
Church Approval
Basically the procedure is very simple and generally follows these steps...
1. Private apparition/revelation is reported to the Parish Priest.
2. The Parish Priest conducts a cursory investigation and decides whether it should be brought to the attention of the local ordinary, the Bishop, with enough evidence to warrant the Bishops attention.
3. The Bishop decides, upon the submitted evidence, whether the event warrants further investigation.
4. The Bishop sets up a commission of investigation.
5. If he deems the results of the appointed commission valid then:
A. If the apparition/revelation is still not an ongoing event, then the Bishop will approve it, declare it "worthy of faith" and forward the documentation to the Vatican.
B. The Vatican will appoint a commission of its own to review the Bishop's Commission report before the event is labeled "worthy of belief".
6. If the apparition/revelation is unfinished or the event was of such magnitude (in Garabandal, for example, over 1,800 apparitions), the Bishop will leave the file open" to receive new information, which is a de facto temporary approval pending the fulfillment of the study.
7. If the results of the appointed commission indicate a non- supernatural event or a supernatural event of demonic origin, then the Bishop will issue a document officially rejecting the event and encouraging the faithful and clergy to avoid it.
The Bishop may be diplomatically bypassed by the Vatican as it was done in the case of Medjugorje, when a new and expanded commission was assembled after the one appointed by the local Bishop turned in a negative conclusion based on allegedly incomplete information.
From the above, for example, it follows that it is technically impossible for the Church to give a final approval to the events of Medjugorje and Garabandal, for example, since there are yet unfulfilled prophecies of a confirming nature. (Both are on Step 6)
