Sound Familiar? Take Two

Flagrante Delicto

As we noted in the article Fool me once, shame on you..., our research of Mary apparitions has revealed that that the claiming of messages from Mary, as the pretended Prophetess Gianna Sullivan is doing, is hardly original and is apparently big business!  We save a discussion of the fact that this is Gianna's second time around at claiming Mary apparitions  for a later article. Suffice it to say, the Church investigation of her first go around, in Scottsdale Arizona, resulted in the same conclusion as that reached here in Emmitsburg, and that reached in the church's investigation of Veronica Lueken, detailed below.

One can't help but read the following text and draw an one-to-one comparisons between the two the cult ... even the propaganda machines of the two cults are almost mirror images of each.  In the case of the OLOE cult, the Foundation of The center of the Immaculate Heart beats the Gianna drum every few days, spewing out dribble from the pretend prophetess intermixed with quotes for the bible and church authorities to give her messages the air of legitimacy.

Bayside, New York Marian Cult

Veronica Lueken (July 12, 1923 - August 3, 1995) was a Roman Catholic housewife who lived in Bayside, New York. From 1970 until her death, she reported to experience apparitions of the Virgin Mary and numerous Catholic saints. She gave messages from them at both Saint Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church in Bayside, and at the Vatican Pavilion in Flushing Meadows Park (site of the 1964 New York World's Fair).

Bishop Francis Mugavero, then Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, stated in 1986 that "a thorough investigation revealed that the alleged visions of Bayside completely lacked authenticity" and that "the messages and other related propaganda contain statements which, among other things, are contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church." [1] [edit] History of the Bayside Marian Apparition

In 1968, Lueken (pronounced LEW-KEN) reported experiencing her first manifestation when she smelled a perfume of roses in her car while praying for the dying Robert Kennedy in June 1968. She claimed that Saint Theresa of Lisieux appeared to her and dictated sacred poem-messages.

Mrs. Lueken reported her first Marian vision in her home on April 7, 1970. The Virgin Mary was reportedly informing her that she would appear on the grounds of the old St. Robert Bellarmine Church in Bayside on June 18, 1970, and subsequently, on all great feast days of the Catholic Church. From that day, Mrs. Lueken reported a series of Marian apparitions on the property of St Robert Bellarmine's Roman Catholic Church at Bayside. According to her report, Mary asked her to establish a Marian shrine at the site on April 7, 1970, and to hold Rosary Vigils of reparation and also Sunday holy hours of reparation for the Pope and priests. Mrs. Lueken began to type up and circulate her prophecies, many of which had apocalyptic content.

Overwhelmed by the influx of an estimated five hundred to two thousand Marian devotees, the parish ministers fenced off the church precincts in December 1974. In 1975, Monsignor James King, Chancellor of the Brooklyn Diocese, announced that the diocese did not believe in Veronica's apparitions.

Click here to hear audio recordings or read her vision transcriptions ... sound familiar to what come our of the Our Lady of Emmitsburg Cult?

Click here to see photos of Mrs. Lueken in ecstasy ... look familiar to Gianna Sullivan?

Undeterred by official church rejection, Lueken and her followers then assembled on a traffic island near the site of the alleged visitation (1974/75), until they negotiated a permanent site of worship at Flushing Meadows, former site of the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. The Rosary Vigils and Holy Hours continue here till this day. Click here to see pictures of these prayer services

Since Lueken described her experiences, other unrecognized Marian apparitions have occurred in Lubbock, Texas (1988-1989) and Conyers, Georgia (1989), and have incorporated similar apocalyptic motifs in their messages.

Status of the Bayside Apparitions

Organizations Spreading the Message

Several Traditionalist Catholic clerics upheld what Lueken had to say. Lueken was told over twenty times in the messages that all prophecy is conditional and does not have to happen[2]

These Last Days Ministries

Among the first websites to appear in support and to promote Mrs. Lueken's messages was These Last Days Ministies [3], which had a weekly radio show promoting the messages. The TLDM website contains most of the messages given to Veronica Lueken in audio as well as text. It is updated daily with articles that tie world events to prophecies given to her. These Last Days Ministries in located in Lowell, Michigan and run by Gary Wohlscheid.

