Since some time we receive communications from Rosa Mystica devotees in different parts of the world regarding disciplinary actions by their Bishops on the devotion to Mary, Rosa Mystica, as well as letters of Her followers concerned about how such interventions are spread to other dioceses, sometimes inaccurately or partially, sometimes to the detriment of the genuine modalities and intentions with which the cult is experienced and practiced in Fontanelle.

We would therefore like to provide some important clarifications on the recognition and regulation of the Marian devotion in FONTANELLE di Montichiari in order to clear the doubts and reassure the hearts. It should be remembered that much of the information we give below are for a long time on the official website of the Foundation of worship and religion Rosa Mystica Fontanelle, in four languages (www.rosamisticafontanelle.it), and, on behalf of the Bishop of Brescia, we procure exactly the same information to Bishops and local Ordinaries when we are directly consulted for official clarifications.

1. Having taken notice of the contributions made by his predecessors, and the instructions given by the Holy See, as well as of the letter to the Bishop of Brescia by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on November 13, 2012 by a special Directory and published by decree on July 15, 2013, the Bishop of Brescia, has regulated the Marian cult in Fontanelle, to give adequate assistance to the pilgrims who come to this place from different parts of Italy and abroad. The cult was already allowed and regulated by Bishop Giulio Sanguineti with a previous directory of 2001 after some restrictive interventions by Bishop Foresti in 1984 and in 1997 and by Bishop Morstabilini in 1968.2. According to the indications of the current Directory, a Marian and baptismal worship are currently promoted in Fontanelle under the direct supervision of the diocesan Bishop, without referring to the apparitions, messages, or other phenomena of presumed supernatural nature related to the person of Miss Pierina Gilli. We recall that the Church refers to the alleged apparitions or other extraordinary phenomena in Fontanelle with the formula “non constat de supernaturalitate”, i.e. “It is not evident to be of supernatural origin”, thus manifesting a judgment of suspension and prudence of the Church, and therefore pending further verification of the phenomenon and doubts related to its complexity.3. As can be deduced from the letter of the Directory, the Bishop of Brescia does not demand from the faithful – neither in the past this was necessitated by the predecessors of the Bishop – to remove statues, icons, votive tablets or altars dedicated to Maria Rosa Mystica, nor in Fontanelle, in parish churches or in private chapels. The image of Mary with the three roses, which, to the best of our knowledge, was not present in the diocese or in Italy before the events of Montichiari, and is now widespread and revered around the world. In Fontanelle and in the Parish of Montichiari the statue of Maria Rosa Mystica has been exposed for many years. In addition, in the cult, the Loreto title of “Rosa Mystica” is valued as well as the devotional significance of the “Three Roses”, linked to “prayer – penance – sacrifice”, which represent the three traditional coordinates of Christian spirituality.4. The task of the Foundation of Worship and Religion Rosa Mystica Fontanelle, erected by the Bishop of Brescia in 2014, especially in light of the many fruits of conversion and of spiritual and physical healings that continually are reported to us, is also to continue with a serious work of study and investigation of the events in the Parish of Montichiari and in Fontanelle, and of the documentation regarding the historical and spiritual events of Pierina Gilli, the alleged seer who died in 1991, subject of a summary diocesan investigation back in 1947/48.This complex and renewed phase of study is currently conducted in the Diocese of Brescia, in close consultation and by an explicit assignment of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: recently a major integral part of the investigative material has been provided and is already in the possession of the same Congregation, a material that until now was not yet at the disposal of the Roman Tribunal of the Holy See. At the same time, through an independent initiative of the Cultural Association of Research and Study, Milan (Ares), data of the Diaries of the alleged seer were published, accompanied by other historically important sources and authoritative opinions, including the posthumous judgments of the biblicist, Mgr. Enrico Galbiati and mariologist, Fr. Stefano De Fiores. These contributions will usefully enrich a path that can give an account of the historical origin and the sources of such a major phenomenon of worship and devotion to Mary, which crosses since long the diocesan and national boundaries.Mons. Marco Alba