On October 11 and 12, 2024, the Latin Catholic Diocese of Smyrna held a symposium to commemorate the bicentenary of Anne Catherine Emmerich’s death and the 20th anniversary of her beatification.
Newsroom (16/10/2024 15:10, Gaudium Press): The Archdiocese of Smyrna in Turkey organized a symposium on October 11-12 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich’s death and the 20th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s beatification. Archbishop Marek Solczyński, apostolic nuncio to Turkey, and Archbishop Martin Kmetec of Smyrna were present.
Around 80 people from various Turkish cities, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Canada, and the USA attended the symposium.
The symposium opened at St. Helen’s Church in Karşıyaka, Smyrna, and there was an evening concert at St. John’s Cathedral in the same city. The following day, the program took place at the House of Our Lady in Ephesus. The Catholic Diocese of Münster offered a relic of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich to the diocese of Smyrna. The symposium ended on the feast of the Theotokos in the same place.
Adrian Baciu, OFM Conv, the parish priest of Karşıyaka, explained that Emmerich, who was born in 1774, was not an expert in Sacred Scripture or Church history, just a religious who was open to Our Lady’s inspirations.
Clemens Brentano, Emmerich’s poet and friend, and his doctor, William Wesener, were responsible for transcribing the detailed explanations of his visions. The diocesan library in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, preserves the original manuscript.
The speakers discussed the personality of Anne Catherine Emmerich and her visions of the last years of the Virgin Mary’s life. They also discussed the biography of Sister Marie de Mandat-Grancey, a French Daughter of Charity who was involved in the discovery of the House of the Virgin Mary in Ephesus, Turkey, as well as the mission of the Lazarists and the Daughters of Charity in Smyrna.
Emmerich was unaware of the historical studies and opinions about Mary’s last days in two different places, according to the two traditions. The tradition of Ephesus, much earlier than that of Jerusalem, is based mainly on Jesus’ request to the Apostle John: “’Behold your Mother. And from that moment on, the disciple received her as his mother”.
The discovery of the stone house on July 29, 1891 – Panaya Kapulu – which the Apostle John built for Mary on the Bülbüldağ mountain near the ruins of Ephesus, came seventy years after Emmerich’s visions and writings.
The speakers also discussed Emmerich’s stigmata – she was fed only on the Eucharist for several years – and the miraculous signs that permeated her life.
According to Baciu, two important aspects illustrate the place of Catherine Emmerich and her writings in the Church.
“First, her visions of Mary’s last days in Ephesus, including her death and Assumption, were described in detail in August 1821, before the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was proclaimed in 1854. Emmerich is therefore a prophetic voice among the people of God. His visions, which became a means of reflection and prayer, revealed to the faithful the mysteries of the faith.”
“Secondly, although Emmerich’s writings are not strictly historical or theological in the academic sphere, their impact on the faithful is undeniable. Indeed, the faithful are drawn to his writings and to sacred sites such as Ephesus. His writings play an important role for the Church and resonate in the hearts of God’s children, guiding them on their spiritual journey and strengthening their faith.”
With information from ACI mena
Compiled by Dominic Joseph