Sora, Italy, Jun 6, 2016 / 23:08 pm
An Italian sect centered on the worship of an alleged apparition of the Child Jesus which is gathered around the son-in-law of the seer has been found guilty of schism and received a 'latae sententiae' excommunication.
The news was communicated in a June 5 statement from the Diocese of Sora-Cassino-Aquino-Pontecorvo, where the sect is based.
The group, the Universal Christian Church of the New Jerusalem, is based in Gallinaro, a town of central Italy located 15 miles southeast of Sora. There, Giuseppina Norcia reportedly saw an apparition of the child Jesus in 1947. This was followed by subsequent apparitions in 1974, and her family built a chapel on the site the following year.
The June 5 statement from the Sora diocese stated that "the group called the 'Child Jesus of Gallinaro' or 'New Jerusalem' is committed to spreading false religious doctrines and teachings that distort the Bible and are outside the truth of the sacred text."