Medjugorje News & Articles of year 2009

According to the oldest American Catholic newspaper, National Catholic Register, a Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith official has denied a vademecum (booklet, guide, handbook, manual or similar type of document) is being prepared about how the Catholic Church and bishops should deal with alleged Marian apparitions and visions, such as are those at Medjugorje.

“I’d like to bring my testimony to as many Christians as possible because it is not only mine, but it is the testimony of Our Lady of Medjugorje who acted in me! I feel the need to do this so that people might come to know that Mary loves us all equally and that she truly exists! She is not a myth of the church: She is our Mother!

During the year 2008, Fr. Juan-Carlos LISA spent ten months in Medjugorje. Shortly before going back to Argentina, he gave his testimony for Radio MIR Medjugorje and for Glasnik mira.

Bruno Volpe spoke with Mons. Giovanni Battista Pichierri, Bishop of Trani, in Puglia, who declared, “I think that the prudent position of the Church on the topic is just and legitimate. The visionaries continue to speak, therefore, it is necessary to wait. But if the faithful are coming in such a great numbers, there must be a positive reason for it”.

Full transcript of Paddy Kelly's live speech in Medjugorje, August 4th, 2008:

Do not be afraid! … To be the saints of the new millennium, if you become what you are, you will set the whole world on fire. I have come here to tell you a true story of a young man in whose heart these words tangled and in consequence changed his life. It was as if God himself were speaking to him through the mouth of Pope John Paul II at the World Youth Days in Rome in the year 2000.

Medjugorje, 1. - 6. 8. 2009.

The parish Medjugorje is preparing for the 20th International Youth Prayer Meeting – Mladifest, with the theme, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2,5)

("I desire, little children, to guide you all to Jesus because He is your salvation." – Message, June 25, 1994 )

Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 318, Issue 18, May 1988, pg. 1207. Correspondence.

Authors: Randy V. Campo M.D. - Jack O. Sipperley, M.D. - Gary Hall, M.D. - J. Alan Rappazzo, M.D. St. Luke's Hospital, Phoenix, AZ 85006

"Today pilgrims by the thousands visit Medjugorje to seek the experience of the original apparition by gazing into the sun for periods of up to 45 minutes for several days in succession. Their intent is to re-create the "miracle of the sun," an apparitional experince in which unusual religious artifacts or clues can be superimposed on the sun."

"The common belief persists that staring into the sun is harmless. We report on two patients who had central vision loss within several days of sungazing at Medjugorje."

Monique Hope-Ross, Stephen Travers, and David Mooney from the Research Foundation, Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, Dublin, Ireland present here a series of patients all of whom looked deliberately at the sun for prolonged periods of time. They were encouraged to do so by other pilgrims, who themselves had seen apparitions when staring at the sun. Two of the four patients were amblyopic in one eye, and suffered damage to the dominant eye. All patients suffered irreversible visual damage, with persistent central scotomata. We should ensure that the public is aware of the dangers of sun gazing-whether during religious rituals, sun bathing, or eclipse watching.

Msgr. Leo Maasburg, National director of MISSIO Austria, was in Medjugorje in April 2009. During many years, he accompanied Mother Teresa on her journeys and at the occasion of the opening of new houses on different continents. He was preaching retreats for her sisters all over the world. When Mother Teresa opened her first houses in Moscow and in Armenia in 1988, Father Leo was spiritual counsellor of the sisters during several months, and thus the first „official” Catholic priest in the Soviet Union at that time. Afterwards, together with an Italian businessperson, he launched the largest Catholic Radio Family „Radio Maria”, which is present on all the continents today.

In the context of the beatification Mother Teresa, he was the only member of the team, who does not belong to Mother Teresa’s Congregation.

She says her faith began in 2005, when she joined a group of friends in Medjugorje, the Croatian shrine that has drawn Catholic pilgrims in their millions since 1981, when a group of local children claimed to have had visions of the Virgin Mary.

‘Something clicked,’ says Mandy. ‘Things kept happening that I can’t explain. We were having dinner when an image of Mary appeared on a white tablecloth 10ft away. We all saw it – everyone in the room.

I feel a moral obligation to make the following statements before God, the Madonna, and the Church of Jesus Christ.

1. From the texts of "An Appeal in the Marian Year" and "My Declaration," which bears my signature, it follows that I have brought the answer of the Madonna to a certain question of Father Tomislav Vlasic. That answer would be, "That is the plan of God." In other words, it follows that I have brought from the Madonna to Father Tomislav V. confirmation and explicit approval of this undertaking and the program begun in Italy with the prayer group from Medjugorje.

2. Now I declare that I have never asked the Madonna for any approval for this undertaking begun by Father Tomislav V. and Agnes Heupel. I have never explicitly petitioned the Madonna concerning whether I should participate in this undertaking and I have never received from the Madonna any instructions regarding this group, except that each one of us should remain free in choosing his own way of life.

