Second open letter for Pope Francis (2)
He fell on his knees, and like St. Paul, who turned from persecutor to preacher, he instantly believed.
(Author's note. A previous open letter to Pope Francis appeared in this column a few issues back. This second open letter includes new findings and replaces the first one. This is Part 2 which focuses on how and why the Vatican suppressed the Mediatrix phenomenon and the critical role of Cardinal Müller in the suppression. If you have not read Part 1, go first to https://tribune.net.ph/2023/11/second-open-letter-to-pope-francis-part-1-of-2/)
Vatican suppression of Lipa bishops
Your Holiness, in 1949, Bishop of Lipa Alfredo Versoza, ever so faithful to the Vatican, was angry over the rumors of the miraculous rose petals that healed the sick. He just did not believe such "nonsense." He visited the Carmelite convent to ensure his order to the Carmelite sisters to deny and suppress the rumors was followed. He was greeted by a shower of rose petals at the doorstep of the Carmelite church. He fell on his knees, and like St. Paul, who turned from persecutor to preacher, he instantly believed. (Read more about Versoza — https://tribune.net.ph/2023/10/06/bishop-verzosa-exalted-yet-persecuted/).
Bishop Versoza, your Holiness, consequently, gave his imprimatur to the Mediatrix novena, which angered the Vatican. He explained that it was for the novena, not for the apparitions. Still, he was transferred to a remote parish somewhere in North Africa, where he had a nervous breakdown.
Versoza was always faithful to the Church despite his exile, saying, "I believe, but as a bishop, I am under the Pope. I cannot make the decisions." For decades, all the Bishops of Lipa who believed in the Mediatrix were "exiled" to remote dioceses or forced to resign, forced into silence.
Your Holiness, Cardinal Müller, whom you removed as CDF (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) head and who leads the anti-Pope movement, was instrumental in suppressing the Mediatrix. He issued the CDF's controversial Protocol 226/1949, wherein Lipa Archbishops Mariano Gaviola and Ramon Arguelles were reprimanded for lifting the ban on Mediatrix veneration. They did so, justifiable under Canon Law, only after Müller and the CDF failed to present documents on the status of the 1951 disapproval of the apparitions as authentic. Archbishop Arguelles was forced to resign as Bishop of Lipa.
Why the Vatican insists the Mediatrix is a hoax