In 1859, the year after Mary is said to have appeared in Lourdes, a Belgian immigrant here named Adele Brise said she was visited three times by Mary, who hovered between two trees in a bright light, clothed in dazzling white with a yellow sash around her waist and a crown of stars above her flowing blond locks. As instructed, Ms. Brise devoted her life to teaching Catholic beliefs to children.
On Dec. 8, after a two-year investigation by theologians who found no evidence of fraud or heresy and a long history of shrine-related conversions, cures and other signs of divine intervention, Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay declared “with moral certainty” that Ms. Brise did indeed have encounters “of a supernatural character” that are “worthy of belief.”
via Catholic Church Validates Virgin Mary in Wisconsin – NYTimes.com.
Another case of wishful thinking is what it is on the part of the believers. Coincidence is not a prayer answered. When you are predisposed to believing in something you will find what you are looking for. It’s just the way humans (or at least certain humans) are wired.
First off The Virgin Mary a blonde? In what genetic reality does a jewish girl from Nazareth have blonde hair? Were there regular Nordic invasions in Galilee 600 years before the Vikings went a roving? Puhleeeze…
The fact that the Green Bay Diocese has been under heavy fire for the sex abuse cases should in no way have anything to do with this miracle site validation?
Catholic leaders described the decree in Wisconsin as a bolt of joy at a trying time for the Catholic church, which is troubled by revelations of sex abuse.
“This is a gift to the believers,” said the Rev. Johann Roten, director of the International Marian Research Institute at the University of Dayton.
“It would be devious to say that this was somehow pulled out of the attic to exorcise the problems of the church today,” Father Roten said in a telephone interview. “But hopefully this will have a beneficial impact on the people, showing them that there are ways of living with faith that are very pure.”
Huh. Father Roten, ever hear of Occam’s Razor? The catholic church has a long history of pulling rabbits out of a hat when it needs to divert attention.
Whenever the church sees a decline in parishioners they roll out a miracle. After all, they practically invented the practice.
nosacredc0w 