It's interesting how the Catholic media have handled recent word that the Vatican had accepted the laicization of a former Franciscan who served for several years (during the 1980s) at the reputed apparition site of Medjugorje in Bosnia-Hercegovina.

First there are the blogs and websites in favor of the apparitions. They either avoided much discussion of the issue, mentioned it briefly, or ignored it altogether.

Benedict XVI's approval of the laicization of Father Tomislav Vlasic 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.

"ORDO FRATRUM MINORUM MINISTER GENERALIS

Prot. N. 098714

To the Provincial Ministers of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Italy

Dear Brother Minister,

The Holy Father, accepting the request of friar Tomislav Vlasic, O.F.M, member of the province of friars minor of St. Bernardino of Siena (L'Aquila), responsible for conduct harmful to ecclesial communion both in the spheres of doctrine and discipline, and under a censure of interdict, has granted him the favor of reduction to the lay state (amissio status clericalis) and of dismissal from the Order.

20th International Youth Festival, that began in Međugorje on August 1, 2009 with Holy Mass that was celebrated by Fr. Ivan Sesar, Provincial of Herzegovinian Franciscan Province, ended on August 6, 2009 with Holy Mass on the top of the Cross Mountain at 5 a.m. that was celebrated by Fr. Miljenko Steko, Vicar of Province and around 80 priests have concelebrated at the same Holy Mass. This was the most attended Youth Festival so far, jubilee, twentieth, led by Fr. Danko Perutina, and it went in the best and joyful atmosphere, enriched and marked by the prayer, Adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, lectures and music of participants from 69 countries, from all five continents.

I would like to greet you all with the most beautiful of greetings: Praised be Jesus and Mary. I am so pleased to be here with you today and even more pleased that you are ready to hear the message of Our Lady.

For 28 years I have been asking God the very same question: Why did you choose me? I know that I was given a great grace and also I know that at the same time I was given a great responsibility.

By his own admission Liam Stewart has made more comebacks than Frank Sinatra.

Eight years ago the man of steel made a miraculous recovery after being declared clinically dead when he choked on a scone, and now after an absence of three years he's decided to return to competitive body building in the Northern Ireland and World championships.

He's also agreed to talk about his life in a BBC documentary - 'Life Changing Experiences'.

Today for the first time Liam speaks frankly about the bad relationship he had with drugs and alcohol and how for the past 16 years he's stayed clean and sober. He also claims annual visits to Medjugorje have changed his life - and how "unexplained things" happened to him when he visited there.

Click here to read the whole article on DerryJournal.com

Nicole Bettini, 29, of St. Peter in Forest Lake has become a consecrated virgin during a consecration rite Nov. 17, 2007 at St. Peter. She serves as the parish's director of youth and family apostolate and as coordinator of confirmation. Archbishop Harry Flynn was presiding at the Mass.

When I was only nine years old, I used to go around telling everyone that I wanted to be a priest. At that time I wasn't even baptized yet (I was baptized at the age of eleven) but even then I had already fallen in love with Jesus. I used to go to the bookshop near my school to buy pictures of Jesus and I used to look at these pictures and talked to Jesus for ages. It never occurred to me then that there are no women Catholic Priests!

... "My journey to this small distant village between two mountains will always remain as one of the most memorable events in my life. Truly Medjugoje has changed my views and perceptions about life. Because of Medjugorje, I live my life all over again. I cried the day I left Medjugorje knowing that I will miss this place all my life."

A talk (question and answer session) given by Mirjana in the Oasis of Peace on 3rd October 2009

Mirjana: We will start our meeting with one Hail Mary. Queen of Peace, Pray for us.

We have gathered so that you may ask whatever you may be interested in. Anything that can help you to understand Medjugorje, and if I know, I will be so glad to respond to you because I desire with my entire heart that you may understand what Our Lady desires from us. The first thing is, she invited you. She needs apostles. That’s why feel free to ask anything that can help you.

We translated the following excerpt from the Italian original "90 years since the first apparition at Fatima, interview with Cardinal Bertone" to English, which was published in the most widespread Catholic weekly magazine in Italy, Famiglia Cristiana (number 19/2007).

ROME, NOV. 23, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The president of the Bosnian episcopal conference has been in Rome, but not to discuss the controversy surrounding Medjugorje, as some reports have contended.

Instead, Cardinal Vinko Puljic participated last week in the plenary assembly of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, which focused on St. Paul and the "new areopagi."

The cardinal did talk to ZENIT about Medjugorje, affirming that the reports of apparitions there and the consequent popularity of the site for pilgrimages is a matter dealt with by the bishop of Mostar, Ratko Peric, and the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

"As an episcopal conference, we await suggestions and proposals on how to proceed, and I believe the Holy See wants to carry on in this way," he added.

Respected brothers, the purpose and aim of this questionnaire is to make a list of priests who received their vocation through Medjugorje.

So, we kindly ask you to fill out this form with following information: