The Church has approved the claim of the appearance of God the Father to Mother Eugenia as well as its associated messages.

The ultimate authority for investigating the claim of an apparition is the local bishop. Church law for these matters was set by the Council of Trent and remains in effect to this day:

“The holy Synod ordains, that no one be allowed to place, or cause to be placed, any unusual image, in any place, or church, howsoever exempted, except that image have been approved of by the bishop: also, that no new miracles are to be acknowledged, or new relics recognised, unless the said bishop has taken cognizance and approved thereof; who, as soon as he has obtained some certain information in regard to these matters, shall, after having taken the advice of theologians, and of other pious men, act therein as he shall judge to be consonant with truth and piety.”1

Vatican approval can be secured but is not necessary:

As established in the Council of Trent (1545-63), the local bishop is the first and main authority in the judgement of the authenticity of apparition claims. Vatican approval is not required for an apparition to be considered authentic. After an episcopal approval, the Vatican may do nothing but it may release an official statement or after some time give non-written forms of approval such as a papal visit with the crowning of the associated icon or a gift such as a golden rose, the approval of the construction of (or elevation of an existing shrine to) a basilica, the establishment of a feast day, or the canonization of the associated visionary.

Positive judgments by the local bishop (but not yet by the Vatican) theoretically are able to be reversed by a subsequent bishop – but this has never happened in the history of the Church. Negative judgments (Constat de non supernaturalitate) and rulings of no evidence of supernaturality (Non constat de supernaturalitate) have later been changed to positive judgments on a few rare occasions with the ruling of a subsequent bishop.2

The University of Dayton documents the process by which the local bishop goes about verifying an apparition and the significance of ecclesial approval (although they are speaking mainly of Marian apparitions the same applies to any claim of a supernatural apparition):

The local bishop is the first and main authority in apparition cases, which can be defined as instances of private revelation. Bishops evaluate evidence of an apparition according to these guidelines:

1. The facts in the case are free of error.
2. The person(s) receiving the messages is/are psychologically balanced, honest, moral, sincere and respectful of church authority.
3. Doctrinal errors are not attributed to God, Our Lady or to a saint.
4. Theological and spiritual doctrines presented are free of error.
5. Moneymaking is not a motive involved in the events.
6. Healthy religious devotion and spiritual fruits result, with no evidence of collective hysteria.

Judgment can find that an apparition shows all signs of being an authentic or a truly miraculous intervention from heaven, that it is clearly not miraculous or there are not sufficient signs manifesting it to be so, or that it’s not evident whether or not the alleged apparition is authentic.

If a Marian apparition is recognized by the bishop, it means that the message is not contrary to faith and morals and that Mary can be venerated in a special way at the site. But, because belief in a private revelation is not required by the church, Catholics are at liberty to decide how much personal spiritual emphasis to place on apparitions and the messages they deliver.3

The report of the appearance of the Father to Mother Eugenia was approved by her local bishop after a ten-year investigation. Since then the Vicar General of the Vatican and numerous bishops have given their imprimaturs to her messages. There has been no negative pronouncement on the revelation from any Church authority. This is incalculably significant in terms of the authority accorded to the authenticity of the appearance and its messages.

Here is a summary of the investigation that ended with the approval of the encounter with the Father (the material below is excerpted from the very useful site www.lovethefather.com):

Enquiry Established by the Bishop of Grenoble

To challenge the veracity and the theological soundness of the claims of Eugenia relating to The Message (given in July-August 1932), the Bishop of Grenoble [Bishop Alexandre Caillot] established a Canonical Enquiry.  At that time Eugenia was only a young 27 year old nun who had been brought up as a peasant girl in another country  (Italy) with a different language.  She had received her veil as a nun only 6 years earlier.  The Message was written down by Sister Eugenia under the guidance of Father God in Latin, a language which she had never learnt.  Having only having a primary level of  education she had no capacity by herself to cope with the vocabulary, grammar, conjugations and spelling of the Latin language.    

The panel conducting the Enquiry consisted of: 

* Fr Auguste Valencin-Amons SJ.  

* Albert Valencin-Amons SJ.

