Some have felt my mention of Maureen’s second marriage in the midst of her messages as being suggestive of scandal where there is none. Good that there is an annulment, of course. I brought up a few of the many things I am aware of that make these messages unlike anything that has ever been accepted by the Church. Moving locations and having the miraculous spring move with it, rejecting Church authority outright, the visionary divorcing and getting remarried and her 2nd husband becoming director of the ministry…these were just a few things I mentioned that would cause one pause.

When I wrote the article, I mentioned that one way the devil can use false apparitions is to cause followers to turn against the Church when the Church rejects the messages. You judge for yourself if this is the case.

People are picking and choosing arguments to their own ends. Maureen’s messages and the ministry’s operation, is nothing like any approved messages in the history of the Church. All saints and visionaries gave complete obedience to the Church, even at times when they were judged unfairly. Maureen, instead, comes up with scolding and warning messages from Jesus and His Mother against the Church which she states has no authority over her anyways.

I believe that the devil is pulling the same scam he always does; turn things upside down and calling good, evil and evil, good. Anyone who speaks against the messages is pegged as a tool of the devil, trying to block Jesus. The messages are supposed to be from God so they are good and the Church won’t accept the messages so they are bad.

It’s ecumenical, so if Jesus is trying to reach His Catholic children, He is going about it in a strange way that has never been successful in the history of Christianity.

We have an abundance of gifts within our Church without HL. We have Fatima and Lourdes and other approved messages. We should all have a devotion to the Sacred Heart. Have the Sacred Heart enthroned in your homes. Go to http://www.sacredheartapostolate.com to find more. Say a daily rosary. Practice the First Friday and First Saturday devotion. Go to Mass and receive Holy Communion every Sunday and every other day you can make it. Receive the Sacrament of Penance regularly. Spend time in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. Say a chaplet of Mercy every day and celebrate the Feast of Mercy. Read the Bible and the lives of the Saints.

These are the devotions we have from our Holy Catholic Church. There is nothing to be gained by following condemned messages. There is nothing Maureen can offer you that is not contained in all of the above devotions. It seems exciting to think you are hearing messages from Heaven. It makes you feel like an insider. We all want to be insiders with God. But God has never worked in this manner before and I don’t believe He’s taking a new approach now.

I appreciate everyone who has taken time to write in. I think it is important that we pray for one another and continue to seek God’s will in our lives.

God bless you all.

Be not afraid. Where you say, “There are many personal experiences I could share to try and convince you of this ministry’s false premises, but it probably wouldn’t be wise, and perhaps none of it is effective anyway.”

Please disabuse all persons you believe have misconceptions, and enlighten the truth so that all whom you might believe are on the path to perdition, may one day attain eternal life. Certainly, Our Lord will hold you accountable for this specific knowledge invalidating the alleged private revelations as inauthentic (something not even the Diocese has detailed specifically). Vague references aside, by the Mercy of God, disabuse the sheep being misled whom you might believe will plunge into the precipice of the deceived. Vague allusions need not be included but precise errors and proofs of inauthenticity will need to be necessarily exposed and precisely expressed apart from subjective experience.

Thank you so much in advance for this assistance in helping those so eternally endangered.

May I share with you my own personal experience with HL? I’ve been hesitant to do so for fear of reprisals, but perhaps my witness is important. I was part of HL for many years. The messages were attractive because they closely reflected many other types of private revelations I felt were reliable and spiritually inspiring, with the added bonus of happening right now within my own life. It did not occur to me to refer to anyone in authority about whether the messages were authentic or not. I felt I was using informed discernment and they seemed genuine to ME, and the organization seemed like a likely catalyst to get people to actually do something about their spiritual lives and the ills of the world.

