Bishop Verzosa: Exalted yet persecuted

(Author's Note: This article is another in a series on Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace. It must be clarified that the Cardinals who persecuted Verzosa were different from those who exalted him.)

It's ironic that Bishop Alfredo Florentin Verzosa (1877-1954), one of the most admired and loved during his time, would be exalted and persecuted all at once by the Vatican. In June 2017, his case for beatification was submitted to the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints after he was earlier declared a "Servant of God" by Pope Benedict XVI. As of this writing (4 October 2023), his case is still pending.

In 1902, when Fr. Gregorio Aglipay established the Philippine Independent Church, breaking off from the Catholic Church, almost the entire archdiocese of Nueva Segovia, covering Ilocos Norte, defected en masse to the Aglipay sect. Aglipay was excommunicated.

The Dominican-bred Fr. Alfredo Verzosa was appointed Apostolic Administrator of Nueva Segovia by the Vatican to revive the Church there. He ignored warnings that the situation was dangerous as the entire region had become predominantly Aglipayan and extremely hostile to Catholics.

In 1906, he was almost killed during mission work in the town of Bantay when the Aglipayan minister threw a spear at him but missed, killing his horse instead. In 1915, in Batac, a young Aglipayan threw a stone at him, which hit him in the chest, but he continued his homily with a smile. For these reasons, perhaps, he was noted for "a life marked with humility and obedience" in his beatification papers. (Source–Wikipedia).

In 1949, as Bishop of the Lipa diocese, he did not believe the report of the shower of rose petals at the Carmel Convent. He ordered the Mediatrix statue hidden and the people to stop their veneration. The Carmel sisters invited him to visit. He replied, "I will go there, not to visit, but to make sure my order is followed."

At the entrance of the prayer room, he was greeted by a shower of petals. He fell on his knees in prayer, speechless. Like the light that blinded St. Paul, who turned from persecutor to protector, Bishop Verzosa became an instant devotee of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace.

He never lost his loyalty to the Papacy, however, even as the Vatican questioned the apparitions. He replied, "I believe, but as a bishop, I am under the Pope. I cannot make the decisions."

He appointed Fr. Angel Blas, OP, rector of UST, to investigate the apparitions. Fr. Blas would later become "famous" for throwing an ashtray at Mediatrix visionary Sr. Teresing for refusing to say that the apparitions were fake when she was secretly grilled at UST.

The Vatican was aware of Bishop Verzosa's loyalty despite his shift to an ardent believer. He allowed petals and Mediatrix novena pamphlets with his Imprimatur to be given away to thousands worldwide. The news of the healing rose petals of Lipa spread worldwide. Even though the Imprimatur was for the novena, not for the apparitions, the Vatican was deeply disturbed by his actions. He promised devotees he would seek "ecclesiastical approval," not knowing it would never come.

In March 1949, with the replacement of Papal Nuncio Guglielmo Piani by noted anti-Mediatrix Monsignor Egidio Vagnozzi, the Vatican pounced on Verzosa. He was reassigned to an empty parish in Caspa, a lonely Islamic village in the semi-desert region of North Africa. The Vatican's lame excuse was that he was too old and sick and needed to rest. It was hardly "rest" to be assigned to an empty, remote parish in the middle of nowhere.

After dedicating about three decades of his life to the Lipa diocese, Verzosa was shocked but did not complain, saying, "Why are they doing this to me? But it is okay. We must bow to the will of the Church." He was obedient to the end despite the cruel persecution.

The Vatican mercilessly persecuted all the Bishops and Archbishops of Lipa through the decades, notably Bishop Alfredo Obviar (1889-1978) and Archbishop Emeritus Ramon Arguelles.

Many Mediatrix devotees asked if this was perhaps a form of "racism" against Filipino Clerics.

Lately, the Vatican started assigning anti-Mediatrix Bishops to the Lipa Archdiocese, notably current Archbishop Gilbert Garcera, who publicly vowed that he would destroy the Mediatrix phenomenon.

View the video on Verzosa at https://youtu.be/OiE2Cm7Bu0I?si=3saBv8dTpG_gIe9T.a

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