gathered a commission of experts to investigate her claims.
A statement issued earlier this month by the Diocese of Civita Castellana, explained “after an appropriate period of careful discernment,” and “fervent prayer,” including listening to experts like a theologian, canonist and psychologist, Salvi made his decision.
The bishop’s proclamation cited “gaps” and “contradictions” in Cardia’s interview with the commission and an “excessive simplicity” in the messages she shared with her followers, and “numerous theological errors,” according to Catholic Review.