To make a very long story short, I discovered the strong likelihood (actually many proven examples) that the messages were frequently drawn from the extensive reading and personal acquaintances of the visionary, as well as her very creative imagination and her own will. Also within the ministry itself EVERYTHING was run by messages. Besides the public ones available at the web site, there are those for the ministry operations, and also personal messages. If Maureen did not like what someone was doing, they would receive a negative message from a heavenly messenger. If a person actually began to doubt the messages and was foolish enough to make that known, you would be shocked to see what kind of names they could be called, how they were cast as being against Jesus and Mary, how denigrations to their character (by heavenly visitors) were given in messages, etc. Those who left HL were frequently treated as evil and were shunned. Some were told they needed exorcisms. Most people who visit and follow the messages have no idea what goes on in the background. There is an inner circle where these things happen. In particular, those who could be big contributors or can bring in a lot of believers or priests were given very special treatment and special personal messages from heaven.

It was the messages that brought me into HL, but it was also the messages that convinced me to leave. Besides those personal messages that were TREMENDOUSLY manipulative, controlling and often uncharitable – supposedly coming from Jesus and Mary – there was a constant negative attitude towards Church authority of almost all kinds. And as time went on, the theology and spirituality became shakier and shakier. You have spoken about the ecumenism aspect, Incredulous, but that is not where HL began. They specifically used information from a canon lawyer and a priest in 1999 (long after they had been in operation) to make a decision to emphasize ecumenism so they would never have to conform to Church standards. That (getting around the Church) is a fact they frequently bragged about behind the scenes.

I have seen rumors of Maureen personally and of the ministry which are out of line and judgmental, and often not true. I certainly don’t condone that. For example, whatever caused the divorces of she and her husband (and no one would really know), they did obtain annulments before marrying each other. There was no obvious impropriety concerning funds within the ministry of which participants were aware at the time I was involved. Lack of charity is certainly wrong from supporters or critics alike. I have no idea what is in Maureen’s heart when she gives these messages. But the facts as I experienced them for years truly support the Bishop’s decree of “not supernatural”.

I myself experienced tremendous personal pain and turmoil in trying to detach from considering these messages as heavenly and from looking to them daily as a guidepost. Having to detach affected my spiritual relationship with the Blessed Mother for a long time. In the end it was a negative and painful experience that God made use of for the good of my soul, but I surely wouldn’t recommend it to others as a spiritual exercise! And I’ve know so many others with similar painful experiences, that I really worry about the decisions many followers are now facing.

Is their faith in these messages, or is their faith in Jesus’ Church? The problem with believing the messages are supernatural is that they are given the authority of God. Maureen could say anything she wishes or believes to be true, and people will believe it is from God, once they have decided her source is supernatural. If she restricts the messages to “safe” subjects (whatever those would be) that is one thing. But she is now specifically telling people not to pay attention to the authority of the Church. That is dangerous. If Maureen simply presented her messages as her own thoughts, the whole situation would be different. She could be running an ecumenical ministry to help the poor, inform people of spiritual needs in the world, give meditations on scripture and spirituality, rouse people to defend life and fight corruption – anything like that. She could give speeches instead of messages. You could take it or leave it on a human discernment level. But she decided to give her words the authority of heaven. That way (from her point of view) they can’t be challenged, and she has a captive audience for whatever she wants to say in the future. She can even decide to threaten that a person’s soul is in danger if they don’t believe or if they obstruct the messages. (For example, Jesus saying “If you are not for me you are against me” in the context of obstructing the messages.) We really do need the authority of the Church for discernment of prophets who purport to teach us God’s ways.

There are many personal experiences I could share to try and convince you of this ministry’s false premises, but it probably wouldn’t be wise, and perhaps none of it is effective anyway. So let me just summarize that at least in my own extensive experience with HL and seeing how these messages are generated and applied, they are most definitely not supernatural, and I pray heartily with great compassion for those affected.

