Originally published at National Catholic Register
The blessed dictated her visions concerning Mary’s last days in Ephesus, including her death and assumption, described in great detail, in August 1821, before the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was proclaimed in 1854.
To mark the 200th anniversary of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich’s death and the 20th anniversary of her beatification by Pope John Paul II, the Archdiocese of Izmir in Turkey held a symposium Oct. 11-12 in the presence of Archbishop Marek Solczyński, apostolic nuncio to Turkey, and Archbishop Martin Kmetec of Izmir.
Approximately 80 people from various Turkish cities as well as France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, İtaly, Canada and the U.S. participated.
The first day took place at St. Helen Church in Karşıyaka, Izmir, followed by an evening concert at the city’s Cathedral of St. John. On the second day at the House of the Virgin in Ephesus, a relic of Emmerich was donated by the bishopric of Münster, Germany, to the archbishopric of Izmir. The symposium concluded with the feast of Theotokos, which took place on site.
As Franciscan Father Adrian Baciu, a parish priest in Karşıyaka, explained, Emmerich, who was born in 1774, was not a specialist in sacred Scripture or Church history, just
