https://www.crisismagazine.com/2020/medjugorje-a-cult-exposed Medjugorje: A Cult Exposed Medjugorje is back in the news. Jane Stannus NOVEMBER 3, 2020 On October 23, 2020, it was announced that Tomislav Vlasic, former spiritual director to its seers, had been excommunicated. The sentence was incurred after Vlasic steadfastly refused to comply with the canonical sanctions imposed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009, when he was defrocked. During the intervening decade, he persisted in presenting himself as a priest, simulating the sacraments, and generally carrying on scandalously. For Vlasic, excommunication is only the latest blot on a heavily sullied record. In 1976, well before any alleged apparitions in Medjugorje, Vlasic was serving as a Franciscan priest in the nearby town of Capljina. Known as a charismatic, he would gather priests, nuns and laity together for what the diocese of Mostar called “dubious charismatic spiritual renewals.” During this time, Vlasic began a manipulative affair with a female religious. When she discovered she was expecting a child, he packed her hastily off to Germany. Anxious for his name to be kept secret, he assured her that she would be blessed if she accepted her fate as the unwed mother of an baby with an incognito father—even going so far as to blasphemously compare her situation with that of the Mother of God. She kept his secret for years. In May 1981, Vlasic attended a charismatic gathering in Rome, where a nun had a vision of him seated in the midst of a large group of people, with rivers of water flowing away from the place where he sat. A Dominican priest present prophesied to him, “Do not be afraid, I will send you my Mother.” Just a few weeks later, at the end of June, the first apparition in Medjugorje was reported. Vlasic became involved there immediately, beginning to compile a chronicle—later deemed not credible by an investigating commission—of the alleged apparitions on August 11, 1981. In September 1981, without notifying the bishop or requesting permission, he left Capljina altogether and took up residence in Medjugorje. To understand the Medjugorje phenomenon, it’s important to note the longstanding feud between the local bishop and dissident Franciscans. The area had been for centuries considered mission territory entrusted to the Franciscan order. When dioceses were eventually established and bishops assigned, some Franciscans flatly refused to cede their parishes to newly appointed diocesan clergy, an ongoing standoff at the time of the first apparitions. A number of these Franciscans had ties to the Ustaša, a Croatian terrorist group. It was these dissident Franciscans who nurtured and promoted the Medjugorje cult from the very beginning. Among them were Tomislav Vlasic, Jozo Zovko (the priest to whom the seers first brought their story, known to be a charismatic and an Ustaša sympathizer), Ivica Vego and Ivan Prusina. All four would be eventually suspended and laicized. So it was more or less par for the course when Vlasic moved to Medjugorje without as much as a by-your-leave to the local ordinary. There he immediately became spiritual director, handler and chronicler to the seers—and consequently a key figure in shaping and disseminating the message and cult of Medjugorje throughout the world. Critique of the local bishop (and explicit support for the dissident Franciscans) was a running theme in the messages supposedly relayed from Our Lady. In the Medjugorje narrative burnished by Vlasic and Co. for presentation to the world, the bishop figured as a weakling, a Communist collaborator with no interest in the truth about the apparitions. Nothing could be more unfair to Bishop Zanic, whose energetic statements on the topic make his sincerity and his concern for truth plain; he actually defended the young seers and those associated with them from the Communists at the outset of things, not wanting his judgement on the matter to be swayed by political pressure. Yet years later, the film Gospa (1995) would calumniously push this pro-Communist caricature of Zanic on church-goers and Medjugorje devotees across North America, showing how effective the dissident spin machine. Con’t
Con’t In autumn of 1981, Vlasic’s fellow Franciscans Vego and Prusina led a mob in physically evicting the bishop-appointed clergy from a Mostar church (violence was standard behaviour for the dissident Franciscans, who would go on to kidnap Zanic’s successor, Bishop Peric, in 1995). Zanic suspended their faculties, and the friars ran to Medjugorje to ask the young seers for Our Lady’s support. Conveniently, the seers asserted that Our Lady took the dissidents’ side—“Our Lady said that the bishop is to blame for the disorder in Herzegovina”—and authorized the priests to ignore their suspension. In vain did Zanic point out that the real Mother of God would be well aware of the canonical legitimacy of his decision. Over the coming months the seers relayed a number of messages in which Our Lady repeatedly declared Vego and Prusina were innocent and should continue to say Mass and hear confessions at Medjugorje, despite their lack of faculties. “The bishop has no real love of God in his heart,” the seers said she told them, and “They [Vego and Prusina] have no faults.” But it became hard to maintain Vego’s spotless innocence when he was revealed to have—like Vlasic—seduced a nun and fathered a child. When he was forced to cease his ministry, he settled down near the shrine with his mistress; to the bishop’s disgust, his best-selling Medjugorje prayer book was not even removed from the bookstore. (He later got married and moved to Italy.) Their fellow dissident, Jozo Zovko, would also be removed from the shrine and defrocked for insubordination amid allegations that he had molested pilgrims. