Status of Međugorje
Encyclopedia
Međugorje, a village located in present day Bosnia-Herzegovina, has been the site of alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary since June 24, 1981. This article describes the Catholic Church's response to these alleged apparitions.
from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
, the foremost authority for the discernment of the alleged supernatural character of an alleged apparition is the local bishop of a diocese. However, the relevant Bishops Conference
may intervene at the request of the local bishop, or if the influence of a phenomenon extends outside the region. Also, the Holy See
can intervene either at the request of the bishop, or at the request of a group of Catholic faithful, or at its own initiative.
Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) said in a 1991 interview: "If we have only a local phenomenon, it's not necessary that the Vatican intervene." In situations of greater importance, however, the Vatican may either confirm or override the bishop's decision with its own declaration. No reported claim of a supernatural apparition can receive approved status until the alleged phenomena have ceased.
has the following phases:
This declaration includes the following points:
Because of the war in Yugoslavia, the Bishops Conference was not able to conduct further investigation, and after the breakup of Yugoslavia, the task fell to the Bishops' Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
to evaluate the apparitions, headed by Cardinal Camillo Ruini.
The first cure to occur at Međugorje is said to have taken place on the fifth day of the apparitions, June 28, 1981. A three-year-old boy named Daniel Setka was supposed to have been brought to the place of the apparition and commended to the Madonna. As the story goes, his condition was extremely serious: he was unable to walk, speak or even hold his head up. Electroencephalogram scans revealed that the child experienced "paroxysms" at the rate of three to five per second, and the conclusion was a combination of spastic hemiparesis and epilepsy. On the evening of June 28th, he was carried up the hill toward the site of the apparition by his parents. One of the visionaries, when presenting the boy to Mary, called out, "Please make a miracle so that everyone will believe us." The visionaries reported that for approximately a minute Mary stared with great mercy at him, then said, "Let [his parents] firmly believe that he will be healed", and then concluded with, "Go in God's peace." Following the apparition, the first sign of a healing took place: at dinner the boy slapped the table and declared, "Give me a drink." The following day, still unable to walk, he was taken again to the place of the apparition, and about halfway up the hill he began to walk under his own power. As he gained more strength ascending the hill, he began speaking words and then climbed atop a rock and called out, "Mama, look, I'm walking!" His full healing would be declared complete that same day.
Another reported cure was a case compiled by the University of Milan's Specialist Clinical Institute. The case involved an Italian woman named Diana Basile, a mother of three who had developed advanced multiple sclerosis, an incurable disease. By 1983 she was completely incontinent, shaking uncontrollably, completely blind in her right eye, unable to raise her right arm and capable of walking only with a shuffle when aided by others. She traveled to Međugorje at the invitation of a nurse at the clinic and managed to enter the room where the apparition was to take place. At the time of the apparition it is claimed that she suddenly became completely unaware of her surroundings. Instead, she viewed past episodes of her life, many of them previously forgotten. As the apparition ended, she stood and exited the room with the visionaries, walking normally. By the following morning she was cured of incontinence and blindness in her right eye; by the time she returned home, every sign of her illness had disappeared.
At least two people who have claimed healings in Međugorje were medical doctors. One, a general practitioner from the Philippines, had contracted breast cancer that had recently metastasized. While in Međugorje she prayed the Stations of the Cross on Mt. Krizevac, and at the 12th and 13th stations received a "spiritual healing." The spiritual healing was accompanied by a physical cure, because when she arrived back in the Philippines, all signs of her cancer had disappeared. The other doctor was an Italian pediatrician with a life-threatening ulcerated colon and abscessed fistula. The family prayed in Međugorje for a cure in the fall of 1984, while he prayed in Italy for the first time in years, he said. He promised Mary that if he were healed he would travel to Međugorje himself. That night the fistula closed and he was cured.
Perhaps the most celebrated cure came to Vicka, one of the six visionaries, who mailed a letter to the bishop's commission investigating the apparitions (as well as a letter to her confessor and the priests of Međugorje) indicating the exact date she would be cured of an inoperable brain tumor. Devotees claim that she had "swelling of the joints resulting in high fevers and coma" and that a brain tumor was subsequently diagnosed. Seven months later, on September 25, 1988, she asked the letters to be opened by the recipients in the presence of two witnesses. The letter stated that her brain tumor—not a punishment from God but a gift to aid in the conversion of souls—would be miraculously healed on that date, September 25. Her tumor is reported to have vanished on that date.
