Re Gamaliel's Advice re How to Deal with the Apostles....also applies on how to deal with Potentially Authentic Apparitions from Heaven: Acts 5: 38 And now, therefore, I say to you, refrain from these men, and let them alone; for if this council or this work be of men, it will come to nought; 39 But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest perhaps you be found even to fight against God. And they consented to him.

@English Catholic Tell me about your 'personal commission of enquiry' into the Medjugorje Apparitions.
What official status does it have?? There have been thousands & thousands (maybe even millions) of conversions back to God & the Catholic Faith occur in Medjugorje. Tens of millions of people have been there. Many miracles have occurred there. How many conversions have you been responsible for @English Catholic. Hundreds of thousands??? You refer to apparition fanatics....whereas to me you look to be apparition phobic....when apparitions and locutions are an extraordinary, wonderful and real way God communicates to us from Heaven...to a world that very much now needs His help. He gives us signs in the form of miracles, prophecies come true and fruits. If I get to the point where the signs God is giving, bring me to understand that He is actually communicating....I am listening!!!!!!! Repeating....God's way of communicating to our world is through apparitions and locutions. The Bible is full of apparition and locution stories. And He did not stop communicating to us this way after the Bible had been written!!!
1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
20 Despise not prophecies. 21 But prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
@English Catholic can you please explain in natural terms all the miracles associated with Medjugorje & Akita (weeping statue) or do you simply choose to remain ignorant of them in conducting your own 'personal commission of enquiry'.

@P. O'B You have obviously conducted your own little 'personal commission of enquiry' into the Amsterdam Apparitions. The Church Commissions of Enquiry into Apparitions (pre Jorge & Tucho) look at everything...everything....everything that relates to the given apparition being assessed. The Church normally takes many years....even decades...to reach a final conclusion before declaring one way or the other, in order to ensure that it has missed nothing.
Nitpicking a given statement of Our Lady as being bizarre does not amount to a fully comprehensive assessment of these apparitions. This Apparition was approved by Bishop Punt in consideration of so many prophecies coming true. How do you explain that @P.O.B. The Miraculous weeping statue of Our Lady's Statue in Akita, and the approval of the Akita Apparitions, was a confirmation from God that the messages given to Ida Peerdeman were worthy of belief. How do you explain the miracle of the weeping statue in Akita??? I am a qualified scientist....and I would like a detailed scientific explanation if you have one.
PS When St. John's visions, as described in the 'Book of Revelation were first read by others...I am sure many would have thought that the visions seemed slightly (or very) bizarre.....that did not make them inauthentic. When St Bernadette ate the grass, I am sure those present thought of it as being bizarre......"It was very little at first, and muddy as it mixed with the earth. Bernadette drank of it, washed her face with it, and swallowed a bit of grass or herb growing near. The crowd, accustomed as they were to what was ecstatic and heavenly in Bernadette’s action, were at a loss how to interpret her present movements. Some thought her mad.' The Story of St. Bernadette and Lourdes—Pt 2: The Spring of Miracles is Discovered - Cor Jesu Sacratissimum

Yes, what he is or isn't does matter.....for if you believe a pope can be a manifest heretic, blasphemer & idol worshipper, your understanding of what a pope is becomes totally destroyed. Whereas for those who see that it is impossible for a heretic to be a valid Pope....their understanding of what a True and authentic Pope is, remains intact. A false understanding of what a valid Pope is.....is very likely.....of itself.....to be a heresy.

F.X. Wernz, P. Vidal: “Finally they cannot be numbered among the schismatics, who refuse to obey the Roman Pontiff because they consider his person to be suspect or doubtfully electedon account of rumours in circulation.” (Ius Canonicum, 7:398, 1943)

Rev Ignatius Szal: “Nor is there any schism if one merely transgress a papal law for the reason that one considers it too difficult, or if one refuses obedience inasmuch as one suspects the person of the pope or the validity of his election, or if one resists him as the civil head of a state.” (Communication of Catholics with Schismatics, 1948)

De Lugo: “Neither is someone a schismatic for denying his subjection to the Pontiff on the grounds that he has solidly founded [‘probabiliter’] doubts concerning the legitimacy of his election or his power [refers to Sanchez and Palao].” (Disp., De Virt. Fid. Div., disp xxv, sect iii, nn. 35-8)

@brhenry I have a feeling you haven't read thoroughly this statement by the great Archbishop Vigano. It is brilliantly written, detailed, clear and incisive (like the Popes of history.... contrasting to Bergoglio's heresies & calculated ambiguities). Think it will give you a better understanding which of the two... Archbishop Vigano or Jorge Bergoglio....is the true & faithful Catholic leader. exsurgedomine.it/240628-jaccuse-eng/