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below In 1984, correspondence between Vlasic and the mother of his child fell into the hands of Cardinal Ratzinger, and Vlasic had to leave Medjugorje. His immoral behavior was perhaps not the greatest of his crimes there, however; a 2008 statement from Mostar’s diocesan chancellor indicates that Vlasic—spiritual director and handler to the seers, remember—had “conjured up evil spirits in Medjugorje.” Bishop Zanic referred to him as a “charismatic magician.” His next move was consistent with an interest in the occult: starting a full-blown New Age organization. Vlasic took up with a woman named Agnes Heupel (who claimed to have experienced a miraculous cure at Medjugorje). They traveled to Italy, “like Clare and Francis,” as Vlasic piously put it, to found a new kind of religious order where both men and women would live and work in shared quarters: “Queen of Peace—Totally Yours—to Jesus through Mary.” In February 1988, Medjugorje seer Marija Pavlovic went to join Vlasic’s association. She wrote—at Vlasic’s urging—a formal attestation that Our Lady had endorsed the group: “This is God’s plan.” Strangely, only a few months later, Marija left the group and swore before the Blessed Sacrament in July 1988 that despite her previous statement, Our Lady had never approved Vlasic’s group. Extreme weirdness was, and remains, the chief characteristic of the Queen of Peace group. It teaches a blend of New Age mysticism and Gnosticism, including belief in extraterrestrial life forms and interplanetary communication. Although the association is still based in Italy, it appears to operate a kind of spiritual hotel in Medjugorje, complete with pseudo-mystical architectural features such as a “Door of Light” through which the initiate passes, symbolically dying to himself. Wildly heretical though all this was, Vlasic continued to present the association as Catholic and himself as a Catholic priest. It was only after Benedict XVI became pope—his intervention in the 80s had forced Vlasic to leave Medjugorje—that Vlasic was investigated and laicized in 2009 on grounds of “suspicion of heresy and schism, as well as scandalous acts contra sextum [against the Sixth Commandment], aggravated by mystical motivations.” His refusal to comply with canonical sanctions brought about his final excommunication this summer. Sincere souls who are inclined to believe that Our Lady has appeared in Medjugorje may argue that Vlasic’s influence on events at Medjugorje was minimal, since he was only there for a few years, and that in any case recent Vatican approval of pilgrimages renders further analysis unnecessary. But that’s not quite good enough. In 1981, Tomislav Vlasic was plainly already a corrupt and manipulative individual. He was closely involved with the other Franciscans in Medjugorje and with the seers as spiritual director, chronicler and frequent interviewer, and according to the diocese of Mostar, he was known to have trafficked in the occult during his time in Medjugorje. If Rome wants to approve pilgrimages to this place, should it not explain the precise nature and scope of Vlasic’s influence on the seers, not to mention the influence exerted by him and his fellow dissidents on the pro-Medjugorje messages broadcast throughout the Catholic world? The fact that the Vatican has not yet bothered to do so reveals an unfortunate cynicism towards the value of apparitions in general: does it really matter if Our Lady appeared, so long as people are going to confession and praying the rosary? The answer is yes, it matters very much. Good-hearted Catholics may have been made victims of an ingenious fraud, or worse, of an ongoing diabolic manifestation. If either ends up being the case, Our Lady will not have been honored in Medjugorje, but mocked—by both devils and men.
https://www-catholicnewsagency-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.catholicnewsagency.com/amp/news/tomislav-vlasic-former-spiritual-director-of-medjugorje-visionaries-excommunicated-80554 Tomislav Vlasic, former spiritual director of 'Medjugorje visionaries' excommunicated CNA Staff, Oct 23, 2020 / 05:48 pm MT (CNA).- A laicized priest who had been the spiritual director to six people who said they experienced visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Bosnian town of Medjugorje has been excommunicated. Tomislav Vlasic, who had been a Franciscan priest until he was laicized in 2009, was excommunicated July 15 by a decree of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican. The excommunication was announced this week by the Diocese of Brescia, Italy, where the laicized priest lives. The Brescia diocese said that since his laicization, Vlasic “has continued to carry out apostolic activities with individuals and groups, through conferences and online; he has continued to present himself as a religious and priest of the Catholic Church, simulating the celebration of sacraments.” The diocese said Vlasic has been the source of “serious scandal to Catholics,” by disobeying the directives of ecclesiastical authorities. When he was laicized, Vlasic was forbidden from teaching or engaging in apostolic work, and especially from teaching about Medjugorje. He was in 2009 accused of teaching false doctrine, manipulating consciences, disobeying ecclesiastical authority, and of committing acts of sexual misconduct. A person who is excommunicated is prohibited from receiving the sacraments until the penalty has been lifted. Alleged Marian apparitions in Medjugorje have long been a subject of controversy in the Church, which have been investigated by the Church but not yet authenticated or rejected. The alleged apparitions began June 24, 1981, when six children in Medjugorje, a town in what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina, began to experience phenomena which they have claimed to be apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to these six “seers,” the apparitions contained a message of peace for the world, a call to conversion, prayer and fasting, as well as certain secrets surrounding events to be fulfilled in the future. Since their beginning, the alleged apparitions have been a source of both controversy and conversion, with many flocking to the city for pilgrimage and prayer, and some claiming to have experienced miracles at the site, while many others claim the visions are non-credible. In January 2014, a Vatican commission concluded a nearly four-year-long investigation on the doctrinal and disciplinary aspects of the Medjugorje apparitions, and submitted a document to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. When the congregation has analyzed the commission’s findings, it will finalize a document on the alleged apparitions, which will be submitted to the pope, who will make a final decision. Pope Francis approved Catholic pilgrimages to Medjugorje in May 2019, but he has not made a deliberation on the authenticity of the apparitions. Those alleged apparitions “still require an examination by the Church,” papal spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said in a statement May 12, 2019. The pope permitted pilgrimages “as an acknowledgment of the “abundant fruits of grace” that have come from Medjugorje and to promote those “good fruits.” It is also part of the "particular pastoral attention" of Pope Francis to the place, Gisotti said. Pope Francis visited Bosnia and Herzegovina in June 2015 but declined to stop in Medjugorje during his trip. During his return flight to Rome, he indicated that the process of investigation in the apparitions was nearly complete. On the return flight from a visit to the Marian shrine of Fatima in May 2017, the pope spoke about the final document of the Medjugorje commission, sometimes referred to as the “Ruini report,” after the head of the commission, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, calling it “very, very good,” and noting a distinction between the first Marian apparitions at Medjugorje and the later ones. “The first apparitions, which were to children, the report more or less says that these need to continue being studied,” he said, but as for “presumed current apparitions, the report has its doubts,” the pope said. Sent from my iPhone