Other teams of doctors from Italy, Poland, Austria, England and the United States would study the children. Dr. Luigi Frigero, the doctor who supervised a team of doctors from Milan's Mangiagalli Clinic, concluded that the results "cannot be explained naturally, and thus can be only preternatural or supernatural."
stated that "there are no doctrinal problems at Međugorje."
, renowned as the chief exorcist of Rome and the author of the international bestseller, An Exorcist Tells His Story, has stated: "Međugorje is a fortress against Satan. Satan hates Međugorje." Finally, in an interview with the Jesuit Fr. Richard Foley, Hans Urs von Balthasar
, the first recipient of the Paul VI prize for theology and a giant of the 20th century in Mariology
, stated for the record: "Međugorje's theology rings true. I am convinced of its truth."
. He made video and audio recordings of more than 35 reputed apparitions and conducted a battery of tests searching for either a hoax or fraud. Among the many tests performed by the team were brain, vision, hearing, voice and cardiac function tests, using electroencephalographs, electrooculographs and other scientific devices.
Dr. François Rouquerol, an ear, nose and throat specialist who accompanied the Montpellier team, saw no reaction to 90 decibels of engine noise directed into the ears of the visionaries during the apparition, an indication of a "disconnection of the auditory pathways during the ecstasy." Dr. Bernard Hoarau, a heart specialist, conducted experiments that eliminated the possibility of epilepsy
. The tests of a neurologist
, Dr. Jean Cadhilac's, claimed to be able to "eliminate formally all clinical signs comparable to those observed during individual or collective hallucination, hysteria
, neurosis
or pathological ecstasy."
In the spring of 1985, Dr Joyeux concluded: "The ecstasies are not pathological, nor is there any element of deceit. No scientific discipline seems able to describe these phenomena."
Sr. Briege's bestseller, Miracles Do Happen, contains a special section about Međugorje. In the book she states that while praying the Rosary one morning in Ireland, she heard the voice of the Blessed Mother saying: "You must go to Međugorje and there I will give you a message for my priests." She obtained permission from her mother superior and went to Međugorje on the Feast of Corpus Christi. While in Međugorje, she "witnessed a tremendous sense of Mary's presence and her purity in the young people, particularly in those who belong to the prayer group Our Lady told the visionaries to organize."
That same year Cardinal Agnelo Rossi, the Dean of the College of Cardinals
, awarded the Italian Sapienza Award to the book A Thousand Encounters with the Gospa in Međugorje by Fr. Janko Bubalo. And Cardinal Giuseppe Siri of Genoa, Italy, stated in 1989, "I have noticed that the people who come from Međugorje become apostles."
claimed that in March 1984, John Paul told him, "Međugorje is the fulfillment and continuation of Fatima." Later, on August 1, 1989, the Holy Father stated to Bishop Hnilica: "Today the world has lost the supernatural. Many people sought it and found it in Međugorje through prayer, fasting and through confession." Then the following year the Korean Catholic (Nov. 11, 1990) reported the following conversation between Archbishop Angelo Kim and John Paul: "Thanks to you, Poland has now been freed from Communism", the archbishop said. "No, not me", replied the Holy Father, "but by the works of the Blessed Virgin according to her affirmations at Fatima and Međugorje."
In 1994, during an address by Bishop Hnilica at a National Conference at Notre Dame, the bishop stated that the Holy Father had said to a group of Americans on their way to Međugorje, "Our Lady of Međugorje will save America." The bishop did not elaborate further.
Pope John Paul II also sent a "Thank You" note in August 2002 to Fr. Jozo Zovko, the former parish priest of Međugorje, for his charitable activities. The headline from the August 24, 2002 Zagreb daily newspaper declared, "A surprising gesture from the Vatican. The Pope thanks Father Jozo for Međugorje!" The article reported that a handwritten note by the Holy Father was delivered to Fr. Zovko invoking "a new outpouring of graces and heavenly favors, and the continuous protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary."
."
