The Archdiocese of Gwangju established the ‘Naju Investigation Committee’ (December 30, 1994), in accordance with the directions of His Eminence Joseph Card. Ratzinger, the then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to examine all the related phenomena which have happened since the Statue of Blessed Mary in Julia Youn’s house began to shed tears of blood on June 30, 1985. As the result of its investigations for about three years, the Archdiocese of Gwangju came to the following conclusion: “these phenomena produce no evidence which prove that they are truly supernatural and thus from God”.
A declaration concerning this conclusion was issued by my predecessor, the Most Rev. Victorinus K. Youn, the Archbishop of Gwangju at that time after consultation with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the official stance of the Church that the phenomena in Naju “were not proved supernatural” was confirmed in the letter on April 23, 2008 of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Prot. N.112/1993-27066).
In 2011, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reconfirmed this conclusion, adding that “the cases transmitted from the followers of Julia Youn in Naju to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith have little correlation with Christian piety, and the Apostolic See has no plan to change the stance of the Church on the alleged miracles in Naju” (Prot. N.112/1993-35015, March 30, 2011). With this letter, the Archdiocese of Gwangju received the competent faculty to announce the declaration concerning the phenomena in Naju for wise measures in pastoral care, such as the declaration of May 1, 2011.
The Archdiocese of Gwangju maintains its stance that the events and various strange phenomena in Naju alleged as miracles cannot be proved to be supernatural. I ask all the Catholic to be well aware of this matter and never believe the phenomena in Naju.
Therefore, I issue once again the following “Guidelines on the phenomena in Naju” in the name of the Archbishop of Gwangju:
- According to the Decree of the Archbishop of Gwangju (January 21, 2008), I forbid clergy, religious, and lay people from presiding over or participating in the celebration of the sacraments or sacramentals at any alleged ‘oratory’ or the ‘hill of Our Lady’ in Naju. No sacramental celebrations are permitted at any alleged ‘oratory’ or the ‘hill of Our Lady’ in Naju.
- Parish priests should inform their faithful of the stance of the Church, and the reason for the prohibition.
- The above mentioned phenomena are not proved to be supernatural and have no correlation with sound Christian piety. Therefore, it is not permitted to publish or spread any related material through printed materials or electronic media to propagate these phenomena.
- Those who deliberately violate these guidelines disobey the pastoral directives and judgement of the local Ordinary and they are to be punished according to Code of Canon Law (Cf. Cann. 1371 §2, 1373).
July 6, 2012
