page_title: Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace
section_title: Ecclesiastical Investigation and Canonical Approval
hierarchical_section_title: Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace / Ecclesiastical Investigation and Canonical Approval
caption_attribution_description: English: Decree of the Archbishop Argüelles about Apparition of Lipa
context_page_description: Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace is a Marian apparition that allegedly took place in the Carmelite Monastery of Lipa, Batangas, Philippines, to a former Carmelite postulant, Teresita Castillo. The original statue associated with the apparition is currently enshrined at the monastery.
  Initially declared as "non-supernatural" after an investigation by six Filipino bishops headed by Cardinal Rufino Santos on 11 April 1951, the case was reopened in 1991 by the local bishop. On 12 September 2015, the Archbishop of Lipa Ramón Argüelles, against explicit direction from the Holy See and the Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, formally approved the apparitions, declaring them "supernatural in character and worthy of belief." In response, the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, on 11 December 2015, declared the apparition non-supernatural. The Archbishop of Lipa received the official copy on May 31 of final verdict. On 1 June 2016, Archbishop Arguelles released a public statement retracting his episcopal judgment on the controversial matter, reverting to the decision issued by the Holy See.
context_section_description: An initial investigation report in 1951 was signed by six Roman Catholic bishops and declared the Lipa apparitions a hoax and "non-supernatural". One bishop later recanted on his deathbed, and a second investigation was opened in 1991.
  On 21 May 1990, then-Lipa Archbishop Mariano G. Gaviola, allowed the venerated image of Our Lady to be exposed again, after 40 years of being banned from the public. Devotion was reinkindled and devotees increase to this day.
  On 17 April 2005, Archbishop Argüelles issued a circular, stating that he found no objection to the devotion under this Marian title. The Archdiocese of Lipa currently endorses Marian devotion to this title, which is not expressly prohibited as long as it does not counter Church doctrine. In Batangas province, local bishops often tolerate the devotion, which has drawn adherents including Filipino celebrities and politicians.
  On 3 March 2011, Pope Benedict XVI was presented with a statue of the apparition by Bishop Guillermo Afable during the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines Ad Limina visit. On 9 March 2011, a life-sized statue brought by Filipino bishops was publicly displayed in the general Wednesday papal audience at Pope Paul VI Audience Hall.
  On 12 September 2015, Archbishop Argüelles formally released the canonical results of the investigation launched by the archdiocese, declaring the Marian apparitions to be "supernatural in character and worthy of pious belief". At present, a postulate for Canonical Coronation is pending submission to Pope Francis for pontifical approbation.
  However, in May 2016, the Sacred Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) under Cardinal Gerhard Mueller overruled the archbishop and rejected his 2012 decree declaring that the alleged Marian apparitions in Batangas in 1948 were authentic. Arguelles himself disclosed the ruling by the CDF in an archdiocesan communiqué on May 31. In its decree, the Congregation stated that Pope Pius XII had made a definitive confirmation in 1951 against the supposed apparitions declaring that they "were not of supernatural origin," which the local authority had no authority to overrule.
caption: Official document condemning the apparitions as non-supernatural citing Pontifical authority from Pope Francis overruling local episcopal judgment.
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