In my humble and pious opinion as a faithful Roman Catholic theologian, the claimed private revelations in the form of the messages to Annie Kirkwood (www.baproducts.com/q&a.htm) are not true private revelations from Heaven. A list of reasons and examples follows.
1. Heresy: Kirkwood's messages claim that the Virgin Mary was not a virgin
These messages claim that Joseph and Mary had other children besides Jesus.
“Catholics believe that Jesus was an only child, and that Mary remained a virgin her entire life, while in Mary's Message She tells us about her other children.” (Commonly Asked Questions, www.baproducts.com/q&a.htm)
This claim contradicts the infallible teaching of the Sacred Magisterium throughout the entire history of the Church. (See the Catechism on this point;
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1K.HTM)
2. Heresy: Kirkwood's messages claim that the Virgin Mary was reincarnated through many lifetimes.
When even her publisher did not want to publish a book claiming reincarnation, Kirkwood replied with a message allegedly from Mary:
“Mother Mary told Annie to, 'Tell Paul (of Blue Dolphin Publishing) that in the beginning the `Church' believed in this (reincarnation). It was removed because of man's will and not God's will.' ” (Commonly Asked Questions, www.baproducts.com/q&a.htm)
It is interesting to note that at Medjugorje, the Virgin Mary said that there is no such thing as reincarnation: “Reincarnation does not exist, because after death there is eternity.... It is false to teach that one is born more times” (24 July 1982). Thus, one cannot believe in both Medjugorje and Kirkwood's messages.
3. Heresy: Kirkwood's messages claim that the devil does not exist.
Let me quote from the Questions and Answers section again:
Question: On page 280 in Mary's Message to the World, the chapter 'A Message from Jesus,' Jesus says, “the beast is an illusion...there is no devil; it is a fallacy.” But the Bible tells us that Jesus faced the devil in the desert, how do you explain the difference?
Answer: Good question, as a matter of fact we asked the same question to Jesus several years ago and what He told us was, “Yes, He did face his devil, His ego. The thought that He could do this (40 days and 40 nights) alone, without God's help.” So to state it another way, the devil Jesus faced in the desert was His own ego.
This type of claim is undiluted and unabashed heresy. The Church has always taught that both holy angels and fallen angels (devils) exist. The Saints throughout Church history have warned about the devil, i.e. Satan. Even the Bible teaches that Satan exists (See the Book of Job).
4. Failed Predictions and Vague Predictions
“If you've read Mary Message or followed some of the people making predictions, you may recognize that many of the major things that were predicted haven't happened.” (Commonly Asked Questions, www.baproducts.com/q&a.htm)
Kirkwood's messages generally predict various natural disasters (earthquakes, volcanoes, bad weather, etc.). This type of false prediction is usually a safe bet. There are earthquakes and other such natural disasters every year. But even with the odds in their favor, many of their major predictions did not occur. Then they claim that this is a grace or favor from God, or that disaster was averted by prayer.
First, it is a common characteristic of false private revelation to predict various natural disasters. These are bound to occur sooner or later, so the prediction is just a statement of the obvious. Second, God knows the whole future with absolute certainty (and so does Mary, since she is with God). God even takes into account all our future prayers. So any claimed message that gives a failed prediction, or that speaks as if God is not certain about the future, must necessarily be false and not from Heaven.
These messages of Annie Kirkwood not only contain failed predictions (supposedly from Mary), but they also contain vague predictions, saying that something will happen in one particular year, or maybe the next year. If these were true private revelations from Mary and Jesus, there would be no such uncertainty and no failed predictions.
5. Heresy: the messages claim that the teaching of the Church is false
Here is a quote, allegedly from Mary:
“Always when I work with people on earth, I must work with what is in their minds, this includes their vocabulary, ideas and beliefs. I am not allowed to destroy anything, not even erroneous beliefs. I work with their way of thinking and how they view their world. As I have been saying, the church has been distorting my messages. They do not believe what I say is truth, if it does not conform to their set belief system or their church doctrine.”
This message, and others, clearly attack basic Catholic doctrines, including the infallibility of the Sacred Magisterium. The messages seem designed to attract Protestants and heretical (or very ignorant) Catholics.
6. More False Predictions
These messages claim that the future sufferings of the world, for this generation, will not be war, but rather natural and environmental disasters. This prediction contradicts the predictions of true private revelation (such as Fatima) that clearly predict a major world war in the near future. Amusingly, even some of the other false private revelations predict war for the future (but such predictions have the dates and events of that war wrong).
One false private revelation contradicts another because the fallen angels have no idea what will happen in the future. They make many different guesses, covering every possible disaster, as well as (in some false private revelations) predicting peace.
In Conclusion
With so many clear examples of heresy against the most basic and well-accepted teachings of the Church, do I really need to give more examples? This should be sufficient to show that the messages of Annie Kirkwood (www.baproducts.com/q&a.htm) are not true private revelation from Heaven.
by Ronald L. Conte Jr.
November 30, 2005