, president of the Bishop's Conference, "We therefore leave this aspect for further investigation. The Church is in no hurry." Međugorje, however, was to be accepted by the faithful "as a place of prayer, as a sanctuary."
Archbishop Franc Perko of Belgrade stated in 1991 that "It is not true that [the Declaration of Zadar means] nothing supernatural is happening in Međugorje." He then added that the commission "is open to further developments."
,
expressed his belief in the sincerity of the visionaries. However, he later changed his view when messages from the alleged apparition sided with the local Franciscan friars
in a long-running dispute about the control of parishes in Herzegovina. Believing that the authentic Madonna would not take sides in a church dispute, let alone against a bishop enforcing a papal decree, he denounced the apparitions.
Bishop Žanić's successor Ratko Perić
also viewed the apparitions of Međugorje skeptically. Perić had the primary authority to investigate and rule on the authenticity of the apparitions.
Bishop Perić wrote a personal letter declaring his position to be that nothing supernatural was occurring in Međugorje. Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, the Secretary to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that was presided over at the time by Cardinal Ratzinger, wrote in a letter to the bishop of Saint-Denis de la Réunion that "what Bishop Perić said in his letter... is and remains his personal opinion." Thus, no one was to regard Bishop Perić's statement as an official Church declaration. The intent of Bertone's statement was to clarify that the authority to make official declarations about the status of Medjugorje now fell to the commission led by the Bosnian bishops' conference, which was still investigating the apparitions.
Authorities responsible to evaluate the question
According to the 1978 document Normae CongregationisNormae Congregationis
Normae Congregationis is a 1978 document written by the Vatican's Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith concerning guidelines for Catholic bishops in discerning claims to private revelation such as apparitions.-Origin:...
from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition , and after 1904 called the Supreme...
, the foremost authority for the discernment of the alleged supernatural character of an alleged apparition is the local bishop of a diocese. However, the relevant Bishops Conference
Episcopal Conference
In the Roman Catholic Church, an Episcopal Conference, Conference of Bishops, or National Conference of Bishops is an official assembly of all the bishops of a given territory...
may intervene at the request of the local bishop, or if the influence of a phenomenon extends outside the region. Also, the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
can intervene either at the request of the bishop, or at the request of a group of Catholic faithful, or at its own initiative.
Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) said in a 1991 interview: "If we have only a local phenomenon, it's not necessary that the Vatican intervene." In situations of greater importance, however, the Vatican may either confirm or override the bishop's decision with its own declaration. No reported claim of a supernatural apparition can receive approved status until the alleged phenomena have ceased.
Evaluation process and possible outcomes
The process of discernment described in Normae CongregationisNormae Congregationis
Normae Congregationis is a 1978 document written by the Vatican's Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith concerning guidelines for Catholic bishops in discerning claims to private revelation such as apparitions.-Origin:...
has the following phases:
- When a bishop is informed of an alleged apparition, he is to ascertain the facts promptly. If there is no apparent problem, he may provisionally permit devotion inspired by the events while investigation continues.
- After a thorough investigation, he may issue a verdict in one of the three following formulas:
- constat de supernaturalitate: the event is confirmed to be of supernatural origin
- constat de non supernaturalitate: the event is confirmed to be of non-supernatural origin
- non constat de supernaturalitate: the event is not confirmed to be of supernatural origin
Yugoslav Bishops Conference
On April 10, 1991, the Yugoslav Episcopal Conference adopted the following declaration:From the very beginning, the Bishops have been following the events of Medjugorje through the local Bishop, the Bishops' Commission and the Commission of the Bishops' Conference of Yugoslavia for Medjugorje.
On the base of studies made so far, it cannot be affirmed that these matters concern supernatural apparitions or revelations. Yet the gathering of the faithful from various parts of the world to Medjugorje, inspired by reasons of faith or other motives, require the pastoral attention and care, first of all, of the local Bishop and then of the other bishops with him, so that in Medjugorje and all connected with it, a healthy devotion towards the Blessed Virgin Mary according to the teachings of the Church may be promoted. The Bishops will also provide special liturgical and pastoral directives corresponding to this aim. At the same time, they will continue to study all the events of Medjugorje through the commissions.
This declaration includes the following points:
- non constat de supernaturalitate: "It cannot be affirmed that these matters concern supernatural apparitions or revelations."
