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From the mail:

MOSTAR BISHOP STRIKES AGAIN; VATICAN RULING ON THE APPARITIONS EXPECTED BEFORE END OF THE YEAR

By Wayne Weible 

Once again, Ratko Peric, Bishop of Mostar, whose jurisdiction includes the village of Medjugorje, strikes at the authenticity of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary that has been occurring there for more than 28 years. And again, as he has done before, he chooses the Confirmation ceremonies at Medjugorje in June this year to denounce the apparitions, a time that should be dedicated only to the young people in this important moment of their spiritual lives. But final clarification is close at hand according to the archbishop of Sarajevo.

Following a questionable precedent of attacking the apparitions during Confirmation ceremonies at the St. James parish (a practice first exercised by his predecessor, Bishop Pavao Zanic in July, 1987), Bishop Peric asked the children not to behave as if the alleged Marian apparitions reported in the parish were real. "Brothers and sisters, let us not act as if these 'apparitions' were recognized and worthy of faith," the bishop said in the homily he gave June 6.He had stated earlier that top officials at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Vatican Secretariat of State confirmed they were telling anyone who asked that the Catholic Church has never recognized the alleged apparitions as authentic. He does not clarify whether these “confirmations” were made directly to him or in general.

Here is the real truth as to where the Church stands regarding Medjugorje. I quote directly from the book which I co-authored with noted Marian theologian Dr. Mark Miravalle, titled, Are The Medjugorje Apparitions Authentic?. Dr. Miravalle answers the generic question as to where the Church stands on the Medjugorje apparitions:

On April 10, 1991, the Bishops’ Conference of former Yugoslavia issued the “Declaration of the Ex-Yugoslavia Bishops’ Conference on Medjugorje.”  The declaration neither approves nor condemns the apparitions, but does permit personal belief in the apparitions and personal pilgrimages to Medjugorje while the Church investigation continues.

The declaration makes clear that while at that particular point in the investigation “it cannot be affirmed that one is dealing with supernatural apparitions and revelations”, it continues to state that “the faithful journeying to Medjugorje, prompted both by motives of belief and other motives, require attention and pastoral care.”

The Medjugorje apparitions are presently neither officially approved by the Church as being of supernatural origin (constat de supernaturalitate); nor are they condemned by the Church as being false or invalid (constat de non supernaturalitate).  They are, at this point, in a type of middle category of evaluation referred to as non constat de supernaturalitate, which allows for personal belief in the authenticity of the apparitions along with personal (non-diocesan sponsored) pilgrimages to the apparition site, while the Church’s official investigation is ongoing.

The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the Church’s highest authority under the Pope himself for dealing with private revelation, confirmed the legitimacy of personal belief and pilgrimages to Medjugorje at this point in the Church’s evaluation in its statement issued on May 26, 1998 (Protocol No. 154/81-06419).  In the statement of Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary to the Prefect, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, given to French Bishop Monsignor (Msgr). Gilbert Aubrey, Archbishop Bertone confirmed that the 1991 Zadar statement was presently the official position of the Church regarding Medjugorje.  Archbishop Bertone (presently, Cardinal Bertone, Secretary of State) stated: “As for the credibility of the ‘apparitions’ in question, this Dicastery respects what was decided by the bishops of the former Yugoslavia in the Declaration of Zadar, April 10, 1991.

Unfortunately, Bishop Peric, like so many other detractors of the apparitions at Medjugorje, fails to acknowledge that by rule of canon law, the Vatican never recognizes alleged apparitions while they are still apparently occurring. Yet, in 28 years and three months of ongoing apparitions, the Church has not censured or condemned the Medjugorje site. If there was any message or event taking place in Medjugorje that went against the doctrine of the Church or against the word of Holy Scripture, it would have been officially condemned immediately. 

RULING DUE SOON?

Regardless of what has taken place to this point in the Church’s investigation of the Medjugorje apparitions, which continues as of this writing, there may soon be final clarification. On Wednesday, October 7, 2009, a story published online by Reuters News Service (Reuters Blogs, Faithworld written by Adam Tanner) stated that a ruling on Medjugorje will come very soon according to a statement by Cardinal Vinko Puljic, archbishop of Sarajevo in Bosnia-Hercegovina. He said in an interview: We are now awaiting a new directive on this issue. I don’t think we must wait for a long time, I think it will be this year, but that is not clear… I am going to Rome in November and we must discuss this.”