https://www.catholic.org/news/international/europe/story.php?id=34172 VATICAN CITY (Zenit.org) - Benedict XVI's approval of the laicization of Father Tomislav Vlasic (effected in 2009!) is not a judgment on the claims that Mary is appearing in Medjugorje, says his former superior, the procurator-general of the Franciscan Friars Minor. Father Francesco Bravi told ZENIT today that the laicization was not imposed by the Holy See, but rather was in response to a request presented by Father Vlasic himself, to be dispensed both of priestly celibacy and his religious vows. "He requested it," Father Bravi said, adding that, although Father Vlasic was the assistant pastor in Medjugorje when the first apparitions were reported, the priest has been living in Italy for more than two decades. He was a religious of the Franciscan province of St. Bernardino di Siena (L'Aquila) and had founded the community "Kraljice mira potsuno Tvoji -- po Mariji k Isusu" (Queen of Peace, Totally Yours -- Through Mary to Jesus). Vlasic asked the Holy See to be dispensed from the obligations of priestly ministry, Father Bravi added, because he does not want to accept the sanctions that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith imposed in 2008. These sanctions were levied because of reports about Vlasic regarding "the diffusion of dubious doctrine, manipulation of consciences, suspected mysticism, disobedience towards legitimately issued orders and charges contra sextum [against the 6th Commandment]," that decree explains. The decree announced five sanctions, including the obligation to remain in one of the Franciscan houses, to refrain from contact with any of the Queen of Peace group, and to leave aside the care of souls, preaching, etc. Father Bravi told ZENIT that Vlasic did not acknowledge the accusations and therefore was unwilling to accept the sanctions. Father Vlasic had an important role at the beginning of the Medjugorje event in 1981, when the six youth began to affirm that Our Lady was appearing to them. However, he was transferred to Italy in 1985. Though he has publicly and in writing offered interpretations of Medjugorje, he has on occasion been contradicted by the visionaries. For example, he affirmed that the community he founded was born because of an express wish of the Virgin, but Marija Pavlovic, one of the visionaries, denied this in a letter she sent to the Holy See. The bishop of Mostar, where Medjugorje is located, has made declarations against the apparitions, but the phenomenon continues to be studied by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, in his "The Last Secret of Fatima," published in 2007, said the bishop's declarations are not the definitive and official judgment of the Church. He clarified that personal pilgrimages are permitted to the site, as the investigations continue.
It was requested on another thread to revisit this subject. Anyone wishing to do so is welcome to post further critiques here. Since this is a controversial subject, let’s keep it limited to this thread, so that those who support it may easily pass over the thread. This thread is not for promotion or defense of the messages / visionaries, but for constructive and charitable analysis of the aspects that run counter to that. If you know of any good articles or resources in that regard feel free to post them here. As I said on that thread, I was “all in” on Medjugorje right after my reversion to the Faith in 1992. But then I had one of those very real gut instincts that told me to dig into it deeper. So I did. Very deeply.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomislav_Vlašić Tomislav Vlašić Tomislav Vlašić (born 16 January 1942)[2] is the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Whole Universe seated in Italy. He is best known for being a former spiritual director of the alleged seers of the Marian apparitions in Medjugorje. He also claims to receive the messages from God the Father, the Holy Spirit, the Madonna, the Apostlesand the archangels. Tomislav Vlašić Title Head of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Whole Universe Personal life Born 16 January 1942 (age 83)[2] Sovići, Grude, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia Children 1 Known for Former spiritual director of the Medjugorje seers Religious life Religion New Age[1] Church Church of Jesus Christ of the Whole Universe Senior posting He is a former Franciscan friar and Catholic priest, an adherer of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. He became the spiritual director of the alleged seers of the Marian apparitionsin Medjugorje in October 1981.[3] Vlašić is the author of the chronicles of apparitions, a chronology that follows the alleged apparitions. In August 1984, Vlašić was replaced by Franciscan friar Slavko Barbarić[4] He remained actively involved in the Medjugorje phenomenon at least until 1991. He was one of the founders of the Medjugorje International Youth Festival (Mladifest), an annual gathering of the Catholic youth, established to mark Our Lady's birthday as claimed by the seers. In 1987 he moved to Italy and founded the community "Queen of Peace – Totally Yours – to Jesus through Mary" with the alleged approval from Madonna, as proclaimed by Marija Pavlović, one of the alleged seers. Pavlović subsequently disavowed the organization.[5] In 2009 Vlašić was laicized after accusations of sexual misconduct, and was excommunicated in 2020.[6] In 2018, with a group of followers, Vlašić established the Church of Jesus Christ of the Whole Universe, led by himself and his associate Stefania Caterina in Ghedi near Brescia in Italy. Catholic priest Medjugorje phenomenon New age leader Church of Jesus Christ of the Whole Universe Notes References
