CV NEWS FEED // The Vatican has officially approved the declaration of “nihil obstat” for the Shrine of Chandavila, a significant step for a Marian apparition in Spain that has remained relatively obscure.
According to Vatican News, the “nihil obstat” is one of six possible conclusions to be reached regarding supernatural phenomena such as apparitions. “nihil obstat” means that, “Without expressing any certainty about the supernatural authenticity of the phenomenon itself, many signs of the action of the Holy Spirit are acknowledged,” and that the local Bishop is “encouraged to appreciate the pastoral value and promote the dissemination of the phenomenon, including pilgrimages.”
Vatican News reports that the approval was granted by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and endorsed by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, with the approval of Pope Francis.
The “nihil obstat” acknowledges the shrine’s role in a Marian apparition reported in 1945, when two young girls—Marcelina Barroso Expósito and Afra Brígido Blanco—claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows in Chandavila, a town in Extremadura, near the Portuguese border.
Although the “nihil obstat” does not in itself affirm the supernatural authenticity of the apparitions, Cardinal Fernández told Archbishop Rodríguez Carballo in an August 22 letter that the devotion at the Shrine of Chandavila is admirable and reflects the same simplicity seen in the Blessed Virgin.
“Many positive aspects indicate an action of the Holy Spirit in so many pilgrims who come, both from Spain and Portugal, in the conversions, healings, and other valuable signs in this place,” the Cardinal wrote.
“Therefore, this Dicastery readily grants its consent for you to proceed with the declaration of the proposed “nihil obstat,” he continued, “so that the Shrine of Chandavila—which is an heir to a rich history of simplicity, few words, and yet much devotion—may continue to offer to the faithful who wish to approach it, a place of interior peace, consolation, and conversion.”