- The local OrdinaryOrdinaryIn those hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical law system, an ordinary is an officer of the church who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute the church's laws...
, the bishop of the diocese of Mostar-Duvno, has responsibility and authority for pastoral guidance of the parish and visitors, with the other bishops assisting him. - The bishops' commission investigative commission has the task of ongoing observation.
Because of the war in Yugoslavia, the Bishops Conference was not able to conduct further investigation, and after the breakup of Yugoslavia, the task fell to the Bishops' Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
The Holy See announced in March 2010 that it had established a commission under the auspices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the FaithCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition , and after 1904 called the Supreme...
to evaluate the apparitions, headed by Cardinal Camillo Ruini.
Claims of medical cures
Relevant to determining the supernatural character of an apparition site would be any alleged miraculous cures that take place. In July 1987, Newsweek magazine declared that "already 290 miracle healings [in Međugorje] are under study by Catholic physicians."The first cure to occur at Međugorje is said to have taken place on the fifth day of the apparitions, June 28, 1981. A three-year-old boy named Daniel Setka was supposed to have been brought to the place of the apparition and commended to the Madonna. As the story goes, his condition was extremely serious: he was unable to walk, speak or even hold his head up. Electroencephalogram scans revealed that the child experienced "paroxysms" at the rate of three to five per second, and the conclusion was a combination of spastic hemiparesis and epilepsy. On the evening of June 28th, he was carried up the hill toward the site of the apparition by his parents. One of the visionaries, when presenting the boy to Mary, called out, "Please make a miracle so that everyone will believe us." The visionaries reported that for approximately a minute Mary stared with great mercy at him, then said, "Let [his parents] firmly believe that he will be healed", and then concluded with, "Go in God's peace." Following the apparition, the first sign of a healing took place: at dinner the boy slapped the table and declared, "Give me a drink." The following day, still unable to walk, he was taken again to the place of the apparition, and about halfway up the hill he began to walk under his own power. As he gained more strength ascending the hill, he began speaking words and then climbed atop a rock and called out, "Mama, look, I'm walking!" His full healing would be declared complete that same day.
Another reported cure was a case compiled by the University of Milan's Specialist Clinical Institute. The case involved an Italian woman named Diana Basile, a mother of three who had developed advanced multiple sclerosis, an incurable disease. By 1983 she was completely incontinent, shaking uncontrollably, completely blind in her right eye, unable to raise her right arm and capable of walking only with a shuffle when aided by others. She traveled to Međugorje at the invitation of a nurse at the clinic and managed to enter the room where the apparition was to take place. At the time of the apparition it is claimed that she suddenly became completely unaware of her surroundings. Instead, she viewed past episodes of her life, many of them previously forgotten. As the apparition ended, she stood and exited the room with the visionaries, walking normally. By the following morning she was cured of incontinence and blindness in her right eye; by the time she returned home, every sign of her illness had disappeared.
At least two people who have claimed healings in Međugorje were medical doctors. One, a general practitioner from the Philippines, had contracted breast cancer that had recently metastasized. While in Međugorje she prayed the Stations of the Cross on Mt. Krizevac, and at the 12th and 13th stations received a "spiritual healing." The spiritual healing was accompanied by a physical cure, because when she arrived back in the Philippines, all signs of her cancer had disappeared. The other doctor was an Italian pediatrician with a life-threatening ulcerated colon and abscessed fistula. The family prayed in Međugorje for a cure in the fall of 1984, while he prayed in Italy for the first time in years, he said. He promised Mary that if he were healed he would travel to Međugorje himself. That night the fistula closed and he was cured.
Perhaps the most celebrated cure came to Vicka, one of the six visionaries, who mailed a letter to the bishop's commission investigating the apparitions (as well as a letter to her confessor and the priests of Međugorje) indicating the exact date she would be cured of an inoperable brain tumor. Devotees claim that she had "swelling of the joints resulting in high fevers and coma" and that a brain tumor was subsequently diagnosed. Seven months later, on September 25, 1988, she asked the letters to be opened by the recipients in the presence of two witnesses. The letter stated that her brain tumor—not a punishment from God but a gift to aid in the conversion of souls—would be miraculously healed on that date, September 25. Her tumor is reported to have vanished on that date.
