Cardinal Ratzinger, Cardinal Ruini, and Bishop Bertone unjustly reduced Bishop Claudio Gatti to the lay state in 2002 without any cause by deceiving Pope John Paul II into signing the decree without knowing its contents. Bishop Gatti was denied his rights and never committed any of the canonical crimes required for such an action. The reduction went against Church law and lacked charity. Our Lady confirmed in an apparition that the Pope was unaware of what he was signing and that the three clerics aimed to take revenge on Bishop Gatti for troubling them.