The pilgrimage of tens of thousands of Hindus and Muslims to the Catholic Basilica of Our Lady of Health in Vailankanni in India is a sign of God’s love and no cause for concern, said the Vatican’s doctrinal chief.
“The millions of pilgrims who travel here out of faith and the many spiritual fruits produced in this shrine make us recognize the constant action of the Holy Spirit in this place,” said Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, in an Aug. 1 letter posted on the dicastery’s website.
The basilica is visited by millions of people every year, and up to a million people flock to the coastal town each year for the shrine’s main celebration from August 29 to September 8, the Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary.
Many non-Christian pilgrims who “seek consolation” also benefit spiritually, wrote Cardinal Fernández.
“Some of them are healed of their illnesses and many find peace and hope,” the cardinal said. “Undoubtedly the Holy Spirit also works in them, responding to Mary’s intercession. This should not be seen as a form of syncretism or a mixture of religions. The shrine is a place where the closeness of Mary is shown, who welcomes everyone and shows the love of the Lord to those who reflect on it.”
“Those who cannot receive the sacraments of the Catholic Church” because they are not baptized “are not denied the consolation of the Mother of Jesus,” the cardinal wrote.
“Together with the Holy Father Pope Francis, I remember the spiritual beauty of this place of faith,” he said in the letter, which included a note that the pope had seen its contents during an audience with the cardinal on August 1.
“The Holy Father has a deep affection for the popular piety of the faithful pilgrims, because they reflect the beauty of the Church on the way that seeks Jesus in the arms of Mary and entrusts her pain and hope to the heart of his Mother,” he said. “For this reason, Pope Francis has asked me to share with you his great appreciation for this place of faith and, in preparation for the September celebrations at the Shrine, he imparts his paternal blessing to all the pilgrims.”
The letter also referred to “the beautiful traditions” of Marian apparitions in the 16th century in Vailankanni, a small village in southern India on the Bay of Bengal. According to tradition, a Hindu boy who was delivering milk fell asleep near a pond. When he woke up, he saw Mary asking for milk for her son. The boy complied with her request. When he got to his next customer, he was surprised to find his milk pot overflowing.
Later, according to tradition, Mary appeared to a lame boy who was selling buttermilk outside Vailankanni and he was cured.
The third miracle associated with Vailankanni involved a group of Portuguese sailors who believed she had rescued them from a shipwreck. They reached the shores of Vailankanni and built a small chapel there.
The stories, the cardinal said, “express the tenderness and closeness of Mary that Jesus wanted to leave us as the mother of all.”
But the sailors’ story, said Cardinal Fernández, also reminds people of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the many deaths and damage it caused in Vailankanni. Although the waves stopped just outside the church and rescued hundreds of pilgrims who were attending mass, the receding water swept away hundreds of pilgrims and locals who were on the beach.
