Antonio Ruffini

[Stone]

In the days leading up to Pope Francis' Consecration on March 25th, 2022, a video was widely circulated in which Fr. Paul Kramer, in a video interview with Fr. Gruner in 2012, answered a question about who would perform the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart. 

I first saw this video on gloria.tv and on three other sites but here is a version on YouTube:

Fr. Kramer's reliance on the authority of the alleged stigmatist Antonio Ruffini piqued my interest as I had never heard of this man but assumed he must be quite important for Fr. Kramer to note that Pope Pius XII had a chapel built on the site of his receiving of the stigmata. Most importantly, I wanted to know if he was an approved mystic. We all know that since Vatican II it can be hard to use that criterion (Church approval) but if Pius XII was aware and seemingly approved of Mr. Ruffini's mystical experiences, it should be easily discoverable. 

If anyone can add to what I've been able to find out I would be most appreciative because actually there has been precious little I could find. What I did learn however didn't inspire confidence. But let me say that these concerns are superficial and somewhat subjective and that is why I am asking if anyone has anything more concrete to offer. 

So here is what was discovered...

One of the top sites that comes up when researching Mr. Ruffini was this one which stated:

Antonio Ruffini was born in Rome in 1907 on the 8 December, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. He was named in honour of St Anthony, the eldest of three boys and lived in a devout family with a very caring attitude to the poor. His mother died when Antonio was very young. Antonio only had a primary school education but, from an early age, he prayed with his heart rather than from books. He had his first vision of Jesus and Mary when he was 17 years old. He saved his money and went to Africa as a lay missionary. He stayed for a year visiting all the villages, entering the huts to take care of the sick and to baptise the newborns. He went back to Africa a few more times and seemed to have the gift of xenoglossy, which is the ability to speak and understand foreign languages without ever having studied them. He even knew the dialects of the various tribes. He was also a healer in Africa . He would ask the people questions about their ailments and then God would heal them with the herbal remedies that Antonio would find, boil and hand out. He didn’t know what he was doing - it was all instinctive. Word soon got around to the other villages.

The manifestation of the bloody stigmata in Antonio Ruffini occurred August 12, 1951 while returning from work as a representative of a company wrapping paper, along the Via Appia, from Rome to Terracina, on an old car. It was very hot and Ruffini was seized with unbearable thirst. After stopping the car, he went in search of a fountain he found shortly after. Suddenly, he saw a woman in the fountain, barefoot, covered in a black cloak, which he believed to be a local peasant also came drink. Just arrived, she said, "Drink if you are thirsty! "And added:" How did you hurt? "Ruffini, who approached her hands like a cup to drink a sip of water, saw that the water was changed into blood. Seeing this, Ruffini, without understanding what was happening, turned to the lady. She smiled at him, and immediately began talking to him about God and his love for men. He was surprised to hear his truly sublime words and in particular those referrer sacrifice of the Cross.

When the vision disappeared, Ruffini, moved and delighted, walked to the car, but when he tried to start, he noticed that on the back and the palms of his hands were open appeared large bubbles of reddish blood shed as if was bleeding. A few days later, he was suddenly awakened in the night by a loud noise from wind and rain and got up to close the window. But he saw to his astonishment that the sky was full of stars and the night was quiet. He remarked even time at his feet a little moisture, something unusual and noticed with surprise, that on the back and on the soles of his feet had appeared wounds like those he had on his hands. From that time, Antonio Ruffini is given completely to men, charity, the sick and the spiritual assistance of humanity.

Antonio Ruffini had the stigmata on his hands for over 40 years. They went clear through his palms and have been examined by doctors, who could offer no rational explanation. In spite of the fact that the wounds went clear through his hands they never become infected. Venerable Pope Pius XII authorized the blessing of a chapel on the spot where Ruffini received the stigmata on the Via Appia, and Father Tomaselli, the miracle worker, wrote a booklet about him. Riffuni is also reported to have had the gift of bilocation. After receiving the stigmata Antonio became a member of the Third Order of St Francis and took a vow of obedience. He was a very humble man. Whenever someone asked to see the stigmata, he would mumble a short prayer, kiss the crucifix, remove his gloves and say: “Here they are. Jesus gave me these wounds and, if He wants, He can take them away.”

Father Kramer some years ago wrote these comments with regard to Antonio Ruffini: “I myself knew Ruffini for many years. In the early 1990s Ruffini was asked point blank in his home: “Is John Paul II the Pope who is going to do the Consecration of Russia ?” He answered: “No, it’s not John Paul. It will not be his immediate successor either, but the one after that. He is the one who will consecrate Russia."

Antonio Ruffini died at age 92, and even in his death bed, vehemently stated that the wounds in his hands, similar to what Christ had to leave the nails for the crucifixion, were "God's Gift.

Side note: The very modernist painting of the 'crucifixion' above Mr. Ruffini's head in the above photograph did not inspire confidence in his authenticity. The website doesn't state if that photograph of Mr. Ruffini is in his home (meaning the painting is his) but it is hard to imagine Padre Pio for example, posing for a photograph under such an abominable rendition of the crucifixion.

Another website advertising a book about Mr. Ruffini notes the following brief description:

Antonio Ruffini was born in Rome in 1907. At the age of 17, he had his first Marian vision, in which he was told that he would carry the Cross of Calvary. Despite this call to religious life, Antonio continued to live as a layman, marrying and becoming a commercial agent. However, on 12 August 1951, at the age of 44, he saw a mendicant child and a woman dressed in black. The woman was the Sorrowful Virgin and she informed him that he had been chosen as a sacrificial victim soul. On the same day, the visible stigmata appeared on his hands. In the following weeks, they also appeared on his feet and chest. Antonio communicated the news to his family and to the Roman clergy, dividing the community between sceptics and the faithful.

He subsequently joined the Third Order of Saint Francis, and undertook several missions in Africa, where he was a miracle worker and had visions and prophecies. His stigmata were always open and they bled every Friday, especially during Lent.[Emphasis mine.]

The circumstances described in these brief descriptions of the 'receiving of the stigmata' seem to contradict what the Church normally looks for in determining if the occurrence of a stigmata is legitimate: 2. The stigmata all appear at the same time. and 3. The stigmata appear spontaneously while the person prays in ecstasy. But that being said, this website is Conciliar so maybe these criterion are not traditional. 

Now because there is little in English about Mr. Ruffini we are relying very much on Fr. Kramer's words about him. There is a book written by a woman named Anna Maria Turi in 2012 in Italian and I believe another booklet published by a Father Tomaselli (supposedly in Italian?) of which I cannot find an online copy.

I can find nothing about the chapel supposedly commissioned by Pope Pius XII over the site of his stigmata. One book cover notes that Ruffini himself built the chapel. But again, most of what is known about about Mr. Ruffini is in Italian and what little is available in English is primarily the recommendation/promotion by Fr. Kramer. 

However, all that being said, if this Antonio Ruffini is legitimate, according to Fr. Kramer it would not be Pope Benedict XVI who would consecrate Russia but Benedict's successor - who we all know is Pope Francis. 

Another side note, Fr. Gruner too, later in that same interview does not assume Antonio Ruffini is correct, he merely says, "if Antonion Ruffini is correct, then Pope Benedict XVI is the pope of the assassination" (as noted in the semi-released Third Secret of Fatima by the Vatican in 2000). 

Again, if anyone can offer something more concrete than what has been shared here, it would be most helpful.