Catholic Church response to the Medjugorje apparitions

View of Međugorje

Međugorje (Medjugorje), a village located in present-day Bosnia and 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.

Authorities responsible to evaluate the question

According to the 1978 document Normae Congregationis 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.

Evaluation process and possible outcomes

Main article: Normae Congregationis

The process of discernment described in Normae Congregationis 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

Official statements

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 Međugorje through the local Bishop, the Bishops' Commission and the Commission of the Bishops' Conference of Yugoslavia for Međugorje.

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 Međugorje, 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 Međugorje 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 Ordinary, 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 Faith to evaluate the apparitions, headed by Cardinal Camillo Ruini.

All six visionaries have now appeared before the Commission. Pope Benedict XVI met with Cardinal Ruini during February 2012 to discuss the progress of the Commission. The Commission's report on Međugorje should be finished by Christmas, allowing a pronouncement to the Congregation and then the Pope. There have been reports that Benedict XVI is "interested" in the apparitions, it is unknown whether he has visited the site.

In December 2012, reports surfaced in the French magazine La Vie that the commission would release its findings by the end of the year. A Vatican spokesman, however, denied this.

Arguments for the Međugorje claims

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 28, 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 Clinical Specialist 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, which was 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."

Other supporting arguments and opinions

Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II, the Pope at the time the apparitions began, also began making comments about Međugorje. The Slovak-born bishop Pavol Hnilica claimed that in March 1984, John Paul told him, "Međugorje is the fulfillment and continuation of Fátima." Later, on August 1, 1989, the Pope said 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 (November 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 Pope, "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 Pope 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 Jozo Zovko, the former parish priest of Međugorje. The headline from the August 24, 2002 Zagreb daily newspaper Večernji list declared, "A surprising gesture from the Vatican. The Pope thanks Father Jozo for Međugorje!" The article reported that a handwritten note by the Pope was delivered to Fr. Zovko invoking "a new outpouring of graces and heavenly favors, and the continuous protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary."

René Laurentin

In his 1984 book Is the Virgin Mary Appearing at Medjugorje? (written with co-author Ljudevit Rupčić) theologian and mariologist Fr. René Laurentin 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 Amorth, 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."

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 told Tomislav Vlašić, who was at the time one of the Međugorje priests, that he would become the center of a great movement.

Sr. Briege's bestseller, Miracles Do Happen, contains a special section about Medjugorje. 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, 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."

Cardinal 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."

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."

Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone

In January 1999, Archbishop Tarcisio 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 Częstochowa."

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 Kuharić, 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."

Arguments against the Medjugorje claims

False claims of ecstasy

Vicka has claimed that she and the other visionaries have ecstasies when they see the Gospa. According to Sacred Tradition, a person undergoing an ecstasy cannot move.

On January 14, 1985, Jean Louis Martin, a witness of the early apparitions, decided to test Vicka's claim. While the visionaries were seeing the Gospa in the Apparition Chapel, Martin poked Vicka in the eyes. Vicka reacted by moving her head back.

Manipulation of consciences

Fr. Tomislav Vlašić, the spiritual director of Međugorje, was found guilty of sexual misconduct, manipulating consciences, teaching heresy, New Age practices, and disobedience to the local bishop by the Holy See in 2009. This adds weight to the charge by Marco Corvaglia, a Međugorje skeptic, that Tomislav was manipulating the visionaries.

Heresy and disobedience

The August 31, 1982 message claims "I do not dispose all graces." Some Catholics refer to Mary using the honorific Mediatrix of all graces although this is not, and never has been, official Church dogma. The June 3, 1983 message says about Vlašić and the prayer group he created:

[Question to the Gospa] What do you expect of Fr. Tomislav? Has he begun well?

[Gospa's answer] Yes, it is good. Have him continue.

Vlašić was guilty of sexual misconduct and disobedience to the local Bishop before, during, and after his work in Medjugorje.

The apparition allegedly declared the Nativity of Mary (birthday of Mary) to be August 5, instead of September 8. But the church teaches that only the Pope can "establish, transfer, and suppress feast days and days of penance common to the universal Church" and that local Bishops can "decree special feast days or days of penance for their dioceses or places, but only in individual instances".

The apparition's silence about heresy in the Medjugorje messages, Vlašić's sinful lifestyle, and the illicit celebration of Mary's birthday means the apparition has sinned, since the church teaches that there are nine ways to sin with others, among them "by not disclosing or not hindering them when we have an obligation to do so," and that correction of sinners is a work of charity and mercy. Moreover, the apparition has sinned by telling local Franciscan friars they could disobey the Pope. This would mean the apparition could not be Mary, because Mary is the Immaculate Conception.

Other refuting arguments and opinions

Bishops of Mostar

Bishop Pavao Žanić, who initially expressed his belief in the sincerity of the visionaries, later changed his view when messages from the alleged apparition told local Franciscan friars they could disobey the Pope. Believing that Mary would not go against the papal decree Romanis Pontificibus, 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 Međugorje now fell to the commission led by the Bosnian bishops' conference, which was still investigating the apparitions.

Manfred Hauke

In an interview with the German-language newspaper Die Tagespost, Mariologist Manfred Hauke said, "In contrast to those, the Medjugorje phenomenon presents itself differently: the number of alleged appearances must reach over 40,000; the messages connected with them are especially numerous and raise some critical questions; regarding the credibility of the seers, there is a shadow in a few cases from the phenomenon of a provable lie; a miracle recognized by the Church does not exist; the miraculous signs predicted by the seers as confirmations of Medjugorje, have not been observed yet."

Donal Anthony Foley

British author Donal Anthony Foley wrote a book Medjugorje Revisited: 30 Years of Visions or Religious Fraud? which "focuses on the transcripts of the original tapes of the visionaries made in June 1981, and the credibility of the visions and the visionaries, demonstrating the serious problems involved in accepting Medjugorje as genuine." It has received the support of prominent Catholic personalities such as Mark P. Shea, Fr. Manfred Hauke, Patrick Coffin, and Fr Thomas Crean, OP.

Michael Davies

Tradionalist author Michael Davies wrote a book against the alleged apparitions at Medjugorje, Medjugorje after Twenty-One Years - The Definitive History. Bishop Ratko Peric wrote in support of the fourth-edition of the book.

Fr. Mitch Pacwa

Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J. has said that "What may be the unraveling of the Medjugorje visions is the lack of any spiritual depth to the messages." Comparing the messages of Medjugorje with those of Saint Faustina Kowalska, Pacwa added, "You can see definite growth over the years in her spiritual messages. I don’t see that with the messages of Medjugorje. They tend to be the same thing over and over again. Something I would look for is a growth in spiritual depth. I haven’t sensed it."

Bishop Andrea Gemma

In a May 2008 interview with Petrus, Bishop Andrea Gemma said "It is an absolutely diabolical event, around which numerous underworld interests revolve. The Holy Church, which alone can make a pronouncement, through the words of the Bishop of Mostar, has already said publicly and officially that the Madonna never appeared in Medjugorje and that this whole production is the work of the Devil."

External links

• Official Medjugorje website - Medjugorje.hr - Official documents and news on Međugorje
• Official Documents on Medjugorje - Collection of official documents from the Vatican, the diocese, the Bosnian Bishops' Conference, the Franciscans, etc.
• Webmedjugorje.com