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Concept
Vassula Rydén
Summary
Vassula Rydén (born January 18, 1942) is an author, public speaker, and self-proclaimed Christian mystic living in Switzerland who says she receives messages from Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her writings frequently call for people "to repent, love God, and unify the churches." She has developed a large following, particularly among Roman Catholics, who come to her lectures and buy her writings and tapes.
She writes the messages in English, and has changed some writings between editions.
In 1995, the Catholic Church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), led by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, published a Notification (a message from the Holy See) on the writings of Rydén, saying her communications should not be considered supernatural, and calling all Catholic bishops to prevent Rydén's ideas from being spread in their dioceses. In 2007, Cardinal William Levada confirmed that the 1995 Notification was still in effect; he recommended that Catholics should not join prayer groups organized by Rydén. In 2011, the Greek Orthodox Church officially disapproved of Rydén's teachings, instructing their faithful to disassociate from Rydén. In 2012, the Church of Cyprus said that Rydén's teachings were heretical.
Rydén was born Vassiliki Claudia Pendakis on January 18, 1942, in Heliopolis on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt, the daughter of Greek Orthodox parents established in Egypt. Ryden says that from the age of six, she experienced waking dreams and nightmares that she attributed to Satan who was trying to kill her. When she was 10–12 years old, she had waking dreams of a spiritual marriage with Jesus Christ, as Blessed Virgin Mary was looking on.
Rydén started school in Egypt, and then at the age of 15, she emigrated with her family to Europe. She painted and competed in tennis. During her late teens, she said she was surrounded upon occasion by the spirits of dead people, who she said were asking her to help them. None of her childhood or teenage mystical experiences resulted in a personal religious transformation, and Rydén went on to live a fairly secular life indifferent to religion.
Official source
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