The Catholic diocese of Abidjan on the Ivory Coast is investigating messages from the Virgin Mary allegedly being received by Chantal Magby, a French woman who claims to have been receiving such communications since 2005. The full story is covered in detail in the Spanish Marian news portal Fondacion Cari Filli of 6 March, 2018.
According to Florent Magby, her husband, Chantal’s experiences had commenced after receiving a medal from the shrine at Lourdes, France. Interestingly, Florent says his wife thought at the time she was going mad, with voices encouraging her to “jump off the balcony of their home”. Soon after, Chantal began to exhibit signs of the stigmata, bleeding from both her hands and feet. Chantal also began receiving message from a lady who presented herself as “Mary, Mother of Christian Charity”.
Believers who visit the Magby’s home in Cocody, a wealthy neighborhood of Abidjan, pray to images and statues that are scattered throughout the house. One of her biggest supporters is Father Sess Nguessan, a local priest who claims that based on a message Magby received he now doubted that presidential elections in Ivory Coast would ever take place.
Magby’s claims are now being investigated by the Abidjan diocese, which has appointed six local priests to investigate the matter. One of these is Eugene Adingra, the current rector of the Marian Shrine of Abidjan. The local church is calling for calm, but has authorised prayers at the Magby house. Magby’s messages from the Virgin speak of the need for conversion, rejecting witchcraft and encouraging fasting and prayer.
I’m not sure that having the rector of a shrine to the Virgin Mary would ensure a impartial investigation of Magby’s claims. It’s also interesting there were questions around Chantal’s mental health just prior to her first communications.
