The Vatican and Pope Leo on Wednesday (12.11.2025) closed the file on a “mystical” issue that had occupied a small community in Normandy, in the north, for decades France.
In a new Vatican directive, approved by Pope Leothe body responsible for the doctrine clarifies that the accounts of Jesus’ apparitions in Dojoulet, Normandy, France, “are not of supernatural origin” and therefore cannot be considered authentic by the 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide.
In the 1970s, a Catholic mother in Dozulet claimed to have seen Jesus 49 times. According to her testimony, Christ dictated a series of messages to her and asked her to erect a monumental cross 7.38 meters high on the slope of a hill overlooking the city.
These accounts eventually fueled a wave of local religious worship, with pilgrimages, prayers and the spread of the “messages of Dozulet” beyond French borders. Now, the Vatican considers that “the phenomenon of alleged apparitions must be treated, definitively, as non-supernatural in nature, with all the consequences this entails.”
The Roman authorities remind on this occasion that the Catholic Church does recognize the possibility of supernatural appearances – of Jesus or the Virgin Mary – but these are subject to strict rules. When deemed authentic, such apparitions can convey invitations to prayer, repentance, or new forms of piety, but should never be used for financial gain.
Clarification of doctrine and warning against exaggeration
The Vatican also points to a key contradiction in Dozulet’s case: during the alleged apparitions, Jesus allegedly announced the end of the world before the year 2000. “Obviously, this alleged prophecy was not fulfilled,” the directive notes, considering this element as additional reason to reject the supernatural nature of the events.
In its commentary on the case, the Holy See also underlines the deeper spiritual significance of the Cross, in contrast to the design of a huge monument in Dozulet: “The Cross does not need 738 meters of steel or concrete to be recognized; it rises every time a heart, captivated by divine grace, opens itself to forgiveness.”
This clarification is part of a wider framework of doctrinal clarifications. The Vatican recently issued another text regulating the titles that can be attributed to the Virgin Mary, recalling that she cannot be called the “co-redeemer” of the world; for the Catholic Church, only Jesus redeemed humanity with his Crucifixion and death.
By contrast, some major apparition sites remain fully recognized and supported by Rome, such as Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico in the 16th century or the apparitions of Jesus recorded by the Polish nun Faustina Kowalska in the 1930s. With Dozulet’s case, the Vatican wants to remind that, between popular piety and authentic faith, the final say is always the distinction of the Church.