The Marian Movement of Priests (MMP) is a private association of Catholic clergy and lay associate members founded by Italian priest Fr.

Stefano Gobbi Stefano Gobbi (22 March 1930 – 29 June 2011) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest. He was born in the Province of Como, Italy and was ordained as a priest in 1964. He later obtained a doctorate in sacred theology from the Pontifical Lateran Univ ...

in 1972. According to the MMP, its members now include over 400 Catholic

cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

and

bishops A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, more than 100,000 Catholic

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in p ...

, and several million lay Catholics worldwide.

Origins

On May 8, 1972, Father Gobbi, an Italian priest from

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, was on a pilgrimage to

Fátima, Portugal Fátima () is a city in the municipality of Ourém and district of Santarém in the Central Region of Portugal, with 71.29 km2 of area and 13,212 inhabitants (2021). The homonymous civil parish encompasses several villages and localities of ...

and was praying in the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima for some priests who had given up their vocations and were reportedly planning to rebel against the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. On that day he reported his first alleged

interior locution An interior locution is a mystical concept used by various religions. An interior locution is a form of private revelation, but is distinct from an apparition, or religious vision. An interior locution may be defined as "A supernatural communicati ...

from the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

. Father Gobbi reported that the inner voice urged him to have confidence in the

Immaculate Heart of Mary The Immaculate Heart of Mary () is a Roman Catholic devotional name used to refer to the Catholic view of the interior life of Mary, mother of Jesus, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love ...

and to gather those priests that would be willing to consecrate themselves to

and be strongly united with the Pope and the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. According to Father Gobbi he prayed to

Saint Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

for a confirmation of the inner voice, which he reported as receiving later in May 1972 while praying in the Church of the Annunciation in

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

.MMP Worldwide
After consultations with his spiritual advisor, in October 1972 he and two other priests met in a church in

Gera Lario Gera Lario (''Gera'' in Lombard language, lombard) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italy, Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about northeast of Como. As of 31 December 2004, it had a populatio ...

Como, Italy Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps h ...

and published a notice of the

movement Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

in some Catholic and local newspapers. In September 1973, twenty-five of the eighty Catholic priests who had by then joined the movement held the first national gathering of the MMP in San Vittorino near

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Beginning in 1974, Father Gobbi began holding

cenacle The Cenacle (from the Latin , "dining room"), also known as the Upper Room (from the Koine Greek and , both meaning "upper room"), is a room in Mount Zion in Jerusalem, just outside the Old City walls, traditionally held to be the site of th ...

s of prayer for priests and Catholics in general. The MMP is now based in

, Italy, with branches worldwide. The Marian Movement of Priests in the United States was established in 1975, and is based in St. Francis, Maine.

Handbook

In July 1973, Father Gobbi began to write his

s as messages which he attributed to the

. The messages from July 1973 to December 1997 were published in the book: "To the Priests, Our Lady's Beloved Sons." These messages have now become the de facto hand book of the MMP. There are 604 messages in the book and they span over 24 years of Father Gobbi's life. The book shows the dates (and if relevant the locations) of the messages and is thus also a record of Father Gobbi's travels as he holds prayer

s. Most messages have a somewhat maternal tone and they often ask the faithful to follow Jesus and not deviate from His path. For instance, message number 110 of September 25, 1976, warns against diluting the words of the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

and creating “''your own Gospel with your own words''” rather than following the original teachings of Jesus.

The View from the Vatican

In October 1994, Archbishop

Agostino Cacciavillan Agostino Cacciavillan (14 August 1926 – 5 March 2022) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, and a cardinal since 2001. He worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1959 to 1998; he was given the titles of archbishop and nu ...

wrote a letter in which he stated that some officials within the Sacred

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from Heresy in Christianity, heresy and is ...

at the Vatican had informed him that they believe Father Gobbi's locutions to be his own meditations and not messages from the

. To that end, Father Gobbi was asked to refer to the locutions as his own meditations rather than messages from the

. But Father Gobbi said that he could not, in good conscience, do so for he believed the messages to be true

s and he sought further clarification from the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

. To date, there is no formal record that the Sacred

has taken an official position regarding Father Gobbi's messages. The MMP therefore continues to meet regularly in

with the permission and participation of Catholic

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

s and

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

s who attribute the locutions to

Holy Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

, who had a personal devotion to the

, met with and celebrated mass with Father Gobbi in his private papal chapel in the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

on an annual basis for several years. In November 1993,

also provided an official papal

blessing In religion, a blessing (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the impartation of something with grace, holiness, spiritual redemption, or divine will. Etymology and Germanic paganism The modern English language term ''bless'' likely ...

for the American branch of the MMP in St. Francis, Maine, but did not offer an

imprimatur An ''imprimatur'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''impr.'', from Latin, "let it be printed") is a declaration authorizing publication of a book. The term is also applied loosely to any mark of approval or endorsement. The imprimatur rule in the R ...

for the book.

Spiritual Values

The fundamental concept of the MMP today remains the same as the basic concept expressed in the initial

that Father Gobi reported on May 8, 1972, in

. The concept is to encourage priests and laity to unite with the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

through the

to strengthen the

. The three fundamental spiritual values of the MMP are formally expressed in Father Gobi’s circulars 21, 23, and 24 as: personal

consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

to the

, unity and devotion to the

, and leading the faithful to trust the

. The MMP does not have its own distinct doctrine for consecration to the

but relies on the general consecration doctrine provided by the

. The concept of unity and devotion to the Pope also embeds the concept of a return to the original divine teachings of Jesus which the MMP views as being diluted through modern human interpretations and multiple rationalizations. The concept of leading the faithful to the

is essentially expressed in message number 25 of November 1, 1973, in which priests are asked to gather the faithful around them as "''invincible cohort''" to follow the path of Jesus. The MMP places special emphasis on the power of praying the

Holy Rosary Holy Rosary may refer to: * Rosary, a set of prayer beads used in a traditional Roman Catholic devotion * The Holy Rosary, a prayer based on the rosary See also * Holy Rosary Academy (disambiguation), one of several Roman Catholic schools with ...

and Eucharistic Adoration as effective means of strengthening the Church.

Cenacles

In the tradition of the MMP,

calls the members of the MMP to meet in "Cenacles" as the

Apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

met in prayer and the celebration of the

Holy Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ot ...

in the upper room (

) when the

Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...

descended upon them. They are called to pray to

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

through

, since it was through her that the Church, the Body of

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

, was born. They are also called to include after each

Rosary The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...

decade two prayers: the Act of

Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

("Jesus, Mary, and

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

! We love you! Save souls! We offer up every heartbeat and every breath as a thousand Acts of Love") and the Prayer for the

("Come Holy Spirit, by the most powerful intercession of your dearly beloved spouse, the Immaculate Heart of Mary"). Furthermore, during Cenacles they are to make personal consecrations to Mary. Father Gobbi has held

s of varying sizes on every continent. The cenacle he held in Ōita, Japan, on June 2, 1978, was for a few priests and nuns while the cenacle he held in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

on November 27, 1994, was attended by 20,000 people in the city stadium.

References

External links

MMP USA – Marian Movement of Priests on America

MMP Spain – Marian Movement of Priests on Spain

MMP Canada – Marian Movement of Priests, Canada website

Catholic Answers article about the MMP

Kremski, Mary Beth. "The Marian Movement of Priests: Is It Safe for Faithful Catholics?", 2001
{{Authority control Religious organisations based in Italy Marian apparitions Our Lady of Fátima Visions of Jesus and Mary Organisations based in Milan Christian organizations established in 1972 1972 establishments in Italy Catholic organizations established in the 20th century