DECEMBER 12, 2012

Vassula Ryden
Vassula aids Christian unity, but not in the way she expected
Larger source: http://catholiclight.stblogs.org/archives/apparitions/ http://catholiclight.stblogs.org/archives/2011/03/vassula-aids-ch.html By Richard Chonak, March 17, 2011
The Patriarch of Constantinople issued a statement yesterday warning the clergy and faithful about phony mystic Vassula Ryden, a member of the Greek Orthodox Church -- at least until he repudiated her. With her channeled messages, delivered through the occult method of "automatic writing", she has attracted a following of Catholics and Orthodox who like saccharine spiritual talk. Here's a translation of the Patriarch's statement: [http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2011/03/announcement-on-vassularyden-by.html]

In this spirit, and for the beneficial protection of our pious Orthodox plenitude from dangerous spiritual confusion, who do not know well matters underlying the risk of delusion, rejects from the Mother Church Vasiliki Paraskevis Pentaki - Ryden, widely known as "Vassula", and her organization founded under the title "True Life In God" which rashly and frivolously proposes teachings based on the supposed "direct dialogue between her and the Founder of the Church Jesus Christ our Lord", and those conquered by her and the supporters of "True Life In God", which deviate arbitrarily from the God-given teaching of the Church, but also scandalize the Orthodox phronema of pious believers.
I know, you're all asking "what's a phronema?" It sounds like the Orthodox version of sensus fidei, more or less. And here's the 1995 statement from the CDF: [http://www.ewtn.com/library/curia/cdfrydn1.htm] Among other things, ambiguous language is used in speaking of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, to the point of confusing the specific names and functions of the Divine Persons. These alleged revelations predict an imminent period when the Antichrist will prevail in the Church. In millenarian style, it is prophesied that God is going to make a final glorious intervention which will initiate on earth, even before Christ's definitive coming, an era of peace and universal prosperity. Furthermore, the proximate arrival is foretold of a Church which would be a kind of pan-Christian community, contrary to Catholic doctrine. So it's good to see that Mrs. Ryden has fostered Christian unity: she has brought the Holy See and the Patriarch of Constantinople together to condemn her heresies! (HT: Diane K. at Te Deum Laudamus; Rorate Caeli blog)

3 out of 14 Comments: Vassula has, sadly, to continue to endure the same persecution that her Master had to undergo and this latest denunciation is certainly a significant development in the journey she is travelling. As Richard quotes again the 1995 Notification from the Vatican, I hope he will be gracious enough to allow me to quote the following website which details the dialogue Vassula had with the CDF from 2002 to 2004. The site address is: www.cdf-tlig.org David, March 18, 2011 Regarding the circulation of texts of alleged private revelations, the Congregation states: 1) The interpretation given by some individuals to a Decision approved by Paul VI on 14 October 1966 and promulgated on 15 November of that year, in virtue of which writings and messages resulting from alleged revelations could be freely circulated in the Church, is absolutely groundless. This decision actually referred to the "Abolition of the Index of Forbidden Books", and determined that - after the relevant censures were lifted-the moral obligation still remained of not circulating or reading those writings which endanger faith and morals. 2) It should be recalled however that with regard to the circulation of texts of alleged private revelations, canon 823 1 of the current Code remains in force: "the Pastors of the Church have the ... right to demand that writings to be published by the Christian faithful which touch upon faith or morals be submitted to their judgement".

3) Alleged supernatural revelations and writings concerning them are submitted in first instance to the judgement of the diocesan Bishop, and, in particular cases, to the judgement of the Episcopal Conference and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith." And definitive proof that every time people claim - as is often among false prophets - that private revelations are above Church judgment, they're off their rockets. -Nick, March 18, 2011 I have read the on-line report on the CDF-Vassula dialogue, but was not able to find the Appendix containing the actual text of the questions and answers exchanged between CDF and Mrs. Ryden. Is it available on-line? Without that, it's hard to tell how extensive the dialogue was -- apparently there were five questions -- or whether the answers make enough of a difference to dispel all concerns. Whatever those questions and answers were, they might clarify some doctrinal expressions in the writings, but I doubt they could resolve methodological problems, such as the apparent editing of the messages by Mrs. Ryden. In any case, Cardinal Ratzinger's persistence in stating that the messages contained "grain" and "chaff" mixed together, even after the dialogue, casts doubt on any suggestion that he was satisfied enough to change his fundamental caution about the writings. The exchange of letters after the dialogue does show one unhealthy sign: in a letter to Cardinal Ratzinger in 2004, she lamented the lack of a new CDF statement, and wrote: "Working for Christ has its sufferings as well as its graces, but augmenting unnecessarily my trials I believe it irritates God." Man. It takes some ego to claim that CDF was irritating God by burdening her. What annoys Vassula annoys God, perhaps. But then she's used to claiming to speak for Him. Well, as Fr. Dermine's report points out, there is a "Vassula-centric" aspect to the messages. -Richard Chonak, March 20, 2011