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavko_Barbarić Slavko Barbarić Slavko Barbarić (11 March 1946 – 24 November 2000) was a Herzegovinian Franciscan Catholic priest and friar involved in the alleged Marianapparitions in Medjugorje, serving as a spiritual director of the alleged seers from 1984 until he died in 2000. He was a supporter of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Slavko Barbarić's statue in Medjugorje He became a priest as a member of the Franciscans in 1971. From 1981 until 1984 he served as a spiritual assistant in Mostar, but was mainly active in Medjugorje after the alleged apparitions in June 1981. There, he was appointed a chaplain in 1984 and succeeded Tomislav Vlašić as a spiritual director of the alleged seers. Barbarić remained in Medjugorje until his transfer to Blagajnear Mostar in 1985. Nevertheless, he continued his activity in Medjugorje, contrary to the Bishop's orders. He was moved to Humac near Ljubuški, but in 1991 illegally moved to Medjugorje again, where he remained until his death. His confessional jurisdiction was suspended by the Bishop twice due to his disobedience in 2000. Early life and priesthood Medjugorje phenomenon Notes References
Con’t Medjugorje phenomenon While he was in Freiburg, in June 1981, the alleged seers of the Marian apparitions had their first visions. Barbarić was named a chaplain in Mostar on 18 August 1981. In Mostar, he served as a spiritual assistant, with his main task being the religious education of youth and students. He used this position to go on the pilgrimage with students in Medjugorje as often as possible. His pastoral activity became mainly focused on Medjugorje, where he lived.[2] As the sex scandal involving Tomislav Vlašić, the spiritual assistant in Medjugorje and spiritual director of the seers became apparent, the bishop requested his transfer to another parish.[4] Thus, the Franciscan province asked the bishop to replace Vlašić with Barbarić. Bishop Pavao Žanić, not knowing about his illicit activities in Medjugorje, approved the request on 16 August 1984.[2] Barbarić succeeded Vlašić as a spiritual director of the alleged seers after Vlašić was transferred to Vitina near Ljubuški a few days later.[1] Barbarić continued to conduct the Chronicle of Apparitions, started by Vlašić.[2] Both Barbarić and Vlašić trained the young seers. According to the Archbishop of Split Frane Franić, a supporter of the Medjugorje apparitions, Barbarić used his expertise as a psychologist to "coach" the seers to prepare them for the visions and miracles.[3] Not long after Barbarić's new appointment, the bishop requested from the Franciscan Province of Herzegovina to transfer Barbarić from Medjugorje on 3 January 1985 due to his involvement with the alleged apparitions.[5]However, the Province never responded, while the seers claimed that Madonna told them in a vision that Barbarić should take over the parish and to conduct a chronicle about her apparitions, so that "after she stops coming, there can be one overview of everything that happened".[6] After the bishop insisted on his transfer, Barbarić was moved to Blagaj near Mostar on 20 July 1985.[7] Barbarić continued his activity in Medjugorje, promoting the cult of Our Lady of Medjugorjeand traveling around the world with the alleged seers. Three years later, the Franciscan Province proposed the Bishop name him a chaplain in Humac, Ljubuški, which Bishop approved on 16 September 1988.[7] Even after being transferred to Humac, Barbarić remained mostly active in Medjugorje.[2] Barbarić's grave in Medjugorje The conclusion of the Conference of Bishops, published in Zadar on 10 April 1991, regarding the alleged apparitions, stated that the apparitions "non constat de supernaturalitate", that is that on the basis of previous examinations, it is impossible to establish that these are supernatural apparitions or revelations. However, the Conference left the possibility of the pilgrimage.[8] In connection to the conclusion, Barbarić stated: "We have our sanctuary. We have permission for the people to come here. Why do we need the seers anyway?"[7] The same year in July, the Province proposed to the Bishop that Barbarić should remain in Humac, which the Bishop approved. However, Barbarić on his own initiative returned to Medjugorje, claiming he agreed to this verbally with the Provincial Drago Tolj, due to the lack of confessors. The Episcopal Ordinariate wasn't even informed about the transfer, so Barbarić remained active without the necessary decree from the bishop.[2] The Episcopal Ordinariate was in turmoil due to the war in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina that broke out in October 1991. In 1993, Bishop Žanić was replaced by Ratko Perić. The Ordinariate continued to communicate with Barbarić regularly, presuming that his transfer in Medjugorje was legal.[7] In 1999, Bishop Perić asked the Province to transfer him from Medjugorje again, after he found that Barbarić was active in Medjugorje without a pastoral decree. Barbarić refused to transfer, so the Bishop suspended his confessional jurisdiction on 20 February 2000. Barbarić asked the Bishop for revision, but the Bishop confirmed his previous decision.[7] He again complained to the Holy See over the issue, and the Bishop insisted that Barbarić signs the statement of obedience and leave Medjugorje. He signed the statement on 20 June 2000 but still remained active in Medjugorje. The bishop suspended his confessional jurisdiction once again on 30 October 2000. He died on 24 November 2000.[9]
https://unamsanctamcatholicam.com/2024/09/24/medjugorje-understanding-the-herzegovina-question/ Medjugorje: Understanding the Herzegovina Question In order to get a proper understanding of the events at Medjugorje, it is necessary to go beyond the issue of the seers and the apparitions themselves and look at the larger context of what has been going on in Herzegovina for decades relative to the situation of the local Franciscan Friars and the diocesan clergy. For years the a small but influential segment of the Herzegovinian Franciscans has been in conflict with the See of Mostar-Duvno over the administration of some parishes that the Holy See commanded be transferred from the Franciscans to the diocese in 1975, but almost fifty years later still has not happened. This conflict is referred to as the “Herzegovina Question” or the “Herzegovnia Affair” and is central to understanding the alleged apparitions at Medjugorje. In fact, as we shall see, the evidence seems to suggest that the Medjugorje phenomenon was leveraged as a means of helping a handful of dissident Franciscans avoid resolving the Herzegovina Question. The History of Catholicism in Herzegovina The roots of the conflict go back centuries, to the time of the Ottoman domination of eastern Europe. The Franciscans came to Bosnia-Herzegovina as missionaries in the 14th century, when the area was still a Latin Christian kingdom. The region was conquered by the Ottomans in 1463, although the Franciscans were permitted to remain due to the intercession of Angelus Zojezdovic, who personally plead with Sultan Mehmet II to grant Christians free exercise of their religion. This was granted and confirmed in a special oath given by Mehmed II in May of 1463. The Franciscans were allowed to remain to minister to the Latin Christian Croats. The Catholic bishops, however, were