St Faustina’s story above is pure propaganda nonsense. Faustina (Helena Kowalska) follows a familiar pattern. She was one of ten children born into poverty, uneducated and only semi-literate. No wonder she craved attention. Her ‘visions’ told her to institute a cult of the Divine Mercy, which became another sally in the age-old debate between local cults and Vatican central authority. Being uneducated she did her best, but made some theological gaffes and the Vatican disapproved.
As is so often the case, the Vatican rethought the issues when it became clear she was popular with the locals (much the same thing happened with Padre Pio- bums on seats outweigh mere considerations of heresy or misconduct). And, of course, a Polish pope wasn’t going to ignore the chance of a Polish saint.
More Here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2010/mar/04/religion-christianity
