Our Lady of All Nations of Amsterdam
Europe · Netherlands
What happened
In Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Isje Johanna "Ida" Peerdeman (1905-1996), a laywoman born in Alkmaar and moved to Amsterdam as a child, lived a simple life as a secretary, without entering religious life. Between 1945 and 1959, she claimed to have received a series of visions of a female figure identified as the Virgin Mary, with the title "Our Lady of All Nations." The first major vision linked to this title occurred on March 25, 1945, the Feast of the Annunciation. In total, there were approximately fifty-six visions. In them, Ida described symbolic scenes of wars, crises in the Church and the world, along with calls for conversion, peace, and the unity of nations, and a growing emphasis on a new Marian title and the definition of a supposed "fifth dogma" (Mary Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate). Much of the detail comes from Peerdeman's diaries and writings, disseminated by devotional associations; they are not part of the deposit of faith nor do they enjoy doctrinal approval as revelation.
The message
What is preached are calls to conversion, penance, and peace, along with warnings about doctrinal confusion in the Church and the world, and a request for a new Marian dogma. Ida was also allegedly given a prayer addressed to Jesus Christ, intended to be recited worldwide. This prayer contained the problematic phrase "who was once Mary," referring to the Virgin Mary. In 2005, the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith requested that this passage be replaced with an unequivocally orthodox formula, such as "the Blessed Virgin Mary," to avoid misinterpretations regarding the identity of the Mother of God. The Holy See has been very cautious regarding this dogmatic claim and has not accepted the definition of a new dogma based on these visions. In their broader content, the calls to prayer and conversion are consistent with what the Church has always encouraged.
The sanctuary or place today
The original painting of Our Lady of All Nations—the Virgin Mary standing before the cross, above the globe, with rays emanating from her hands toward the nations—is venerated in the Chapel of Our Lady of All Nations at Diepenbrockstraat 3, south of Amsterdam, in the Diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam. Masses, Eucharistic Adoration, and the recitation of the prayer are celebrated there, with the participation of Dutch and international faithful, under the jurisdiction of the diocesan bishop and in accordance with the liturgical discipline of the Church. The image has been disseminated in reproductions in many countries. The chapel houses votive offerings and testimonies of graces attributed to this devotion; however, there is no record of the diocese or the Holy See having officially recognized any canonically verified individual miracles linked to it.
The Church's position
The disciplinary history is complex and should be presented precisely, as recent documents have clarified it. In 1974, the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a unanimous judgment from its cardinal members: "constat de non supernaturalitate," that is, it is established that the apparitions are not of supernatural origin; this judgment was approved by Pope Paul VI. On May 1, 1996, the Bishop of Haarlem, Bishop Hendrik Bomers, with his auxiliary Bishop Jozef Punt, authorized the public veneration of Mary under this title, as a Marian devotion and not as a recognized apparition (a nihil obstat al culto). On May 31, 2002, Bishop Jozef Punt, by then a diocesan bishop, issued a personal declaration affirming his conviction of the supernatural origin of the visions; however, this diocesan judgment could not be modified by, nor was it accepted by, the Holy See. On December 30, 2020, the new bishop, Monsignor Johannes Hendriks, after consulting the Dicastery, clarified that the title "Lady of All Nations" is theologically licit, but that this does not imply recognizing, even implicitly, the supernatural nature of the phenomena, recalling the negative judgment approved by Paul VI. Finally, in 2024, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith confirmed that the 1974 judgment ("constat de non supernaturalitate") is negative and definitive, attesting to the inauthenticity of the alleged phenomenon, while maintaining that the Marian title is licit and that devotion to Mary as "Lady of All Nations," properly understood, can be promoted. It is also worth remembering that, according to the Dicastery's Norms of May 2024, the Church, as a general rule, now issues prudential judgments on the pastoral suitability of devotions rather than declarations of supernatural nature.
Prudence and discernment
The current situation must be presented clearly: the Amsterdam apparitions are not recognized as supernatural—a negative judgment from 1974, reaffirmed in 2024—while it is permitted to venerate the Virgin as "Our Lady of All Nations," to use the image, and to recite the prayer in its corrected form, without the doubtful passage and without linking it to the supernatural nature of the visions or to a new dogma. The favorable declaration of Bishop Punt (2002) must now be read as an isolated diocesan judgment, subsequent and not confirmed by Rome, qualified by the note of Bishop Hendriks (2020) and by the Dicastery's statement (2024). Peerdeman's writings are not part of the deposit of faith; the alleged prophetic fulfillments and testimonies of favors belong to private piety and have not been canonically recognized. The definition of a new Marian dogma belongs solely to the Magisterium, which has not accepted it. Therefore, it is important to practice Marian devotion without taking the messages as absolute or considering them as certain divine revelation. The essential elements—prayer, the sacraments, and the Rosary—are always good and do not require the Church to pronounce on the extraordinary.
Link with the Rosary
The invitation to prayer and the peace associated with this devotion is best experienced through the Rosary, a Marian prayer always recommended by the Church, which leads us with Mary to contemplate the face of Christ, without needing to rely on the extraordinary or on what the Church has not recognized.