- Direction For Our Times
-
DFOT is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to spreading the alleged messages from Heaven given to "Anne" a lay apostle, who is a member of the Roman Catholic Church. This includes an eight-book collection entitled The Volumes, as well as other publications. The organization is closely monitored by the Catholic Church, and nothing is published without the permission of the local ordinary, Bishop Leo O'Reilly of the Diocese of Kilmore in Ireland, who has submitted all of her writings to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome.[1]
Contents
"Anne", a lay apostle
"Anne" is a wife and mother of six originally from the United States, currently residing in Ireland, who claims to be receiving messages in prayer through a process known by the Catholic Church as interior locution.
She believes the messages come from Heaven, which include Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and many saints recognized by the Catholic Church.
In obedience to what allegedly the Virgin Mary requested of her, for reasons of discretion to protect her family, she is presented under an anonymous name, "Anne."
In 2003 Jesus allegedly began this work known as Direction For Our Times, which He allegedly called a mission of great mercy for the world.
The Volumes
The eight-book set of Volumes are as follows;
- Volume One: Thoughts on Spirituality
- Volume Two: Conversations with the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus
- Volume Three: Part 1: God the Father Speaks to His Children, Part 2: Blessed Mother Speaks to Priests and Bishops
- Volume Four: Part 1: Jesus the King, Part 2: Heaven Speaks to Priests, Part 3: Jesus Speaks to Sinners
- Volume Six: Heaven Speaks to Families
- Volume Seven: Greetings From Heaven
- Volume Nine: Angels
- Volume Ten: Jesus Speaks to His Apostles
Jim Gilboy, president of CMJ Marian Publishers, based in Chicago, published the first four volumes in December 2003. In May 2004, Gilboy printed Volumes One To Four and began to disseminate them to the public.
In September, 2004, New Orleans retired Archbishop Philip Hannan decided to involve his FOCUS Worldwide Television Network in spreading the messages. He has written a letter of endorsement which is included in each volume. This endorsement was later revoked on October 19, 2011 shortly after the death of Archbishop Hannan.[2]
On October 15, 2004, "Anne" recorded the last message, printed in the Volume 10. In December, 2004, Volume 7, 9, 10 were published. The Volumes are under the title "Direction for Our Times as Given to "Anne", a lay apostle"
In 2005, representatives of DFOT including Jim Gilboy, were received in an audience with the late Holy Father, John Paul II.
In September 2005, Bishop Emeritus Federico Escaler, S.J. from the Philippines also granted his Imprimatur to the Filipino edition of the Volumes as they are also published and widely disseminated in the Philippines.
The Monthly Messages and other publications
On the first of every month, Jesus allegedly gives "Anne" a new message for the world. [1]
Lay Apostolate
The Lay Apostolate associated with this work is basically those lay members of the Catholic faithful who, according to what is written on the DFOT website: " seek to be united to Jesus in their daily work, and through their vocations, in order to obtain graces for the conversion of sinners. They pledge their allegiance to God the Father. Through their cooperation with the Holy Spirit, they will allow Jesus to flow through them into the world, bringing His light. They do this in union with Mary, our Blessed Mother, with the communion of saints, with all of God's holy angels, and with our fellow lay apostles in the world."
As lay apostles of Jesus Christ the Returning King, they agree to perform their basic obligations as practicing Catholics. Additionally, they will adopt the following spiritual practices, as best they can.
1. Allegiance Prayer, along with the Morning Offering and a brief prayer for the Holy Father. 2. One hour of Eucharistic Adoration each week. 3. Participation in a monthly lay apostle prayer group, which includes the Luminous Mysteries of the Holy Rosary and the reading of the Monthly Message. 4. Monthly Confession. 5. Further, they will follow the example of Jesus Christ, as set out in Holy Scripture, treating all others with His patience and kindness."
Controversy
From September 2005 to April 2007, a discussion arose concerning the alleged locutionist ‘Anne’ a lay apostle. What initiated the discussion was a thread started on a Catholic Internet forum named “The Catholic Community Forum.”[3] A forum member going by the name “MDS” posted on September 17, 2005 an E-mail exchange that he had with a representative of the Direction for Our Times (DFOT) apostolate.[4] ‘MDS’ had some questions about the apostolate in order to ensure that it was following proper canonical regulations.
Among other issues, such as a question on the imprimatur granted to Kathryn's books, the notable problem that MDS had with the DFOT representative was an unwillingness to name Anne’s Bishop. MDS wanted to write the Bishop and ask for a statement as to where Anne and her apostolate canonically stood in his Diocese. MDS, to his understanding, received a less than satisfactory reply and so he then took the E-mail exchange to the Catholic Community Forum for their thoughts.
