Editing Marian apparition (section)

== Political impact ==
Marian apparitions have held significant importance during [[war]]time and during periods of political change.

In Italy, Mary would become both an important religious figure and her image would be used by the church and political parties. In 1848, the first elections were held for the parliament of the Italian Republic following the [[Revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states|Revolutions of 1848 in Italy.]] This election was between the [[Christian Democracy (Italy)#Pentapartito|Christian Democrats]] and the [[Popular Democratic Front (Italy)|Popular Front]]. The Christian Democrats, with the support of [[Pope Pius XII]], portrayed the election as voting ''for'' Christ or ''against'' Christ in order to maintain power. During this era, there were an increased number of Marian Apparitions occurring throughout France, such as viewers seeing her appear atop a church. While some leftists claimed these were orchestrated by the church, they would ultimately sway the public towards reinstating the Christian Democrats. <ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1595mv2 |title=Cold War Mary: Ideologies, Politics, and Marian Devotional Culture |date=2021-02-03 |publisher=Universitaire Pers Leuven |isbn=978-94-6166-356-6 |editor-last=Margry |editor-first=Peter Jan |doi=10.2307/j.ctv1595mv2|jstor=j.ctv1595mv2 }}</ref>

In Eastern Europe, conflicts between the Ukrainian government and those that identified as Transcarpathian arose in the Carpathian Mountains in the Western Ukraine region. [[Dzhublyk]] has been the site of various Marian apparitions. Halemba argues that Marian apparitions commonly become resources to challenge and restructure existing social and political structures. At Dzhublyk, during one of the first Marian apparitions the viewer claimed that Mary said her mission was to reinstate the church’s power and unite the people with each other within the church. The visionaries, Marianka and Olenka that saw the Marian Apparition at Dzhublyk, would communicate Mary’s wishes to the priest managers, who would then share the message for them. Dzhublyk, like the site of other Marian apparitions, became a booming pilgrimage site and a church was constructed in her honor. The town has seen significant economic growth since the first sightings in 2002.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Halemba |first=Agnieszka E. |title=Negotiating Marian apparitions: the politics of religion in Transcarpathian Ukraine |date=2015 |publisher=Central European university press |isbn=978-615-5053-36-8 |series=Leipzig studies on the history and culture of East-Central Europe |location=Budapest New York (N.Y.)}}</ref>

Between 1937 and 1940, a group of young girls in Heede, Germany reported seeing Marian apparitions over 100 times in total, during which she warned against secularization. Conflicts between German citizens, church officials and the government began to rise. Mystics like [[Therese Neumann]] who claimed to have Marian apparitions were at risk of excommunication and legal prosecution. The Nazi regime viewed Catholicism as a deviation from their authority and persecuted and killed various German priests and nuns, particularly those that resisted against Nazi control. Marian apparitions also increased significantly following World War II, with up to 14 apparitions being reported each year between 1945 and 1954. Following the downfall of Nazism, apparitions in Heroldsbach and Fehrbach became common. In 1950, during a Marian apparition, the viewers claimed that disobeying her wishes would lead to Russia invading Germany and bringing "starvation with them".<ref>{{Cite book |last=O'Sullivan |first=Michael E. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/on1005117701 |title=Disruptive power: Catholic women, miracles, and politics in modern Germany, 1918-1965 |date=2018 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4875-0343-7 |series=German and European studies |location=Toronto ; Buffalo |oclc=on1005117701}}</ref>