The Pontifical International Marian Academy has established an international observatory, or task force, on Marian apparitions and mystical phenomena in the world.
“The objective is to analyze and interpret … apparitions, tears, internal locutions, stigmata and other mystical phenomena that are still ongoing or have already concluded, on the authenticity of which the ecclesiastical authority has not yet definitively pronounced,” the Vatican newspaper reported.
Father Stefano Cecchin, OFM, the pontifical academy’s president, said that the observatory will operate “in harmony with the ecclesiastical magisterium, the competent authorities, and the norms in force of the Holy See.” He added that “alleged [Marian] messages often generate confusion, spread anxious doomsday scenarios, or even accusations against the Pope and the Church.”