run out of the province. Without an episcopate, the diocesan clergy soon withered away and the Franciscans became the only pillar of Christianity in Bosnia-Herzegovina. This situation endured for four and a half centuries, during which time the Franciscans heroically guided the Croats in preserving the Catholic Faith. The Ottoman Empire drove the Catholic hierarchy from Herzegovina The Holy See did not simply give up on the region, however. To support the local church as it attempted to function without resident bishops, the Holy See founded an Apostolic Vicariate for Bosnia in 1735, and assigned Franciscans as apostolic vicars to direct it. The Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena was restructured to correspond to the borders of Ottoman rule in 1757; it split in 1846, when friars from the Kresevo monastery broke off to found the monastery at Siroki Brijeg. Pope Leo XIII established the Franciscan Province of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1892. But by then the situation had drastically changed. The crumbling Ottoman Empire, retreating against the incursions of the land hungry European powers, withdrew from Bosnia in 1878 and the ancient homeland of the Catholic Croats came under the administration of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. With the restoration of these lands to Catholic rule, the pope was able to restore the hierarchy, and in 1881 the episcopacy was restored and bishops were appointed. With the reestablishment of the hierarchy came the necessity of transferring the administrative control of Herzegovina’s parishes from Franciscan back to diocesan control, since it is highly irregular for a religious order to have administrative authority over the parishes of a diocese, as the bishop is the rightful pastor of a diocese, not a religious order. Franciscans Refuse to Hand Over the Parishes The Franciscans were understandably reluctant to facilitate this transfer. They had heroically defended and preserved Catholicism in the region for four centuries in the face of Turkish oppression. Over the centuries they had begun to think of the parishes as their own and of themselves as the rightful pastors of the Herzegovinian people. Yet this transfer was necessary and is an ordinary part of the process of settling diocesan clergy into parishes once a given area begins to emerge from missionary status. World War I and World War II interrupted this transfer of property, but in the 1940’s the bishops of the three dioceses of Herzegovina began to get more adamant in their insistence that the parishes be handed over to diocesan clergy, and while many Franciscans complied with the bishops’ wishes, many did not. Herzegovinian Franciscans of the monastery of Humac, 1907 By the end of the 1940’s, the two Franciscan provinces still held 63 of 79 parishes in the dioceses of Vrhbosna and Mostar. (1) The tumultuous years of the Second Vatican Council brought more chaos, and in the early 1970’s the friars of Herzegovina became more aggressive in their resistance to the bishops, forming alliances and organizations that openly flouted the bishops’ authority and resisted the diocesan take-overs. Many lay people joined these organizations of dissent as well, despite the Vatican’s support for the bishops’ side in the controversy. Romanis Pontificibus The conflict became so severe that Pope Paul VI had to intervene personally. In June, 1975 he issued the document Romanis Pontificibus which ordered the return of the parishes to the diocesan clergy. Romanis Pontificibus is an extraordinary document which, given the circumstances, is extremely generous to the Franciscans. Despite the fact that all parishes were to be returned to the diocese, the decree of Paul VI allowed the Franciscans to retain over a third of the parishes, a situation that probably does not exist in any other part of the world. The decree would allow 30 parishes to the Franciscans and leave 52 to the diocesan clergy. Romanis Pontificibus quotes the Vatican II document Christus Dominus on the authority of bishops, saying, “‘All Religious should always look upon the bishops, as upon successors of the Apostles, with devoted respect and reverence. Whenever [religious] are legitimately called upon to undertake works of the apostolate, they are obliged to discharge their duties as active and obedient helpers of the bishops’. This norm, as is obvious, indeed applies even more to those religious to whom the care of parishes is entrusted.” (2) After laying down a general catechesis on the authority of bishops and the duty of religious in any diocese to render obedience and respect to bishops, especially in cases where the Holy See has intervened, Paul VI goes on to propose a division of parishes, allowing some to remain under the jurisdiction of the friars: “1. Attentive to the mutual agreement between the two parties with an interest here, and in consideration of the merits which the Friars Minor of the Province of Herzegovina have secured for themselves, the Holy See accepts that it be taken as a general rule that half of the faithful of the diocese of Mostar-Duvno remain entrusted to the pastoral care of the same religious, while the other half entrusted to diocesan clergy. This apportionment – once there will be an equal number of the faithful entrusted to each party, according to this generally set-out plan – will remain legitimate in the future.”(3) The Holy Father then takes the unusual step of calling out specific parishes by name and commands them to be handed over to the Bishop of Mostar-Duvno: “4. The Franciscan Fathers, within one year from the day of the promulgation of this decree, must hand over to the diocesan clergy the parishes of Blagaj, Jablanica, Ploče, and Nevesinje. But, according to this same decision of the [Sacred] Congregation, the entire pastoral care of the parish of Čapljina, with no part of its territory being taken away, must be transferred within a year from the Franciscan Fathers to the diocesan clergy. The Ordinary of Mostar-Duvno will reimburse the Province of the Friars Minor of Herzegovina the costs undertaken by the Franciscan Fathers for the building of their religious residence, but not the costs for constructing the church of the parish. 7. Likewise from the parish of Humac, which up to now has been wholly entrusted to the pastoral care of the Friars Minor, territory will be separated in which, in the meantime, there will be erected, within one year, according to the agreement of the two parties concerning this, parishes Crveni Grm-Prolog and Zvirić-Bijača, to be entrusted to the diocesan clergy.” (4) The Franciscans were still dragging their feet, however, and by 1980 they still retained 10 parishes illegally. (5) The Holy See would eventually impose penalties on the Herzegovinian Franciscans for their disobedience, depriving them of the right of electing a superior and instead granting them one by appointment. A few parishes would be handed over, but by 1990, the Franciscans still retained seven illegally, fifteen years after Paul VI ordered their transfer. con’t
