The Unreliable Visionary: The Case of Gisella Cardia and the Questioned Apparitions

Mrs. Gisella Cardia, born Maria Giuseppa Scarfulla, alleged seer, is "unreliable". The Madonna she claimed appeared to her periodically from 2016 onwards and had her transcribe streams of "bizarre" messages not "corresponding to the Catholic faith" is a colossal fiction: she never appeared, much to the peace of the thousands of followers who periodically gathered on a plot of land in front of Lake Trevignano. After months of thorough investigations, testimonies, and analyses of Marian texts, a media and chaotic event of international resonance concludes. "I have signed the decree, the result of a very serious and long investigation. Naturally, it is a binding act from the canonical point of view for the interested faithful and for the priests who from now on will be sanctioned if they go to celebrate again on that site," explains Bishop Marco Salvi to Il Messaggero, hoping that with this step a bit of peace will return to his diocese. As for Mrs. Cardia, the Church expects her to undergo a "purification process". The decree that was signed by the bishop is quite lengthy and detailed and explains how the members of the specially appointed commission came to determine that the apparitions, weepings, and other manifestations recounted by Cardia are essentially the result of a hoax. She lied. To begin with, "gaps in Cardia's testimony emerged, who, even under oath before God, did not report elements she herself had made known in television interviews". To be clear: the Madonna never multiplied gnocchi and focaccias. Moreover, the "contradictions" detected were continuous. This is added to "the open contradiction between the testimony of Cardia and that of the emeritus bishop Romano Rossi regarding a presumed weeping of a statue of the Virgin in the latter's hands, which he categorically and irremovably denies". The testimonies between Cardia and her husband were also conflicting. "Discrepancies in many cases even with external witnesses (...) the fact that the narratives are almost identical raises doubts about their authenticity," it reads. Finally, the various problematic messages that the Madonna would have spread to the local people were deemed important. For example, to "go to the blue cross, the blessed hill of Trevignano Romano and there you will never be touched, because I personally have sanctified that place (...) the angels in the place blessed by me will protect you and keep you safe, they will make you invisible and I will not let you lack anything". In the episcopal decree transmitted to the Vatican, it is noted how all this is hardly credible. The fact that the eschatological salvation even of a portion of humanity requires going to a specific place and being made invisible by angels, so as not to be attacked by demons, represents not only something bizarre but also a vision that goes against the soteriological doctrine of the Catholic Church for which salvation is given in faith in Jesus lived in the Church and made operative in charity. Furthermore, "Such contents refer to that popular prophesism that accompanies the history of the Western Church since the Middle Ages and that has nothing to do with the popular mysticism of which Pope Francis speaks. This has theological relevance because it makes them not indicative of the supernatural character of the alleged apparitions under examination".