The Reuters article highlighted the “skepticism” of the Church in its investigations of the apparitions up to this point, relying not on facts but on current comments made by Bishop Peric as noted here, and the scandal concerning controversial Franciscan priest, Fr. Tomas Vlasic who was recently laicized by the Vatican.

The actual fact concerning the authenticity of the apparitions at Medjugorje is that there is no leaning by the Church in the negative or the positive on the apparitions as we have  reported here through Dr. Miravalle’s answer. He concludes his commentary in Are The Medjugorje Apparitions Authentic? by stating:

The Medjugorje apparitions possess all the principal characteristics that the Church looks for in manifesting supernatural authenticity.  The message contents are in complete conformity with the official doctrinal teachings of the Catholic Church. The phenomena that accompany the messages constitute scientifically validated ecstasy during the apparitions and numerous reports of healings. The visionaries manifest lives of moral integrity and psychological stability.  The spiritual fruits from the apparitions have also had a monumental worldwide effect of conversions, returns to the Church and to proper states in life, as well as an extraordinary number of vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

Further credibility is added by the fact that more than 200 bishops, archbishops, and cardinals have visited the site officially, in addition to the many unofficial visits by the shepherds of the Church.  In addition, well over 100 bishops, archbishops, and cardinals have publicly expressed their belief in Our Lady’s presence in Medjugorje. The spiritual fruits of conversion and spiritual peace have been the ubiquitous testimony of the greater part of the forty million pilgrims who have come to Medjugorje and have responded to the Queen of Peace’s call for greater faith, prayer, fasting, conversion, and peace.

The point of contention here is that neither Bishop Peric nor his predecessor, Bishop Zanic, should have used a Confirmation ceremony as a bully pulpit to rail against the apparitions, when in truth, he is speaking to the Franciscan priests stationed there, as well as the adults of the village. It was, in my estimation, just one more step in a heightened effort to do everything possible to eradicate the apparitions or any and all reference or homage to them, based strictly on a personal belief by him. It goes directly against a Vatican decree ordering him not to comment publicly on the apparitions.

In late September, the bishop posted on his diocesan Web site an Italian translation of his homily from the June confirmation Mass, as well as letters to the Franciscan pastor of the Medjugorje parish and to another priest serving there. The result is that no Franciscan priest or visiting priest can make reference to the apparitions from the pulpit of the Church or in or on any church-owned property.
 the visionary Marija who receives the monthly message given on the 25^th day of each month can no longer use a site near her Medjugorje home that the bishop deems “unauthorized.” Visionary Mirjana cannot go to the Cenacolo Rehab Center to have her second day of the month apparition, again because it is an unauthorized site. Franciscan Father Danko Perutina, one of the parochial vicars in Medjugorje can no longer comment in writing on the monthly message, a commentary we carried in our newsletter for years.

As a final strike, Bishop Peric asked Father Vlasic, pastor of St. James Church in Medjugorje, to “remove from the parish Web site all references to the parish and its church buildings as a shrine or sanctuary and to ban prayers allegedly dictated by Mary or suggested by her alleged messages from liturgies and prayer services inside the church,” and then adding,  “Including public recitations of the rosary.”

Can this poor misguided bishop seriously carry out such a strike against what millions believe to be true apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary? Does he really believe that public recitation of the rosary, which takes place every evening at Medjugorje is part of this terrible deception put on by the Franciscan priests and the visionaries? It is unconscionable to believe that he would actually try and stop the pilgrims and villagers from praying the rosary prior to Holy Mass, but that is what he is stating.

There is one more important truth concerning Bishop Ratko Peric: he does not believe in any apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary past or present. That includes Fatima and Lourdes and many others. He simply does not accept apparitions. Further compounding his strikes against the Medjugorje apparitions is his immense dislike of the Franciscans fueled by an ongoing competition in the region between secular priests and those of the Franciscan order.

Every bishop of the Church should be held in the highest esteem. But when a bishop is in error, or is acting primarily on personal belief and not that of the Church of which he is an ordained minister, the faithful have a right to comment and act accordingly. I do so here. I encourage those who have been spiritually touched by the apparitions at Medjugorje to do the same and let their voices be heard. That is the only way to end such strikes by church leaders that come from abuse of power and personal belief and not by faith.

The grace, peace and love of Jesus be with each of you.