- Feb 5, 2002
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Author of numerous mystical writings, Luisa Piccarreta (1865-1947) felt called to spread the message of the "divine will" but whose writings, as early as 1938, raised doctrinal problems
Luisa Piccarreta (1865-1947) (Photo courtesy of Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton, Canada)
On January 24, Bishop Benoît Bertrand of Mende, president of the French bishops' Episcopal Doctrinal Commission, shared a message from the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints addressed to the bishops of France. The message conveyed the decision to halt the examination of the case of Luisa Piccarreta, initiated in 1994 by the now deceased Italian Archbishop Giovanni Battista Pichierri of Trani.
Why does the Church reproach this Italian mystic, who has been gaining interest among priests and laypeople in recent years? Bishop Bertrand repeats the arguments put forward by the dicastery, which are of three kinds: theological, Christological, and anthropological. Piccarreta's conception of the divine will "does not leave man the possibility to exercise his free will," it does not incorporate "the primacy of God's merciful and unconditional love," and, finally, there is "little or no mention of the resurrection of Christ," "Christian hope, and ecclesial communion."
Bishop Bertrand, therefore, advises caution regarding the dissemination of Piccarreta's message, echoing the warning of Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, who had asked him in a April 18, 2022 letter, to "accordingly evaluate the popular dissemination of such elements to avoid confusion among believers."
Messenger of the "divine will"?
Continued below.
