Standards of Evidence & Authority

Via Aeterna documents whether available verified evidence demonstrates compliance or noncompliance with applicable authoritative Catholic requirements. It is not a popularity or preference rating.

What Via Aeterna Is Not

Via Aeterna is not a traditionalism score, conservatism score, progressivism score, parish popularity score, liturgical-aesthetics score, or a review/rating site based on personal preference.

Permitted Catholic practices — including the Ordinary Form, vernacular language, versus populum celebration where permitted, and other practices permitted by competent Church authority — must not be classified as violations merely because a reporter, verifier, administrator, or automated system dislikes them. The absence of a preferred practice, such as the lack of a Traditional Latin Mass, does not itself establish a violation. Aesthetic or ideological preference alone is insufficient.

Sources of Authority

Findings are assessed against applicable authoritative Catholic sources, including:

  • Code of Canon Law
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church
  • Catholic doctrine and dogma
  • Authoritative liturgical books and norms
  • General Instruction of the Roman Missal
  • Authoritative Vatican/dicastery documents and papal acts
  • Legitimate diocesan directives within the competent authority of the diocesan bishop

Evidence and Scores

  • Allegations do not affect parish scores until verified.
  • Automatic (AI) findings alone never affect parish scores.
  • A parish with no verified findings displays “Not Yet Verified”, not a perfect score. An absence of reports does not equal demonstrated compliance.
  • Authoritative sources should be cited for verified findings so the public can understand why something was classified as a violation.

Roles and Review

  • Reporter and verifier roles are separated. A reporter never verifies their own report, and this is enforced on the server.
  • AI assists analysis — identifying, retrieving, comparing, and organizing authoritative sources — but AI is not an ecclesiastical authority and can never by itself establish a verified violation.
  • Possible violations identified by AI require independent human verification before they become verified findings.
  • When an AI determination and a human verification conflict, the matter is routed to secondary review. AI disagreement alone is never a Terms of Service violation.

Parish and Diocese Participation

Verified representatives of parishes and dioceses may view relevant reports, respond to verified findings, submit clarification and evidence, report corrective action, and request review. They cannot delete legitimate findings, suppress findings, directly manipulate scores, or mark violations resolved without verification.

A “Verified Parish Representative” or “Verified Diocesan Representative” badge means only that Via Aeterna verified the account's authorization to represent the institution. It does not mean the parish or diocese endorses Via Aeterna.

Correction and Resolution

A verified finding does not permanently stigmatize a parish. Corrective action may be reported and, once itself verified, a finding can become Resolved.

Resolution does not mean deletion. Resolved findings remain historically visible, documenting both the original problem and the institution's response.

About Via Aeterna

Via Aeterna documents publicly available evidence about Catholic parishes and institutions. It does not claim ecclesiastical authority, and its findings do not constitute judgments of the Church. For authoritative determinations, please consult the competent ecclesiastical authority.