Other teams of doctors from Italy, Poland, Austria, England and the United States would study the children. Dr. Luigi Frigero, the doctor who supervised a team of doctors from Milan's Mangiagalli Clinic, concluded that the results "cannot be explained naturally, and thus can be only preternatural or supernatural."
René Laurentin
In his 1984 book Is the Virgin Mary Appearing at Medjugorje? (written with co-author Ljudevit Rupčić) theologian and mariologist Fr. René LaurentinRené Laurentin
Father René Laurentin is a French theologian who is considered an expert in Mariology.Laurentin was born in Tours, France), to Marie and Maurice Laurentin, an architect...
stated that "there are no doctrinal problems at Međugorje."
Michael O'Carroll
Another theologian, Fr. Michael O'Carroll, studied the events and concluded that the messages were completely orthodox. His book, Međugorje: Facts, Documents, Theology, included the statement that "after having studied the facts of Međugorje in books and [in Međugorje], I am entirely convinced of the authenticity of these apparitions." He also cites Fr. Laurentin's works and states that the famous theologian concluded "There is notable doctrinal orthodoxy…" contained in the messages of Međugorje. Fr. Gabriele AmorthGabriele Amorth
Gabriele Amorth is an Italian Roman Catholic priest and an exorcist of the Diocese of Rome who claims to have cleansed tens of thousands of people of evil spirits. Controversially, he believes that practising yoga is satanic and leads to evil just like reading JK Rowling’s Harry Potter...
, renowned as the chief exorcist of Rome and the author of the international bestseller, An Exorcist Tells His Story, has stated: "Međugorje is a fortress against Satan. Satan hates Međugorje." Finally, in an interview with the Jesuit Fr. Richard Foley, Hans Urs von Balthasar
Hans Urs von Balthasar
Hans Urs von Balthasar was a Swiss theologian and priest who was nominated to be a cardinal of the Catholic Church...
, the first recipient of the Paul VI prize for theology and a giant of the 20th century in Mariology
Mariology
Roman Catholic Mariology is theology concerned with the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ as developed by the Catholic Church. Roman Catholic teachings on the subject have been based on the belief that "The Blessed Virgin, because she is the Mother of God, is believed to hold a certain...
, stated for the record: "Međugorje's theology rings true. I am convinced of its truth."
Henri Joyeux
Dr. Henri Joyeux, a cancer researcher, headed a team of scientists from the University of Montpellier 1University of Montpellier 1
The University of Montpellier 1 is a French university, in the Academy of Montpellier. It is one of the three successor universities to the University of Montpellier.-See also:* University of Montpellier...
. He made video and audio recordings of more than 35 reputed apparitions and conducted a battery of tests searching for either a hoax or fraud. Among the many tests performed by the team were brain, vision, hearing, voice and cardiac function tests, using electroencephalographs, electrooculographs and other scientific devices.
Dr. François Rouquerol, an ear, nose and throat specialist who accompanied the Montpellier team, saw no reaction to 90 decibels of engine noise directed into the ears of the visionaries during the apparition, an indication of a "disconnection of the auditory pathways during the ecstasy." Dr. Bernard Hoarau, a heart specialist, conducted experiments that eliminated the possibility of epilepsy
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...
. The tests of a neurologist
Neurologist
A neurologist is a physician who specializes in neurology, and is trained to investigate, or diagnose and treat neurological disorders.Neurology is the medical specialty related to the human nervous system. The nervous system encompasses the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. A specialist...
, Dr. Jean Cadhilac's, claimed to be able to "eliminate formally all clinical signs comparable to those observed during individual or collective hallucination, hysteria
Hysteria
Hysteria, in its colloquial use, describes unmanageable emotional excesses. People who are "hysterical" often lose self-control due to an overwhelming fear that may be caused by multiple events in one's past that involved some sort of severe conflict; the fear can be centered on a body part, or,...
, neurosis
Neurosis
Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving distress but neither delusions nor hallucinations, whereby behavior is not outside socially acceptable norms. It is also known as psychoneurosis or neurotic disorder, and thus those suffering from it are said to be neurotic...
or pathological ecstasy."