False mystic Vassula R sues critical web site Larger source: http://catholiclight.stblogs.org/archives/apparitions/ http://catholiclight.stblogs.org/archives/2012/01/false-mystic.html By Richard Chonak, January 11, 2012
What do false mystics do, besides peddle spiritual messages and collect money from naive followers? They sue people who try to expose them. Last March the Patriarchate of Constantinople warned against1 Vassula Ryden's claims of presenting messages from Jesus. It was an impressive statement from her own church (English translation here)2, which should help to diminish the bad influence of this long-exposed phony3, especially when it is added to the warnings from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1995, 1996, and 20074, 5 and 6. In March 2011 the critical web site infovassula.ch, based in Switzerland, wrote, apparently incorrectly, that the document was a formal excommunication of Ryden, and in November 2011 Vassula's organization sued the site author7, Maria Laura Pio. A hearing about some issues was held on January 6. The impression of an excommunication is understandable, since the Patriarchate's document stated: we call upon the proponents of these unacceptable innovations and the supporters who maintain them, who henceforth are not admitted to ecclesiastical communion, not only to not be involved in the pastoral work of the local Holy Metropolis, but also to not preach their novel teachings, to prevent the appropriate sanctions under the Holy Canons. Of course we are dealing with translations, so ambiguities are possible. It sounds at least as if the followers of Vassula are to be denied Holy Communion until they desist. I wish Ms. Pio all the best in dealing with this legal harassment from the Vassula camp. 1 http://www.ec-patr.org/docdisplay.php?lang=gr&id=1306&tla=gr 2 http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2011/03/announcement-on-vassula-ryden-by.html 3 http://cumbey.blogspot.in/2006/05/dealing-with-saint-that-aint.html 4 http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=5193 5 http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=5194 6 http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=7748 7 Vassula's organization sued the site author. Not opening; Maria Laura Pio shut down her site because of the Vassula Ryden-filed court case. 8 out of 16 Comments: Indeed the Church (Catholic Church that is) did not excommunicate Vassula, also because she is not Catholic so she falls outside the canonical jurisdiction of the Church, i.e. she is not baptized Catholic, nor a convert to Catholicism, so the Church can't excommunicate her (excommunication is a canonical punishment, so it applies to those under the canon law of the Catholic Church) She's an orthodox, so perhaps the Orthodox Church she belongs to might have excommunicated her, but I have not heard anything about that.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, however, as you also pointed out, condemned her messages as 'non authentic' several times because of 'grave theological errors'. I encountered Vassula's writings about 10-15 yrs ago, since some people introduced me to them and indeed right away certain things she wrote were very odd to me if not down right appalling. X, January 11, 2012 The website with an accurate and detailed account of the communications between Vassula and the CDF is at this address: www.cdf-tlig.org And the other thing I mentioned was the elevation to Cardinal (in the last few days) of the priest who communicated with Vassula on behalf of the CDF. This was Fr Prospero Grech and you can read his initial letter to Vassula at this link: www.tlig.org/en/testimonies/churchpos/cdf2005/grech/. David TLIG, January 12, 2012 Regarding the validity of the Catholic Church's documents on Vassula Ryden, I copy hereunder the translation into English of a Warning issued last October by the Bishops of southern France, which was widely spread by the French Catholic media and figures on the website of the Diocese of Marseille (http://marseille.catholique.fr/Mise-en-garde):

