It just keeps getting incredible what the Pope is backing away from. Well, looks like the Pope is retracting more than a few things, now they are backing away from the apparitions that have been claimed of Jesus. Catholics believe that figures such as Jesus and Mary can appear supernaturally, known as apparitions, to share religious messages, inspire devotion, or call for peace. But now the Pope seems to be taking steps in backing away from this long held conviction..

"Jesus may answer prayers but he has not made special appearances in a small town in the north of France, the Vatican said on Wednesday.

In a new instruction approved by Pope Leo, the Vatican's top doctrinal office said stories of appearances by Jesus in the town of Dozule, in Normandy, were not to be considered genuine by the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.

A Catholic mother in the town had reported seeing Jesus 49 times during the 1970s, and said he had dictated a series of messages and told her to build a 7.38-metre (24.21-foot) cross on a hillside in the town.

"The phenomenon of the alleged apparitions ... is to be regarded, definitively, as not supernatural in origin, with all the consequences that flow from this determination," said the text issued by the doctrinal office.

Catholics believe religious figures such as Jesus and Mary can make supernatural appearances, called apparitions, to offer religious messages, create new devotional practices or make general appeals for peace.

The Vatican has a formal evaluation process for assessing claimed appearances, and it warns against use of alleged phenomena for monetary gain.

The Vatican also recently issued a decree clarifying the titles Catholics can use for Mary. That text said Mary cannot be called the "co-redeemer" of the world, since Catholics believe Jesus alone redeemed humanity by his crucifixion and death."

Jesus did not appear on hill in France, Vatican says | Reuters .
https://www.reuters.com/world/jesus-did-not-appear-hill-france-vatican-says-2025-11-12/

Actually he is NOT taking steps backing away from their long held belief.
The papacy has always held the right to evaluate these claims as to which "reported appearances" they will recognize as authentic and which they will not recognize.
All Pope Leo is doing in those articles is saying that a claim of a certain woman who claims Jesus is appearing in a certain place, giving her messages, is not authentic.

What they are doing is redefining the rules as to who and how this evaluation will be done.
They have had confusion when certain bishops say an appearance is authentic only to have a higher authority say "no it is not".
So they are setting up a procedure, and investigation commission to check the reliability etc. etc. of the various claims. The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (I think) has the final say.

So Catholics STILL believe that figures such as Jesus and Mary can appear supernaturally, known as apparitions, to share religious messages, inspire devotion, or call for peace.

The only "change" is in setting up new guidelines to streamline how the church defines which ones they see as "authentic".