In February 2007, Kathryn's spiritual director, Fr. Darragh Connolly, issued a private statement (later published) in response to an E-mail sent to Kathryn's Bishop. Fr. Connolly remarked regarding the discussion on the Catholic Community Forum, "I am afraid...that the DFOT representative who responded to these very early queries lacked the authority to do so. His response was incorrect....In answer to your question with regard to the alleged statement that Our Lady wished Bishop O’Reilly’s name to be withheld, this is simply not true. Our Lady never made a statement like that."[5]
The matter of Kathryn's Bishop was settled but other questions still lingered such as the matter of the imprimatur (see below).
Prior to the above response by Fr. Connolly, the above-mentioned thread caught the attention of Mr. Richard Salbato of Unity Publishing who then posted the text of the E-mail conversation on his site.[6] At that time, ‘Anne’ was becoming a name in Catholic circles and MDS’ E-mail exchange created some negative reactions that caused people to start asking questions. These questions eventually led to an avalanche of information that began with a series of articles by Mr. Salbato concerning the anonymity of ‘Anne.’[7] Mr. Salbato publicly exposed Anne’s real identity as Kathryn Ann Clarke, an abused women counselor.[8] Photo evidence has been supplied.[9]
This exposé has caused ink to be spilled both in defense of Anne as well as Unity Publishing.
Dr. Mark I. Miravalle—Professor of Mariology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio—wrote a three-page response to Mr. Salbato's claims.[10] This response was not published by DFOT for undisclosed reasons but is available from DFOT offices upon request.[11]
After the initial media stir, Mr. Salbato produced E-mail correspondence of an intimate conversation between Anne/Kathryn and her future DFOT C.E.O.[12] The correspondence affirmed statements made by Kathryn under her non de plume "Anne" in her DFOT books ("The Volumes") concerning her vulgarity. This and other materials in the correspondence made Kathryn look very poor in the face of her claims to be receiving heavenly messages. Kathryn--as "Anne"--commented on these claims through Catholic writer Deal Hudson in June 2008, characterizing the arguments against her as her "not being holy enough."[13]
To date, the correspondence was the last major revelatory piece by Unity Publishing on Anne/Kathryn Ann Clarke but the information continued to affect "Anne" and her DFOT apostolate.[14]
The question regarding the imprimatur given to Anne's Volumes by Bishop Escaler concerns the legality of the imprimatur. The Bishop was retired when he granted the imprimatur, which calls into question its legality under Catholic law.[15][16][17]
In August, 2011, Sr. Briege McKenna and Fr. Kevin Scallon publicly withdrew their support for Direction For Our Times.[18] Two months later, Focus TV retracted its endorsement of Direction For Our Times in light of Bishop O'Reilly's commission.[19]
References
- ^ www.directionforourtimes.com/churchposition
- ^ http://shop.focustvonline.com/anne-the-lay-apostle/
- ^ http://www.catholic-forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3296
- ^ “MDS” describes himself on his profile as being from Chattanooga, Tennessee and born on March 14th, 1968. MDS stated he did not want to name the representative on the Forum so he removed reference to the representative’s name.
- ^ http://www.semperficatholic.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3986&sid=f53b8ac91aa4fa8ee75d6b39d633eefd
- ^ http://www.unitypublishing.com/Apparitions/ImprimaturFalse.htm
- ^ http://www.unitypublishing.com/Apparitions/anne.htm
- ^ http://www.unitypublishing.com/Apparitions/anna'name.htm
- ^ http://d-rium.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-information-on-anne-lay-apostle.html
- ^ http://www.catholic-forum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=150245&postcount=11
- ^ http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=64918 Scroll down to post #17 for the .PDF file. One will have to sign onto the web site to access the file.
- ^ Warning: Explicit Content--> http://www.unitypublishing.com/Apparitions/Anna'sBishop.htm
- ^ http://www.directionforourtimes.com/docs/blog4.pdf
- ^ http://insidecatholic.com/Joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3825&Itemid=48
- ^ http://www.catholic-forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3296
- ^ http://www.unitypublishing.com/Apparitions/ImprimaturFalse.htm
- ^ http://d-rium.blogspot.com/2010/07/anne-lay-apostle-imprimatur_10.html
- ^ http://www.sisterbriege.com/
- ^ http://shop.focustvonline.com/anne-the-lay-apostle/
External links
Categories:- Roman Catholic orders and societies
- Organizations based in Chicago, Illinois
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