Pope Francis says that apparitions of the Virgin Mary are not always real

Pope Francis made a statement on Sunday (June 4) implying that apparitions of the Virgin Mary are not genuine, possibly referring indirectly to a woman named Maria Giuseppe Scarpulla. Scarpulla had attracted thousands of pilgrims to a town near Rome, where she claimed that a statue of the Virgin Mary was shedding tears of blood. The Guardian reported that Pope Francis stated, “There are images of the Madonna that are real, but the Madonna has never drawn [attention] to herself.”

The Pope expressed his preference for depictions of the Virgin Mary with her finger pointing to Jesus. He emphasized that when devotion to Mary becomes excessively self-centered, it is not beneficial for either the devotion itself or the people involved.

The interview with Pope Francis was broadcasted a few days after residents of Trevignano, a town in Rome, called upon the Pope to intervene regarding Maria Giuseppe Scarpulla. Scarpulla had been organizing monthly ceremonies for the past five years at a park overlooking Lake Bracciano, where she placed a statue of the Virgin Mary in a glass case. She earned the nicknames “the saint” and “clairvoyant.” Scarpulla had purchased the statue from a Catholic pilgrimage site in Bosnia and upon her return to Italy, she claimed that the Madonna was making apparitions, shedding tears of blood, and communicating messages to her. The Guardian reported that Scarpulla is currently under investigation after a private investigator alleged that the blood stains on the statue were from a pig. Some of her followers also claimed to have been deceived.

Recently, Bishop Marco Salvi, the local bishop, urged pilgrims to refrain from visiting the site on the third day of each month, as many had been praying before the statue in hopes of receiving cures for serious illnesses.

It is worth noting that Maria Giuseppe Scarpulla has a prior conviction for bankruptcy fraud. She had established a foundation through which she collected donations, supposedly intended for the establishment of a center for sick children. In April of this year, Scarpulla and her husband fled Trevignano after the investigation was initiated. The report mentioned that Scarpulla appeared undeterred by the ongoing probe and an order for the demolition of the glass case.