User:WikiCats/Our Lady of Međugorje

The apparitions of Our Lady of Međugorje ([], pronounced meh’-joo-gor-yeh) (or Our Lady Queen of Peace) began on 24 June 1981 to six Herzegovinian Croats in the town of Međugorje which is in the municipality of Čitluk located in the southwest of Herzegovina in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The shrine of Our Lady of Međugorje is visited by pilgrims from around the world.

On that day, at about 6 pm, Ivanka Ivanković, Mirjana Dragićević, Vicka Ivanković, Ivan Dragićević, Ivan Ivanković and Milka Pavlović, saw on Crnica hill (or Apparition Hill) at Podbrdo, an apparition of a white form with a child in her arms. Surprised and scared, they did not approach.

The next day at the same time four of them, Ivanka Ivanković, Mirjana Dragičević, Vicka Ivanković and Ivan Dragičević, felt strongly drawn towards the place where, the day before, they saw the One who they had recognised as Our Lady, or, in Croatian, Gospa. Marija Pavlović and Jakov Čolo joined them. The group of Međugorje visionaries was formed. They prayed with Our Lady and talked to Her. From that day onward, they had daily apparitions either together or separately.

The Catholic Church has not authorized devotion to Our Lady of Međugorje and is still investigating the apparitions.

Description of Our Lady
Franciscan Fr. Janko Bubalo questioned the visionaries and asked them to describe Mary's appearance. According to how they saw Our Lady, she is 18 to 20 years old, slender and around 165 cm tall. Her face is long and oval with black hair. Her eyes are blue with delicate eye lashes and thin black eyebrows. She has a nice, little nose and rosy cheeks. She has beautiful reddish thin lips and her smile is more like some indescribable gentleness. It’s visible as if somehow under her skin.

Her simple dress is bluish-grey and falls freely all the way down to the little whitish cloud on which she is standing. Her veil is pure white and covers her head and shoulders. It also reaches down to the little cloud. She has a crown of twelve golden stars on her head.

Finally he asked, “Is Our Lady really beautiful, as you have said?” There answer was, “Well, really we haven't told you anything about that. Her beauty cannot be described. It is not our kind of beauty. It is something ethereal, something heavenly, something that we'll only see in Paradise and then only to a certain degree.”

The messages
Our Lady has requested:
 * Daily Prayer (the Rosary)
 * Fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays
 * Daily reading of the Bible
 * Monthly Confession
 * Holy Communion

The theme of Her messages are:
 * Peace
 * Faith
 * Conversion (which means to turn away from a life of sin, to mend one's ways and permanently change one's life. That is, to live in closer accord with the teachings of Christ. It is not directly about a religious conversion to the Catholic Church.)
 * Prayer
 * Fasting
 * Special messages

The ten secrets
In addition to the messages, the Virgin Mary promised to confide to each of the six visionaries ten "secrets" on future events, some of which concern the whole world. To date, three visionaries, Mirjana, Ivanka, and Jakov report they have received all ten messages, while Ivan, Marija and Vicka say they have received nine. The six visionaries would eventually each know all ten secrets, but none has fully disclosed them except to announce that they include chastisements for the world and that they will begin during the lifetimes of the visionaries.

The visionaries have so far revealed only one of the "secrets": Our Lady has promised to leave a supernatural, indestructible, and visible sign on the mountain where she first appeared. She said: "This sign will be given for the atheists. You faithful already have signs and you have become the sign for the atheists. You faithful must not wait for the sign before you convert; convert soon. This time is a time of grace for you. You can never thank God enough for His grace. The time is for deepening your faith and for your conversion. When the sign comes, it will be too late for many."

The permanent sign
When all ten secrets have been revealed to each one of the six visionaries, Our Lady will stop appearing, and three warnings will be given to the world. After the three warnings, the permanent visible sign will be left on the mountain where Our Lady first appeared in Međugorje. Those who are still alive will have little time for conversion. For that reason, the Blessed Virgin calls for urgent conversion and reconciliation. The permanent sign will lead to many healings and conversions before the messages become reality.