Anna

Whereas, on April 12, 1951 the then Apostolic Administrator of Lipa, Rufino J. Santos, D.D., issued a decree banning public veneration of the image of Our Lady Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace;

Whereas, while the Carmelite nuns and some others, most specially the Lipa clergy, obediently observed the ban, the great majority of ordinary faithful silently but perseveringly continued their prayer to and devotion towards the Mediatrix of All Grace;

Whereas, on July 16, 1991 after 40 years of silence the Most Rev Mariano G. Gaviola in effect lifted the ban and allowed the veneration of the Image of Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace for the people to pray for world peace;

Whereas, the fervour of numerous faithful from the Archdiocese of Lipa and from elsewhere continued and even increased throughout the subsequent years and many miracles of physical and spiritual healing have been ceaselessly reported;

Whereas, increasing number of pilgrims heed the supposed call of the Blessed Mother Mediatrix of All Grace by visiting the monastery making penitential processions and praying almost everyday but most of all on first Saturdays and every twelfth day of the month;

Whereas, the faithful seek from the official church guidance and assistance in deeper faith;

Whereas, the local church of Lipa that will celebrate its centenary from April 10,2010 to April 10, 2011 looks forward to a deeper renewal of faith in all the faithful and the increase missionary fervour with the help of Mary, the Star of Third Millennium Evangelization;

Whereas in the last one hundred years apparently the issue on the Mediatrix of All Grace, regardless of the authenticity or not of the so-called Marian apparitions in the Carmel of Lipa, is the most celebrated event recorded of this local Church;

So, therefore, I, the undersigned Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Lipa declare and publicly announce:

1. That pursuant to the instructions and conditions issued by my predecessor Archbishop Mariano G. Gaviola, the decree of 1951 is hereby reversed;
2. That the public veneration of the image of Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace in the Carmelite Monastery of Lipa be continued and made available for the prayer of the pilgrims for true peace in our nation and the sanctification of all priests;
3. That the contemplative and prayerful atmosphere of the Carmelite monastery as willed by the reforms of St. Teresa of Avila be properly maintained for the edification and spiritual growth of the pilgrims who join the prayers of the contemplatives of the said place;
4. That all bans written or unwritten intended to curtail or diminish the devotion to Mary Mediatrix of All Grace be lifted;
5. Finally, that a new commission be established to review the documents about the so-called apparitions in 1948 as well as to compile further documents thereafter up to the present.

Given this 12th day of November in the year of the Lord two thousand and nine.

Archbishop Ramon C. Arguelles, D.D.
Archbishop of Lipa

Is the decree infallible? No, it is fallible personal opinion dealing with private revelation.

Is the “Forbid” directive of the Decree in connection with conducting Church sacraments on Holy Love Ministry premises obligatory? Yes.

Is anything condemned to be contrary to the teaching of the Church on Faith or Morals? No.

Has the Bishop excercised his right and duty as specified in Canon 823 section 2 to condemn writings which harm correct faith or good morals. No.

If the Bishop has not condemned can others rightly assert he has? No.

Is Maureen Sweeney for any reason proven a Fraud? No.

Is Holy Love Ministries proven Fraudulent in operation? No.

Is it illicit to continue fund raising in support of Holy Love Ministries ecumenical operations, operations which are not proven fraudulent? No.

Does a devout Practicing Roman Catholic in a state of grace lose their Catholic Identity by belief the private revelations associated with Holy Love are authentic? No.

Can an objective judgment be made that Cleveland Catholics sin by visiting Holy Love give the Bishops use of the word “admonish”? No.

Did the Bishop officially “forbid” Cleveland Catholics from visiting the Holy Love Ministries grounds by excercising a legitimate authority vested in him in his office as Bishop of the Cleveland Diocese, thus restricting Catholic and civil rights by officially restricting such an acts of visitation? No.

Can Cleveland Catholics still choose to visit the grounds of Holy Love Ministry without incurring sin? Yes.

Can any Catholic still visit the grounds of Holy Love? Yes.

Has the bishop defined what he means by dialog? No.

Has the bishop detailed his opinion of why dialog was unsuccessful? No.

