A critical website about Vassula Ryden's True Life in God messages

Frequently Asked Questions

    

 

   new Has Vassula Ryden been excommunicated from the Orthodox Church ? (added in July 2008)

   new May Vassula Ryden (who is Greek Orthodox) receive holy communion when participating at Catholic Masses ? (added in July 2008)

   What does the petition "One Date" have to do with Vassula ?  (added in July 2007)

   updated Did the TLIG messages get a nihil obstat and imprimatur ?

   Did the Vatican remove the text of the Notification from its website ?

   Is the Notification still valid ?

 

 

New FAQs will be regularly added to this section.

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It has been brought to my attention that during events organized by local parishes, dioceses or the Charismatic Renewal, members of TLIG are circulating a petition titled “One Date”. This petition asks for the unification of the Date of Easter by the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. This petition is not identified as part of  Mrs Ryden’s group, except in some cases for an email address containing the letters “tlig”. Of course, one would have to know what “tlig” means in order to link it with Vassula.

There is a website about this petition: http://www.onedate.org If you navigate thoroughly inside the website, you end up by finding the reference to Mrs Ryden, presented as a prophet  and put on the same level as Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint Catherine of Siena  (http://www.onedate.org/inspiration.php ).

Our Church’s recent call to boycot Amnesty International because of its pro-abortion ideology is a reminder that the Christians’ responsibility does not limit itself to supporting positive actions. We must also make sure who is behind them, for our help could be abusively used and even lead others into error.

Many persons who sign the “One Date” petition do not realize that their signatures will be used to promote “True Life in God”. And this happens mainly because those who circulate the petition do their best to avoid it to be easily identified with Vassula Ryden, even though it is her organization who will present the signatures to the ecclesiastical authorities. If Mrs Ryden wishes to promote her petition, the correct thing is to identify it clearly as an initiative from her organization.

If this petition is circulating near you, it is important to inform your parish or the local bishop, presenting them with a copy of the Notification (http://www.infovassula.ch/tlignotification1.htm ). If you need assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me : maria31x@yahoo.com

May Vassula Ryden (who is Greek Orthodox) receive holy communion when participating at Catholic Masses ?

Vassula Ryden, who is Greek Orthodox, frequently receives communion when participating at Catholic Masses. In her answers to the questions put by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2002 (http://www.tlig.org/en/testimonies/churchpos/cdf2005/q2a/ ), Mrs Ryden explained her reasons for receiving communion, enumerating the (many) cases in which she participates fully in the Eucharist celebrated in Catholic churches. However this participation is not legitimate for neither the Catholic nor the Orthodox Churches.

From the Orthodox point of view, the Metropolite of Glastonbury, His Eminence Abba Seraphim, adressed the matter in a Memorandum on Vassula Ryden to the clergy of the British Orthodox Church (August 2005). He stated that:

"In receiving the sacraments at altars other than those of the Orthodox Church [justifying this by quoting the Decree Orientarium Ecclesiarum of Vatican II], Mrs Ryden is disregarding Orthodox canonical discipline which forbids it" (http://www.infovassula.ch/tliggreekorthodox.htm)

From a Catholic perspective, the recent Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis of Pope Benedict XVI also gives some important explanations regarding the general question of the participation in the Eucharist by Christians who are not Catholic:

Participation by Christians who are not Catholic

56. The subject of participation in the Eucharist inevitably raises the question of Christians belonging to Churches or Ecclesial Communities not in full communion with the Catholic Church. In this regard, it must be said that the intrinsic link between the Eucharist and the Church's unity inspires us to long for the day when we will be able to celebrate the Holy Eucharist together with all believers in Christ, and in this way to express visibly the fullness of unity that Christ willed for his disciples (cf. Jn 17:21). On the other hand, the respect we owe to the sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood prevents us from making it a mere "means" to be used indiscriminately in order to attain that unity. (172) The Eucharist in fact not only manifests our personal communion with Jesus Christ, but also implies full communio with the Church. This is the reason why, sadly albeit not without hope, we ask Christians who are not Catholic to understand and respect our conviction, which is grounded in the Bible and Tradition. We hold that eucharistic communion and ecclesial communion are so linked as to make it generally impossible for non-Catholic Christians to receive the former without enjoying the latter. There would be even less sense in actually concelebrating with ministers of Churches or ecclesial communities not in full communion with the Catholic Church. Yet it remains true that, for the sake of their eternal salvation, individual non-Catholic Christians can be admitted to the Eucharist, the sacrament of Reconciliation and the Anointing of the Sick. But this is possible only in specific, exceptional situations and requires that certain precisely defined conditions be met (173). These are clearly indicated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (174) and in its Compendium (175). Everyone is obliged to observe these norms faithfully. (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis_en.html#Actuosa_participatio )

The Catechism of the Catholic Churches indicates that:

1399 The Eastern churches that are not in full communion with the Catholic Church celebrate the Eucharist with great love. "These Churches, although separated from us, yet possess true sacraments, above all - by apostolic succession - the priesthood and the Eucharist, whereby they are still joined to us in closest intimacy." A certain communion in sacris, and so in the Eucharist, "given suitable circumstances and the approval of Church authority, is not merely possible but is encouraged." - http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P42.HTM

Therefore, the full participation in the Eucharist of our Orthodox brothers is admitted only when special circumstances have been approved by Church authorities (generally the Ordinary of the place). However, Orthodox faithful should also obtain the authorization from their own Church authorities before receiving Catholic Sacraments, in accordance with their own canonical discipline (see also: http://www.infovassula.ch/tliggreekorthodox.htm)