Karlo Broussard tackles a fascinating question: Could Marian apparitions be the devil masquerading as Mary? Karlo delves into the possibility of demonic deception, emphasizing the importance of discernment and the Church’s role in evaluating alleged apparitions. He highlights the criteria used to distinguish genuine apparitions from potential deceptions.
Transcript:
If the devil can appear, Karlo, as an angel of light, could these Marian apparitions be the devil appearing as Mary?
Yeah, great question. And the answer is, yes, it’s possible. It could be the devil appearing as Mary. That’s a possibility. But then the question becomes, is it the case that these Marian apparitions approved by the Church is perhaps a manifestation of the devil in visible form? And the answer would be no. So it is possible that the devil can visibly manifest himself in the image of Our Lady or any other image. And this is why, Si, that whatever apparition is experienced, whether for me personally or whether it’s going on, right, in a public setting or something, those events need to be submitted to and subject to the discernment and the investigation of the ordinary of the bishop. So he can employ his team of experts to assess that situation and that alleged apparition to see if it is, in fact, Our Lady or if it is the devil or a demon manifesting himself in the form of Our Lady. And so for us as laypeople, Cy, we’re going to defer and look to the judgment of the Church, given the Church’s competency in assessing these situations. And of course, that, of course, just raises the question, well, you know, what sort of criterion might they look to in order to discern this? Well, one criterion would be, you know, what sort of teaching, perhaps, is directly associated with the alleged apparition?
So, for example, take the Immaculate Conception, you know, that was defined as dogma by Pope Pius IX in 1854, and then you have the apparition of Our Lady under the title of the Immaculate Conception at Nords. Well, if that were the devil, I don’t think the devil would be manifesting himself to confirm for people the truth of the Immaculate Conception. Like, why would he want to affirm Our Lady as the Immaculate Conception? He would want to try and lead us away from that. So if he were to present himself in the apparitional form, he would be shooting himself in the foot, right? So that confirmation, that apparition in a direct association with the teaching of the Immaculate Conception, is a good reason for those with competent authority at the time to conclude that this is legit, you know, this is Our Lady manifesting herself and not the devil. And so these are the sorts of questions that the bishop and his team would be asking to try and discern whether these alleged apparitions are in fact apparitions. But David’s question, Cy, highlights the very reason why there should be careful examination and assessment of alleged apparitions. And we as the laity need to always be subject to and properly disposed to give deference to Holy Mother Church’s judgment on these issues.
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