Letter of Bishop Regarding Seer Pedro Regis (English Translation)

Archdiocese of Feira de Santana

Pastoral Letter to the Catholic faithful about the presumed apparitions of Our Lady in Anhanguera Bahia/BR.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Grace and peace in Christ Our Risen Lord!
“Devotion to the Virgin Mary originates, reflects and finds complete expression in the cult of Christ and, through him, in the Holy Spirit, leads to the Father, thus becoming a qualifying element of the genuine piety of the Church” (Marialis Cultus, Introduction).

Dear believers, faced with the phenomena of Marian apparitions, we must take a stance that overcomes the extremism of an exaggerated appreciation of the messages of the “seers” as if it were the best and the only way to update divine Revelation, losing focus on the centrality of Christ and, on the one hand, to avoid another extreme, which is to
understand these phenomena only from the perspective of human sciences.
“Visions” or “appearances” are considered by the Catholic Church to be “private revelations” or “particulars” that are subordinate to the biblical Revelation of God, in Jesus Christ. Revelation also known as Christian, historical and public, and which reached its fullness in the person of the incarnate Word of God, Jesus Christ, which is condensed in the
Sacred Scriptures and the Sacred Apostolic Tradition. This public Revelation has already ended with the death of the last apostle of Christ, Saint John the Evangelist. But, from the point of view of interpretation and its transmission, the understanding of the historical Revelation of God to Humanity, which was fully given by Jesus Christ, is progressing
Therefore, it is the Holy Spirit who leads us to the full truth until the end of time.

After a long process of discernment, the Church can recognize and approve the content of the messages, the result of the phenomenon of visions/appearances, according to the mystical experience of some visionaries. And, in this sense, what does this recognition and approval consist of? It consists of: a) not stating that Mary of Nazareth,
the mother of Jesus, appeared in a specific place, nor forcing the faithful to follow the messages of the “seers”, as this is a “private revelation”; b) proclaim that the phenomenon is “worthy of human faith”; c) the Blessed Virgin Mary can be venerated with a certain title. For example: Queen of Peace; d) authorize the construction of a sanctuary in honor of Our Lady
on the site) allow this devotion to spread throughout the world. (CF. Doctrinal Subsidies, n.01, Apparitions and Private Revelations of the CNBB).

In recent years, the number of people in different parts of the world has increased, claiming to be “seers” of Our Lady, as well as other Saints of the Catholic tradition. As a result, the phenomenon of “apparitions” and “private revelations”, mainly related to the Blessed Virgin Mary, have multiplied significantly in Brazil and elsewhere. In this way, many
people in a sincere search for God have followed these “seers” as if they were the only reference of Catholic faith and, even, the only authorities, with regard to Catholic doctrine and as if they were a qualified witness of the Church’s own faith tradition. In this sense, many people follow them without the necessary discernment, such as theological-doctrinal
training, accurate catechesis, critical sense and prudent ecclesiastical attention. It is also, in this context, that the phenomenon of the well-known “appearances” of Our Lady, in the Municipality of Anguera, in the Archdiocese of Feira de Santana/BA, is growing.

The archdiocese has cautiously monitored the phenomenon of “apparitions” in Anguera and, above all, through a theological-pastoral Commission constituted by the Metropolitan Archbishop, with the purpose of observing and discerning about this phenomenon, from an theological-doctrinal point of view, ecclesiological-pastoral and
psychic-spiritual. That is, analyzing it in the light of the entire Tradition of the Church, in its biblical, patristic, liturgical and theological expression. Tradition that is transmitted, taught and updated, uninterruptedly, by its living Magisterium.
The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on the norms for proceeding in the discernment of presumed apparitions and revelations of 1978, number 3, indicates criteria for discernment on the phenomena of particular apparitions and revelations, which are under the competent ecclesiastical authority of the local Bishop .

Dear Catholic faithful, for these reasons, we address you with the desire to guide you, so that you are not, as Paul teaches, Apostle of Christ, “dragged by any wind of doctrine, deceived by these presumed seers and by them, with cunning, led into error. You are no longer children, allowing yourselves to be carried from here to there like toys, left to the wind and the waves (cf. Eph 4:14). It is with this pastoral sensitivity and ecclesial
responsibility that we would like to offer you elements and criteria for discernment for such phenomena.
According to the discernment of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, regarding these phenomena, an essential element, for their possible acceptance, in view of the spiritual pastoral good of the people of God, is that they are in communion with the entire Tradition of the Catholic faith (cf. Rules for proceeding in the discernment of presumed apparitions and revelations – Criteria for judging, at least with a certain probability, the
character of presumed appearances or revelations, Part I).

