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The Miracle Record

Garabandal (1961–1965)

Apparitions Image Video

The story in one line

four girls in Garabandal experienced repeated Marian apparitions, trances, and messages beginning in 1961.

The basic story

Between 1961 and 1965, four girls in San Sebastian de Garabandal, Spain claimed apparitions of St. Michael and the Virgin Mary. The case became famous for filmed ecstasies, backward walks, crowd scenes, and later interviews with Conchita Gonzalez, while the local diocese has not issued a positive recognition of the apparitions as supernatural.

Reported message

The Garabandal tradition centers on calls to prayer, sacrifice, visits to the Blessed Sacrament, and amendment of life, together with later warnings about a coming Warning, Miracle, and possible Chastisement.

Historical setting

Garabandal belongs to early 1960s rural Spain, where four girls drew crowds with reported trances, messages, and promised future signs.

San Sebastian de Garabandal, Spain 1961–1965 Filmed ecstasies and interviews Supernatural character not confirmed

Claimed apparitions

1961 to 1965

The public Garabandal record centers on a multi-year sequence of alleged apparitions.

Visionaries

Four village girls

Conchita, Jacinta, Mari Loli, and Mari Cruz are the named figures in the surviving record.

Public record

Film, photographs, interviews

The surviving footage and interview archive are part of why the case remains widely discussed.

Diocesan status

No affirmative recognition

Successive bishops of Santander have said the supernatural character has not been established.

The story

Section titled “The story”

Garabandal feels confusing unless its pieces are separated. Between 1961 and 1965, four girls in the mountain village of San Sebastian de Garabandal in Cantabria, Spain claimed repeated apparitions of St. Michael the Archangel and then of the Virgin Mary.[1] [2]

The visionaries were:

  • Conchita Gonzalez
  • Jacinta Gonzalez
  • Mari Loli Mazon
  • Mari Cruz Gonzalez[2]

The public record of the case includes film footage, interviews, photographs, and crowd scenes tied to the reported ecstasies and messages.[1] [3] So the page is really tracking three things at once: what the girls said happened, what later footage and interviews still let people watch, and what the local diocese continued to say about the case.[1] [2] [3]

Garabandal public file

  1. Seers Four village girls The reports revolve around Conchita, Jacinta, Mari Loli, and Mari Cruz.
  2. Visibility Filmed ecstasies Garabandal stayed public because the scenes were photographed, filmed, and discussed widely.
  3. Messages Warnings and future claims The file includes reported messages plus later claims about a Warning, Miracle, and Chastisement.
  4. Status No local approval The diocesan line remained non-approval even as devotion and discussion continued.
Open full graphic
A visual explainer of Garabandal showing named seers, filmed ecstasies, future-oriented messages, and the repeated local diocesan non-approval.
Garabandal stayed visible because it was not only a village apparition claim. It became a filmed, photographed, and repeatedly discussed public file that never received local approval. Local explainer graphic

Primary-source file

Section titled “Primary-source file”
Bishop summary Response of Bishop José Vilaplana

This published text summarizes the longstanding position of the Diocese of Santander that the supernatural character could not be confirmed.

ewtn.com 2022 diocesan position Statement reported from Bishop Manuel Sánchez Monge

The 2022 report quotes the bishop saying the position of his predecessors remains unchanged.

ewtn.ie Archival interview Conchita Gonzalez interview with Garabandal footage

The video preserves a long-form Conchita interview and includes footage often cited in connection with the reported ecstasies.

youtube.com

Public record and status

Section titled “Public record and status”

The cited sources document three recurring features of Garabandal:

  • it generated a substantial surviving body of filmed and photographed material attached to the claim
  • it centered on very specific future-oriented claims about a warning, miracle, and chastisement
  • it has remained enormously influential among devotional Catholics despite never receiving diocesan approval

Garabandal is not a diocese-approved case. The public record includes a large body of film footage and later interviews connected with an unapproved apparition claim.[1] [2] [3]

Publicly documented chronology

Section titled “Publicly documented chronology”

The three sources cited on this page together fix a basic public chronology:

  • reports of apparitions begin in 1961 and continue through 1965[1] [2]
  • bishop statements from the 1960s onward are repeatedly cited as non-affirming rather than condemnatory[1]
  • the case continues to be discussed publicly through later episcopal comments, including the 2022 statement reported by EWTN Ireland[2]
  • interview and film material remain part of the public archive attached to the case[3]

Conchita interview and archival footage

Section titled “Conchita interview and archival footage”

The interview below has been added because it is one of the clearer long-form Conchita recordings in circulation and also includes archival footage from Garabandal that supporters frequently point to when discussing the girls’ reported trances and upward gazes during the alleged apparitions.[3]

The surviving media record is one of the clearest documented features of the case. Garabandal circulated not only through printed testimony but also through visible film material that viewers can still inspect directly.[3]

Diocesan status

Section titled “Diocesan status”

The local diocese has not approved Garabandal as a supernatural apparition.

Bishop Jose Vilaplana of Santander wrote that all the bishops of the diocese from 1961 through 1970 held that the supernatural character of the alleged apparitions could not be confirmed.[1] In a later statement reported in October 2022, Bishop Manuel Sanchez Monge said his position remained that of his predecessors: “There are no signs of supernaturality.”[2]

The public record on Garabandal can be summarized briefly:

  • Garabandal has extensive surviving interviews, photographs, and film footage
  • Garabandal includes public reports of ecstasies and related phenomena recorded on film
  • Garabandal has not been recognized by the local diocese as authentic

References

Section titled “References”
  1. EWTN. “The Alleged Apparitions at Garabandal.” English text of Bishop Jose Vilaplana’s response summarizing the longstanding judgment of the Diocese of Santander that the supernatural character of the alleged apparitions could not be confirmed. Available at: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/alleged-apparitions-at-garabandal-3719
  2. EWTN Ireland / ACI Prensa. “Spanish bishop makes statement on alleged apparitions at Garabandal.” October 20, 2022 report quoting Bishop Manuel Sanchez Monge that Rome’s assessment remains valid and that there are “no signs of supernaturality.” Available at: https://ewtn.ie/2022/10/21/spanish-bishop-makes-statement-on-alleged-apparitions-at-garabandal/
  3. YouTube. “Interview with Conchita Gonzalez” video provided for this page, containing Conchita material and archival Garabandal footage. Embedded from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8O3VdJDejk