Vatican reforms standards for alleged miracles

This emerges from a document signed by Pope Francis and published by the Vatican on Friday. In addition to new categories for evaluation, the Vatican Office for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome will have the final say in deciding on supernatural phenomena.

Guidelines from 1978

In view of an increase in false rumors and the spread of fake news on the Internet, the current guidelines from 1978 are no longer useful and practical, the powerful religious dicastery justified its decision to fundamentally revise the standards. There is also a risk that fraudsters will try to make money and manipulate people with alleged miracles or other phenomena. The Vatican’s new standards are intended to prevent these risks.

Six differentiated categories

While it was previously possible to assess whether a miracle occurred or not, there should now be six differentiated categories for assessing supernatural phenomena. In the best case scenario, an alleged miracle is rated in the category “Nihil obstat” (in German: “Nothing stands in the way”). According to the information, this means that although there is no certainty about supernatural authenticity, there are signs of the work of the Holy Spirit. Believers can freely revere and appreciate the phenomenon.

The process should be accelerated

The remaining five categories deal with gray areas, but the final category involves clearly viewing a phenomenon as not supernatural. Phenomena are initially classified into categories by the local bishop, but the Vatican makes the final decision. According to the Vatican, no more than six such cases were officially resolved after 1950. The new standards are intended to make the evaluation process faster.