Judiel Nieva

Infobox Person
name = Judiel Nieva

---

caption =
birth_date = 1977
birth_place =
death_date =
death_place =
other_names = Angel dela Vegacite web | last =Valencia | first =Melrose | title =Philippines Today - Showbiz Roundup | url=http://www.philippinestoday.net/2003/May/showbizroundup3_503.htm | accessdate = 2008-07-18]
known_for = claiming to be a visionary of apparitions by the Virgin Mary
occupation = Actor

Judiel Nieva (born 1977), also known as Angel dela Vega, is a Filipino transwoman notable for her claims of seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary in Agoo, La Union, Philippines from 1989 until 1993 in what was then labeled as the "Miracle of Agoo".

Early life

Nieva is the seventh of eight children. Her parents Pedro and Julia sold goods out of two stalls which they operated in the local market. Even as a young child, Nieva was believed to have special powers and was sought out as a healer.cite web | title =Judiel Nieva, Agoo, Philippines, 1989 –1993 | url=http://www.catholicrevelations.org/PR/judiel%20nieva.htm | accessdate = 2008-07-18]

Marian visions

Nieva claimed to have began seeing visions of the Virgin Mary in 1987 when she was only 10 years old. On March 31 1989, she reported that the first of several public apparitions, in which she claimed to have seen a bright light, then heard voices and the sounds of trumpets while angels descended from heaven towards him singing “Allelulia” and “Salve Regina”. The Holy Family next appeared on a cloud, St. Joseph holding a shepherd’s staff and the Virgin Mary sitting on a rock holding the baby Jesus on her lap. Other "miraculous" events associated with Nieva included a Host turning into actual flesh and blood, messages reportedly coming from the Virgin Mary, images of the Virgin Mary "weeping" tears of blood and a "dancing" sun.cite web | title =Visions of Jesus Christ:A blood-weeping statue in Agoo, Philippines | url=http://www.visionsofjesuschrist.com/weeping15.htm | accessdate = 2008-07-18]

Initial reactions

The public was initially inclined to believe Nieva's claims. On March 6 1993, during a "manifestation" on "Apparition Hill", an estimated one million people gathered to witness a "visitation" from the Virgin Mary. Numerous government officials, media personalities and even a Catholic bishop attested to the veracity of these events.

Declaration as non-supernatural

In 1993, a theological commission established by Bishop Salvador Lazo condemned the aforementioned events as "Constat de Non Supernaturalitate" (Latin, "clearly evident to be not supernatural"). Accounts reported in the news media regarding the financial corruption of the discredited seer's family and her own transsexualism were seen as proof of this finding. [cite web | title =Index of Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary (& Selected other Catholic Apparitions) | url=http://members.aol.com/UticaCW/Mar-vis.html | accessdate = 2008-07-18] [cite web | title =The Miracle Hunter:Unapproved Marian Apparition Claims of the 20th Century | url=http://www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/unapproved_apparitions/index.html | accessdate = 2008-03-19]

Acting career

In 2003, Nieva, who now calls himself by screen name "Angel dela Vega", starred in a film entitled "Siklo". In the film, she plays a woman who falls in love with her neighbor. [cite news | last =Pastrano | first =Mozart | title =Apparition star Judiel Nieva now a show biz star | pages =A29 | publisher =Philippine Daily Inquirer | date = 2003-09-05 | accessdate = 2008-07-18]

References

External links

* [http://gabemercado.multiply.com/journal/item/29/I_was_blessed... Image of Angel dela Vega in Boracay]