WARNING
Several sources have announced that on November 2011 Mrs. Vassula Ryden will be coming to Marseille. The programme mentions conferences, Mass, deliverance and healing prayers. The Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has pronounced itself several times on her case, by emitting great reservations and not recognizing the supernatural character of her alleged messages. It advises Catholics not to support this person's activities by participating in her initiatives. The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has recently pronounced itself in a similar way, since Mrs. Vassula Ryden was a member of that Church. The bishops of the Province of Marseille want to bring to the attention of the catholic faithful of their dioceses that this event is in no way connected to our Church. The acts of religious nature (Mass, deliverance and healing prayers) - if they take place - will be performed outside the communion with the Catholic Church. In Marseille, October 22, 2011, + Georges PONTIER Archbishop of Marseille + Christophe DUFOUR Archbishop of Aix-en-Provence and Arles + Jean-Pierre CATTENOZ Archbishop of Avignon + Franois-Xavier LOIZEAU Bishop of Digne + Dominique REY Bishop of Frjus-Toulon + Jean-Michel di FALCO LEANDRI Bishop of Gap and Embrun + Louis SANKAL Bishop of Nice + Jean BONFILS Apostolic Administrator of Ajaccio Y, January 16, 2012 I am happy to read on the Internet that Mrs. Ryden's suit failed. Congratulations to Maria Laura Pio! Richard Chonak, February 7, 2012 Vassula and TLIG are at it again and this time may have potentially shut down the one-stop site for truth about the cult http://www.infovassula.ch/tliglawsuit2.htm The threats are spurious - and I've done some more research on the people behind this. The solicitor who is threatening to sue for legal fees and loss of TLIG(TM) earnings, Anthony Jeremy, is a specialist in CANON law and a fully paid up member of the cult, having posted at length, coincidentally, about the Congregation's ban on the use of church premises and being mentioned by someone else in a 'testimony'. Vassula(TM) is a registered trademark, as is TLIG(TM), which is curious. The attack has no basis; clearly Pio's site is not trading as TLIG, is not selling a bogus product, in fact is not selling anything and doesn't even carry advertising! It clearly falls under 'fair use', otherwise it would be impossible to ever mention Vassula(TM) or TLIG(TM). Also note that nowhere on the TLIG(TM) site does it mention that these are registered trademarks and only refers to copyright on the message content. I wonder why? Also note that TLIG(TM) is not mentioned in full, no corporate address or full details of the company. TLIG(TM) seems not registered in the UK as a trading entity. Looking at the Foundation, we find that this is registered in Switzerland. It has one office and one employee. The president, Jan Kooger Howard, has currently 19 separate companies running from front offices around Geneva - none has more than 6 registered employees - his main interest seems to be an oil brokerage for Nigerian oil, Sahara Energy Services. And no, that does not appear to be a trademark! The trademarks are owned by the VP, another Swiss big businessman, Jacques Gay, one of the Freres Gay and the owner of a few watch clasp patents. Michael Abberton, May 25, 2012 The lawyer's claims sound spurious to me too. It would be very good if some lawyer in the UK would defend Mrs. Pio from the harassment she's getting. Alas, she, quite understandably, doesn't want to deal with it any more. I'll post a new blog thread about the case. Richard Chonak, May 25, 2012 I am reading the messages True Life In God. This has touched my heart in a way that I cannot understand. I have also watched all the videos of Vassula especially the one when she visited Australia. The statues with oil pouring and gold dust forming was caught on camera. It is impossible that the messages True Life In God are false. Nobody (however much they change their hand writing) can write like this. It is truly the work of God. I do not believe for a second Vassula accepts money from people. I am sure she would accept an invitation to visit countries and travel expenses would be paid for but otherwise I do believe she is Gods apostle. God did say to her she will face many obstacles. May you continue to live in Gods love, Vassula. Please keep reaching out to people. You and Emma De Guzman are the only true prophets of our time. Believer, September 15, 2012

I harbor some doubts about her having written exactly what Vassula Ryden might have heard. Here is one such case: On October 2, 1987 she also wrote: Let it be known that My Holy Shroud is indeed authentic, It is the same that covered me; blessed by me, etc. The message I received from Yeshua Mashiach about his statement: "I said no such thing." There was a bit more but that will keep until we meet hopefully. I was reluctant to write all this down but I had to because Vassula is also being guided by mentors from her new church who have not yet acknowledged her as a member. (Her old church of Greek Orthodox origins is not quite happy with her line of beliefs thus leaving her neither here nor there.) For your guidance, The Kingdom of Heaven NEVER works alone giving one absolute right to change the text messages received from there. Always there are witness from within the Kingdom to counteract such tendencies. (Is this what I want or what you want is always before my eyes in all that I write which including this anecdote and in case of rebuttal, note I have been given the power to forgive sins from El-Shaddai.) (I am sure Jesus wont mind, or Mary wont mind is nothing but heresy not even if I say so.) -Anthony R Pereira, November 20, 2012

