Apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the Late Twentieth Century: Apocalyptic, Representation, Politics

Abstract

How might scholars of religion understand the many and seemingly increasing apparitions of the Virgin Mary at the close of the twentieth century? This essay looks at the phenomenon from a historical point of view, focusing on the various ways devotional practices have been accepted and understood in the late twentieth century. The essay is in three parts. It begins with a descriptive overview of the phenomenon, drawing on sources as diverse as academic studies, supermarket tabloids, web sites and Vatican responses. The focus in this section is on the relationship between Marian apparitions Christian culture andfin-de-siècle apocalypticism. In the second section a closer consideration is given to the phenomenon of ‘miraculous photography’ in this evolving tradition of piety, a tradition of divination by images. The third part of the essay addresses more fully the Vatican’s response to this phenomenon in light of the personal Marian piety of Pope John Paul II, especially in view of the recent proclamation of the ‘Third Secret’ of Fatima. The essay closes by suggesting some ways in which the tension between official Catholicism and largely ‘popular’ twentieth-century Marian apparitions can be revealing of the development of new forms of Christianity at the turn of the twenty-first century.