Spirituality

Jesus did not appear on French hillside, Vatican officials rule

By T.K. Randall
November 13, 2025

Image: Jesus Christ Figure in London
Credit: WbgArchives / CC BY-SA 3.0 (adapted) The story goes that for several decades, a woman in Dozule, France, claimed that Jesus had been appearing to her on a local hillside and had communicated a series of messages to her.

She maintained that he had appeared to her a total of 49 times since 1970 and had instructed her to construct a large cross measuring 7.38 meters across on the hillside above the town.

The Vatican is known to investigate cases such as this via a formal evaluation process to assess (in its view) whether or not divine intervention has actually occurred.In this particular instance, it seems that officials were not convinced.

"The phenomenon of the alleged apparitions... is to be regarded, definitively, as not supernatural in origin, with all the consequences that flow from this determination," the doctrinal office wrote.

The instruction to publish this statement was reportedly approved by Pope Leo himself.

Exactly how this conclusion was reached, however, remains unclear.

Source: Reuters

Tags: Vatican, Pope, Jesus