Thursday, April 21, 2022

Emmanuel Doronzo on Private Revelations in Catholic Theology

  

Private revelations, which belong to an undying charism in the Church, have the same nature as public revelation and the same general purpose of helping the Church. Their object is either the same as the public revelation, that is, an explanation of the revealed truths, or something new by which public revelation may be accidentally extended. It does not, however, identify with public revelation and does not become an object of faith for others than the person to whom it is given and who is bound to believe it in by the same supernatural faith, if he is certain of the revelation by a miraculous sign of God (either exterior or interior in his mind). If the Magisterium approves such revelations (ass in the case of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque about the Sacred Heart and t. Bernardette at Lourdes), one is only obliged to admit their fittingness as approved by the Church, but he can also, if he chooses, believe them along with the public revelation, with the same supernatural faith. Such revelations are also useful for the development of dogma. (Emmanuel Doronzo, The Channels of Revelation [The Science of Sacred Theology for Teachers 3; Middleburg, Va.: Notre Dame Institute Press, 1974], 46 n. 50)