Whither Medjugorje?

I’ve been thinking about Medjugorje this week.

It was about 25 years ago that I first heard of it, in the mid-1980s. The story was that, since 1981, the Blessed Virgin Mary had been appearing to six children in a small village called Medjugorje in (what was then Communist) Yugoslavia. At the time, I was living and working in Hong Kong and read every book I could find on the subject – I even toyed with the idea of making a pilgrimage there - however, work pressures intruded and the notion faded.

But Medjugorje refused to go away. Every few years I was reminded of the apparitions, of the millions of people who had gone on pilgrimage there over the years. And every few years I bought another book on Medjugorje or researched the latest articles on the internet. Some of them were not very complimentary about Medjugorje, the visionaries, the alleged messages, or some of the people closely involved with the phenomenon, especially the local Franciscans.

The history of Medjugorje and its surroundings is complex with racial, cultural, religious and political elements involving the Byzantian, Roman and Ottoman Empires; the Slavs, Franks, Bulgarians, Bosnians, Serbs and Hungarians; Orthodox, Moslem and Catholic adherents - a real stew of peoples, plots, conflicts and battles that continued until the Second World War, with contributions from the Nazis, Chetniks and Ustasa.

What a challenging place that the Mother of God (Our Lady of Medjugorje, Queen of Peace) reportedly chose for her communication! There are unsettling parallels with the Rwandan apparitions of Our Lady of Kibeho that took place at the same time. Both alleged appearances took place in 1981 and both presaged conflicts; the Rwandan Genocide in 1994-5 in which the UN estimate that about 800,000 died, and the Bosnian War of 1992-5 when over 100,000 people died. Two ‘holy’ places, with their shrines and pilgrimages sited amid a landscape scarred by the sinfulness of humanity. 
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Today, there seems to be three views about Medjugorje in the Catholic community.

The first is “Medje-what? How do you pronounce it? Where is it?”

The second - and most prominent on the internet - is “A wonderful place, prayerful, I experienced something that has changed me forever...”

The last is “Work of the devil, Stay away.”
Learning how to pronounce the word ‘Medjugorje’ is easy now (Med-joo-gori-yeh or thereabouts!) thanks to the internet.

Also, thanks to the internet, those with negative views on Medjugorje can readily communicate their reservations or contrary opinions. These seem to fall under three main headings:

DIVISION & REBELLION

There is a history of confrontation between the local ordinary of Mostar and the Franciscans in Mostar (who promoted the apparitions). Indeed, the local Bishops of Mostar, Pavao Zanic, and his successor Ratko Peric, have both ruled against the apparitions, after investigating them. Under the principle of collegiality, religious at all levels should have honoured this decision, but, instead, quite a number have visited Medjugorje or allowed facilities to the alleged visionaries when visiting their areas, sowing the seeds of division and apparently promoting an illicit cultus.

Bishop Peric summarised the local church’s view (Bishop Peric's Statement):

The Church is competent to say this. In her name, 30 chosen priests and physicians, working together in three Commissions for 10 years, in more than 30 meetings, dutifully and expertly investigated the events of Medjugorje and brought forth their judgement. And not one, but twenty bishops responsibly declared that there exists no proof that the events in Medjugorje concern supernatural apparitions.

However...a final view on the question has now been subsumed by the Vatican. In March 2010, Pope Benedict XVI established a Commission of 17 experts under the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, headed by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, to report on the alleged apparitions. Until that commission reports and gives an opinion on the nature of the events  – and some sceptics say that will not occur during the lifetime of the alleged visionaries – we will not have a final authoritative decision on the apparitions.

DIVINE NATURE OF COMMUNICATIONS

Some commentators accuse the seers of receiving messages that are contrary to faith, for example, claiming Mary has said that all faiths are the same and equal before God. The visionaries are said to have given inconsistent reports in the early years, or lied. It also strains credibility that tens of thousands of messages have been received since 1981 (compared to a handful at Lourdes and relatively few at Fatima). The messages are also described as anodyne, banal, boring or even heretical.

