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VATICAN CITY (AP) – The Vatican on Thursday gave the green light for Catholics to continue flocking to a southern Bosnian village where children said they had seen visions of the Virgin Mary, offering its approval for a devotion at one of the sites. most controversial of Roman Catholic practice in recent years.
In a detailed analysis after almost 15 years of study, the Vatican’s doctrinal office did not declare the apparitions reported at Medjugorje to be authentic or of supernatural origin. And he highlighted concerns about contradictions in some of the “messages” that the alleged visionaries say they have received over the years.
But in accordance with the new Vatican criteria that are in place this year, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith ruled that the positive “spiritual fruits” deriving from the Medjugorje experience more than justify allowing the faithful to organize a pilgrimage there and allow acts of public devotion.
The decision overrules years of doubts about the authenticity of the alleged apparitions by the diocesan bishops of the region and experts in the Vatican. And he ignores the current concerns about the economic interests that have turned Medjugorje into a thriving destination for religious tourists.
Last year alone, 1.7 million Eucharistic wafers were distributed during Masses there, according to statistics published on the site’s website, a rough estimate of the number of Catholics who visited.
But with the blessing of Pope Francis, the doctrine office decided that “the abundant and wide fruits, which are so beautiful and positive,” justified its decision. He says that doing so “shows that the Holy Spirit is working fruitfully for the good of the faithful in the midst of this spiritual phenomenon.”
In 1981, six children and teenagers reported seeing visions of the Madonna on a hill in the village of Medjugorje, located in the wine-making region of southern Bosnia. Some of those original “seers” have claimed that the visions have occurred regularly since then, even daily, and that Mary is sending them messages.
According to some accounts, the Virgin Mary has appeared to the “seers” more than 40,000 times since 1981.
“This is my third time here and every time I come I feel like I really want to come back,” said Mia Hash, a pilgrim from Lebanon who was visiting Medjugorje on a rainy Thursday as the Vatican made its publication. “This is the most peaceful place on earth, I love it here.”
However, unlike the more well-known and established Catholic sanctuaries at Fatima, Portugal or Lourdes, France, the alleged apparitions at Medjugorje have never been declared authentic by the Vatican.
And over the years, local diocesan bishops in the area and some Vatican officials had cast doubt on the reliability and motives of the “seers.” Two experts tapped by Pope Benedict XVI to study Medjugorje concluded that the Medjugorje phenomenon was “demonic” in origin.
Even Francis in 2017 expressed doubts about the messages, saying “I prefer Our Lady to be a mother, our mother, and not a telegraph operator who sends a message every day at a certain time,” he said .
Religious tourism has become an important part of the local economy, with an entire industry catering for pilgrims: hotels, private accommodation, family farm businesses, even sports complexes and camping sites. Their growth has contributed to the financial well-being of the neighboring municipality after the Bosnian war in the 1990s destroyed the economy.
Yet the Vatican expressed no concern about the economic interests behind Medjugorje, and the editorial director of the Holy See, Andrea Tornielli, referred by name to one religious travel agency from Milan, Rusconi Travel, which takes pilgrims there on a bus
Robert Fastiggi, a consultant at the Vatican’s Marian observatory, praised the time it took the Vatican to reach a decision and said he believed “the Holy See was impressed by the many signs of authentic Catholic spirituality associated with Medjugorje. “
“I believe that the DDF (dicastery of the Vatican) made its decision in the light of the criterion of the Gospel: ‘By their fruits you will know them,” said Fastiggi, professor of dogmatic theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.
In its assessment, the Vatican’s doctrinal office recalled that it had announced in May this year that it was no longer in the business of validating alleged apparitions and other supernatural phenomena that have attracted Catholics for centuries, including statues that claim to be weeping. blood or stigmata said to erupt spontaneously on hands or feet.
The new criteria foresee six main outcomes, the most favorable of which is that the church issues a non-traditional doctrinal green light, so-called “nihil obstat,” which means that there is nothing about the an event that is contrary to the faith, and therefore Catholics can express devotion to him.
The Vatican on Thursday gave that “nihil obstat” to Medjugorje. The local bishop issued the decree authorizing devotion there, and it is now possible that a sanctuary could be built, said the head of the doctrine office, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández.
In a nearly two-hour news conference where those present were invited to recite the “Hail” prayer at the end, Fernández revealed that Saint John Paul II believed strongly in Medjugorje and had wanted to visit but had was dismissed by the local bishop.
The decision does not require the faithful to believe in the Medjugorje phenomenon, but allows them to do so.
In its analysis, the Vatican listed what it called the many spiritual benefits that have been associated with pilgrimages to the site, including people deciding they want to become priests or nuns, couples reconciling after difficulties in marriage, healing after prayer and new works of charity that care for orphans and drug addicts.
He did not list any examples of any negative experiences associated with Medjugorje. Nor did he mention that the priest most closely associated with Medjugorje and the six “seers” was excommunicated by the Vatican in 2009 for, among other things, spreading false doctrine.
The Vatican seemed to want to distance the place from the people who received the alleged apparitions, stressing that these benefits have not occurred as a result of meetings with them but rather “in the context of pilgrimages to the places which is related to the original events. .”
Fernández said that there was no prohibition on contacting the “seers,” but that it was not wise. And in a sign that the jury is still out on them and the whole phenomenon, he reiterated that Francis’ personal ambassador to Medjugorje would be monitoring the website and evaluating any future messages allegedly received. by the “seers” before they were published.
“The nihil obstat doesn’t solve everything for the future,” he said.
In his 17-page document, he used almost four pages to list concerns about problems in some of the thousands of individual messages the alleged seers have received, including cases where the message contradicted aspects on Catholic doctrine.
The decision will certainly affect Medjugorje, which lies in the municipality of Citluk, one of the smallest in Bosnia with around 18,000 inhabitants but economically prosperous.
“Medjugorje means a lot, all economic sectors lean on Medjugorje,” said Ante Kozina, head of the tourism association. “It’s a growth generator for the entire borough.”
On Thursday, pilgrims in raincoats and umbrellas said they were pleased with the Vatican’s decision.
“I think that’s right so they don’t make hasty decisions,” said Darko Dumic, a pilgrim from the coastal town of Croatian Split. But he expressed hope that there will be an even more positive decision in the future, “an official one for Medjugorje to become a holy place.”
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Emric contributed from Medjugorje, Bosnia. Gec contributed from Belgrade, Serbia.
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Associated Press religion coverage is supported through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
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