The 1948 Lipa Apparition and the Vatican’s Rejection

In 1948, inside the Carmelite Monastery at Barrio Antipolo del Norte in Lipa, Batangas, postulant Teresita Castillo reported visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Castillo was the youngest daughter of Modesto Castillo, a former governor of Batangas and later judge of the Court of Industrial Relations. She entered the convent on July 4, 1948, slipping away from her family at dawn to pursue her vocation¹.

Before the alleged Marian apparitions began, Castillo claimed to have been tormented by demonic forces. She described foul odors, physical attacks, and a terrifying voice that left soot marks in her cell².

These events reportedly occurred in late July, weeks before the first apparition. On September 12, 1948, she saw a vine shaking in the garden despite no wind. A woman’s voice instructed her to kiss the ground and return for fifteen consecutive days³.

The following day, Castillo claimed to see a beautiful lady dressed in white, barefoot on clouds, holding a golden rosary. The lady appeared repeatedly, delivering messages about prayer, penance, and devotion.

Above is an AI-generated image of a nun praying before an image of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace.

On September 14, the first shower of rose petals occurred — some bearing images of Jesus, Mary, and saints⁴. Witnesses described the petals falling vertically despite wind and rain, and the scent of roses preceding each shower⁵.

News of the events spread rapidly. Pilgrims came from far and wide, with crowds reaching up to 30,000 inside the convent grounds. Masses were held daily, and many hoped to witness the petal showers or receive one as a spiritual keepsake. Bishop Alfredo Verzosa, initially skeptical, reportedly witnessed a petal shower himself and allowed public veneration of the statue⁶.

The Church responded by forming a commission of six Filipino bishops to investigate. The members were Gabriel Reyes (Archbishop of Manila), Mariano Madriaga (Bishop of Lingayen), Cesar Guerrero (Bishop of San Fernando), Juan Sison (Auxiliary Bishop of Nueva Segovia), Vicente Reyes (Auxiliary Bishop of Manila), and Rufino Santos (Apostolic Administrator of Lipa)⁷.

On April 11, 1951, they declared the events not of supernatural origin⁸.

The Holy Office in Rome, then the Church’s doctrinal authority, confirmed the judgment⁹. This office, known today as the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, was responsible for safeguarding Catholic teaching and investigating alleged supernatural phenomena. It operated under strict theological scrutiny, especially during the 1950’s when Marian excesses were viewed with caution¹⁰.

The reasons for rejection included insufficient evidence of supernatural intervention, concerns about Castillo’s reliability due to her earlier demonic claims, and theological sensitivity over the title Mediatrix of All Grace.

Theologians warned that the title could obscure Christ’s unique role as mediator, as affirmed in Lumen gentium and reiterated by Pope John Paul II¹¹.

The impact was immediate: public promotion of the devotion was suppressed, religious images were removed, and silence surrounded the case for decades. Castillo left the convent due to illness and controversy¹². The decree itself remained unpublished until 2024, when the Dicastery certified and released it¹³.

Despite the rejection, devotion persisted quietly. In 1994, the Archdiocese of Lipa established the Parish of Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace¹⁴.

This was not a reversal of the Vatican’s ruling but a pastoral response to the strong devotion of the faithful. Pilgrims still visit the Mediatrix statue in the Carmelite monastery and the parish church, and novenas and processions continue. The Church tolerates such devotion as long as it does not contradict official doctrine.

The rejection has also been viewed through the lens of ecclesiastical politics. Some bishops allegedly confessed on their deathbeds that they ruled against the apparition under threat of excommunication¹⁵.

Scholars suggest that internal Church dynamics between local enthusiasm and Roman centralization influenced the firm negative judgment. While theoretically, any case can be reopened, the consistent reaffirmations make official recognition of the alleged apparition in Lipa in 1948 highly unlikely.