Important update regarding Church position (March 2005): The TLIG association is claiming that the Church has recently modified it's position regarding the writings of Mrs Ryden and suggesting that the Notification is no longer valid. This is not true. Please read our updated "Church Position" page, which includes the text of Card. Ratzinger's July 2004 letter as well as our correspondence with the Conference of Swiss Bishops confirming that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has NOT modified it's position regarding TLIG and that the 1995 Notification remains valid.

The True Catholic Church's position regarding
the Vassula Ryden's "True Life in God" messages.

(January 2006): The Los Angeles Cathedral decided to withdraw the invitation to play host to a Christian unity conference that would have been under the auspices of Vassula Ryden's "True Life in God" organization. Msgr. Devin Kostelnik, pastor of the Cathedral of Los Angeles declared that the decision was "final and not subject to change" and that the withdrawal had been done with the approval of Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles. Kostelnik also wrote that the organizers' argument that the Vatican had cleared Ryden's writings was "a serious misrepresentation of the current Vatican view of Mrs Ryden's speeches and writings" and that the 1995 and 1996 Vatican warnings remained in "full force".

Official Position of the Catholic Church:
Notification of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Cardinal Ratzinger's 1996 Press release regarding the Notification

The Catholic Church's official position regarding the TLIG messages and Mrs Vassula Ryden is contained in the 1995 Notification, issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).

The Notification is a very severe warning regarding the errors and negative elements contained in the messages. It requests Bishops not to authorize the promotion of TLIG in their dioceses. It advises the faithful not to consider the messages as of divine origin.

Since it's publication in 1995, the Notification has not been modified nor cancelled, and therefore is a valid document which figures in the Vatican website, in the list of doctrinal documents issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/doc_doc_index.htm).

We are of course aware that Mrs Ryden's official website presents an impressive list of documents affirming the exact contrary, including letters from some Bishops and priests, most of whom are long-time supporters of TLIG. We do not doubt of their good faith. However, the evidence we present hereunder clearly indicates that, although the CDF did exchange correspondence with Vassula from 2002 to 2004, the result was not a modification nor a reversal of the Notification.

Recent developments (February 2005): The Conference of Swiss Bishops confirms to us that the July 2004 letter is NOT a modification of the CDF's position.

When Mrs Ryden moved to Rome some years ago, she started approaching several congregations of the Holy See in order to try to regularize her situation with the Catholic Church and obtain a revision of the Notification. Her efforts were kindly welcomed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which addressed her five questions for her to answer by writing. The questions concern some of the points contained in the Notification. A copy of this exchange of letters can be consulted in the TLIG official website http://www.tlig.org/cdf.html

In addition to the above, the CDF requested Bishops around the world to give their own opinion regarding the messages and Mrs Ryden's activities.

In January 2005, the TLIG association announced that former Cardinal Ratzinger - now Pope Benedict XVI - had written a letter dated July 2004 addressed to the Presidents of 5 Episcopal Conferences (Switzerland, Uruguay, France, Canada and the Philippines) who had voiced concerns regarding the writings and activities of Vassula Ryden. A copy of this letter was given to Mrs Ryden, but it has not been published by the CDF. The TLIG association affirms that the letter contains a positive modification of the CDF's position regarding Mrs Ryden's writings, and some have even suggested that the Notification is no longer valid. We requested to see a copy of this letter, but different TLIG sources have systematically refused it to us, saying that it is at this time the decision of Mrs Ryden to provide it only to bishops and priests, together with other documents that "help" understand the meaning of the letter. At a later date, the booklet with all these documents would be sold to all those interested in having it. (Update September 2005: In the meantime, on September 8, 2005, the text of the July 2004 letter was finally published on the official TLIG website, together with the other documents of the booklet).

We have therefore written to the Episcopal Conference of Switzerland asking for confirmation of the above. Here is the answer we received from the Secretary General of the Conférence des Eveques Suisses (CES) on February 23rd, 2005 (the original email is in French):

Dear Madam,

I willingly answer your question of February 16th.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith maintains all it's reservations regarding the writings and actions of Mrs Ryden. The past July 13th, the CDF did indeed write to the President of the Conference of Swiss Bishops (CES) to request him to remind the Catholic faithful that their participation in the "ecumenical" prayer groups organized by Mrs Ryden has to follow the directives of the Diocesan Bishops.

Since the letter is an internal correspondence, I cannot give you a copy of it. However you must know that the position published by the CES some years ago (and that we are sending you by post), and that already reflected a notification of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, keeps all it's value.

Hoping to have helped you, I present you my distinguished greetings.

Abbé Agnell Rickenmann - Secretary general

Some days letter I received the position of the CES, which was a copy of the 1995 Notification.

