Is The Eucharistic Miracles of the World Endorsed by the Vatican?

I’m going to start where most Catholics probably started on Eucharistic Miracles, with the Eucharisic Miracles of the World book, website and exhibition. That’s not where I started, it’s actually a source I’ve immediately dismissed every time I come across it, as it has no references, no indication of where any of the information comes from, and nearly every fact I can check turns out to be inaccurate. Even Ron Tesoriero has said “the Exhibitions of the content of that book which are currently being held throughout the world, contain certain gross errors and untruths in their presentation of the facts and scientific findings…”

He might want to examine the plank in his own eye on that one, and his concerns seem to be largely that they didn’t give him sufficient credit. But the fact that even he was upset by the inaccuracies should give you an idea of just how bad this book is.

Most Catholics seem to think it’s a reliable source because it’s endorsed by the Vatican. It’s not. So where do they get that idea? Let’s start with the line at the top of the book: Catalogue of the Vatican International Exhibition.

What is the Vatican International Exhibition? As far as I can tell, it’s part of the title of this book. It’s essentially a subtitle that appears above the title for some reason. I cannot find the phrase “Vatican International Exhibition” occurring in any other context. It’s not an organization of the Vatican, or an organization registered anywhere else for that matter. According to the first page of the 2^nd English edition, the original Italian title of the book was “I Miracoli Eucaristici nel mondo. Catalogo della mostra internazionale” which translates to “The Eucharistic Miracles of the World. Catalogue of the International Exhibition”.

So it’s being listed as a subtitle, and the cover of that book also shows that text above the title.

And that subtitle makes sense. The book is a list of the posters that were used in an exhibition, which was displayed in churches internationally. So it was a catalogue of an international exhibition, that’s a fine subtitle.

How and why the word “Vatican” got added to the English title I have no idea. But the book is not published by the Vatican. Many of the miracles in the book are not approved by the Vatican, and some of the ones that were once recognized were de-recognized before the book was published.

The website also says “church approved” when describing the Exhibition. Oddly, they don’t even specify what church. I e-mailed them asking for clarification of this statement. They have not yet replied, but I will update this if I get a response.

The last thing that implies Vatican endorsement of the book is the authorship. Which is a confusing mess. The cover says “presented by the Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association, Inc”, the title page and copyright page say “By the Institute of St. Clement I, Pope and Martyr, in cooperation with the Pontifical Academy Cultorum Martyrum and the Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association”. So, the author is an organization, but it’s not even clear which organization is the legal author of this document.

Whichever of the two organizations is the author, what’s of interest to us at the moment is the third organization mentioned, the Pontifical Academy Cultorum Martyrum, which is an organization established by the Holy See. What role did they have in the creation of this book?

It’s unclear what this partnership means. It’s even more unclear why this book would come under the purview of an organization whose official role is to “promote the worship of the Holy Martyrs and to increase and deepen the exact history of the Witnesses of the Faith and the monuments connected to them, since the first centuries of Christianity. To this end, he induces celebrations in ancient Christian cemeteries and other sacred places, with religious services and archaeological conferences.” What does that have to do with a book on Eucharistic Miracles?

The only relationship I can find is one name – Mrs. Antonia Acutis Salzano, mother of the new St. Carlo, is both a curator for the Pontifical Academy Cultorum Martyrum and president of the Institute of Saint Clement I Pope and Martyr. And notably, more recently updated websites, including the Real Presence Eucharistic and Adoration Association’s website and websites for churches hosting the exhibition, state that the cooperation is with her, and not with the Pontifical Academy itself. Which raises the question of whether the book ever had cooperation with the Pontifical Academy, or just from an individual who also happens to be a curator for the Pontifical Academy.

We’ll talk more about the Acutis family’s role in this next time. For now I just want to leave you with one question. Every single time I try to pitch this story to an atheist media site, the very first question is “is it endorsed by the Vatican, and do you have proof”. Because they know that it’s only a story if it comes from the Vatican. Otherwise, everyone will just say “that has nothing to do with the Catholic Church”. Why is it that that question only matters to atheists? Why do Catholics, who are supposed to be following the teachings of the church, put in zero effort to verify whether a publication that implies it’s representing the Church actually is?