Does the Bishop recognize the alleged charasmatic grace as authentic. No.

Does the Bishop identify his expert? No.

Are there expicit details regarding anything the “expert” claims, asserts, argues, or proves in the Decree and letter? No.

Are the personal opinions of the expert elucidated? No.

Can erroneous conclusions be drawn and fallacy be held due to some making invalid inferences given the actual language of the Decree and attendant letter. Yes.

Are opinions of consulted experts in support of the authenticity of the private revelations cited by the Bishop in his Decree and Letter? No.

Can anyone properly infer or deduce from the language of the decree or the accompanying letter that there exists absolute proof of inauthenticity? No.

Is it the Bishop’s personal opinion state that the alleged private revelations are supernatural in origin? No.

Does the personal opinion expressed in the Decree indicate the Bishop believes the alleged private revaltions are not supernatureal in origen? Yes.

Can the Bishop be wrong in his assessment of the alleged charasmatic grace? Yes.

Should the Bishop’s personal opinion be dismissed without consideration? No.

Has proof or argument been made in the Decree and accompanying letter that the alleged private revelations are demonstrably and certifiably not supernatural in origin? No.

Are proofs and arguments maded why the the Bishop personally believes that the alleged private revelations are not supernatural in origin? No.

Can hurt and harm to some persons result in this situation. Yes.

Is it possible some will now make assertions that are not true and judge persons and actions by their own personaly opinion and also by what can be proven is not true? Yes.

Have any actual acts of disobedience been judged to be proven confirmed? No.

Will the evil one successfully lure by temptations some people to flaunt their faults of righteousness? You be the judge.

By keeping the answers to the question posed here in mind, we might not fall into believing fallacy and hopefully will not source hurt others by wounding them with our opinion. (Should there be error be found in the Q&A above I humbly submit to those proofs in advance.)

I did not say that the Church approved apparitions because of pressure, but that the faithful remained strong in their belief and never let it be forgotten, by following the devotions. I am sure that it was a constant reminder to the officials in the Church that it had not gone away, and they revisited it, with new people in positions of power recognizing that there was nothing against faith and morals involved. The individuals were able to make a more unbiased appraisal and did not feel their authority was threatened, which is what this all boils down to. Unfortunately, much precious time was lost in most cases, and tragedies could have been avoided.

I know of the Church’s persecution – which is a true sign of it’s validity – that’s why I am so sad that those within the Church are persecuting each other as well. I also believe that the more an apparition is persecuted, the more likely it is valid – as the devil wants to stop anything good from God, including His Church and apparitions. The false ones go away quietly.

Regarding Fatima, World War II might have been avoided in that more people would have heard and believed the messages, and perhaps changed their ways, praying, fasting, repenting. Wars are prevented by people’s entreaties to God, and His Mercy, not through human works. If more people had been doing as Our Lady had requested, the war could have been avoided altogether. Our Lady said, if her requests were not heeded, an even worse punishment would come. She said it….I didn’t! What about the messages at Akita, Japan? Those are pretty tough words for an approved apparition!

Proceeding carefully means using proper discernment through prayer and fasting, not using “emotional feelings” as you keep implying I am doing. I have said this several times already and I mean it. Skepticism is a spirit that attempts to deter. Not a good choice of words to describe what the Church should be doing with regard to Heaven’s intervention.

How do you know how much energy I exert with regard to Divine Mercy? You, again, are making an assumption about me that you do not know. Because I am responding to this attack on Heaven’s messengers, I am thought to be only focused on Holy Love. I don’t spend much time on Holy Love at all. I have been there a couple of times and pray the rosary for the unborn, which is very powerful indeed. I do, however, go quite frequently to the Divine Mercy Shrine in Stockbridge, MA, as often as possible considering the distance.

