The Happenings
According to what we have known, the girls left to listen to an explanation of catechism, “The good angel tells us to do good and he helps and defends us. The bad angel, the demon, pushes us to do bad.” They were playing happily. They had a strange idea: to take fruit from an orchard. “We won’t do it. Because the bad angel has inspired us to do this. The good angel tells us that…”
Sept.-Oct. 1962
My school Sept.-Oct. 1962
Synthetic Report
“Does the Virgin act visibly?”
“What is occurring in San Sebastián de Garabandal, Santander?”
“San Sebastián de Garabandal is a village situated on a mountain about 7 kilometers above Cossío. From this point of reference, Cossío, the highway passes closer to San Sebastián de Garabandal.
It is a varied countryside on a mountain with Pines, in whose skirts the simple village rests. Its inhabitants are peaceful, honorable workers. Until the events, which we are going to discuss, the village represented a dark place with old traditions. One is like ours: at sunset, a woman—she’s the mother of one of the seers, Jacinta—runs through the streets ringing a little bell to invite her neighbors to pray for the souls in Purgatory. They also pray the holy Rosary daily in the Church.
There is not the remotest feeling of religious fanaticism.
The roads that go through the country are full of crops in the stony wilderness. There is a riverbed that is full of boulders that rests below the mountain of pines.
The Actors
The names of the girls are:
María Concepción, 12 years old (Conchita).
Jacinta, 12 years old.
María Dolores, 12 years old.
María Cruz, 11 years old.
We will add that none of the girls are sisters or cousins.
Besides María Cruz, the others have enjoyed strong health and robust complexion. Their mental development at this age is normal for the villages. Compared to a child of this age who has been educated or is from the city, they would seem about 9 or 10 years old.
They are poor, humble, working families. Their fathers are normal, with the temperaments of men from the north country, from Santander.
They have an excellent and prudent pastor, full of zeal for his parish. The young boys and youth have the virtues and vices customary to their ages. Everything is normal.
The girls are not distinguishable from the others in their manner of being, nor in their performance in school, nor in catechism, nor for anything exemplary. This also includes mischievous occurrences normal for their age.
Note: Ideas to complete the Message.
It asks for the greatest devotion to the Most Holy Sacrament, sacrifices, and that we entrust ourselves to Our Mother in Heaven.
With these concrete finalities, we can establish a series of acts, in ascending progression, that will help us to complete these petitions.
They are the following:
1. When passing in front of a Church, pray a greeting to Jesus in the Sacrament and to Our Lord.
2. When passing in from of a Church, stop a moment to pray as in the previous idea.
3. The same as the previous one, but after praying, bless yourself.
4. Enter the Church, visit the Blessed Sacrament and an image of Our Lady.
5. Hear Mass and receive the sacrament, praising the intentions of the Message.
6. Hear Mass as in the previous idea and then another time make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament.
8. Similar to the previous idea, but do the Holy Hour with an organization that does nightly or daily adoration.
9. Organize, or form part, like in the previous idea, of a group that visits the Blessed Sacrament, so that it is achieved in each parish or place where it is; an hour shouldn’t pass without the Blessed Sacrament receiving a visit from his faithful devotees.
10. Pray the rosary with the family as the base of your devotions.
11. Participate in all acts possible that complete the Messages.
12. Regarding the sacrifices, each person knows what he should do to complete his duties. From this, we should do personal devotions.
13. Spread the Messages whenever possible.
Santander, October 9, 1968.
Annex I: “This canon, cited by Monsignor Beitia, has since lost its force and ecclesiastical law,” according to a declaration of the Holy Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Decree 15-XI-66, but according to the same Decree “It inculcates again the valor of the moral who absolutely prohibit placing faith in danger and the good customs.”
This text has been translated from the previous letter, according to the version given to the press by the Bishop of Santander.
His Excellence Reverend Father: Through a letter in the month of October of last year this Holy Congregation retracted the documents by the Diocesan Commission, as the rules given by the U.E. about the “apparitions” that have taken place in Garabandal.
This Holy Congregation has carefully and attentively examined all of the documentation, including that which has been sent from other places, and finally has arrived at the conclusion that this issue has already been examined minutely and decided by U.E. and so there is no reason for this Holy Congregation to intervene in it.
Even so, I give thanks to the U.E. for the discretion and prudence that they have shown in the resolution of this matter and I will avail myself to express my great esteem to the U.E.”