St. Michael's World Apostolate

St Michael's World Apostolate (SMWA) is the official organization in charge of the Bayside Mission. It is staffed full-time by the lay Order of St. Michael, a Roman Catholic community of celibate lay men who have dedicated their lives to the promotion of the Messages from Heaven to Veronica Lueken. The lay Order presently consists of seven men: Michael Mangan, James Donohue, William Dykes, Peter Frank, John Benevides, Darryl Bolisay and Luis Camacho. On their website [4] is listed most of the messages of the Virgin Mary to Veronica Lueken, the live-audio recorded messages from Heaven to Veronica Lueken, photos of the Mrs. Lueken in ecstasy, and audio-streaming of the Rosary Vigils and Holy hours presently held at the Vatican Pavilion site in Flushing Meadows Park, New York. Their website is updated daily. They have an active online radio program, St. Michael's Radio.

DECLARATION CONCERNING THE "BAYSIDE MOVEMENT"

November 4, 1986 Letter of Bishop John Mugavero of Brooklyn

In recent months, doubts have been raised by members of the so-called "Bayside Movement" concerning the official position of the Diocese of Brooklyn on the alleged "apparitions" of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and other heavenly beings, to a woman by the name of Vernica Lueken.

Moreover, erroneous claims have been made by a number of followers of Mrs. Lueken concerning the legitimacy of their position, in order to justify their activities on behalf of the "Movement." These have taken the form of statements in their publications that "since Articles 1399 and 2218 of (the 1917 Code of) Canon Law were abrogated by Pope Paul VI in 1966, no ecclesiastical permission is required, neither can anyone incure censure, for the publication or dissemination of information dealing with revelations, visions or miracles, provided these do not endanger Faith or morals."

As a result of the above-mentioned doubts and claims, a number of Christ's faithful continue to attend the regularly-scheduled "vigils" held at Flushing Meadow Park, and to disseminate or receive propaganda literature on this matter.

I, the undersigned Diocesan Bishop of Brooklyn, in my role as the legitimate shepherd of this particular Church, wish to confirm the constant position of the Diocese of Brooklyn that a thorough investigation revealed that the alleged "visions of Bayside" completely lacked authenticity.

Moreover, in view of the confusion created by published reports of messages and other literature by this "Movement," I consider it my obligation to offer Christ's faithful pastoral guidance, lest their faith be endangered by "messages" and "teachings" relayed by "visionaries," which are contrary to the Faith of our Catholic Church.

Therefore, in consultation with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, I hereby declare that:

1. No credibility can be given to the so-called "apparitions" reported by Veronica Lueken and her followers.
    
2. The "messages" and other related propaganda contain statements which, among other things, are contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church, undermine the legitimate authority of bishops and councils and instill doubts in the minds of the faithful, for example, by claiming that, for years, an "imposter (sic) Pope" governed the Catholic Church in place of Paul VI.
    
3. Those who persistently maintain that "no ecclesiastical permission is required for the publication or dissemination" of information concerning "revelations, visions or miracles," are erroneously interpreting the directives of the Holy See when they attempt to justify the publication of the propaganda literature on the "Bayside Messages."
   
   In view of my declaration concerning the authenticity of the "visions of Bayside," the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has confirmed that the principles governing the publication of such religious material still maintain authoritative moral value prohibiting the endangering of faith and good morals (Cf. Response of SCDF of June 14, 1966, in AAS 58, 1186).
   
   As a result, those publishing or disseminating this propaganda literature are acting against the judgment of legitimate Church authority.
    
4. Because of my concern for their spiritual welfare, members of Christ's faithful are hereby directed to refrain from participating in the "vigils" and from disseminating any propaganda related to the "Bayside apparitions." They are also discouraged from reading any such literature.
    
5. Anyone promoting this devotion in any way, be it by participating in the "vigils," organizing pilgrimages, publishing or disseminating the literature related to it, is contributing to the confusion which is being created in the faith of God's people, as well as encouraging them to act against the determinations made by the legitimate pastor of this particular Church (c.212, para. 1).

It remains my constant hope that all the faithful spend their time and energies in promoting devotion to our Blessed Lady, in the many forms which have been approved by the Catholic Church.

(Signed):

Bishop John Mugavero

Bishop of Brooklyn

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