I am staying with the Catholic Church, I have not left it nor it’s teachings, I am not outside the Catholic Church. I am one of it’s most loyal supporters, speaking out against the detractors from without and from within. I have witnessed a supposed Catholic “theologian”, approved by the Bishop, teaching people in a Catholic Church that most of what St. Paul wrote in the Bible was not to be taken literally. I have witnessed posted notices that a local convent was having a retreat, approved by the Diocese, featuring a “swami” as retreat master, who was once one of the sisters. I have seen courses at parishes that were New Age teachings, all approved by the Diocese. I have protested these things through witnessing and letters. I have also knelt outside of a Planned Parenthood clinic in rain, snow and sunshine, trying to stop the atrocity that is abortion. How many Bishops do you see praying outside of these clinics, organizing Eucharistic processions to overcome the legality of abortion? And I could go on and on and on about how I defend and protect the teachings of Holy Mother Church, so please do not accuse me by implication of things that are not true.

It won’t matter what I tell you because you will continue to put me into a neat little package, defining me by using imaginary motives behind my words, and implying my alleged separation from the Church, to try to belittle what I say, even though you don’t know anything about me. And all this simply because I am pleading with you and those you are influencing to open your hearts to the possibility that you may be the ones being deceived.

There is something that we do agree upon–that if we don’t listen to Heaven, things will get worse for us. Our Lady of Fatima told us this much. Wars are caused by sin. She pleaded with us to pray the rosary daily. Nothing has changed. There is a misrepresentation of past apparitions with HL, however. Fatima messages began in 1917 and were approved in 1930. Yes, slow by our standards, but someone said that if the Church had approved them sooner we could have avoided WWII. That is obviously not true. Most of the persecution came from the government, not the CHurch.

The Church rightly keeps a distance and then proceeds very carefully and skeptically. It must. Emotions can not rule the day.

I also agree with you that it’s a tragedy that more priests don’t embrace the Divine Mercy devotion. It is so powerful. But on that topic, I don’t understand why you don’t put more energy behind Divine Mercy, approved messages that JPII endorsed that were given to a cannonized saint, St. Faustina. Fatima, the Sacred Heart and Divine Mercy brought us powerful messages and promises. There is nothing new in HL except the fact that it is not within the Catholic Church. If you love the Catholic Church so much, why aren’t you staying within it.

I am not against praying with non-Catholics and also, I think many of them are holy and will go to heaven. But I’m blessed to be Catholic and have all the gifts Christ left his Church. Even when priests and bishops are not as enthusiastic and loyal to the Church as I hope they would be, I’m certainly not going to go outside the Church.

This again is a very broad sweeping statement, pure conjecture, about what happened at approved apparition sites in the years before they were approved. It was pointed out previously that they were all pretty much under attack by public authorities and those in positions of power within the Church. The people who knew that Heaven had reached out to them held on to their belief, and continued to go to the apparition sites, in spite of the opposition. This is why they were eventually approved, because the people would not let go. The false apparitions have been uncovered quickly and easily because the evil one cannot love and therefore cannot continue to be believable for very long. These apparitions under attack have been occurring for a long time and have produced good fruit, which evil cannot do. It would be working against itself!

I make no protest against the Church, Our beloved Mother Church, but the difficulty, as I stated before and will repeat, is with individuals within the Church, whether they be religious or laity, who are fighting God’s work. We are all sinful and prone to error, otherwise we would not all have to go to confession. The perfect ones would be excluded from this requirement and there are none fitting that mold, including bishops.

I am not Protestant, in fact I have been involved with apologetics, and have been part of bringing people into the Church. I love my Church dearly and would never leave it. However, we must see error where it exists and speak out against it, because it spreads and becomes like a diseased limb. That is how St. Francis worked within the Church to revive it.

Patti’s Quote: ” ‘You said:If Jesus comes to correct what is happening in the Church and no one listens, then other measures will have to be taken, which will be much more uncomfortable for us than if we had listened to His prophets.’ If the Catholic Church is the body of Christ and Jesus is the head, then what is the head doing outside of the body? HL says it is echumenical and does not fall under authority of the Church–the body.”

