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The bishops of Ho Chi Minh City’s archdiocese have written to the faithful warning them against a deviant Marian devotion and other deviant ritual practices meant to cast out evil spirits.
Auxiliary bishops Joseph Do Manh Hung (who is also serving as apostolic administrator) and Louis Nguyen Anh Tuan wrote the letter after finding a priest on the city’s outskirts is claiming to heal people.
Thousands of people, Catholic and non-Catholic, have been attending the healing sessions.
The bishops say the priest abused Divine Mercy celebrations by putting his hands on people’s heads to heal their illnesses.
They said he also allowed people to bear witness to having been healed.
The bishops also warned against Mother Mary’s Message, a Marian devotion movement launched by a lay man named Thomas Mary Nguyen Thanh Viet.
Viet claims Our Lady healed him of illnesses in 2010.
Urging unity within the archdiocese, the bishops said the Marian group’s claims endanger the faith. They are urging Catholics to follow “mainstream church leaders” rather than engage in practices to expel evil spirits.
Catholics should follow Jesus’s example by fulfilling duties to their families, communities and society, they added.
Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, president of the bishops’ conference, also confirmed the church’s stance on the matter with the local press.
“We do not need apparitions to honour her [Mary],” he said in a text message to reporters in Manila.
“Her being the mother of Jesus is our first and constant reason for honouring her.”
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