Charlie Johnston in 2015

The Archdiocese of Denver’s statement concerning Charlie Johnston

Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver has decided to strongly advise the faithful to exercise prudence and caution in regards to Mr. Charlie Johnston’s alleged divine visions and messages.

March 7, 2016, Denver, Colorado
As published today on the Archdiocese of Denver website, His Excellency Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila has issued a statement concerning the popular purported Catholic prophet, Mr. Charles Johnston.

In October 2015, the Archbishop formed a panel of three diocesan priests–two theologians and a canonist- to investigate the prophetic mission and message of  Mr. Charles (“Charlie”) Johnston. The team met with Charlie on a few occasions, during which they interviewed him on a variety of matters pertaining to the mission to which he believes God has called him to. For his part, Charlie Johnston actively participated in the inquiry in a spirit of openness and obedience to the Church.

A significant part of the investigation centered around the archives of Charlie’s writings, particularly those of his letters to his three priest spiritual directors for approximately the past 18 years, along with his current writings that are published on his blog, charliej373.wordpress.com. Additionally, they studied a few of the videos of Charlie’s public conferences, which were given free of charge around the country last summer (2015).

To summarise the statement from the Archdiocese, Archbishop Aquila’s decision at this point is essentially a wait and see approach while “advising the faithful to exercise prudence and caution in regards to Mr. Charlie Johnston’s alleged divine visions and messages.”

Not an approved speaker for the Archdiocese of Denver
Additionally, the official statement declares that “Mr. Johnston will also not be approved as a speaker in the Archdiocese of Denver.”

One  must recognize however that “…not be approved as a speaker for the Archdiocese” is not in any way a negative judgment. In the comments section of the article I wrote about Charlie Johnston awhile back there have been a couple of individuals referencing  the “…not be approved as a speaker in the Archdiocese” statement in an attempt to show that Charlie Johnston has somehow received a negative judgment from the Archdiocese– This is NOT the case.

What the  “…not be approved as a speaker” statement means is that Charlie has not sought, or received, official approval to speak within the Archdiocese, and that there is currently no intention to grant approval. In most, if not all, Dioceses across the country, one must apply—and receive– official approval as a speaker before one is permitted to give speaking engagements or conferences in any of the Catholic churches within the Diocese.  This prior approval measure is to protect the faithful from unqualified or disingenuous speakers. If the Archbishop was to grant approval for Charlie to speak within the Archdiocese, it would be interpreted as a implicit approval of his private revelations, and such is not in keeping with the cautionary approach related in today’s Statement from the Archdiocese.

It is important to note here also that Archbishop Aquila has not restricted Charlie in any way, most especially from speaking publicly about his purported private revelations and prophetic messages, either in conferences or on his blog. He therefore remains free to speak publicly in public venues on private property within the Archdiocese of Denver and abroad–just not in Catholic churches within the Archdiocese. For his part, out of respect for the Archbishop, up to this point Charlie has only conducted private meetings in the Denver area, and one would suspect he will likely continue to do so, as opposed to the public conferences he has given outside of the Archdiocese.

The author visiting with Charlie Johnston in July, 2015

A brief biography of Charlie Johnston and his purported prophetic mission and message–The great “Storm” and subsequent “Rescue” that Charlie believes will soon envelop all of humanity
Charles (or “Charlie”) Johnston is a 60 year old Roman Catholic layman living in Denver, CO. Throughout his varied career he worked for a time as a newspaper editor, a radio talk show host, and also a political campaign manager. Charlie suffered a severe neurological event at 9:03AM on Good Friday, 2003, which still affects him physically to this day. Although suffering from this painful nerve damage, feeling called to do so by God he walked 3,200 miles across the country, from Feb. 11, 2011 to Aug. 21, 2012, sleeping in the woods, meeting people and praying as he went.

He claims that since his early childhood he has been frequently visited by Jesus, Mary and especially the Archangel Gabriel, whom he often simply calls “My angel”. The sole reason for these alleged heavenly visits purportedly has been– and is–to inform and prepare the world for a purported great worldwide “Storm” which, according to the visitors, will bring a grave series of catastrophic events that will encompass all of humanity.

Charlie states that this great “Storm” consists of a worldwide economic  collapse, resulting in the toppling of governments around the world, along with a series of wars; the first war being “…the confrontation with, and fall of political Islam”, followed by a “…confrontation between the Judeo-Christian world and the current government of China.”

To summarize Charlie’s prophesies for the “Storm”, he essentially predicts a crippling worldwide economic collapse resulting in societal chaos and strife in an unprecedented scale, bringing with it serious disruptions in all areas of society, including technology etc, along with a war between China and the rest of the Judeo-Christian world which all together will, according to Charlie, bring humanity to a point wherein most everyone around the globe will lose hope.

However, in late 2017, Charlie prophesizes a miraculous “Rescue” through the direct intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which according to Charlie, all of humanity will witness and personally experience. This predicted miraculous Rescue will put an immediate end to the Storm, and humanity thus renewed will begin rebuilding its governments and societies.

Time will very soon tell whether Charlie’s private revelations are authentic, or not
Along with the prophesies concerning the Storm and the subsequent Rescue in late 2017, Charlie has also stated that President Obama will not finish his term as president, and that the next leader of the USA will not be elected, that is, he will not come through the normal political process; he has stated that there will probably be no presidential election, but if there is, it will be irrelevant (in other words, even if someone is formally elected, according to Charlie there will definitely be no swearing in ceremony for that elected person come January 20, 2017). Given the current presidential election and “swearing in” timeline, one can assume therefore that the predicted Storm would have to be underway before the end of this year. Ultimately therefore, time will very soon tell whether Charlie’s revelations are authentic, or not.

Meantime, Archbishop Aquila has wisely taken the wait and see approach, while urging caution and prudence concerning Charlie’s private revelations. Since up to this point no one has apparently found any serious doctrinal errors in Charlie’s writings or statements, a wait and see or “neutral” approach is in fact really the best choice, at least in this writers opinion. The prophesised events, or lack of events, will soon reveal the truth, one way or the other. One would also do well to keep in mind the part of the Archdiocese statement that says: “As has been demonstrated with other alleged apparitions, the danger exists of people placing greater faith in a prediction than in Christ’s words and promises.”

Those interested in reading more info about Charlie Johnston and his purported prophetic message and mission can read the article I wrote last year entitled “Charles Johnston and the upcoming Storm -An alleged prophet with a critically important message for humanity”. As with the original article, I file this article also under the “We report, you discern” principle.
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“Many continue to think that the Storm is God’s punishment of us. IT IS NOT. Get that out of your head. The Storm is what we have brought on ourselves. It is an evil that is entirely wrought by our hands. God has nothing to do with it. If you don’t firmly get that right, you will get almost everything else wrong. The great evil is that we have convinced ourselves that we are sufficient to ourselves, that we are masters of our destiny with no need for God, whatsoever”
“But, God has a plan for us and for our reclamation. He never leaves us bereft. Acknowledge God; take the next right step; and be a sign of hope to those around you, knowing that God is always close at hand.”  -Charlie Johnston