Latest update (March 2005): Text of the July 2004 Letter signed by (former) Card. Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.

Shortly afterwards, the text of the July 2004 letter was sent to me by a person who had obtained a copy of it. (Note: the July 2004 letter was not published in the TLIG official website until September 2005. Before that date, it was only given or sold to people approved of by the TLIG association). As the Swiss Bishops indicated above, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) does not indicate that it has modified nor intends to modify it's position. In fact, the CDF refers to the 1995 Notification and mentions the dialogue it had with Mrs Ryden at her request, which concluded with the publication in the latest TLIG book of her letter of April 2002, containing explanations regarding several points mentioned in the Notification. Cardinal Ratzinger refers to these clarifications as "useful".

I copy hereunder the text in English of the July 2004 letter as it has been published by the TLIG association:


Palazzo del S. Uffizio, 10 July 2004.

To the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences of France, Switzerland, Uruguay, Philippines, Canada.

Eminence/Excellence,

As you know, this Congregation published a Notification in 1995 on the writings of Mrs Vassula Ryden. Afterwards, and at her request, a thorough dialogue followed. At conclusion of this dialogue, a letter of Mrs Ryden dated 4 April 2002 was subsequently published in the latest volume of "True Life in God", in which Mrs Ryden supplies useful clarifications regarding her marital situation, as well as some difficulties which in the aforesaid Notification were suggested towards her writings and her participation in the sacraments (cf. Attachment).

Since the aforementioned writings have enjoyed a certain diffusion in your country, this Congregation has deemed it useful to inform you of the above. Concerning the participation in the ecumenical prayer groups organised by Mrs Ryden, the Catholic faithful should be called to follow the dispositions of the Diocesan Bishops.

In communicating to you the above, I use the occasion to assure you of my lasting and profound esteem.

Your Eminence's/Excellency's

Most Devout

(signed) Joseph Card. Ratzinger

Prefect


We would also wish to add that the CDF did not make the above letter public. This was indicated to us by the Conference of Swiss Bishops (see above), which refers to the letter as an "internal correspondence".

When Vassula received a copy of the July 2004 letter, it was accompanied by a letter signed by the Under Secretary of the CDF Fr. De Noia, in which he indicated that he was sending her a copy of the letter for her information. The use that the TLIG association is making of the correspondence with the CDF, presenting it as a reversal of the Church's position regarding Mrs Ryden's writings, is clearly abusive. If the CDF had reversed it's position, it would have informed the Universal Church (and not only 5 episcopal conferences) through a publication in one of the official media of the Church, such as L'Osservatore Romano (where the Notification was originally published in 1995) or the Acta Apostolicae Sedis (AAS).

In repeated occasions, several persons have tried to post the above information in the public discussion list of the official TLIG association website. All those posts were immediately removed by the moderator with the following explanation: "The degree of freedom allowed to open minds to raise valid concerns cannot be extended to those who are committed to harming God's wonderful gift to us." (see: http://www.tlig.net/newphpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=784). The explanations given by Vassula to the CDF were "useful", but apparently not satisfying or thorough enough to clarify ALL the doctrinal and theological questions TLIG raises, nor to reverse the CDF's opinion that the writings are not to be regarded as supernatural. Finally, former Card. Ratzinger precises in his letter that the dialogue with Mrs Ryden concluded with the publication of her letter of April 2002 in the latest volume of TLIG messages.

Thank you for passing on this information to whoever reads the TLIG messages.

Maria Laura Pio

15/03/2005 & minor edits 30/11/2005

Some recent comments regarding the Catholic Church's position on TLIG

NEW Archdiocese of Los Angeles (USA): extracts from the article "L.A. Cathedral disinvites Christian Unity Event" published in the Los Angeles Times, January 10, 2006: "Msgr. Kevin Kostelnik, pastor of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, said that what had been represented by sponsors as a Christian unity conference had turned out to be largely a forum for Vassula Ryden (...). Kostelnik said that the decision to withdraw the cathedral's invitation to play host to the conference was 'final and not subject to change'. He said that the meeting was turning into something different than originally proposed. Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Los Angeles, had earlier agreed to offer welcoming remarks at the conference, but now approved the withdrawal, Kostelnik said. (...)

A leading Greek Orthodox priest said Monday he previously had also pulled out of the Jan. 28 conference. "Everything is very suspect. That's all I'm going to say", said Very Rev. John Bakas, dean of St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Los Angeles. A publicist for the conference said a second Greek Orthodox priest, from Brooklyn, had also decided not to attend.

