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Vatican ruling on disputed Medjugorje shrine expected soon
Has the Virgin Mary been appearing daily for many years in the once obscure Bosnian village of Medjugorje to share religious messages with a few local believers? Is the site visited by over 30 million pilgrims a hoax? The question has long divided Catholics who have debated whether the visions are a modern-day miracle, wishful thinking or the result of an elaborate fraud.
(Photo: Virgin Mary statue at reported apparition site, 25 June 2009/Damir Sagolj)
After observing events sceptically for many years, the Vatican may soon issue firmer guidance for Catholics on the claim that the mother of Jesus has been visiting the Balkans, Cardinal Vinko Puljic, head of the bishops’ conference in Bosnia, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. That guidance, if it clearly expresses the scepticism the official Church has long shown towards the Medjugorje phenomenon, could deal a serious blow to a site some Catholics see as a “new Lourdes.”
“We are now awaiting a new directive on this issue,” said Puljic, the Sarajevo archbishop who survived the city’s long wartime siege in the 1990s. “I don’t think we must wait for a long time, I think it will be this year, but that is not clear… I am going to Rome in November and we must discuss this.”
Official Church scepticsm about Medjugorje has become more public in recent months. In June, Bishop Ratko Peric of Mostar, the nearest city in Bosnia, warned Catholics against uncritical belief in Medjugorje and issued a series of restrictions on the parish. “Brothers and sisters, let us not act as if these ‘apparitions’ were recognised and worthy of faith,” he said in a sermon (full text here in Italian translation).
Then in July, Pope Benedict defrocked Rev. Tomislav Vlasic, the former “spiritual director” to the six visionaries, after a year-long probe into charges he exaggerated the apparitions and had fathered a child with a nun.
(Photo:About 20,000 Catholic pilgrims in Medjugorje, 24 June 2001/Matko Biljak)
The investigation, according to a Catholic News Service report, focused on alleged “dubious doctrine, the manipulation of consciences, suspect mysticism and disobedience towards legitimately issued orders.” One account of his story called him “a modern-day Rasputin with a taste for sex and séances” and another placed the Medjugorje story in the context of anti-communism and Croatian nationalism.
Six children first reported visions of the Virgin Mary in 1981 in a scenario reminiscent of famous apparitions in the French town of Lourdes and Fatima in Portugal. In the following years, the Bosnian village became a major pilgrimage site, giving many visitors a renewed sense of spirituality and locals a steady source of much-needed revenue. It also became the focus of controversy as local Franciscan priests running the site promoted their claims in such open defiance of warnings from the Vatican that 10 of them were expelled from the order and the local bishop called them schismatic.
The 1992-95 Bosnian war disrupted the flow of pilgrims, but with three now middle-aged locals still reporting visions, thousands still flock to the Bosnian town every year. One of the visionaries, Ivan Dragicevic, says on the Medjugorje website that he has received nine out of ten secrets from the Virgin Mary, another element reminiscent of Fatima. He now spends half the year in Medjugorje and the other half in the United States, stopping off in places such as Canada and Peru as well to give lectures on his experiences.
Puljic declined to give his own views on the events of Medjugorje. “People have the right to pray everywhere, including in Medjugorje,” he said.
(Photo: Pilgrims pray at reported apparition site, 25 June 2009/Damir Sagolj)
“It is not a sin to pray, it’s not a sin to hear confessions, it is not a sin to give penance, this is a good climate. But this phenomena, apparitions or visions, falls to the (Vatican) commission,” said the cardinal. “It is a very delicate question.”
Do you think Medjugorje represents a miracle or a fraud? What should the Vatican say about it?
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Just returned last night from Medjugorje, and I want to share with all of you my experience there. Maybe it might help any of you who have doubts on the fruits of this tree.
First of all, let me make clear my position on the apparitions. It is true that these apparitions have taken place for a long time, and all looks like a never-ending enigma, but this has nothing to do with the teachings that come from this blessed place. I believe in God, and all these teachings are His teachings. If they are not transmitted by Mary, as the visionaries say, than who else could be in God’s name? It is very simple, and nothing invented: just pray, confess, fast, read the bible and go to mass!!! Mary is not requesting us to believe to her apparitions, but only to believe in her Son, Jesus Christ, and lead us towards him.
Given the parenthesis, I went to Medjugorje not with a curiosity to prove my faith, or to test if the apparitions were true. None of these! I simply went to experience the faith of this community and bring it back with me in my daily life. I go daily to Holy Mass, and fully believe in the presence of Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist. But, unfortunately when the Mass is celebrated, most of the times it is only the Priest, I and 1 or 2 other people present in the church. Christianity is living God in community, and that’s why it is important for everyone to make the experience of a strong believing community as the one in Medjugorje.
It is not important to know if the apparitions are true, because blessed are those who believe without having seen. The most important thing in Medjugorje are the super-long lines to confessions, the supernatural conversions and life consecrations to God, the loving silence during prayer, Mass and Adoration. The strong experience of a faithful Christian Community is the most convincing proof that Mary, our Blessed Mother, is guiding us to her Son.
So, if you decide to go to Medjugorje, go, and live God’s presence in its fullness of a devoted community, and bring it back to your parishes. Don’t miss for anything in the world the Adoration hour!!!
I know that some will find it hard to believe, but that’s a long story going on for 2000 years now. Who believed Jesus when he was alive? Who believes in Him today? We Christians are losers for the world, but let’s keep our heads up as the King is coming. Let’s empty our hearts to make room for the Jesus Child, so Mary can deliver Him in the deepest of our inner and live with the love only He can give us.
God bless us all!
God’s about to intervene in a way unlike any other in the history of the world.
I have been to Medjugorje and thank the Mother of God for her Blessings there. For Her showing me the importance of the Mass and Confession.
People better start getting priorties in the proper place and stop offending God.
There is no one yet who has come close to changing my position on Medjugorje. Ivan the visionary is my friend. I will defend it as much as I can. every arguement that I have read against it can be dismissed with a little bit of research.
BUT, if the Church ruled against it today, you would not hear another word out of me about Medjugroje. Obedience to the Chruch is a top priortity. Unlike the former Bishop who was told not to speak publicly anymore about Medjugorje and contunued after he was moved.