This letter merits, for its source and for being a test, intent examination. It is necessary, knowing the delicacy of the Vatican, to examine it point by point in order to get its full feeling. Apparently, it is necessary to dissemble its text. Rome has not lost interest nor has it become definitively uninterested in Garabandal. A proof of this is the trip that Conchita made to the Eternal City in the first months of the next year, after being solicited by a Vatican organization.
Since Bishop Puchol did not give any rule, it can be supposed that Monsignor Beitia tried to include some in the Commission’s documents, because they appear to be effective, which is the same as those given by Monsignor Puchol. In any form, it would be interesting to know which they were, to know of which ones Rome approved:
The Holy Office examined these documents been October 1966 and March 7, 1967. During this time, they saw all of the documentation sent by the Bishopric of Santander, and those received in other ways, according to the note in the letter.
It was like this that the information of the Holy Office in this manner was largest, but the normal conduct of the Bishopric helped inform them through other means, as is evident.
It is possible that they arrived in Rome and were ignored by the Commission, and gave direct testimonies by the protagonists in formal declarations.
This desire of Rome, of making it evident that they had received information apart from that of the Bishopric, could also mean that all they received from other places is reflected in the documents of the Commission, even though it is not nice to note it in this case. If everything was contained there, why talk of other informants? There is no benefit to the Commission in this; or it could also mean that in consequence of receiving information through other routes, the panorama of the case increases, and that which was collected by the Commission, was something poor, and they wanted to insinuate this.
The Holy Office, after an attentive and careful examination of the documentation, arrived at a disconcerting conclusion. It was that no role had been reserved.
This is evident and explicit in the letter. Without a doubt, the report from Santander, in its minutia, and principally, for its judgment of what should be established, cut the road of opinion, including for the Holy Office, and in consequence, the adopted decision is not sufficient reason to impose their intervention.
Finally, as the Bishopric has to interpret their documents and according to them, the conclusion at which we arrive is logical and prudent. The Holy Office, situated from that point of view, fully approves of all that has been established and is contained in the documentation sent up to this date, whose text is only known by them.
This letter can be shaded in the way that it was done, to contain the affirmation in the conclusion that before sending anything to Rome they had already judged the matter, what can be interpreted to contain something hidden, a significant surprise for the precipitation of making conclusions.
Nevertheless, it should not be forgotten that it needs resolution only to be indicative. It is communicated from authority to authority, in the character of internal service, without public transcendence.
These transcribed documents are limited to putting the caution that Monsignor Beitia expired from the publication of the Note of Bishop Puchol, which did not realize his vigilance.
The matter is situated in a point in which it was left at first.
We know that the cited Bishop had not closed the file, and with this intention he dictated his rules. The same thing actually happened, and it is the common feeling that if someone has an interest to declare, it will be heard. At least this is what is established by the official documents.
It is to be noted that the curve of orientation descends according to how spaced out the prodigies are. The curve is contrary to the rise that can be traced following the diffusion of the Messages; the more diffusion, the less belief in the mind of the hierarchy. We would say the same, if all of those who had received the Message had practiced it? Surely not. The movement would have been overwhelming and the fruits optimal, a motive that the hierarchy decided, creating less, to channel it although its supernatural origin was not demonstrated.
Another point to consider is the great importance of the process of the facts.
They began with the sufficient freedom so that their development was not hindered during 4 years. The rules of prudence had a benign character until 1965 when the fourth Note was given.
When it was revealed that there would be no more messages, and that the first had not been completed, the mission of the four girls ended until the day of the miracle, as is known by all.
That moment is when the notable, the surprising, and the marvelous began. Some of the girls were slow, others were repetitive, and they seemed impulsive, without knowing why. With bitter suffering, adopted by themselves, a mentality that was completely favorable and was identified with criteria, each time, less believing the supernatural state of things, was sustained by the hierarchy of Santander. They followed in all of this, and are skeptical? The girls doubt, before they were clear and now they only have clouds of life and memory; they deduced that everything had been invented by them, they didn’t oppose anything, there was no motive to give censure.
From there it is a more than credible argument.
The position of the hierarchy, so skeptical, is motivated by the lack of coinciding reasons of supernatural proof; if they have not been given, it is because they are hidden until the message is complete, as a result of the infidelity of those who have received the vocation, they have not been made into believers with serious responsibility.
