The psychic who challenged the Vatican

There are stories that contain the essence of a country. Or, at least, a concentrate of its most extravagant part. On the shores of Lake Bracciano, on the outskirts of Rome, on the 3rd of each month a scene as surreal as it is magnetic is repeated, created by the heat of supposed supernatural phenomena, psychics, bishops and many hours of

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television. The Sicilian Gisella Cardia, 54, who is actually called Maria Giuseppe Scarpulla, gathers hundreds of faithful to pray to the Virgin. Her supposed spiritual power emanates from one of the statuettes of the Madonna that she possesses. Her followers claim that she cried blood on two occasions and tears on a few others. But Gisella—that's what they call her—is also respected as an “instrument of God,” her acolytes insist, thanks to the miracle of food multiplication which, in this case and unlike what is described in the Gospels, were not bread and fish, but gnocchi and pizza. And that was already the definitive proof to convince many of her faithful, who have come to make important donations to a woman firmly convicted of fraud and fraudulent bankruptcy who has challenged the Catholic Church with her power of convocation. This Wednesday, however, was not just any Wednesday.

Cardia's popularity grew in recent months after the media covered her shady criminal past (she was sentenced to two years in prison for fraudulent bankruptcy). The Church, fed up with the monthly

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that had already lasted five years, decided to investigate his case and the bishop of the corresponding diocese, Monsignor Marco Salvi, with the approval of the Vatican and after a television confrontation in one of the programs that dedicate hours to This matter, he handed down a ruling. After several verifications, “the analysis of a committee of experts in which there was a mariologist, a theologian, a psychologist and a canonist, but also the external consultancy of some specialists” decreed that the apparitions explained by Cardia “have no ecclesial value.” nor can they be used as such, not even in the civil sphere.” The bishop also prohibited the visionary from appearing again in the Trevignano meadow, where she celebrated her prayer with the faithful and a huge virgin under threat of excommunication. And that is why the expectation this Wednesday, which was not like any other, was total.

Gisella Cardia with her husband, Gianni, on May 3, 2023. Future Publishing (Future Publishing via Getty Imag)

The enclosure, suitably fenced, is prepared that day to welcome the faithful at 2:30 p.m. without knowing if she would appear. Gisella had already escaped on another occasion. Pier Giorgio, 72, walks slowly along the kilometer-long rocky path that leads to the site. He, he assures, doesn't give a damn what the bishop said. “Is the bishop God? “No, right?” he inquires. But, of course, what if the psychic was excommunicated? Would she still come to prayer? “Of course, this is a winding road. You are Spanish and perhaps you have not heard of Padre Pio. But he suffered the same vicissitudes.” Little by little many more arrive. Angelo Abruzi, a 61-year-old man with a flower in his hand and coming from Brindisi (Apulia), also has no qualms about placing himself outside the ecclesiastical perimeter if it is convenient to protect the visionary. “Look, I wouldn't come here if I didn't think something supernatural was happening. Do I look like a hiker?”

The faithful of Gisella Cardia pray the Rosary before the Virgin of Trevignano Romano. Antonio Masiello (Antonio Masiello/EL PAIS)

The fact is that the psychic bought the statuette that supposedly cries blood in 2014 on a pilgrimage to the sanctuary of the Virgin of Medjugorje, in Bosnia-Herzegovina. And some of those faithful, coming from all over the world, claim that they have seen this miracle take place. There is, for example, Andrea: burly circumstantial doorman of the miraculous compound converted to Marianism after a life of nightclubs, luxury cars and expensive sneakers, according to his own account. He is one of those who has seen the virgin cry, although in her case it was only water, he clarifies. And also his colleague, a man devoted to Paolo Vasile, who high-fives some of the attendees as they walk through the door and wishes them “good prayers.” Both admit that the visionary is suffering the unspeakable these days, “she faces an ordeal like that of Jesus before the Cross.” But they do not clarify whether or not she plans to attend the monthly meeting after the bishop has prohibited this celebration by decree. In the background, an imposing virgin, a huge cross before which the Cardia fans kneel and a man paragliding, which adds even more of an aura of a Paolo Sorrentino film to the scene. But today is a different day. Everyone is waiting for her, who promised not to back down even a millimeter after the latest news about her.

Even those who don't want it wait for it. Because at the door there are also three women from the committee against the psychic and her association. They protest, among other things, because the land where the prayer is held, and which belongs to the NGO Association of the Virgin of Trevignano Romano, should not be fenced as it is a natural park. “I hope this ends as soon as possible. We are the circus of Italy,” protests Italia Laudano, a resident of this town of 5,000 inhabitants that has become the meat of cathodic programs and gossip. “Do I know Cardia? Of course, before she went around town. And she came to the hairdresser, so cool. She was saying around that she multiplied the gnocchi and the pizzas. And that she was pregnant with the Holy Spirit! Well, let her show the ultrasound! ”She challenges her with that Roman cynicism and irony, present even in the confrontation with the doormen of the premises. “Hey, you, warrior of light!” She shouts to Andrea, who never loses her smile.

Andrea, a volunteer from the Gisella Cardia association, acts as the doorman of the area where the Rosary is prayed. Antonio Masiello (Antonio Masiello/EL PAIS)

The Rosary prayer begins. Inside there are about 100 faithful. A collaborator takes the microphone and starts listing the mysteries. But Gisella still does not appear. Minutes pass, uncertainty grows. And nothing. “This one isn't coming, I'm telling you,” insists another of the neighbors while some of those gathered raise their arms and others kneel on the meadow. “She is a scammer,” the neighbor continues. Beyond the difficulty in accepting her supposed miracles, she refers to those she has as fraudulent bankruptcy. And to the money that some believers gave him. Like poor Luigi Avella, a retired official from the Ministry of Economy who gave her 123,000 euros because he thought the virgin would help his sick wife. Now, as he has announced, he wants to get them back.

After a while, the psychic's collaborators read a statement. “Mrs. Gisella Cardia will not be present at the prayer on April 3 to demonstrate her effective communion with the Catholic Church. She thus hopes to be able to open a dialogue with the bishop of Cività Castellana, Monsignor Salvi,” the note says.

But that dialogue will be complicated, because the diocese, supported by the Vatican, has already ruled that there is nothing supernatural about Cardia's

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. And because many here, like Laudano, believe that the psychic Gisella has escaped again. “Hopefully, and that he takes her virgin, the pizzas and the gnocchi with her.” Next May 3 he will have the answer.

One of the followers of the psychic Gisella Cardia is attacked by the media waiting at the door of the premises. Antonio Masiello (Antonio Masiello/EL PAIS)

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