Controversy
Some persons from the Catholic hierarchy and some Catholic writers, dispute the credibility of the alleged visions. Negative judgments, expressed early by the local Bishop, Pavao Žanić, have been voiced by writers such as Michael Davies and E. Michael Jones, who suggested, among many other objections, that the alleged apparitions may have been used by the local Franciscan Order to challenge the authority of the diocese.

Bishop Perić's homily
Bishop Ratko Perić, (Mostar-Duvno) on the occasion of administering the Sacrament of Confirmation in the parish of Međugorje, June 15, 2006, called on those, "who claim themselves to be “seers”, as well as those persons behind the “messages”, to demonstrate ecclesiastical obedience and to cease with these public manifestations and messages in this parish." 

Excerpt of the main message in his homily regarding Medjugorje:

III. - “Apparitions”. First of all, the fact that a person makes a humble Confession and receives Holy Communion in this parish church and that this person feels spiritually well due to God's forgiveness, each and every believer will recognize and give due praise to God for this, who is the source of all graces. At the same time, this person will take care not to proceed from this state of grace towards an illogical and inconsistent conclusion: “I made a Confession. I feel good and now I am converted. Therefore the Madonna is appearing in Međugorje!” This type of believer and penitent is nonetheless obliged to go to confession, receive the other sacraments, observe the Commandments, whether any private apparitions are recognized or not.

Secondly, I would be an irresponsible minister of the Mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ, if today I were not to publicly advise, from this place and on this occasion as well, to all those interested throughout the world, that in this local Church of Mostar-Duvno, there exists something similar to a schism. A number of priests that have been expelled from the Franciscan OFM Order by the Generalate of the Order, due to their disobedience to the Holy Father, for years now have been forcefully keeping a few parish churches and rectories along with church inventory. They have not only been illegally active in these parishes, but they have also administered the sacraments profanely, while others invalidly, such as Confession and Confirmation, or they have assisted at invalid marriages. This type of anti-ecclesial behaviour is shocking to all of us. At the same time, this scandal of sacrilegiously administering the sacraments, especially of the Most Holy Body of Christ, must shock all the faithful as well who invalidly confess their sins to these priests and participate in sacrilegious liturgies. We pray to the Lord that this scandal and schism be uprooted as soon as possible from our midst.

Thirdly, I am truly grateful to the Holy Father the Pope, to John Paul II of blessed memory and to the reigning Benedict XVI, who have always respected the judgements of the bishops of Mostar-Duvno, of the previous as well as the current bishop, regarding the so-called “apparitions” and “messages” of Medjugorje, all the while recognizing the Holy Father's right to give a final decision on these events. The judgements of the bishops, after all the canonical investigations made thus far, can be summarized in these following points:

1 - Medjugorje is a catholic parish in which liturgical and pastoral activities are carried out, just as in all the other parishes of this diocese of Mostar-Duvno. No-one except the official Church authorities is then authorized to attribute the formal title of “shrine” to this place.

2 - On the basis of Church investigations of the events of Medjugorje, it cannot be determined that these events involve supernatural apparitions or revelations. This means that till now the Church has not accepted, neither as supernatural nor as Marian, any of the apparitions.

3 - Priests who canonically administer this parish of Medjugorje or those who come as visitors, are not authorised to express their private views contrary to the official position of the Church on the so-called “apparitions” and “messages”, during celebrations of the sacraments, neither during other common acts of piety, nor in the Catholic media.

4 - The Catholic faithful are not only free from any obligation to believe in the authenticity of the “apparitions” but they must also know that church pilgrimages are not allowed, whether official or private, individual or group, or from other parishes, if they presuppose the authenticity of the “apparitions” or if by undertaking them attempt to certify these “apparitions”.

