CV NEWS FEED // The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) this week released a document authorizing the devotion to Our Lady Queen of Peace started in the Bosnian town of Medjugorje, citing various fruits that have come from it, while also clarifying that the Vatican does not declare the alleged Marian apparition to be of supernatural origin.
“While this does not imply a declaration of the supernatural character of the phenomenon in question…—and recalling that the faithful are not obliged to believe in it—the Nihil obstat (Latin for “Nothing stands in the way”) indicates that the faithful can receive a positive encouragement for their Christian life through this spiritual proposal, and it authorizes public acts of devotion,” reads paragraph 38 of the document, signed by DDF Prefect Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez.
The document also notes that when it refers to “messages” from the Blessed Virgin Mary, it always means “alleged messages.”
The document also states: “Moreover, the positive assessment that most of the messages of Medjugorje are edifying does not imply a declaration that they have a direct supernatural origin.”
The main messages are promotion of peace, love, conversion, prayer, fasting, and attending Mass.
Pope Francis and Msgr. Armando Matteo, the Dicastery’s Secretary for the Doctrinal Section, also signed the September 19 document titled “‘The Queen of Peace’: Note About the Spiritual Experience Connected with Medjugorje”.
In 1981, six children were present at the first alleged apparitions of Our Lady in Medjugorje, in Bosnia and Herzegovina (then-Yugoslavia). According to EWTN, the alleged visionaries were reported to have seen apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary elsewhere besides the hilltop where the first apparition allegedly took place, and received various messages from her.
The September 19 document highlighted that various fruits have come about through Medjugorje, and later states that “Medjugorje is perceived as a space of great peace, recollection, and a piety that is sincere, deep, and easily shared.”
“The positive fruits are most evident in the promotion of a healthy practice of a life of faith, in accordance with the tradition of the Church,” reads paragraph 3 of the document.
The document explains that extensive fruits have come about through pilgrimages to the Shrine to Our Lady Queen of Peace in Medjugorje, including “abundant conversions, a frequent return to the sacraments (particularly, the Eucharist and Reconciliation), many vocations to priestly, religious, and married life, a deepening of the life of faith, a more intense practice of prayer, many reconciliations between spouses, and the renewal of marriage and family life.”
These fruits have occurred through the pilgrimages, rather than through meetings with the alleged visionaries, the document added.
Journeying to Medjugorje so as to meet the “visionaries” is not advised, the document states. Rather, pilgrimages to Medjugorje should be oriented towards encountering the Blessed Mother and Jesus Christ through Eucharistic Adoration, attending Mass, and meditating on Scripture.
In a September 19 press conference with Cardinal Fernandez about Medjugorje, Vatican News reported: “As for contact with the visionaries, the Cardinal explained that ‘it is not forbidden but neither is it advisable,’ even for them.”
The Cardinal added, “The spirit of Medjugorje is not to search for the visionaries but to pray to the Queen of Peace.”
The Vatican document also goes through various messages attributed allegedly to Our Lady that require further clarification.
For example, a reiterated point allegedly belonging to Our Lady is the call to listen to her messages. This “relentless insistence” promoting listening to the messages “sometimes… stands out more than the content of the messages themselves,” the document notes: “This risks creating a dependence and an excessive expectation on the part of the faithful, which could ultimately obscure the central importance of the Revealed Word.”
While particulars in some of the alleged messages should be ignored or regarded with prudence, the document states that “this fact should not lead one to spurn the richness and the good of the Medjugorje proposal as a whole.”
Additionally, “one should recognize that the messages in which Our Lady repeatedly asks us to listen are ultimately her insistent calls to convert, return to Christ, meditate on his Word, pray, and seek peace,” the document explained.
These messages do not distract or distance oneself from the Gospel, the document adds: “Therefore, to remain faithful to the true spirit of Medjugorje, we should not focus too much on extraordinary events and alleged messages from the Gospa but should use our time and energy to pray with the Word of God, worship Christ, serve our brothers and sisters, and build peace everywhere.”
During the press conference, Cardinal Fernandez pointed to a few “problematic episodes” related to the story of Medjugorje. He mentioned the group of “rebellious Franciscans” and the local bishops, as well as the defrocking in 2009 of the Fr. Tomislav Vlasic, who claimed to be the alleged visionaries’ “spiritual advisor.”
But the official document states that “the spirituality of Medjugorje is joyful, celebratory, and includes a call to live the joy of following Christ, giving thanks even for the small, good things in life.”
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Author: McKenna Snow
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