The Head is not outside of the body, Jesus is in His rightful place. He is trying to bring ALL of His children (inside or outside of the Church)into His fold. Who was more ecumenical than John Paul II, reaching out with love to all peoples? Or Mother Theresa? These saints reached out to every person they came in contact with, oftentimes being criticized by those within the Church. God’s ways are not our ways, and we must be careful to not draw lines of demarcation to keep others out if they do not qualify for our narrow boundaries. That is a spirit of pharisaism, which is prevalent today as it was when Jesus was walking amongst us. We seem to think we know more than God about His ways, when they don’t conform to what we have experienced before. God always presents new surprises to me in my walk with Him, unexpected delights that I could not have imagined! All within the boundaries of Truth as taught by the Church.

Patti’s quote: ” ‘You said: If Jesus comes to correct what is happening in the Church and no one listens, then other measures will have to be taken, which will be much more uncomfortable for us than if we had listened to His prophets’ …This sounds threatening. If we live the life of a faithful Catholic, we have nothing to fear. Not listening to Maureen’s messages is not going to make us more uncomfortable.”

Exymo’s pointing out of Rawanda was right on target. An excellent example of what happens when we do not obey God through His prophets. The carnage that happened there, as well as in Sarajevo, near Medjugorje, is what I meant when I said that other measures will have to be taken – meaning when we don’t obey God’s requests he pulls back his protection because we are rejecting it, and the dice will fall as they may – in that instance many people had to die needlessly because those in the Church did not heed the requests, because they did not believe it was a valid apparition. If we wait for “approval” it is usually too late to stop what we are warned will happen.

Jesus and Mary in apparition do nothing more than to beg us to turn to God more fully, to pray more, sacrifice and repent, then we will all be protected and happier and be closer to Him. Frustrating God’s plans only hurts US. I have no fear at all, in fact I have great peace and joy within. I also am not angry, as you implied somewhere previously, I am merely defending truth. I am continuing to hope that all will come to their senses and hear beyond what they are hearing, see beyond what they are seeing. Get the full picture of what is going on all around us. I have also said previously, Patti, that we are not required to believe even an approved apparition, but what are we then missing out on? Special graces and blessings, like bonuses, and who does not want to get bonuses when they are offered?

As exymo said, even the Divine Mercy promises are still rejected. We do not have to participate, but who wouldn’t? Many don’t, even priests will not have the Divine Mercy devotions in their parishes, some bishops won’t encourage them, many even don’t believe it’s important. What a loss for souls who have been robbed of this wonderful devotion and it’s promises of protection for families and souls in purgatory! This is shocking….and the attack on apparitions is along the same lines. Let them be, and see what comes of it, rather than trying to stop what God may be trying to do for us, especially when much good has come from those sites. No harm has been done, except through the alarmists who may be hurting others who could have been helped spiritually.

Martin Luther rejected the authority of the Church – ie, the Pope in union with the Magisterium. I and others who believe in valid apparitions that are under attack do not reject the authority of the Church – we reject the opinions of those who are working against what God is trying to do to help His Church. We must defend the truth. Not Maureen’s truth, God’s truth. As I said, she is just an instrument who has obeyed what has been requested of her by God Himself. It is not about who is right or wrong – it’s about God’s Will being done, to save all souls, even those who have not heard the truth yet, to reach them through His prophets.

And lastly, charity is lacking with regard to those who attack the Sweeney-Kyle family and friends, as well as the seers in Medjugorje, the Sullivans in Emmitsburg, the Gallagher’s in Ireland, and countless others, as well as those who support them in their difficult work of obedience to God. They have been self-righteously maligned, misrepresented, misquoted, spit upon, threatened, marginalized, calumniated, etc., etc., etc, from those who claim to be faithful Catholics. Through all this they have persevered, which is why they were selected, not because they are perfect – they have not claimed to be so.