The Blog

The next stages include gathering stories “that have been passed down . . . by Adele or about Adele,” as explained by the Very Reverend John Girotti, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Green Bay, in a press conference. He emphasized the oral tradition as a “very real thing” in Northern Wisconsin, the largest Belgian settlement in the United States. Adele herself could neither read nor write, and the Shrine describes the accounts of her life and visions that have been passed down through generations as a “constant testimony of the Christian faithful since Our Lady’s appearance to Adele.” “From a theological standpoint, a picture will be painted of her life,” said Fr. Girotti. “All of this will help in the discernment, whether we can go to the next step.”