in the form of the local Bishop as the Church's local authority.
When a Shrine Isn’t
Anyone can build a shrine or grotto on their property. However, for it to be sanctioned by the Church and become an 'official' shrine, the Bishop has to investigate it and approve it. One thing that this article doesn't tell us though is if the person who built the shrine was claiming any supernatural events at the shrine. I suspect he must have been, or why would people from elsewhere be visiting it? THe person can have his statue - we have a statue of St. Francis in our back yard - but once the claims of supernatural events, visions, locutions, etc., start coming out the Bishop has to get involved. The person doesn't have to listen to the Bishop but if they don't they're threatening their relationship with the Church. The Church doesn't take it lightly when people start drawing others away from revelation that has been properly approved...
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