5 - As the local Bishop, I maintain that regarding the events of Medjugorje, on the basis of the investigations and experience gained thus far, throughout these last 25 years, the Church has not confirmed a single “apparition” as authentically being the Madonna.

At the end, the appeal to the visionaries and those involved to demonstrate ecclesiastical obedience:

Therefore I responsibly call upon those who claim themselves to be “seers”, as well as those persons behind the “messages”, to demonstrate ecclesiastical obedience and to cease with these public manifestations and messages in this parish. In this fashion they shall show their necessary adherence to the Church, by neither placing private “apparitions” nor private sayings before the official position of the Church.

The region in which Medjugorje lies is reported to have seen centuries of rivalry between members of the Franciscan Order, which runs the parish, and the diocesan hierarchy, in particular the Bishop of Mostar-Duvno, the diocese to which Međugorje belongs (see The Truth about the 'Herzegovinian' Affair).

Ironically, it was the Bishop who initially supported Međugorje, while the key Franciscan Father Jozo Zovko, OFM, was not convinced until, while praying in St. James church, he received a message to "protect the children". Subsequently, both were called in by the communist secret police who gave orders to stop the "disorder". Father Jozo refused and was sent to jail for 3 years, but was released after one and a half years.

After a period of silence, bishop Pavao Žanić actively joined in challenging what was happening in Medjugorje, writing two statements which he sought to publish to the world. He even edited two written statements directed at the whole world. 1. "The actual (unofficial) position of the Episcopal curit of Mostar in reference to the happenings of Medjugorje", 30th of October 1984; 2. "Medjugorje, 1990".

In a letter of 25 March 1985 and a homily of 24 July 1987, Bishop Pavao Žanić adopted a negative position with regard to the alleged apparitions, provisionally forbidding, until a Commission of the Bishops' Conference completed an inquiry, "the priests who organize pilgrimages or come here ascribing a supernatural character to these events, to celebrate Mass in the territory of my diocese."

In an official memorandum of the Vatican State Secretary Office No. 150.458, on the 1st of April 1985, Cardinal Casaroli charged Croatian Cardinal Franjo Kuharić to convey to bishop Žanić that he should "suspend the airing of his own personal statements and renounce making judgements, until such time as all the elements could be conclusively gathered together, and the happenings could be clarified", because bishop Žanić's statement, "The actual position..." had had considerable reverberations in the press. The bishop's hoped-for co-operation has scarcely been discernible and a number of web sites have been actively spreading his personal statements and opinions, creating confusion among the faithful - the very result the Vatican anticipated when it charged Cardinal Kuharic to convey this message to the bishop.

Because Bishop Žanić referred the matter to the Episcopal Conference, responsibility passed to the conference that still included all the bishops of the already dismantling Yugoslavia. In 1991, it issued a statement known as the Zadar Declaration, that said: "The bishops, from the very beginning, have been following the events of Medjugorje through the Bishop of the diocese, the Bishop's Commission and the Commission of the Bishops Conference of Yugoslavia on Medjugorje. On the basis of the investigations so far it cannot be affirmed that one is dealing with supernatural apparitions and revelations."

As a result of persisting confusion in the minds of the faithful, particularly as to the authority of the local bishop to forbid pilgrimages to Medjugorje and as to whether the bishop's opinions represented official Vatican opinion, inquiries were addressed to the Holy See. Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone (Secretary to the "Congregatio", presided over by Cardinal Ratzinger) Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith sent a reply on 26 July 1998, saying:

"What Bishop Perić (successor to Pavao Žanić) said in his letter to the Secretary General of "Famille Chretienne", declaring: "My conviction and my position is not only 'non constat de supernaturalitate (not proven to be supernatural),' but likewise, 'constat de non supernaturalitate' (proven to be not supernatural) of the apparitions or revelations in Medjugorje", should be considered the expression of the personal conviction of the Bishop of Mostar which he has the right to express as Ordinary of the place, but which is and remains his personal opinion."

