The Vatican issued a statement Thursday acknowledging that spiritual “fruits” have been produced at the site of controversial alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary — though it stopped short of saying the visions were supernatural in origin.
In June 1981, a group of six young people in a town called Medjugorje what is now Bosnia and HerzegovinaA man has claimed he had a vision of the Virgin Mary, the Associated Press reports.
In a lengthy “note” titled “Queen of Peace” published Thursday by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the council, and Monsignor Armando Mateo, secretary of the doctrine section, noted that many “positive fruits” have come from Medjugorje since the alleged apparitions began in 1981.
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Since the alleged visions began, Medjugorje has become a major pilgrimage site – This town of just over 2,000 inhabitants is visited by over one million pilgrims every year.
The Vatican formally approved pilgrimages to the site in 2019, according to the Vatican News website.
Pilgrims are shown praying next to a statue of the Virgin Mary inside the Church of St. James in Medjugorje, Bosnia. The church and town of Medjugorje have been a major pilgrimage site since the 1980s. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
According to Thursday’s note, pilgrimages to Medjugorje have yielded a “great number” of spiritual “fruits,” including “abundant conversions, frequent returns to the sacraments (in particular, the Eucharist and Reconciliation), numerous vocations to the priesthood, religious and married life,” and more.
“Positive results are most evident in the promotion of a healthy practice A life of faithThe note said, “In accordance with church tradition.”
“In the context of Medjugorje, this applies both to those who were previously far from the faith, as well as to those who practiced the faith only superficially.”
In the original scene, the figure introduced herself as the “Queen of Peace” and has been known as the “Queen of Peace” ever since.Our Lady of Medjugorje,
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In the decades that followed, many of the original dreamers reported frequent and regular visions of the Virgin Mary.
The messages transmitted in these visions are catalogued and published on the Medjugorje website.
In the most recent published message, on August 25, visionary Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti reported hearing a prayer for peace.
Medjugorje has become a somewhat controversial devotion due to the regularity of the Virgin Mary’s reported messages, as well as the content of some of the messages which appeared to contradict accepted doctrine.
More than one million people visit the town of Medjugorje each year, located in what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
In addition, some visionaries have become places of pilgrimage themselves – which raises the question of whether this is appropriate.
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These controversies were addressed in Thursday’s note, in which Fernández and Mateo wrote that they “strongly recommend” that pilgrims to Medjugorje go there with the goal of “encountering Mary, Queen of Peace — and of being faithful to their love for her Son.” Meeting with Christ and listen to Him through meditation on the Word by attending the Eucharist and participating in Eucharistic adoration,” rather than meeting with so-called visionaries.
The Vatican has never stated that the alleged apparitions in Medjugorje are authentic or “of supernatural origin.”
Unlike other famous pilgrimage sites in Europe — Fatima, Portugal; Lourdes, France; and Knock, Ireland — where apparitions of Mary are alleged to occur, the Vatican has never stated that the alleged visions in Medjugorje are authentic or “supernatural in origin.”
However, in Thursday’s note, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith approved the “nihil obstat” declaration of Bosnia’s local bishop regarding the alleged apparitions in Medjugorje.
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“Nihil obstat” is a Latin phrase meaning “no objection.”
In this case, it means Loyal They have a “right to express their views freely” but they are under no obligation to acknowledge that these sightings are occurring or are authentic.
“Nihil obstat indicates that through this spiritual offer believers may receive positive encouragement for their Christian life, and it authorizes public acts of devotion,” the note says.
The Vatican did not say whether the alleged visions in Medjugorje were authentic or “supernatural in origin.” (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
“Such a determination is only possible when numerous positive results are observed during spiritual experience, while negative and dangerous influences are not spread among God’s people,” the note said.
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But the note clarified that just because there are positive things coming from Medjugorje, it does not mean that these visions are actually from the Virgin Mary.
“Moreover, the positive assessment that most of the messages from Medjugorje are instructive does not imply that they have a direct supernatural origin,” the note says.
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The note further stated, “As a result, when referring to Our Lady’s ‘messages,’ we must always keep in mind that they are ‘purported messages.'”
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