In the spring of 1985, Dr Joyeux concluded: "The ecstasies are not pathological, nor is there any element of deceit. No scientific discipline seems able to describe these phenomena."
Briege McKenna
Sr. Briege McKenna of the Sisters of St. Clare, who has a worldwide healing ministry, was a witness to prophecies about Međugorje two months prior to the reported apparitions. She saw a vision of the twin spires of St. James Church, though she had never seen the church itself, and told Fr. Tomislav Vlašić, one of the Međugorje priests, that "great streams of living water" would soon usher forth from his church.Sr. Briege's bestseller, Miracles Do Happen, contains a special section about Međugorje. In the book she states that while praying the Rosary one morning in Ireland, she heard the voice of the Blessed Mother saying: "You must go to Međugorje and there I will give you a message for my priests." She obtained permission from her mother superior and went to Međugorje on the Feast of Corpus Christi. While in Međugorje, she "witnessed a tremendous sense of Mary's presence and her purity in the young people, particularly in those who belong to the prayer group Our Lady told the visionaries to organize."
Apostolic nuncios
Many Church diplomats, after having traveled to Međugorje, were able to witness the fruits coming from the place (the third piece of information used to determine the authenticity of an apparition) and began giving their own personal opinions. On July 31, 1985, Cardinal Francesco Colasuono, former Apostolic Nuncio in Yugoslavia and the representative of the Holy See in Russia, declared, "Međugorje represents the event of the century."That same year Cardinal Agnelo Rossi, the Dean of the College of Cardinals
College of Cardinals
The College of Cardinals is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church.A function of the college is to advise the pope about church matters when he summons them to an ordinary consistory. It also convenes on the death or abdication of a pope as a papal conclave to elect a successor...
, awarded the Italian Sapienza Award to the book A Thousand Encounters with the Gospa in Međugorje by Fr. Janko Bubalo. And Cardinal Giuseppe Siri of Genoa, Italy, stated in 1989, "I have noticed that the people who come from Međugorje become apostles."
Christoph Schönborn
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the Archbishop of Vienna and the principal author of The Catechism of the Catholic Church, gave a testimony at Lourdes on July 18, 1998, which was subsequently published. His testimony reads in part:
"Personally, I have not yet gone to Međugorje; but in a way I have gone there through the people I know or those I have met who, themselves, have gone to Međugorje. And I see good fruits in their lives. I should be lying if I denied that these fruits exist. These fruits are tangible, evident. And in our diocese and in many other places, I observe graces of conversion, graces of a life of supernatural faith, of vocations, of healings, of a rediscovering of the sacraments, of confession. These are all things which do not mislead. This is the reason why I can only say that it is these fruits which enable me, as bishop, to pass a moral judgement. And if as Jesus said, we must judge a tree by its fruits, I am obliged to say that the tree is good."
John Paul II
John Paul II, the Pope at the time the apparitions began, also began making comments about Međugorje. The Slovak-born bishop Pavol HnilicaPavol Hnilica
Pavol Hnilica was a Slovak Roman-Catholic bishop and Jesuit.He was a clandestine priest and bishop . He consecrated Ján Chryzostom Korec. In 1952 he fled from Slovakia and studied and worked mainly in Rome...
claimed that in March 1984, John Paul told him, "Međugorje is the fulfillment and continuation of Fatima." Later, on August 1, 1989, the Holy Father stated to Bishop Hnilica: "Today the world has lost the supernatural. Many people sought it and found it in Međugorje through prayer, fasting and through confession." Then the following year the Korean Catholic (Nov. 11, 1990) reported the following conversation between Archbishop Angelo Kim and John Paul: "Thanks to you, Poland has now been freed from Communism", the archbishop said. "No, not me", replied the Holy Father, "but by the works of the Blessed Virgin according to her affirmations at Fatima and Međugorje."
In 1994, during an address by Bishop Hnilica at a National Conference at Notre Dame, the bishop stated that the Holy Father had said to a group of Americans on their way to Međugorje, "Our Lady of Međugorje will save America." The bishop did not elaborate further.