Medjugorje At this point we have to stop at note the chronology here. In 1975, Paul VI issues Romanis Pontificibus commanding the return of the parishes they hold illegally. In 1980, the Holy See begins proceedings to discipline the Herzegovinian Franciscans. The following year, 1981, the six “seers” of Medjugorje have their first alleged apparitions. Their “spiritual director” and chief promoter, Fr. Jozo Zovko—whom the Gospa of Medjugorje called a saint (6)—appears on the diocese of Mostar’s official website on a list of Franciscans who refused to sign a declaration of obedience to the bishop and who were subsequently expelled from the Franciscans. (7) Fr. Jozo has been suspended since 1989 for his refusal to obey the legitimate Bishop of Mostar Duvno. (8) The alleged seers of Medjugorje The chronology suggests a clear connection between the Medjugorje apparitions and the Herzegovina Question via the pastor of Medjugorje and the seers’ spiritual director, Fr. Jozo Zovko. The promotion of the Medjugorje apparitions by the Franciscans is not coincidental, nor is the timing of the alleged apparitions, both occurring in 1981, right as the Holy See was beginning to intensify pressure on the Franciscans for the return of the parishes to the bishop. The implication is clear: the Franciscans of Herzegovina (or at least some of them) conspired with the seers, mere children at the time, to create a fabricated apparition at Medjugorje for the purpose of drawing international attention to the site, and to the Franciscans who were still illegally retaining control of ten parishes. After Medjugorje had attained celebrity status, any attempt by the bishop to exert his proper rights in obtaining control of the parishes would look like an effort to oppose the Virgin Mary herself. Once Medjugorje obtained this recognition, this did in fact happen: the phenomenon there took on a life and direction of their own, and to this day millions of Catholics flock to Medjugorje despite the prohibition by the bishop of public or private pilgrimages. The Case of Fr. Barbaric and Fr. Rados One of the parishes explicitly mentioned in Romanis Pontificibus, that of Capljina, affords us an excellent example of the ongoing disobedience of a small segment of Franciscans in Herzegovina. Pilgrimages to Medjurgorje declined tremendously in the early 1990’s due to the Balkan War, giving the bishops greater opportunity to exert pressure on the Franciscans once the hostilities ceased. The then Procurator General of the Franciscan Order, Antonio Riccio, OFM, struck an agreement with Msgr. Ratko Peric, Bishop of Mostar, that one of the disputed parishes in the town of Capljina would be handed over to the diocesan clergy. However, when the appointed day came for the transfer of property to the diocesan clergy, the Franciscans in charge of the parish, Fr. Boniface Barbaric and Fr. Bozo Rados, refused to comply. This prompted their expulsion from the Franciscan Order: “Antonit Riccio, OFM Procurator General to Msgr. Ratko Peric: The General Minister, Brother Hermann Schaluck, and the Bishop of Mostar and Duvno, Msgr Peric, had decided that, in order to bring into effect the Decree Romanis Pontificibus, the parish of Capljina, formerly entrusted to the Province of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, would from 12th May 1996 be handed over for the Bishop to dispose of at his unfettered discretion. Accordingly, no Franciscan was authorized to reside within that parish and carry out pastoral duties within it. This was made known to all Franciscans in the Province. Brother Boniface P. Barbaric and Brother Bozo Rados declined to be transferred, and remained in Capljina, despite repeated and authoritative requests and orders to the contrary. Since they have persisted in disobedience, the procedure for their expulsion from the Order was set in train. On 28th February 1998 a general consistory of the Order voted unanimously in secret ballot to expel Brother Boniface P. Barbaric and Brother Bozo Rados of the Province of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Bosnia and Herzegovina from the Order of Friars Minor, in accordance with the provisions of section 1 of Canon 699.” (9) Following their explusion, the Bishop of Mostar in conjunction with the Provincial Superior of the OFM issued a joint statement to all of the priests and faithful of Mostar-Duvno that Romanis Pontificibus would be fully implemented and that the disobedience of certain Franciscans would not be tolerated. The statement, from December of 1998, states that: “Disobedient Franciscans should know that they are liable to be punished according to Canon Law and the rules of their Order. It is desired that the Decree should at long last be implemented for the good of the Church, the diocese, the Franciscan province, and, above all, the faithful. We remind Christian believers that sacraments which they receive from the condemned Franciscans are invalid. It is important that all, both clerics and the faithful, should see the local bishop, who is working with the secular and religious clergy, as the centre and object of diocesan ecclesiastical life.” (10) con’t
Attempts at Resolution The Medjugorje phenomenon has stalled the resolution of the Herzegovina Question, which is precisely what the disobedient Franciscan architects of the scheme wanted. At this time [ed. this article was written in 2012], the Bishop of Mostar Duvno still states that Romanis Pontificibus has not been fully implemented. Diocesan clergy have been met with the physical occupation of churches, threats, and even some violence by occupiers. The superiors of the Franciscan Order from Rome ordered compliance with Romanis Pontificibus in 1999, and the local Franciscans expressed willingness to comply. Much work was done leading up to this decree in 1999, but even after the 2001 General Chapter of the Franciscan Province stated that Romanis Pontificibus had been implemented, Bishop Peric reported that it had not. Seven parishes were still being held illicitly by rebellious Franciscans. This situation prompted Pope John Paul II himself to intervene in 2003, when once again asked the members of the General Chapter of the Franciscan Order to carry into effect the decision of his predecessor, Pope Paul VI, going back to 1975: “Your missionary activity will prove fruitful in so far as it is fulfilled in harmony with the lawful pastors to whom Our Lord has entrusted responsibility for his flock. Bearing that well in mind, I once again warmly