Precisely! And, think of the countless people, let alone Catholic lay faithful, who read that press release. Many would read it and either automatically take their word for it, rather than investigate Maria Valtorta on their own, or stop reading her writings if they already were. I personally met people online who didn’t bother to investigate Maria Valtorta after reading the press release, and I came across a post by someone who read the press release and said they stopped reading Maria’s writings afterward. But, as frustrating and saddening as it is, I cannot let the press release by the Dicastery of the Faith disturb my peace, and pray that they and others will recognize the Work for what it truly is.
I’ll start by addressing a few of the claims by Sandra Miesel in her article in The Catholic World Report below.
- Miesel said the following:
The Poem titillates with several invented subplots of ‘delicate’ maidens barely escaping the Fate Worse Than Death and guilt-ridden harlots’ descents into utter degradation. In one especially tasteless moment, Herod tries to tempt captive Jesus with his lascivious African dancing girls who "touch Christ lightly with their nude bodies. (V: p. 562)
So, all we have from Miesel is her baseless assertion of “several invented subplots of ‘delicate’ maidens barely escaping the fate worse than death and guilt-ridden harlots”, and her one example which was a partial quote from a scene in Maria Valtorta’s writings, because if she had quoted it in full, it wouldn’t have given the false impression that she wanted. See excerpt below:
They untie His hands. And while a large number of servants bring amphorae and cups, some dancers come in…covered with nothing: a many-coloured linen fringe is the only garment girding their thin waists and hips. Nothing else. As they are Africans they are of bronze complexion and are as agile as young gazelles, and they begin a silent lascivious dance.
Jesus refuses the cups and closes His eyes without speaking. Herod’s courtiers laugh at His disdain.
«Take the woman You wish. Live! Learn how to live! …» suggests Herod.
Jesus seems a statue. With folded arms, closed eyes, He does not stir even when the lewd dancers touch Him lightly with their nude bodies.
«Enough. I treated You as God, and You did not act as God. I treated You as a man, and you have not acted as a man. You are mad. A white garment. Clothe Him with it so that Pontius Pilate may know that the Tetrarch took his subject to be mad. Centurion, please tell the Proconsul that Herod humbly presents his respect to him and venerates Rome. Go.»
And Jesus, tied once again, goes out, with a linen tunic reaching down to His knees, on top of His red woollen garment.
And they go back to Pilate. (The Poem of the Man-God: Vol. 5 )
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Miesel accused Maria Valtorta of writing homoerotica saying, “vaguely homoerotic flavor of Christ’s frequent kisses, cuddles, and caresses of his disciples”. So, according to Miesel’s logic, for example, when her mom gave her kisses, cuddles, and caresses, she was displaying homoeroticism… 
. This is a non-argument by Miesel and can be safely ignored.
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Miesel said the following:
Despite claiming a purely celestial origin, the Poem somehow incorporates legendary material from the Apocrypha (ex." The Acts of St. Paul and Thecla), The Golden Legend, The Meditations of Pseudo-Bonaventure, the revelations of St. Birgitta, […]
She didn’t present any examples for this in her article, and therefore what good are those claims?
- Miesel said the following:
(Is she borrowing from Carmen when Mary Magdalen tries to attract Jesus’ notice by throwing a rose at him?)
In Bizet’s opera Carmen, Carmen throws a red carnation at the soldier Don José in Act I to seduce him and convince him to let her escape after she is arrested for a fight. The Poem of the Man-God consists of visions of scenes from Jesus’s life on earth that Maria Valtorta received and described in-depth. The vision that Miesel is referring to is ch. 98 in The Poem of the Man-God: Vol. 1 titled Jesus on the Lake of Tiberias. Lesson to His Disciples near the Same Town. Below is an excerpt:
A few small leisure boats, almost the size of a shallop, but fitted with purple canopies and soft cushions, cut across the course of the fishermen’s boats. Shouts, bursts of laughter and the smell of perfumes go by with them.
They are full of beautiful women, many merry Romans, some Palestinians and a few Greeks. This I gather so from the words of a thin slender young man, as brown as an almost ripe olive, smartly dressed in a short red tunic, bordered by a heavy Greek fret and held tight at his waist by a belt, which is the masterpiece of a goldsmith. He says: « Hellas is beautiful! But not even my Olympic fatherland has this blue and these flowers. It is really not surprising that the goddesses left it to come here. Let us spread flowers, roses and our compliments to the goddesses, no longer Greek but Judaean…» And he spreads on the women in his boat the petals of magnificent roses and he throws some into a nearby boat.
