The judgement of the Church
Foreword
The historical origin of the impressive phenomenon of prayer and veneration towards the holy Mother of the Lord, invoked at the Shrine as ‘Rosa Mistica – Mother of the Church’, is closely linked to the human and spiritual experience of Pierina Gilli. The events that occurred during Pierina’s life and the numerous messages witnessed in her Diaries have recently been the subject of a renewed phase of study by the competent diocesan authorities and the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which led to the recognition of Nihil obstat in 2024. This in-depth study can be distinguished in two stages.
The first stage was started in the Diocese of Brescia in 2013, and exclusively concerned the historical analysis of the acts of the Diocesan Commission of Enquiry, carried out on Pierina between 1947 and 1949; this first stage ended at the end of 2016, with the contribution of in-depth canonical-processual, psychological-forensic and pharmacological verifications, which flowed into a substantial Dossier sent to the Holy See, in order to offer a dutiful integration of the acts already in its possession. This contribution made it possible to re-evaluate in a new way the highly positive value of Pierina’s person, both psychologically and spiritually, and paved the way for the second stage of the diocesan course of studies.
The second stage, which began in 2018 and ended with the fully positive recognition dated 8th July 2024, focused on the theological-doctrinal analysis of the entire corpus of messages contained in Pierina’s Diaries. Previous studies in this field, in fact, had sketchily focused only on the apparitions witnessed by the seer in the first phase of her life (from 1947 to 1960) without ever comparing them with those of the second phase of her spiritual experience, which began in 1966 with the alleged apparitions in Fontanelle di Montichiari. Bishop Tremolada, in agreement with the Apostolic See, remedied this shortcoming by initiating a course of study that culminated in the establishment of a special International Theological Commission which presented its conclusions on 13th July 2023, unanimously asking the competent authorities to recognize the apparitions of Our Lady with the title of Maria Rosa Mistica in Montichiari and to initiate a process for the investigation of the heroic virtues of Pierina Gilli.
The Nihil obstat pronouncement and the Sanctuary
On Saturday 13th July 2024, the feast day indicated by Maria Rosa Mistica, the Bishop of Brescia, Monsignor
Pierantonio Tremolada solemnized the judgment promulgated on Friday 5th July by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith at the conclusion of the discernment on the Marian apparitions in Montichiari. This document, which consists of a letter from the prefect, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, endorsed by Pope Francis, founded in the new Norms of discernment adopted in May 2024, expressed a Nihil obstat judgment.
The Authority, with such a definition, according to the mentioned guidelines, as concerns the presumption of apparitions and mystical phenomena of the Church, no longer contemplates the certain definition of the super naturalness of an event, rather wanting to highlight the goodness of its spiritual fruits. Nonetheless, the foundation and exemplarity of Pierina’s mystical-spiritual experience in relation to Our Lady in the title of Maria Rosa Mistica is recognized, as well as the richness and fruitfulness of her existential, humble and virtuous story.
The Nihil obstat is the highest possible and positive acknowledgement today with respect to the evaluation of private revelations and mystical phenomena, for which the human and spiritual experience of Pierina Gilli, in relation to Maria Rosa Mistica, subject to the correct theological interpretation of certain expressions contained in the Message, do not contain on the whole any element contrary to the Catholic doctrine and morals. This means that the Holy See and the Bishop of Brescia leave the faithful free to believe in the Message of Maria Rosa Mistica and to look at the experience of Pierina Gilli; and, at the same time, free to adhere to the spiritual indications contained therein, should they find in it a useful tool for them to deepen their Christian and sacramental life.
This historic step was the outcome of a long ecclesial journey that began in these places in 1966, and even earlier, in 1947, at the Basilica of Montichiari: this journey, over time, has made these places an important spiritual and pilgrimage reference point for thousands of faithful from Italy and abroad. The authority of the Church of Rome and the Church of Brescia arrived together at this historic pronouncement through years of joint work that had already allowed Bishop Tremolada, on Saturday 7th December 2019, the eve of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the canonical institution of the diocesan Sanctuary. This recognition gathered the legacy of some important interventions of his predecessors who, since 2001, had authorized and blessed the celebration of public worship at Fontanelle. The two titles attributed to the diocesan Sanctuary, Mystical Rose and Mother of the Church, are inseparably united by the tradition of prayer and piety with which the Mother of the Lord was witnessed by Pierina Gilli and invoked in these places. Wherever this cult has spread, to support the pilgrims’ path of faith, the strong sense of belonging to the Church and the sharing of its evangelizing mission have been confirmed, under the protection of She who has always ensured Her maternal mediation.
The pronouncement of Nihil obstat together with the previous canonical recognition of the Shrine are therefore at the service of the missionary potential of these sacred places, in order to consolidate and increase the numerous spiritual fruits germinated here over time, as well as to offer the dutiful pastoral care of pilgrims, especially through a conscious and fruitful celebration of the Sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist, in view of a baptismal witness ever more adhering to the needs of the Gospel and fraternal love.
The Foundation
In January 2014, the Foundation Rosa Mistica Fontanelle was established, a foundation for worship and religion also recognized by the Italian legal system as an ecclesiastical body. In agreement with the ecclesiastical authority, it intends to continue the task of managing the places of worship at Fontanelle, a task undertaken in the past by the Association with the same name, which broke up to join the above mentioned Foundation.
The aims and activities of the Foundation, as distinct from the direct management of worship and liturgy, which are entrusted to the Rector of the Sanctuary, can be briefly outlined as follows: a spirit of cooperation with the Rector, to prepare everything necessary to offer a dignified welcome to the faithful who go there for worship; to ensure that these worship events take place in an authentic spirit of prayer, sacrifice and penitence; to prepare suitable measures to prevent behaviors and demonstrations contrary to public order and respect for the place and people; to continue archiving and studying the facts and testimonies that have made and still make the Fontanelle site a place of Marian worship and prayer, in full communion with the Magisterium and morals of the Church; to provide, on a non-profit basis, for the protection of the current environmental characteristics and use of ‘Fontanelle’ area.