Saint Bernadette and Pope Leo XIII

Q: Was a letter about five secrets written by Maria Bernarda Soubirous to Pope Leo XIII in 1879 recently found by Father Antoine La Grande?

A: News reports have circulated that a researcher, Father Antoine La Grande, a French priest, has discovered a long lost letter of St. Bernadette at the Vatican Library. The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute has inquired at the Vatican Library concerning this matter. According to officials at the Library and the registry of visitors who do research at the library, no one by the name of Father La Grande nor any otherwise unknown patrons have done research at the library, which would indicate such a discovery.

Having received several letters on this topic, we did special research in the manuscript section of the Vatican Library and in the archives as well. No letter written to Pope Leo XIII mentioning these five secrets has been found.

We also checked references of admission to study in the library, but the French priest, Antoine La Grande, mentioned as discovering the letter there, has asked for a reader's card neither in the Vatican Library nor in the Vatican Archives.