remind you of the efforts that have been made to overcome the difficulties that have long existed in certain areas. It is my heartfelt wish that, with co-operation on every side, that understanding with the diocesan authorities sought by my worthy predecessor, Pope Paul VI, should be fully attained. It has become apparent that such an understanding is a prerequisite for effective evangelisation.” (11) The pope’s words are characteristically mild. Bishop Peric put the matter more succinctly in a statement four years later in 2007. Thirty-two years after Romanis Pontificibus, the Franciscans were still illegally occupying five parishes and administering invalid sacraments. Bishop Peric stated: “In the diocese of Mostar-Duvno there exists a problem which in recent years has practically become a schism. At least nine Franciscan priests, who have been expelled from the Franciscan OFM Order and suspended a divinis, have rebelled against the decision of the Holy See and have not allowed the transfer of some of the parishes from Franciscan to Diocesan administration. They forcefully occupy at least five parishes, all the while continuing with all priestly functions. They invalidly perform marriages, hear confessions without canonical faculties, some of them invalidly confirm youngsters, and in 2001 they invited an old-Catholic deacon who falsely presented himself as a bishop to “confirm” about eight hundred young people in three parishes. Two of these expelled Franciscans even went as far as asking the Swiss old-Catholic bishop, Hans Gerny, to ordain them as bishops, yet they did not succeed. So many invalid sacraments, so much disobedience, violence, sacrilege, disorder and irregularities and not even a single “message” amongst the tens of thousands of “apparitions” has been sent to alleviate these scandals. A very strange thing indeed!” (12) And why has Bishop Peric been unable to put an end to this disobedience despite the support of the Holy See and of the Superior General of the Franciscan Order? There is one reason and one reason only: Medjugorje. Without the global support of their Medjugorje adherents, who funnel millions upon millions of dollars to the dissident parishes, there is no way the Franciscans could endure in a state of disobedience and schism so long, financially or morally. If Medjugorje were not a factor—if this were an issue of a handful of isolated, obstinate Franciscans—the Herzegovinian Question would long ago have been solved. It is the farce of Medjugorje, created by the dissident Franciscans, which keeps the Herzegovinian Question open, prevents the bishop from exercising his authority, and allows a handful of Franciscans a monopoly over an astonishing amount of influence, both spiritual and financial. The Medjugorje apparitions serve as a cash-cow that allow the seers and the disobedient Franciscans to maintain control over a lucrative private empire. Bishop Ratko Peric of Mostar-Duvno, a Medjugorje skeptic Violence and Mass Murder in Medjugorje Like any other private empire where obscene amounts of money are at stake, the disobedience of the Franciscans that supports the multi-million dollar Medjugorje kingdom has led to violence and even murder between different family clans as they struggle with each other over control of the lucrative market in Medjugorje religious trinkets. This was documented in Dutch sociologist Mart Bax’s study of Medjugorje. Bax spent fifteen years studying the events and people of the village from a sociological perspective and was able to document the dark underside of life in Medjugorje that most adherents of the Queen of Peace never hear about. (13) The Queen of Peace brought millions of tourists who pumped huge sums of money into the local economy. But as the state monopoly on power evaporated in 1991, Croat nationalism reasserted itself, often under the leadership of the Franciscans. In Medjugorje, the Serbs were quickly driven out by 1991 but the ensuing civil war began to cut into the tourist trade and competition became fierce. Tour groups were often waylaid or prevented from reaching their destination. Villagers often took out loans to expand their homes in order to house pilgrims. Clans kept their rivalries in check as long as the money flowed in from tourists. But by 1991 most of the boarding houses were empty except for those owned by the Ostojici clan, who had good outside connections. Other clans asked the Ostojici to share their good fortune; the Ostojici declined. What can only be described as a blood feud was soon ignited in Medjugorje and the surrounding towns that killed two hundred members of the village of three thousand and caused another six hundred to flee the region. Pilgrims at the Medjugorje Peace Center did not even realize the feud was ongoing although grisly atrocities—including mutilations and torture—were carried out on a regular basis between the warring clans in nighttime raids. Villagers aligned to one or the other of the clans mutilated and tortured each other, elderly people were murdered, homes were burned, and women and children killed. Bax noted that violence became more organized even as it became more grisly. In regards to mutilation, he reported the clans followed a fixed pattern with more and more parts of bodies being removed as the conflict increased. Finally, units of the Croatian Army aligned with another one of the warring clans intervened against the Ostojici; a hundred men were rounded up and summarily executed in one of the many ravines in the area. Homemade rocket launchers were used to chase out the Ostojici who remained. By the end of 1992, Medjugorje was again accessible to tourists. Houses were being built and repaired. Visitors who noticed the damage done by the violence were lied to and told that Serb aggressors had done the damage to the village. The Ostojici property was taken over by their rivals, the remaining Ostojici having fled as refugees to Germany. As for the Queen of Peace, Bax reports the victors from both clans offered up prayers of thanks for her special grace and protection during the massacres. These facts are also documented in Michael Davies’ book Medjugorje After Twenty-One Years. (14) con’t
