We should be careful because even Medjugorje is not 100% approved by the Vatican.
Medjugorje 25 years later: Apparitions and
contested authenticityBy John Thavis
Catholic News Service
ROME (CNS) -- Twenty-five years after six children in Medjugorje, a village in what is now Bosnia-Herzegovina, began reporting apparitions of Mary, pilgrims are still flocking to the site and church officials are still cautious about the authenticity of the events.
Marian experts continue to debate the significance of Medjugorje, and several have published books -- ranging from enthusiastically supportive to skeptical -- to coincide with the anniversary.
In Medjugorje, Franciscan pastors are preparing for overflow crowds on June 24-25, the dates on which the alleged apparitions and messages began in 1981. They insist, however, that no special commemorations are planned.
"Everything's been booked solid for more than a year, and we're expecting thousands of pilgrims. But we're not putting on any spectacle or festival -- just the usual program of prayer," Franciscan Father Ivan Sesar, pastor of St. James Parish in Medjugorje, said in a telephone interview.
Of the six children who originally reported visions from Mary, sometimes daily, one says she still receives messages from Mary on the 25th of each month. They are published online, eagerly awaited by a large network of Christians dedicated to Medjugorje.
According to Bishop Ratko Peric of Mostar-Duvno, whose diocese includes Medjugorje, the messages now number more than 30,000, a fact that only increases his own skepticism about the authenticity of the apparitions.
Bishop Peric discussed Medjugorje with Pope Benedict XVI earlier this year during a visit to the Vatican. In a summary of the discussion published in his diocesan newspaper, Bishop Peric said he had reviewed the history of the apparitions with the pope, who already was aware of the main facts from his time as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
"The Holy Father told me: We at the congregation always asked ourselves how can any believer accept as authentic apparitions that occur every day and for so many years?" Bishop Peric said.
Bishop Peric noted that Yugoslavian bishops in 1991 issued a statement that "it cannot be confirmed that supernatural apparitions or revelations are occurring" at Medjugorje.
Bishop Peric said he told the pope that his own opinion was even stronger -- not only that a supernatural element cannot be proven, but that "it is certain that these events do not concern supernatural apparitions."
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