Pope John Paul II also sent a "Thank You" note in August 2002 to Fr. Jozo Zovko, the former parish priest of Međugorje, for his charitable activities. The headline from the August 24, 2002 Zagreb daily newspaper declared, "A surprising gesture from the Vatican. The Pope thanks Father Jozo for Međugorje!" The article reported that a handwritten note by the Holy Father was delivered to Fr. Zovko invoking "a new outpouring of graces and heavenly favors, and the continuous protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary."
Joaquin Navarro-Valls
The Church's position regarding Međugorje was to be clarified by Rome in an official capacity. On August 21, 1996, Dr. Joaquin Navarro-Valls, spokesman for the Vatican, told the Catholic News Service: "You cannot say people cannot go [to Međugorje] until it has been proven false. This has not been said, so anyone can go if they want." Bishop Hnilica also would offer an assessment of the status of Međugorje. In an interview with Msgr. Kurt Knotzinger, the bishop stated: "An ecclesiastical recognition of Međugorje would not be possible so long as the apparitions continue. However, the Church's reserve also implies that until now Rome finds everything legitimate."Tarcisio Bertone
In January, 1999, Archbishop Bertone told the Beatitudes Community, a community of believers with a presence in Međugorje, "For the moment one should consider Međugorje as a Sanctuary, a Marian Shrine, in the same way as CzęstochowaCzestochowa
Częstochowa is a city in south Poland on the Warta River with 240,027 inhabitants . It has been situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously the capital of Częstochowa Voivodeship...
."
Yugoslav bishops
Some of the Yugoslav bishops voiced the opinion shortly before and after the 1991 Zadar declaration that the bishops conference decision was not a final conclusion. In the words of Cardinal Franjo KuharićFranjo Kuharic
Franjo Kuharić was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.He was ordained in 1945 and became a bishop in 1964. He was appointed Archbishop of Zagreb in 1970. In 1983 he was made a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II...
, president of the Bishop's Conference, "We therefore leave this aspect for further investigation. The Church is in no hurry." Međugorje, however, was to be accepted by the faithful "as a place of prayer, as a sanctuary."
Archbishop Franc Perko of Belgrade stated in 1991 that "It is not true that [the Declaration of Zadar means] nothing supernatural is happening in Međugorje." He then added that the commission "is open to further developments."
Statements of the bishops of Mostar
When apparitions were first reported in 1981 the local ordinary, Bishop Pavao ŽanićPavao Žanić
Pavao Žanić was the bishop of Mostar-Duvno in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1980 to 1993. A leading critic of the alleged apparitions at Međugorje, he was the local ordinary in 1981 when the apparitions began.-Biography:...
,
expressed his belief in the sincerity of the visionaries. However, he later changed his view when messages from the alleged apparition sided with the local Franciscan friars
Franciscan Province of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Franciscan Province of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a province of the Franciscan order of the Catholic Church in Herzegovina...
in a long-running dispute about the control of parishes in Herzegovina. Believing that the authentic Madonna would not take sides in a church dispute, let alone against a bishop enforcing a papal decree, he denounced the apparitions.
Bishop Žanić's successor Ratko Perić
Ratko Peric
Mons. Ratko Perić is the current Bishop of Mostar-Duvno and Apostolic Administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan.Ratko Perić was born in the village of Tuk in the Rovišće municipality, near Bjelovar in Croatia. After studies in Zagreb and Rome, he was ordained priest on 29 June 1969 in Prisoje...
also viewed the apparitions of Međugorje skeptically. Perić had the primary authority to investigate and rule on the authenticity of the apparitions.
Bishop Perić wrote a personal letter declaring his position to be that nothing supernatural was occurring in Međugorje. Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, the Secretary to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that was presided over at the time by Cardinal Ratzinger, wrote in a letter to the bishop of Saint-Denis de la Réunion that "what Bishop Perić said in his letter... is and remains his personal opinion." Thus, no one was to regard Bishop Perić's statement as an official Church declaration. The intent of Bertone's statement was to clarify that the authority to make official declarations about the status of Medjugorje now fell to the commission led by the Bosnian bishops' conference, which was still investigating the apparitions.
External links
- Official Medjugorje website - Medjugorje.com - Official documents and news on Medjugorje
- Official Documents on Medjugorje - Collection of official documents from the Vatican, the diocese, the Bosnian Bishops' Conference, the Franciscans, etc.
- Webmedjugorje.com