Fruits of Disobedience This study is not meant to call into question the faithfulness of the majority of Franciscans in the three dioceses of Herzegovina. Indeed, the Franciscans to this day retain a very special place in the culture of Bosnia and even constitute a majority of the priests in the region. As of 2010, there were 358 religious order priests to 263 diocesan priests in the three dioceses that make up the ecclesiastical province of Herzegovina. (15) The Franciscans still have an important role to play in the life of the Herzegovinian church, something the Holy Father and the bishops of Mostar Duvno have always acknowledged. Still, it is sad that the disobedience of a few has tarnished the good name of an order that has done so much good in the Balkans throughout the centuries. In refusing to return the contested parishes to the rightful jurisdiction of the diocesan clergy and in conspiring to promote and defend the spurious apparitions of Medjugorje as a means of avoiding the dictates of the papacy as laid down in Romanis Pontificibus, this small cadre of disobedient Franciscans have not only brought shame upon themselves, but have led millions into error, using the Medjugorje phenomenon to promote their own agenda and taking countless number of souls along with them into their dissent. As pilgrimages are technically forbidden to Medjugorje by the Bishop pf Mostar Duvno, every single person who makes a pilgrimage there is guilty of a formal act of disobedience. Their individual culpability is another question, but it is still a grave matter. Even graver is the people who, by being caught up in the money-making scheme that Medjugorje has become, have been led to commit terrible acts of violence in order to corner the “Medjugorje Market.” All sin has consequences, and in the chaos, error and violence we have document we finally see the real fruits of Medjugorje. May the faithful who are taken in by this deception wake up from their slumber, and may the handful of disobedient Franciscans submit to the Bishop of Mostar and the decrees of the pope in Romanis Pontificibus so that the Herzegovinian Question may be settled once and for all. 1. Vjekoslav Perica (2004). Balkan Idols: Religion and Nationalism in Yugoslav States. Oxford University Press. pp. 117–118. 2. Christus Dominus, 35:1 3. http://medjugorjedocuments.blogspot.com/2010/11/1975-decree-romanis-pontificibus.html 4. ibid. 5. Perika, 117-118 6. René Laurentin, Corpus Chronologique des Messages, O.E.I.L., Paris, 1987, p.159 7. http://cbismo.com/index.php?menuID=36 8. http://www.marcocorvaglia.com/medjugorje-en/father-jozo-a-disobedient-franciscan.html. In the text of Fr. Zovko’s suspension, the Bishop of Mostar, Ratko Peric, states the reasons for the suspension being “to defend this local Church from your abuse, whilst not entering into the religious discipline of your congregation, and having in mind your constant disobedience in this local Church and your lack of respect towards the decisions of the Diocesan Bishops.” 9. http://www.unitypublishing.com/Apparitions/MedjugorjeFranciscans.html 10. ibid. 11. http://www.cbismo.com/index.php?mod=vijest&vijest=287 12. http://www.cbismo.com/index.php?mod=vijest&vijest=101 13. The following facts all come from Mart Bax’s 1995 book documenting his fifteen years in Medjugorje, Medjugorje: religion, Politics, and Violence in Rural Bosnia. Free University press, Amsterdam, 1995, pgs. 122-3. See also: http://fantompowa.net/Flame/ levy_medjugorje.htm 14. Michael Davies. Medjugorje After Twenty-One Years. Remnant Press; 2nd edition, 2002, p. 66 15. http://medjugorjedocuments.blogspot.com/2010/11/1975-decree-romanis-pontificibus.html Phillip Campbell, “Medjugorje: Understanding the Herzegovina Questions,” Dec. 6, 2012, Unam Sanctam Catholicam. Available online at https://unamsanctamcatholicam.com/2024/09/medjugorje-understanding-the-herzegovina-question
This feud between the local Franciscans and their bishops goes back many decades prior to Medjugorge. The Franciscans were using these teenagers to continue to wage a psychological war against their current local bishop. They put words in the mouths of the “visionaries” to smear and further their case against their own bishop, such as that the bishop was working with and for the Communists. It was the worst form of disobedience for a religious imaginable. “Fruits.” The Franciscans orchestrated all of this from day one and knew how to make it “sound” and appear legitimate to good faithful Catholics, who otherwise did not examine it closely but desperately needed something to believe in.
I don’t fault the “visionaries” themselves. They had no way of knowing at their age they were the victims of psychological and spiritual abuse at the hands of these Franciscans and were just pawns in the local Franciscans’ ongoing battles with their local bishops. However, at some point it had to become apparent to at least some of them they had been manipulated, but chose to continue so they wouldn’t lose face - or lucrative income from the travel and tourism business and the money collected for their “poor village” at the many first world talks they made and on demand “apparitions” they scheduled that cropped up around their “messages” and appearances.
Brian, all that you have written is the reason I have never truly accepted Medjugorje. I love Father Calloway and I see other good Priests who have come out of the Apparitions, but it still leaves me perplexed. Thanks for putting it all out there.
I knew Fr. Slavko, a deep and holy priest. He was one who for me, stood out because of his heartfelt devotion to Our Lady.
If this were the case a smoking gun would have been found already. There was also precedent for scheduled apparitions with Fatima. If it were possible to psychologically abuse children into having apparitions we would see a lot more of it. As well, there are always battles with the local bishops every time apparitions occur. There is a false concept that where apparitions occur everything should be smooth sailing and perfect. It's never like this, the fact that there is apparent chaos and struggle, even between those on the same side gives credence to the apparition. If it went smoothly and perfectly I would doubt it entirely.
I think one of the biggest problems with Medjugorje isn’t what the message have said, but rather what they haven’t. Despite literally a thousand messages since the weekly messages in 1984, Our Lady of Medjugorje has never mentioned: Abortion (edit: actually mentioned once to a locutionist) Contraception Sexual impurities Condemnation of priests (like at La Salette, Fatima, Garabandal, Akita, etc.) Any prophecy that actually came true (including the war in Yugoslavia! - she appeared for 10 years as the “Queen of Peace” and never told the seers about a war) Liturgical abuses. Condemnation of false religions The need to convert to Catholicism and the fact that Catholicism is the One True Church And the messages (since the beginning of 1984 to today) rarely mention important things such as: Confession (14 times) Mass (11 times) Adoration (3 times - but she tells us nearly 20 times to fine God in nature!) Purgatory (1 time) Reparation (1 time) Previous apparitions (2 times - both vague statements about Fatima) The Immaculate Heart (20 times - and nothing about making reparation to the Immaculate Heart) The Sacred Heart (2 times) The Rosary (16 times) Penance (13 times)
