The Catholic Church Needs the Virgin Mary and Miracles not Public Relation Campaigns

By Stephen Ryan

The Catholic Church recently rolled out an aggressive public relations campaign to reach out to former church members who have strayed from the Catholic faith hoping to lure them back.
The Boston Arch Diocese said recently commenting on the PR initiative “we want to let them know that we want them to be a part of our family and are anxious for them to comeback be a part of our local communities of faith.”

To us, though, there seems to be something lacking or empty in the whole public relations shout out to fallen members. Most of the promotions, directed at those who have left the fold, consist of banal reminders of the positive institutional role the Church once played in their lives. Any effort by the Church to reach out is commendable but according to Pew Research 70% of those who leave the Catholic Church complain that they leave because of a missing sense of spirituality and not for a lack of a meaningful "community feeling" .

With spiritual emptiness at the core of the faithful leaving, it is imperative the Church understand that it is essential to fulfill the mystical needs of the fallen adherent in order to bring real meaning back into their lives. To us, if it is spirituality they want, then one would think spirituality is what the Catholic Church would offer up in abundance. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the focus of the Catholic Church's current outreach efforts. With no pun intended this is a real mystery to us.


No doubt the Catholic Church is well aware of the Pew Research data but perhaps out of fear of alienating their core constituency – those that attend Church regularly - talk of the mystical side of the Catholic religion seems to be off limits - too "touch feely" Our experience with The Diocese of Arlington, in Northern Virginia, offers a good example. Administers of the Catholic faith at the Diocese of Arlington in Northern Virginia, in our view, wrap their arms around the institution of the Church like a security blanket as they allow the thirst for deep spiritually among its followers to be unquenched. The Diocese of Arlington is content each week to preach to the converted a steady steam of Church politics and agendas mostly having to do with sex.


The great Pope, John Paul II, may have foreseen what ails the Church today - The great Pope once said "The world has lost the sense of the supernatural". The Pope dedicated his Pontiff to the Virgin Mary and emblazoned his Papal Coat of Arms with a big red letter "M" for his beloved Mary the Mother of God. The Pope was devoted to "Our Lady" and is well known to have meditated deeply on her supernatural presence on Earth. Emphasizing the real presence of Our Lady on earth the Pope, in fact, told those who would listen that the gentle hand of the Virgin Mary indeed steered an assassin's bullet away from his heart saving his life. He wasn't making that up. He's the Pope.


After surviving the assassination attempt, Pope John Paul II would gleefully remind Catholics that his life was saved on the exact anniversary date of the first apparition of Our Lady of Fatima. At times, it seemed, as if JPII wanted to grab us by our collar and implore us to find Christ and a deeper relationship with God and the Church through the graces that Our Lady offers. Pope Benedict XVI is nearly as devoted to Our Lady as Pope John Paul II. Our Pope has already visited Fatima and frequently invokes her life and message in many of his homilies and speeches.

The Catholic Church believes in miracles – not because they believe in miracles - but because after exhaustive scientific investigations into miraculous healings the Church is left to conclude that no earthly explanation exists for the observable phenomenon that they have studied. There exists an amazing body of work on the investigation of miracles and it is wonderful to explore. The Catholic Church believes the Mother of Jesus Christ has come to this earth to guide her Children to Christ as well. Guadalupe, Lourdes, and Fatima have brought immense spiritual fruits to the Catholic faithful.

Despite the hunger for spiritual renewal in the Catholic Church many leaders quickly and sullenly point out that Marian apparitions should be viewed as “personal revelations” and belief is not required to participate fully in the Church. While technically correct we can hear Pope John Paul II saying in heaven to all the Catholic curmudgeons - “Phooey!” He would tell the fallen to find a new relationship with Christ and be led there by Our Lady. The teaching of the Catholic Church asks us to.

Our Lady has appeared on this earth and the Catholic Church has authenticated these phenomenon and the supernatural events should be embraced, taught and celebrated. But today the Church in American bows to the voice of science and reason and almost embarrassingly tolerate Marian shines as tourist destination for blue haired ladies. Our two last Popes are comfortable with the mystical side of our faith and apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary - why shouldn't the lay leadership and Bishops of the United States be any less enthusiastic about the spiritual fruits of "Our Lady" than our Popes?

The Church has acknowledged the authenticity of many appearances of the Blessed Mother. Religion by definition is mystical and unearthly but the American Catholic Church seems uncomfortable with this strain of worship. The Catholic Church in the Diocese of Arlington seems much more at ease preaching politics than teaching about the miracles and Dogmas of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This needs to change in order for our faith to grow.

Pope John Paul II famously said to thousands of young people at a youth rally "Do not be afraid to be the Saints of the new millennium, if you become what you are you will set the whole world on fire."

A powerful quote to say the least but we must all remember that without Catholics who believe and pray for miracles we would no longer have new Saints in heaven.