More reasons to skip Medjugorje
Was the Virgin Mary ever known to foster disobedience? I believe not.
Some of the Franciscan priests assigned to the Medjugorje parish, he said, have been expelled from their order because of their refusal to accept Church authority. "They have not only been illegally active in these parishes, but they have also administered the sacraments profanely, while others invalidly," he said. As Bishop of Mostar-Duvno, he said, he felt obliged to warn the faithful "who invalidly confess their sins to these priests and participate in sacrilegious liturgies."
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The bishops urged the "seers" of Medjugorje to "demonstrate ecclesiastical obedience and to cease with these public manifestations and messages in this parish."
Bishop Peric reminded his people of the restrictions that he has imposed on activities in Medjugorje. The parish church is not formally a "shrine," he said, and should not be characterized as such. Pilgrimages to the church are discouraged. Priests there are "not authorized to express their private views contrary to the official position of the Church on the so-called 'apparitions' and 'messages,' during celebrations of the sacraments, nor during other common acts of piety, nor in the Catholic media."
"They particularly do not seem to be authentic," the bishop observed, "when it is known before that these so-called 'apparitions' will occur." Bishop Peric cited the schedule that the Medjugorje seers have provided, listing the times and places at which they claim the next visits by the Mother of God will occur. Thousands of messages from Mary are now claimed, and the bishop observed that "the flood of so-called apparitions, messages, secrets, and signs do not strengthen the faith, but rather further convince us that in all of this there is nothing neither authentic nor established as truthful."
posted by Joseph | Tuesday, July 04, 2006
3 Comments:
Surely if the Church felt at any time in 25 years that Medjugorje was truly schismatic then it would have taken steps by now to close it down.
What is strange to read is that both Popes have backed the Bishop’s judgement. Yet there has been no move for the Vatican to shut everything down. The truth is that both Popes have never backed the Bishop in his judgement. In fact the opposite. The matter was taken out of the Bishop’s jurisdiction by, guess who, Cardinal Ratzinger!
And then this report quotes the bishop as saying, “while recognizing the Holy Father's right to give a final decision”. This after earlier saying the Pope backed him!
Notice, too, how the bishops words are not absolute... similar to a schism... while recognising the Holy Father’s right to give a final decision on the validity... they particularly do not seem to be authentic... These are all back-covering, get-out clauses, just in case the wind starts to blow the other way and the apparitions are accepted by the Church.
As to the reference that Medjugorje is not a shrine... In August 1993, Cardinal Kuharic, who headed the new commission after it was taken out of the hands of the local bishop, said, “We bishops, after a three year long commission study, accept Medjugorje as a holy place, as a shrine. This means that we have nothing against it if someone venerates the Mother of God in a manner also in agreement with the teaching and belief of the Church. Therefore we are leaving this to further study. We are in no hurry.”
The Holy See’s press office also stated in 1996, “The Vatican permits pilgrimages to Medjugorje as long as they are not regarded as authentication of events still taking place, which still call for an examination by the Church. Neither has the Church suppressed discussion on Medjugorje.”
As to the question of obedience, perhaps the bishop should take the lead and set an example. The Vatican has stated publicly that any comment on Medjugorje by the bishop is purely his own opinion and not that of the Church, and that he should refrain from making such comments. But does the bishop listen or obey?
Peace
HI again Pilgrim - cut and paste in all the blogs is working out well for you, eh?
It's truly a form of spamming when you think about it - to copy and paste the same thing in every blog covering the story.
According to the University of Dayton's International Marian Research Institute (http://www.udayton.edu/mary/questions/faq/ faq27.html)
the ordinary of Mostar has not been in charge of this question since 1986. Cardinal Ratzinger relieved Mgr. Zanic of the dossier and put the matter in the hands of the Yugoslavian Bishops Conference. It would now pertain to the Episcopal Conference of Bosnia-Herzegovina to decide.
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