Vassula just cant keep out of trouble Larger source: http://catholiclight.stblogs.org/archives/apparitions/ http://catholiclight.stblogs.org/archives/2012/01/cyprus-warns-vassula.html By Richard Chonak, January 17, 2012
Just when one kerfuffle over the automatic-writing mystic Vassula Ryden is announced, along comes another. Now the Orthodox Church of Cyprus issued a statement about her on January 13. The Synodical Committee for Matters of Heresy. By the way, isn't that a great name? Sure, we have a Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is a nice, positive-sounding name, but some issues really deserve a statement coming from an organization that gets right to the point. This is about identifying, defining, combating and routing heresy. I'll send a little note to Levada and see if he -- well, I'll do that later. The Synodical Committee for Matters of Heresy warned [http://www.impantokratoros.gr/church-cyprus-vassoularyden.en.aspx]: In reality, her teachings are heretical, and her claims that she communicates directly with Christ are fantastical and outside of the spirit of the experience of our Church. So how many Orthodox Churches have issued warnings against her: Greece? Cyprus? The Patriarchate of Constantinople? Does she plan to stop in at church offices to collect the condemnations on her tour? There are probably more to come! 3 out of 8 Comments: I'm laughing in advance of whatever silly explanation some spokesman for TLIG will post here soon...Try not to get sued, Richard - you're probably on thin ice... -Tominellay, January 17, 2012 Well, as our anonymous friend above seems to want a response, let me just point out that the wonderfully named 'Synodical Committee for matters of heresy' would also view all Catholics as fundamentally heretical, so I wouldn't go too far down their line of thinking... And just to provide a necessary counterbalance to all the negative stuff which will continue to be posted on this and other websites, the Patriarch of Alexandria remains a supporter of Vassula. He certainly recognises God's voice in the True Life in God messages. See the report of Vassula's visit to Alexandria HERE David TLIG, January 19, 2012 "See the report of Vassula's visit to Alexandria HERE". A report from 2008, before the condemnations from Constantinople and Cyprus. Given that the Patriarchate of Alexandria is led by ethnic Greeks who traditionally look to Constantinople for guidance, it would be highly surprising if Patriarch Theodoros II hasn't changed his position. -Manilensis, Feb. 29, 2012

Free speech, part II Larger source: http://catholiclight.stblogs.org/archives/apparitions/ http://abbey-roads.blogspot.in/search?q=vassula+ryden, http://catholiclight.stblogs.org/archives/2012/05/free-speech-par-1.html By Richard Chonak, May 25, 2012
Some months ago the non-Catholic false mystic Vassula Ryden sued [http://catholiclight.stblogs.org/archives/2012/01/falsemystic.html] Swiss resident Maria Laura Pio, in a court in Belgium, demanding to take down Mrs. Pio's web site of critical articles, infovassula.ch. The choice of Belgium as a venue was puzzling, since both Pio and Ryden are residents of Switzerland. Maybe some foolish lawyer in Belgium is a follower of Mrs. Ryden and volunteered to do the dirty work at no charge, thinking that he's serving God by persecuting Mrs. Pio.

When the case came to a hearing, the court in Belgium promptly dismissed it on procedural grounds, so that went nowhere. Well, Mrs. Ryden has found another foolish lawyer to do her dirty work, and this time she may get her way. A lawyer in Cardiff, Wales, has threatened to sue Mrs. Pio, claiming that the domain name of her web site infringes on Mrs. Ryden's trademarks. Mrs. Pio has decided not to spend any more time defending herself from such vexatious litigation and has announced [Not opening; Maria Laura Pio shut down her site because of the Vassula Ryden-filed court case] (here's a copy*) that she's closing the site this month. A commenter on the previous blog post observes: ** Vassula and TLIG are at it again and this time may have potentially shut down the one-stop site for truth about the cult http://www.infovassula.ch/tliglawsuit2.htm [Not opening; as above] The threats are spurious - and I've done some more research on the people behind this. The solicitor who is threatening to sue for legal fees and loss of TLIG(TM) earnings, Anthony Jeremy, is a specialist in CANON law and a fully paid up member of the cult, having posted at length, coincidentally, about the Congregation's ban on the use of church premises and being mentioned by someone else in a 'testimony'. Vassula(TM) is a registered trademark, as is TLIG(TM), which is curious. The attack has no basis; clearly Pio's site is not trading as TLIG, is not selling a bogus product, in fact is not selling anything and doesn't even carry advertising! It clearly falls under 'fair use', otherwise it would be impossible to ever mention Vassula(TM) or TLIG(TM). Also note that nowhere on the TLIG(TM) site does it mention that these are registered trademarks and only refers to copyright on the message content. I wonder why? Also note that TLIG(TM) is not mentioned in full, no corporate address or full details of the company. TLIG(TM) seems not registered in the UK as a trading entity. Looking at the Foundation, we find that this is registered in Switzerland. It has one office and one employee. The president, Jan Kooger Howard, has currently 19 separate companies running from front offices around Geneva - none has more than 6 registered employees - his main interest seems to be an oil brokerage for Nigerian oil, Sahara Energy Services. And no, that does not appear to be a trademark! The trademarks are owned by the VP, another Swiss big businessman, Jacques Gay, one of the Freres Gay and the owner of a few watch clasp patents. I'll take your word as to the lawyer's identity, since I don't know it for myself. His claims seem spurious to me too: Mrs. Pio isn't engaged in trade, so it seems strange to claim that she's violating a trademark. And the claim that Vassula's followers can't tell a critical website from a supportive one is really an insult to them. How a lawyer can make such implausible assertions without turning purple from embarrassment is beyond me, but some people have a natural skill for it. [Update (August 2012): clarified the description of the Belgian court's action. **http://catholiclight.stblogs.org/archives/2012/01/false-mystic.html#comment-209614 See the comment of Michael Abberton on page 3. *http://www.webcitation.org/67vNs3X4s