However...there is a dispute as to the actual words said, reported, and translated. In many cases we are going back 30+ years to fallible recollections, while the few alleged messages of Mary that I have read seem consistent with Catholic doctrine, emphasising prayer, repentance, fasting, charity, etc

THE LIFESTYLE OF THE VISIONARIES AND THEIR PROMOTERS

None of the visionaries has opted for a religious life (as did the visionaries in Lourdes and Fatima). It has been said that they did not seem exceptionally devoted to the Eucharist, and several seem to have benefitted materially from their situation, owning nice houses and cars. Their main promoter and spiritual advisor, Father Tomislav Vlasic, was reportedly suspended by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, investigated for matters including sexual immorality and then allegedly defrocked.

However...it can be argued that participating in a Catholic marriage is also a worthy sacramental life. Some who have seen the seers’ houses regard these houses as unexceptional (although they have been enlarged to help house pilgrims) and many view the visionaries as exemplary Catholics.

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So, what are we to conclude?

For more than 30 years pilgrims have been making their way to a little town in western Bosnia and Herzegovina. Even in this largely secular, liberal, relativist world, two to three million pilgrims come each year, hoping to experience something of the divine.

The experience has transformed many of these pilgrims into fervent missionaries, promoting Medjugorje and its messages, and the good fruits of Medjugorje are everywhere: reformed addicts, converted agnostics and atheists; vocations; charitable works; healings; supernatural images; queues at confession; renewed prayer etc. If this is indeed a diabolical plot, there is a temptation to think that Old Nick – to use a football analogy – might have scored an ‘own goal.’

Further, for 32 years, despite many investigations and commissions, there has been no uncovering of the massive, organised and sustained fraud that would be necessary to support and explain the phenomena. To the contrary, the good fruits have multiplied enormously, and, because humans are fallible, there have been a few rotten ones as well.

Of course, as Catholics, we are free to discuss Medjugorje, to go there, to believe or not believe in the private revelations of the seers. Only when – or if – the Vatican pronounces on the subject, we will have a moral obligation to accept that pronouncement.

UPDATE: MEDJUGORJE VERSUS LOURDES

My friend Cathy visited Medjugorje for the first time one year ago. She returned ecstatic about her experience, so I asked her a few questions about her pilgrimage, focusing particularly on the differences between Lourdes – which she had visited several times - and Medjugorje. This is what she said: 

Where Lourdes is very outward looking, and is all about service to others, especially the sick or disabled, Medjugorje concentrates on prayer and reconciliation and is a lot more inward looking...It felt a very prayerful place, and the daily rosary, Mass and the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament were incredible. There were hundreds and hundreds of people, all in silent prayer. The feeling was very similar to being in Hyde Park for the Pope’s visit.

...Obviously they've not had as much time to make it as touristy as the people of Lourdes!..There certainly was no pressure to buy, and the selection was nowhere near as tacky as some of the things I’ve seen in Lourdes...Prices were incredibly cheap, even in the cafes and restaurants closest to the church...it felt much more ‘real’ than Lourdes. For example, every Sunday the locals have Mass in the Church, and visitors are asked to respect their privacy and not to intrude. Also, we were repeatedly told that we were not there as tourists, but as pilgrims. They asked people not to take photos in the religious areas, and to be respectful in their dress and behaviour.

 Well.... some areas were easier than others! In the town itself, and in the equivalent of the Domaine, it’s all flat and easy to get round. It’s not as big as Lourdes so everything is just a short walk away...but this is not a town designed for disabled access! There are two sites nearby that are a bit more challenging; the hill where the first apparitions took place and a mountain where the locals built a cross on top. Both are incredibly rocky and the hotel/B&B supply walking sticks to help. I did the hill, and that wasn’t too bad, but the mountain was a three hour round trip, starting off from the hotel at 5.45am!!! On the hill you stop as you go up to say the rosary, and on the mountain you stop for the Stations of the Cross, so although it’s a challenge, pretty much everyone managed it as you could rest at regular intervals. The hill was a 15 minute walk or a two minute taxi ride away. The mountain was a longer walk, a 5 euro taxi ride, or an organised coach trip away. I took advantage of the taxis as they were only 5 Euros for anywhere in the town/surrounding area, and there was always someone in the group who was happy to share.

(yes, dear reader, I know there's an awful lot of empty space after this post on Medjugorje. It wasn't planned...it just happened! I'm new to using Blogger software and sometimes strange things happen that I didn't plan and can't correct...so, kindly ignore my occasional screw ups! Thank you.)