The meeting was to have been under the auspices of Ryden's True Life in God organization and sponsored by the New Jerusalem Foundation, headed by Claire and Antoine Mansour. (...) In a handwritten Oct. 7 letter to Kostelnik, Antoine Mansour assured the pastor that Ryden's writings 'have been cleared by the Vatican'. But Kostelnik wrote Monday [Jan. 9] that Mansour's assurance was 'a serious misrepresentation of the current Vatican view of Mrs Ryden's speeches and writings'. He said 1995 and 1996 Vatican statements cautioning Catholics against following Ryden remained 'in full force'. (...)

Critics have challenged the authenticity of Vassula's supposed messages from God because she has changed some of them over time. Vassula (...) told The Times in a 1995 interview that God gave her permission to make such changes. She said it was possible for a perfect God to regret something he said, just as he regretted creating a race that would fall from grace." (Read the complete article at: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-visionary10jan10,1,4003585.story and also www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/13593558.htm )

The Catholic Church in Scotland warns about Vassula (September 6, 2005): A spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland has warned people against going to Vassula's September 11th meeting in Edinburgh. Refering to the 1995 Notification, he said Vassula "certainly did not" operate with the approval of the Church and that "the advice to Catholics is not to attend her gatherings due to the suspect nature of her alleged revelations, which contain doctrinal errors." The complete article can be read at: http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=1898192005

EWTN - Catholic Q&A: Answering two questions regarding the Church's position on Vassula Ryden (March and October 2004), EWTN expert Colin B. Donovan answered: "Despite efforts and claims by her supporters and promoters that these judgements [1995 Notification and 1996 Press Release] are under review, or no longer apply, the Holy See has not changed its position on her writings, nor its instructions to bishops regarding her conferences and activities, which must NOT be hosted or promoted by Catholic entities or officials." He also pointed out that "The CDF issued the Notifications publicly (in L'Osservatore Romano and the Acta Apostolicae Sedis) and would have to just as publicly rescind them." (Read the whole answers at: http://www.ewtn.com/vexperts/search.asp?source=/vexperts/conference.htm indicating as keyword "Vassula" and year "2004").

Catholic Apologetics International: Extract of M. Forrest's answer to the question: "Was Vassula condemned by the Church?" (February 2005): "In this day and age, wherein the Vatican has adapted a very liberal, accepting posture toward the world, other religions, etc, I think wisdom and prudence would dictate that, if anything, we should AMPLIFY the implications of such Vatican warnings, rather than look for ways to mitigate them. There seems to be very little that is rejected as unacceptable these days. In my opinion, until such time as the Church tells us that Vassula's writings are perfectly safe, we ought to view them very skeptically, as potentially dangerous, if we bother to view them at all. 98% or 99% safe is just not good enough. The Adversary works most effectively in that little 1-2%." Read the whole answer at: http://www.catholicintl.com/qa/2005/qa-feb-05.htm#Question%2069

Brother Ignatius Mary of the Order of the Legion of Saint Michael, answering a question regarding the validity of the Notification (December 2004): "There has been no reversal of the decision that Ryden's writings are not from a supernatural source. The 1999 interview with Cardinal Ratzinger also did not reverse the negative decision about Ryden's writings, it merely pointed out that "technically" her writings are not condemned because "...from the strictly procedural point of view, no person may be condemned without a trial and without being given the opportunity to air their views first. What we say is that there are many things which are not clear". The Cardinal continues, "Her writings contain many good things but the grain and the chaff are mixed up. That is why we invited Catholic faithful to view it all with a prudent eye and to measure it by the yardstick of the constant faith of the Church." (...) To date, however, the negative decision as to the legitimacy of her writings having a heavenly source has not been rescinded. The warning of the 1995 Notification remains in force." Read the whole answer at: http://www.saint-mike.org/qa/FS/ViewAnswer.asp?QID=355

Christian Order - Article by Father Peter-Joseph of Wagga Wagga, Australia, has a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and is currently the Chancellor of the Maronite Diocese of Australia. Here's an extract from "Apparitions True and False" (January 2005): "From my article, the reader should realise that Cardinal Ratzinger’s private, or public comments - even if authentic - cannot undo a decree of the Holy Office. Only a new decree can undo an old decree – not an interview given to the press! Even the Pope’s personal opinions and beliefs have no authority, and cannot be cited to override Church law or doctrine. As I said in my article, the Church is governed by public statements and promulgated laws, not by personal interviews or private communications. Even if there is further, or a new investigation, all Catholics are still held to the only official judgement hitherto given, which is negative." Read more at
www.christianorder.com/features/features_2004/features_oct04.htm
and www.christianorder.com/features/features_2005/features_jan05_bonus.html
Please keep in mind when reading this article, that the Notification is not technically speaking a condemnation, but a warning.