I received yesterday (May 2, 2012) the following letter from UK solicitors representing Vassula Ryden and the Foundation for True Life in God, demanding that I turn over to them the domain name Infovassula, because "Vassula" and "True Life in God" are registered international trademarks and I cannot use those words in my domain name. They state that I am using the domain name infovassula.ch as an instrument of fraud, because it contains negative information regarding Vassula. They claim they have been damaged because some of their followers didn't understand (!) that it is a critical website and not an official website of Mrs Ryden's. They also accuse me of trying to pass myself as a member of Vassula's organization! I'm not even going to comment the letter, just read it below. Unfortunately, I can take no more of this. So, I am going to close the website at the end of May and unfortunately, since I do not have the means financially nor mentally to face another lawsuit (see tliglawsuit.htm), no matter how ridiculous it is, I am constrained to hand over the domain name to Vassula in June 2012. Infovassula will then cease to be a critical website and will join the cohort of pro-Vassula websites that proliferate in the Internet. Maria Laura Pio 3 May 2012, (minor edits 8 May)

See VASSULA RYDEN-PROBLEMS WITH ROME BUT WELCOME IN INDIA http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-PROBLEMS_WITH_ROME_BUT_WELCOME_IN_INDIA.doc VASSULA RYDEN-A CDF NOTIFICATION BISHOPS WARNINGS AND THEOLOGICAL CRITIQUES http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDENA_CDF_NOTIFICATION_BISHOPS_WARNINGS_AND_THEOLOGICAL_CRITIQUES.doc VASSULA RYDEN-THE REASONS FOR THE CHURCH'S NEGATIVE REACTION http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-THE_REASONS_FOR_THE_CHURCHS_NEGATIVE_REACTION.doc VASSULA RYDEN-FR FRANCOIS MARIE DERMINE http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-FR_FRANCOIS_MARIE_DERMINE.doc VASSULA RYDEN-FR MITCH PACWA http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-FR_MITCH_PACWA.doc VASSULA RYDEN-MARK WATERINCKX http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-MARK_WATERINCKX.doc VASSULA RYDEN-A CRITIQUE-DIALOGUE CENTRE INTERNATIONAL http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-A_CRITIQUE-DIALOGUE_CENTRE_INTERNATIONAL.doc VASSULA RYDENS JESUS-INGERLISE PROVSTGAARD http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDENS_JESUS-INGERLISE_PROVSTGAARD.doc VASSULA RYDEN-RICHARD SALBATO http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-RICHARD_SALBATO.doc VASSULA RYDEN-JOE NICKELL http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-JOE_NICKELL.doc VASSULA RYDEN-CONSTANCE CUMBEY http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-CONSTANCE_CUMBEY.doc VASSULA RYDEN-RONALD L CONTE http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-RONALD_L_CONTE.doc VASSULA RYDEN-AN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-AN_ORTHODOX_CHRISTIAN.doc VASSULA RYDEN-LAURENCE ENGLAND http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-LAURENCE_ENGLAND.doc VASSULA RYDEN-TERRY NELSON http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-TERRY_NELSON.doc VASSULA RYDEN-CATHOLIC ANSWERS http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-CATHOLIC_ANSWERS.doc VASSULA RYDEN-EWTN http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-EWTN.doc VASSULA RYDEN-SUSAN BRINKMANN http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-SUSAN_BRINKMANN.doc VASSULA RYDEN-DANIEL KLIMEK http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-DANIEL_KLIMEK.doc VASSULA RYDEN-TONY-ALLEN CUCOLO http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-TONY-ALLEN_CUCOLO.doc VASSULA RYDEN-SGERBIC http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-SGERBIC.doc VASSULA RYDEN-TESTIMONIES http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN_TESTIMONIES.doc VASSULA RYDEN-NOTIFICATION CDF, OCTOBER 6, 1995 http://ephesians-511.net/docs/VASSULA_RYDEN-NOTIFICATION.doc