Fr. Daniel-Ange (France) summarizes this way:


 * The declarations of the Bishop of Mostar only reflect his personal opinion. Consequently, they are not an official and definitive judgement from the Church.


 * One is directed to the declaration of Zadar, which leaves the door open to future investigations. In the meanwhile private pilgrimages with pastoral accompaniment for the faithful are permitted.


 * A new commission was announced in June 2006.


 * In the meanwhile, all Catholics may go as pilgrims to Medjugorje.

EWTN's "Frequently Asked Questions" gives an ample account of the history of the question, avoiding any judgement for or against the authenticity of the alleged apparitions.

Mgr. Andrea Gemma, Bishop Emeritus of Isernia (Italy) and exorcist, in an interview about Medjugorje stated that the alleged apparitions are "an absolutely satanic phenomenon" (http://www.papanews.it/dettaglio_approfondimenti.asp?IdNews=7517).

Investigations
A number of scientific and medical investigations have been conducted on the visionaries in Medjugorje.

The international French-Italian scientific theological commission "On the extraordinary events that are taking place in Medjugorje" reportedly examined the apparitions of Medjugorje. The assembly of seventeen renowned natural scientists, medical doctors, psychiatrists and theologians published a 12-point "conclusion" on 14 January 1986 in Paina near Milan. The summary was that "one can conclude that after a deeper examination of the protagonists, facts, and their effects, not only in the local framework, but also in regard to the responsive chords of the Church in general, it is well for the Church to recognize the supernatural origin and, thereby, the purpose of the events in Medjugorje."

A French team headed by Mr. Henri Joyeux undertook a series of neurological tests, using EEG and EKG device to examine the internal reactions of the visionaries and the synchronization of their ocular, auditory, cardiac, and cerebral reactions before, during, and after the reported apparitions. They concluded from their readings that the object of observation is apparently external to the visionaries, and they excluded any external manipulation or mutual agreement between the visionaries. The results with individual electro-encephalograms and other reactions were collected and described in Joyeux's book, written with R. Laurentin, Etudes medicales et scientifique sur les Apparitions de Medjugorje (Paris, 1986)scientific report . The results of psychiatric investigations] by the Institute for the Field Limits Of Science (IGW), the Innsbruck Centre For Study and Research on Psychophysiology of States of Consciousness, the European School of Hypnotic Psychotherapy Amisi of Milan, and the Parapsychology Center of Bologna, likewise concluded that the alleged visionaries showed no signs of pathological symptoms, and no stress other than appropriate for their unusual situation. They pointed out that there is a difference between a state of ecstasy induced by hypnosis and one which comes about spontaneously, and concluded that the alleged visionaries were not under any form of hypnosis.

Psychologist and skeptic Armando De Vincentiis analyzed some of the works of Dr. Margnelli and Dr. Gagliardi in his book "Estasi: Stimmate e altri fenomeni mistici" ("Ecstasy: Stigmata and other mystical phenomena " available only in Italian, Avverbi 1999, Rome, page 118). According to De Vincentiis, about the similarity between ecstatic state and hypnotic state, " the conclusions of the two authors [Margnelli and Gagliardi] present several weak points" ("Estasi: Stimmate e altri fenomeni mistici", Avverbi 1999, Rome, page 63 ). Moreover, author De Vincentiis suggests that we should reconsider the role of hysteria (a well-known psychopathology ) in all mystical experiences (quoted work, pp. 47-49). Another book analyzing the scientific research on the seers is Medjugorje: è tutto falso (Medjugorje: everything is false), by Marco Corvaglia (only available in Italian), Anteprima 2008, Turin, ISBN 88-88857-17-6.

Full account of the works of the three committees on Medjugorje can be found here: http://www.skepticwiki.org/index.php/Virgin_of_Medjugorje