Already, as we have indicated before, little remains to be done. In the second Message it is clearly told to us, it is most urgent, in view of a castaway that is approached, that each one prevents a punishment on his own head and then helps others, from the moment that it is no longer possible to evade it. Urge personal salvation more, because the first is generally more popular. What should the believers in the apparitions of Garabandal do? There is some doubt about completing the Message and doing what it says. Forget the ecstasies for a moment and they complete the mission already: authenticate them.
We trust in the Bishop of Santander, and he doesn’t try to quiet the voice of heaven. What he wants it to avoid what has already happened once, the inversion of values. When he has sufficient proof, he will speak. Six years have passed, and who can suppose that this matter has become greater because of the simple taste of conserving a problem? In some manner, it is Providence that works through ways that we don’t understand, but they respond perfectly to what we deserve through our conduct.
Finally, the true propaganda of Garabandal can be made by believers; we come to indicate the practice of the Message, and to make an example of these words. If the enthusiasm of the followers is firm and communicative do not doubt that there will be something more effective than all of the propaganda, and it will have the maximum support from Our Mother in Heaven, who wants, before all (as Conchita has always told us) for us to be obedient to the Church Hierarchy.
J.G. of M.
—Note about the happenings in San Sebastián de Garabandal.
The secretary of the Bishopric of Santander, by order of his Excellence the Reverend Bishop Fr. José María Cirarda Lechionado, because of the articles published in some magazines and daily papers and the great diffusion of the events of San Sebastián de Garabandal, declares:
1. That the three consecutive bishops, Fr. Doroteo Fernández, Fr. Eugenio Beitia and Fr. Vicente Puchol, have expressed the thought of the Hierarchy in five interventions, from August 26 and October 19, 1961, October 7, 1962 to July 8, 1965 and March 7, 1967.
3. That the two first Prelates agreed that “it is not evident that there is a supernatural origin of the phenomena that have been carefully examined by the Commission instituted for its study”; and the last Prelate, after having discussed the matter with the Holy See, affirmed that “all of the events at this location have a natural explanation.”
4. That the vigor of the decrees dictated by Fr. Beitia (B.O. of Bishopric, 1965, pg. 181) according to those which: a) Priests are prohibited from all intervention, and from participating and collaborating in the development of the events, even in the from of their simple presence as spectators, with suspension of their licenses in this Diocese of Santander for those who attend without express private permission in each case from the diocesan authority. b) We ask all faithful Christians to abstain from increasing the atmosphere of confusion by going to San Sebastián de Garabandal. c) We remember that according to Canon 1399, No. 5, “books and pamphlets that refer to new apparitions, revelations, visions, prophecies, miracles of that introduce new devotions, are prohibited by the same right if they are published without observing the prescriptions of the Canons.” And this makes it evident that in the Diocese of Santander they have never conceded to “print” any book, pamphlet, article, or note about this subject, and the publication of any article or information is prohibited unless it passes the Diocese’s censor first.
5. That it is to praise filial obedience with the clergy and the faithful of the Diocese of Santander following the indications of their Prelates in this matter and especially, that the Reverend Parish Pastor of San Sebastián de Garabandal does not fulfill what has been ordered, he prohibited the celebration of Holy Mass and the formation of special groups for those who pretended to one another in their visits to this parish many times.
6. That it is very sad, on the contrary, the obstinacy that some pledge to promote through publishing companies in a grand scale within and outside of Spain, and to open “Garabandal Centers” to celebrate congresses of the same name, and to organize visits to the place of the events, and to raise a temple there that will be constructed against the wishes of the diocesan Hierarchy. All of them contain a rebellious contradiction to the feeling of the Church and it is a clear sign against the supposed supernatural nature of the said events of San Sebastián de Garabandal and of the atmosphere of confusion created as a result, except for the good faith of some, who ignore the disposition of the Hierarchy and go to the said location.
The Bishop of Santander waits for all of the faithful to adhere exactly to the dispositions of his predecessors by reiterating the publications and continuing them with all vigor.
Dr. Puchol’s death left the seat of Santander vacant, and it was next occupied by Dr. Cirarda.
This one ordered the secretary to publish a Note without his signature, but in an official manner on October 9, 1968.
Bishopric of Santander—about the events of Garabandal, Santander, October 15, 1968.