A Roman replies to him: « Spread them, spread them, Greek! But Venus is with me. I do not spread roses, I pick them from this beautiful mouth. It is sweeter! » And he bends down to kiss the open smiling lips of Mary of Magdala, who is leaning on cushions with her blond head in the lap of the Roman.
In summary, a Greek man (not Mary Magdalene), threw roses on the women in his boat and in another nearby boat of his party (not at Jesus to attract His notice ). Therefore, either Miesel deliberately lied about what Maria Valtorta wrote—especially considering that she didn’t cite the volume and chapter of this scene which she was referring to in her article—or she has severe poor reading comprehension.
- Miesel said the following:
Valtorta repeatedly compares Jews unfavorably with Romans: “Hebrew wombs conceive vile perjurers. Roman wombs conceive nothing but heroes.” (V: p. 790)
The vision that Miesel is referring to is ch. 627 in The Poem of the Man-God: Vol. 5 titled The Apostles Go along the Way of the Cross. Below is an excerpt:
A group of legionaries, on their way to a nearby inn, meets them, and one watches them and points them out to the others. And they all laugh. And when the poor ill-treated disciples are compelled to pass before them, one of the soldiers leaning against the door addresses them: «Hey! Calvary did not stone you and men have struck you? By Jove! I thought you were more courageous! And that you were not afraid of anything, since you had the courage to climb up there. Have the stones of the mountain not reproached you for being cowardly? And were you so daring as to go up there? I have always seen guilty people run away from the places that reminded them of their sin. Nemesis pursues them. Perhaps she dragged you up there to make you tremble with horror today, since you did not tremble with pity, then.»
A woman, probably the mistress of the tavern, comes to the door and laughs. She has the frightening face of a rascal and she shouts in a shrill voice: «Hebrew women, look at what your wombs produce! Vile perjurers, who come out of their dens when the danger is over! Roman wombs conceive nothing but heroes. Come and drink to the greatness of Rome. Choice wines and beautiful girls.. .» and she goes away, followed by the soldiers, into her dark cave.
A Hebrew woman looks at them—there are some women in the street with amphorae, where one can hear the fountain gurgle near the house of the Supper room—and she takes pity on them. She is an elderly woman. She says to her companions: «They made a mistake… but a whole people did wrong.» She approaches the apostles and greets them: «Peace to you. We do not forget… Tell us only this. Has the Master really risen from the dead?»
«He has risen. We swear to it.»
«Then, be not afraid. He is God, and God will triumph. Peace to you, brothers. And tell the Lord to forgive this people. »
«And we ask you to pray that the people may forgive us and forget the scandal we have given. Women, I, Simon Peter, ask you to forgive me.» And Peter weeps…
« We are mothers and sisters and wives, man. And your sin is that of our sons, brothers and husbands. May the Lord have mercy on everybody. »
In summary, Maria Valtorta was quoting the words of a woman she saw and heard speaking to a group of Hebrew women and Roman legionaries when she wrote the following:
A woman, probably the mistress of the tavern, comes to the door and laughs. She has the frightening face of a rascal, and she shouts in a shrill voice: ‘Hebrew women, look at what your wombs produce! Vile perjurers, who come out of their dens when the danger is over! Roman wombs conceive nothing but heroes. Come and drink to the greatness of Rome. Choice wines and beautiful girls…’ and she goes away, followed by the soldiers, into her dark cave.
Miesel slyly claimed that “Valtorta repeatedly compares Jews unfavorably with Romans”, followed by giving an example, which was her own alteration of the quote above, in order to make it sound as if it was Maria’s own personal opinion: “‘Hebrew wombs conceive vile perjurers. Roman wombs conceive nothing but heroes’ (V: p. 790).”
These are just a few examples of grade A deceptiveness by Miesel about Maria Valtorta, but her claims are easily exposed to be just that, if one has read The Poem of the Man-God and is an honest, objective investigator. I’m going to finish addressing every claim in Miesel’s article and send it to either her directly or The Catholic World Report where her article was published.
