In this regard, Dicastery intends to respond to the two questions you posed regarding the case in question in the following manner.

Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith
Prot. N. 226/1949-96933
6 October 2023

Your Excellency:

The Apostolic Nunciature has transmitted to this Dicastery your letter dated 2 October 2023 (Prot. N. 1669/23) informing of the recent developments regarding the well-known case of the alleged Marian apparitions in Lipa.

Firstly, I am pleased to inform you that this dicastery complies with your initial request. In this sense, attached is a copy of the decree issued by the Dicastery in 1951. Additionally, a copy of the letter is attached in which Sister Mary Sicilia of Jesus, OCD, then the superior of the convent where the known events occurred, confessed guiltily to having deceived the faithful about the alleged apparitions in Lipa and consequently asked for forgiveness. This fact definitively and directly confirms the non-supernatural nature of the events in Lipa.

Regarding your second question about the pastoral advisory published by Cardinal Quevedo in 2015 concerning the use of the image related to the aforementioned events, this dicastery notes the following:

If the events in question have been declared to have no origin or supernatural character, it is evident that the dissemination of the image linked to these same events can easily confuse the faithful around them, and its propagation is discouraged unless there are other pastoral considerations that the bishops of your episcopal conference deem necessary to evaluate.

On the other hand, the Holy Spirit can work in the faithful and do good even through phenomena that are not authentically supernatural. Therefore, it is good that, along with the pronouncement by the bishops, those who may have approached Christ and the Church through devotion to that Marian image are also encouraged to grow in their Christian experience through other mediations.

Finally, since the non-supernatural nature of the aforementioned events is now clearly established, it seems appropriate for the future, unless further interventions by this Dicastery are deemed necessary, that your episcopal conference discern what is necessary for the well-being of the faithful regarding the aforementioned events.

Assured of your understanding, I take this opportunity to confirm my profound respect.

Devotedly yours,
Manuel Victor Card. Fernandez
Prefect