My dear brother and friend:
Without a doubt you know about some references to the pretended supernatural events of San Sebastián de Garabandal, which date from 1961. As a result of the accidental death of Monsignor Puchol, my immediate predecessor in this episcopal seat of Santander, the propaganda about the supernatural origins of these happenings has been greatly revived in Spain as well as in other countries. This has happened in spite of three consecutive Prelates who have been in this diocese in the last few years and have made declarations against it and have repeated prohibitions of the movements of Garabandal.
According to what is evident in the archive of this Bishopric, the four supposed seers have confessed in spontaneous, coinciding declarations that “all of the things that the people call prodigies or say are divine, are things we did.”
This whole problem was solved in its day by my predecessors with the Holy See, and the Holy Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith has a photocopy of the said declarations and fully proved the prudence with which Monsignor Puchol worked on this problem, according to what we see in Annex II.
For all of these reasons, I decided to publish the “Note of the Bishopric of Santander about the happenings of San Sebastián de Garabandal.” Upon recrudescence the propaganda was finally turned to them in magazines and Spanish papers, at the same time that people began to organize congresses and “Garabandal Centers” in other countries. With this I answer also to the continuous consultations about this theme, whch arrives at this bishopric from different nations in Europe and America (cfr, Annex I).
I ask you to publish this Note in the official bulletin of your Bishopric, if you think it opportune. Please impede the publication of books, pamphlets, etc. in your jurisdiction. Propagandists of the Garabandal movement must be stopped, those things called “Pilgrimages to San Sebastián de Garabandal.”
I am very grateful for your attention, and I remain your brother in the priesthood of Christ.
José María—Annex I—Bishopric of Santander
After a few months, Dr. Beitia renounced the seat of Santander, which was passed on to Dr. Puchol.
From the beginning of its entrance in the diocese, it is logical that the Commission was informed of the matter and of the criteria it needed to be a phenomenon of natural origin. Then its apparent end through the news of the second message occurred. Keep in mind that the announcement of the warning and the miracle are the fruits of Conchita’s locutions and they do not form part of the body of the messages that were transmitted.
It was like this that Bishop Puchol’s place was composed: A. The phenomena, for whatever reason, are not observed as supernatural by the Commission’s reports. B. As a result of the second message he knew that everything was finished, that there would be no more messages. C. They ignored the warning and the miracle because they were private announcements by Conchita. D. The girls in their mysterious amnesia declared that it seemed to them that all was false, but that they would not swear to something so extreme.
With these elements, Dr. Puchol constructed the following note:
“On August 30th, September 2nd, 7th, and 27th, and October 11th of 1966, we, accompanied by the Vicar General and the Advisor to the Bishop and the pastor of San Sebastián de Garabandal, and having petitioned those involved, made to the mentioned pastor, we proceded to take a declaration to Conchita González González, Mari Loli Mazón González, Jacinta González González, and María Cruz González Madrazo about the events that had occurred in San Sebastián de Garabandal after June 18, 1961. This resulted from the declarations of those involved:
1. That no apparition of the Most Holy Virgin had happened, nor one of St. Michael, nor of any other heavenly person. 2. That there had not been any message. 3. That all of the happenings in the said location have a natural explanation.
When the present Note was given, we could do no more than congratulate the clergy and the faithful of the diocese of Santander, that in the moment, with filial obedience they had followed the indications of the hierarchy. We lamented that this example had not been followed by other people who had worsened the confusion and the lack of confidence toward the hierarchy with their imprudent conduct. They impeded, with great social pressure, what had begun as an innocent child’s game, which had dispelled the very authors. Once, it is good to remember that the true messages of heaven come to us through the words of the Evangelists, the Popes, and the Councils and from the ordinary magisterium of the Church.”
In this Note, the Bishop is limited to repeating what the girls have said in their phase of amnesia, in their virtue, what occurred to have a natural explanation, when, in the complexity of the phenomena, a perfect demonstration escapes them.
In spite of the negative character of this Note, the situation stays in the air once again, because of Dr. Puchol. Without a doubt he did not see the process of the negations with sufficient clarity, and so he would not compromise the episcopal authority in order to definitively close the matter, limiting himself to inform, as he should do in conscience, of the turn that the events had taken. It is also notable that he makes an indubitable defense of the girls’ good faith, and does not have the most minimal reproach for them. This demonstrates to me that Dr. Puchol also continued with the same interrogations that his predecessors had, as it should be logically, until the date of the miracle had not passed, which was the touchstone that Providence had reserved so that the hierarchy could define it as such.
