Vatican definitively rejects 1970s Dozulé apparitions as non-supernatural, warning against material cross as salvation guarantee.
Newsroom (12/11/2025 Gaudium Press ) In a decisive affirmation of Catholic teaching on private revelations and the redemptive power of Christ’s Cross, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) has ruled that the alleged apparitions in Dozulé, France, during the 1970s are “not of supernatural origin.” The determination, detailed in a letter from DDF Prefect Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández and approved by Pope Leo XIV on November 3, authorizes Bishop Jacques Habert of Bayeux-Lisieux to issue a formal decree of declaratio de non supernaturalitate.
The case centers on 49 reported visions of Jesus to Madeleine Aumont, a local mother, between 1972 and 1978. In these messages, Christ allegedly called for the erection of a “Glorious Cross of Dozulé”—a monumental structure 738 meters tall with arms spanning 123 meters, fully illuminated and visible from afar as a beacon of universal redemption. The cross was promised to remit sins and ensure salvation for those who approached it in repentance. Though never built to scale, smaller “Crosses of Love”—reduced to one-hundredth the size—have been constructed in various countries, inspiring devotion among some faithful.
This is not the first ecclesiastical scrutiny of Dozulé. As early as April 1983, then-Bishop Jean-Marie-Clément Badré declared that “in no case can the construction of a monumental cross undertaken in Dozulé (…) be an authentic sign of the manifestation of the Spirit of God.” By December 8, 1985, he condemned associated activities—including unauthorized fundraising, fanatical propaganda, and condemnation of non-adherents—noting an absence of signs authorizing recognition of the apparitions or a mandated mission to propagate the messages.
Invoking recent Vatican norms for discerning alleged supernatural phenomena, Bishop Habert sought DDF authorization to affirm the non-supernatural character of the events. Cardinal Fernández’s letter grants this, stating: “This Dicastery authorizes Your Excellency to draw up the corresponding Decree and to declare that the phenomenon of the alleged apparitions said to have taken place in Dozulé is to be regarded, definitively, as not supernatural in origin, with all the consequences that flow from this determination.”
The DDF letter meticulously outlines doctrinal concerns, emphasizing that no private revelation binds the universal Church or conscience of the faithful, even if spiritual fruits emerge. It warns against “sacralization of the sign,” where a material object is elevated as a salvation guarantee, incompatible with Catholic soteriology centered on grace, sacraments, and Christ’s once-for-all Paschal Mystery.
Problematic elements include comparisons of the Dozulé cross to the Cross of Jerusalem, risking confusion between sign and mystery, or implying Christ’s redemptive work could be “reproduced” physically. Messages insisting on the Glorious Cross as “necessary for the salvation of the world” or a means for “universal forgiveness and peace”—with calls to “multiply the sign” as if divinely mandated—are deemed erroneous. Claims that repentants at its foot “will be saved,” that it “will take away all sin,” or ensure eternal salvation for those approaching in faith directly contradict Church teaching on salvation.
Further, purported prophecies have been falsified by history. One demanded the cross and shrine by the 1975 Holy Year’s end, as “it will be the last Holy Year.” Yet subsequent ordinary Holy Years (2000, 2025) and extraordinary ones (1983, 2016) have occurred. Apocalyptic warnings of Christ’s imminent return—such as, “If the cross is not erected, I will cause it to appear—but there will be no more time”—are critiqued as millenarian, contrary to the Church’s vigilance against predicting the Parousia’s date or signs, while upholding the truth of Christ’s return.
In a pastoral tone rooted in authentic cruciform spirituality, the Dicastery affirms: “The Cross does not need 738 meters of steel or concrete to be recognized.” It is exalted “every time a heart, moved by grace, opens itself to forgiveness; every time a soul converts; every time hope is rekindled where the situation seemed impossible; and even when, by kissing a small cross, believers entrust themselves to Christ.” Veneration of the Cross, it stresses, adores not wood or metal but the Crucified One, forming believers in an incarnate faith that gazes upon trials as redemptive encounters.
This ruling reinforces the Church’s prudent discernment of private revelations, encouraging conversion and charity while safeguarding the integrity of public revelation in Scripture and Tradition. Faithful are reminded that true devotion to the Cross draws souls deeper into the mystery of Christ’s love, not external spectacles.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican News
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