| Garabandal San Sebastián de Garabandal |
|
|---|---|
| — Hamlet — | |
| Parish church of San Sebastián. | |
| Country | Spain |
| Autonomous community | Cantabria |
| County | Sanja-Nansa |
| Municipality | Rionansa |
| Elevation | 697 m (2,287 ft) |
| Population (2008) | |
| • Total | 107 |
San Sebastián de Garabandal (commonly called just as Garabandal), is a rural village in the Peña Sagra mountain range of Northern Spain. Located in the autonomous community of Cantabria, about 600 meters above sea level, Garabandal is about 35 miles (55 km) from the Cantabrian capital, Santander, and roughly 250 miles (400 km) from the Spanish capital, Madrid[1]. It has a population of about 300.
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From 1961 to 1965, four young schoolgirls (Mari Loli Mazón, Jacinta González, Maricruz González and Conchita González) said they had received visitations and messages from Saint Michael the Archangel and the Blessed Virgin Mary (see Marian apparitions). The visitations numbered in the thousands, drew huge crowds, and featured supposed paranormal phenomena, much of it filmed or photographed, with thousands of witnesses. For more information, see Garabandal apparitions.
Today, the town is a place of pilgrimage for Roman Catholics and members of other faiths. Catholics have since been reminded by the Roman Hierarchy that the Garabandal apparitions are in no way sanctioned or approved by the Church. They are no longer under investigation, as canon law places responsibility for final judgement on the local ordinary, the bishop or mitred abbot having ordinary jurisdiction over the diocese in which the purported apparition was reported.
Bishop José Vilaplana of Santander issued a final statement reminding the Faithful that all the bishops of the Diocese from 1961 through 1970 affirmed that the supernatural character of the said apparitions that took place around that time could not be confirmed, which, in the formula of Canon law, is a final judgement, non constat de supernaturalitate (it does not establish itself as supernatural). The supernatural origins of the reported apparitions cannot be determined, and therefore Catholics are encouraged to be critical and avoid any devotions centred on them. For the purposes of distinctions, the bishop's statement does not state that "it is established not supernatural", but that "it is not established supernatural."
Because of the town's remote location and lack of easy accessibility, it has remained largely the same as it was in 1961. Bishop Vilaplana statement also includes reference to the regular celebration of the sacraments in the town:
"In reference to the celebration of the Eucharist in Garabandal, following the dispositions of my predecessors, I only allow that it be celebrated in the parish church without reference to the alleged apparitions and with the permission of the current pastor, who has my confidence."[2]