The above mentioned priests were from the Archdiocese of Lyon and were theologians at the major seminary of Lyon.  Being from another  diocese the enquiry had a high level of autonomy and independence, and representation from the oldest diocese of France. 

*Mgr Emile Guerry, also a theologian, who was the Vicar General of Grenoble at the time, was another member of the panel. More will be said about him later.  He was to become a prominent Archbishop in France. 

*Two medical doctors, one a psychiatrist,  made up the remainder of the panel. 

The two Valencin brothers ranked at the time among the foremost authorities in the field of philosophy and theology and in their long career had proved themselves to be experts in evaluating such cases.

The Enquiry at first disbelieved Sister Eugenia and then it slowly changed its mind:

  • The Enquiry was exhaustive.
  • At the start of the Enquiry the Church authorities and the panel were totally disbelieving and dismissive of what Sister Eugenia told them.
  • Then in January 1934 the major  block for the theologians was removed when they found that Saint Thomas Aquinas had declared in his Summa Theologiae that a person could see the “unseen” God under certain circumstances.  Nevertheless even after this, the Panel did not believe Sister Eugenia.  According to Bishop Caillot’s Testimony, Fr Auguste Valencin was brutal in his interrogation of her in June 1934. Continued disbelief by Church authorities and the panel was still so deep-seated that Eugenia was then subjected to the terrible experience of being committed by the Panel to a Church Mental Asylum (St Vincent’s) and spending a few days there over the Christmas period of 1934. However over many months of cross-examination Eugenia never changed anything in her statements or testimony.
  • Over a long period of time, by way of exhaustive interrogations, searching and reflections, the panel gradually had all its doubts dispelled.  The panel finally submitted a long favourable report, along with a volumous file,  to the Bishop of Grenoble.    
  • The case and the findings were also submitted to the Vatican before any official pronouncement was made. 

Bishop Alexandre Caillot after that period of 10 years of investigation declared in 1945:

A “Supernatural and Divine Intervention seems to me the only logical and satisfactory explanation of the facts.” 

Footnote

​As Vicar General of the Diocese of Grenoble  Emile Guerry (1891-1969) had a thorough involvement in the process of the Canonical Investigation. Although initially he had reservations, in   the end he was thoroughly convinced of the authenticity of the accounts given by Mother Eugenia and was inspired to write a book in 1936 , “Vers  le Père”  (Towards the Father).   This work was not about Mother Eugenia and her visions but was series of eighty nine meditations on the Father and the Holy Trinity. 

Written originally in French, this work was subsequently translated and published in  five other languages:  English, Italian, Spanish, German and Polish. 

Many believe it was this work that played a strong part in him being elevated to the position of Secretary to the French Assembly of Cardinals and Archbishops, and then to being ordained Bishop of episcopacy in 1940.  He fulfilled this role admirably and so was appointed   Archbishop of Cambrai in 1952.  Cambrai is in the North West of France, bordering on Belgium.  He was a Council Father on all four sessions of the Vatican Council. 

His glowing testimony on the power of this devotion to do enormous  good in souls and in one’s diocese we repeat on this page:

“All those who- whether preachers or directors of consciences – have contributed to spread it (That is devotion to the Father), have rejoiced to note the profound effects of purifications and sanctification it has brought about in souls.”

Of further interest too is the fact that a  contemporary  Cardinal Jean Verdier, Archbishop of Paris,  gave an Imprimatur to all the main prayers that came to us from Mother Eugenia  on 8 May 1936. Cardinal Verdier is buried in a sarcophagus close to the Main Altar in Notre Dame Cathedral Paris. 4 

Bishop Petrus Canisius van Lierde, Vicar General of the Vatican, gave his imprimatur to the account of the appearance to Mother Eugenia and its messages in 1989.

The world’s first church dedicated to God the Father, and inspired by the revelation to Mother Eugenia, was built in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine. Its foundation stone was blessed by Pope St. John Paul II. The Archbishop of Chennai in India, the Archbishop of  Kharkov-Zaporizhzhya in Ukraine and other bishops around the world have officially promoted the devotion to God the Father in their dioceses.

End Notes

1https://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/trentall.html

2http://www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/approved_apparitions/vatican.html
3https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/a/apparitions-approval-process.php4https://www.lovethefather.com/the-canonical-investigation