Vatican Declares Visions of Maria Valtorta Not of Supernatural Origin

The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith recently declared that the messages in the writings of Italian Catholic mystic Maria Valtorta (1897-1961) are not considered supernatural in origin. In a statement issued on 22 February, the Dicastery noted that both clergy and laypeople frequently request clarification on the Church’s stance regarding Valtorta’s works.
Valtorta, who spent over 30 years bedridden following an injury, claimed to have received visions and revelations from Jesus and the Virgin Mary. These experiences formed the basis of her extensive writings on the life of Christ, which include details absent from the canonical Gospels. Her most famous work, originally titled Il Poema dell’Uomo Dio (The Poem of the Man-God) and now known as L’Evangelo Come Mi è Stato Rivelato (The Gospel as Revealed to Me), spans 13,000 pages. Despite its popularity and the support of Pope Pius XII, the text was placed on the Index of Prohibited Books in1959 due to concerns about its alignment with Church teachings. This index, which identified texts deemed heretical or dangerous to the faith, was later abolished in 1966. In reaffirming its stance, the Vatican emphasised that Valtorta’s alleged ‘visions’, ‘revelations’ and ‘messages’ are literary devices she employed to present her interpretation of Jesus’ life. The Dicastery further explained that the Church has a long-standing tradition of rejecting apocryphal gospels and similar writings as authoritative since they are not recognised as divinely inspired. Instead, the Church relies on the canonical Gospels as the definitive accounts of Christ’s life and teachings.

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Sam Biju