How to welcome and understand these messages? The most important thing is to follow Jesus Christ, our only Lord and Savior, listen to his calls, discern his will through faith, hope, charity and solidarity. God speaks to us in many ways: He speaks to us in the prayerful reading of Sacred Scripture, in biblical circles, in the appeal of a social or
ecological reality, in spiritual retreats, in personal prayer, in liturgical celebrations, in ecclesiastical meetings, in the practice of charity , human solidarity and, also, through extraordinary manifestations, such as visions, apparitions, interior and exterior locutions, intuitions and dreams.
From a spiritual point of view, they all have value, as they are in tune with the divine Project for us and the world. All must be discerned and monitored by the Church; They are opportunities for divine favor, but they can also be mixed with human conditioning and, therefore, subject to deviating from their evangelizing purpose and the Church’s proposal. If
the Bible, the Word of God, in human language, needs to be interpreted, with much more reason, this also applies to messages from “seers”.
The archdiocese has sought constant fraternal dialogue with the “seer” of the “apparitions” in Anguera and, at the same time, sought to alert and admonish him regarding some of his catechetical pronouncements on social networks and other means of social communication , mainly against the Magisterium of Pope Francis, as well as other positions
that are not in communion with the Magisterium of the Bishops, the legitimate pastors of the Church.

Canon Law, in canon 212, grants the right to the faithful to express their opinion on matters that concern the good of the entire Church and to echo their opinion to the other faithful. However, always with reverence for the Pastors of the Church (the Holy Father and the Bishops). In this way, Pedro Régis’s catechesis, in the media, has impacted many
followers. However, this impact causes disorientation, leading many believers to a confused understanding regarding the communion and unity of the Church of Christ.

In this way, as the Archdiocese of Feira de Santana, we express ourselves so that, guided by the same Catholic Church – pastors and faithful – we can find paths of communion and synodality, according to the Magisterium of the Second Vatican Council, updated through Pope Paul VI , John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and, today, through our
beloved Pope Francis. This teaching also highlights the social and ecological dimension of the Christian faith. However, this dimension is absent in the message of most modern “seers”. Unfortunately, it appears that conversion is reduced to the subjective, individual scope, configuring a certain disembodied spirituality, without commitment to the transformation of oneself, the realities in which one lives, and the socio-political and cultural context.

It is questionable that Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Church, remains silent in the face of the ecological crisis, wars, violence against women and children, racism, consumerism, human misery and corruption in the world. Those who ignore these cries are not Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our Mother, but some “seers”. Furthermore, two parallel paths are created: that of the official statements of the church and that of the “seers” who “speak in the name of Mary, the mother of Jesus”. In this way, the tendency of Catholics, driven by devotionism and a certain emotionalism, is to give credit to the “seers” and not to the ecclesiastical magisterium.

Another disturbing issue refers to ecclesiastical communion: Pope Francis has highlighted, through his practice and his Magisterium, significant themes for Christian faith today, such as: the outgoing Church, synodality, care for the common home, migrations, personal and community holiness, the beauty of conjugal love, social justice and overcoming
poverty, the denunciation of war and its consequences, social injustice, mercy with its consequences for Christian ethics and ecclesiastical practice. Such issues, with their pastoral impact, practically do not appear in the messages of many current “seers”, which are limited
to generic advice on “peace”, “love” and obedience to Christ. Now, this creates a dichotomy between the word of the Magisterium of the Church and the word of the “seers”, who attribute their messages to the Virgin Mary. Why were the majority of “visionaries” so obedient to the Pope before and, today, they simply ignore Pope Francis’ appeals?
Let us ask the Virgin Mary and her Mother, Senhora Santana, patroness of our Archdiocese, to give us the wisdom to build illuminating processes of discernment, in the service of truth, justice, solidarity and ecclesiastical communion.

Therefore, the Archdiocese of Feira de Santana, on the occasion of the anniversary of the Apparitions of Fátima, invites all the faithful, like living stones, to be builders of unity and ecclesiastical communion, providing only that which serves for the edification of all , in Christ, our risen Lord and Savior.

NOTE: We request that this Pastoral Letter be read, during liturgical celebrations, in all communities in the Parishes of our Archdiocese.
Feira de Santana, May 13, 2024.
Liturgical memory of Our Lady of Fátima.