approved. This is not to suggest that they are all necessarily false, although undoubtedly a good many are. Attention is focused on those apparitions which seem to have had a significant impact in that they still attract support, or which, by very reason of their notoriety, have important lessons to teach us about the discernment of genuine apparitions. Amsterdam and Akita are regarded as "controverted" apparitions, for the purposes of this section, since although they have receivied local episcopal approval, there are certainly legitimate concerns about them which need to be aired. Where these have been explicitly rejected by the Church the reasons for this rejection will be examined, and in addition, the content and activities of these visions and visionaries will be investigated in the light of the approved Marian apparitions.