medj again

[MarieT]

Why the fruits of Medjugorje raise a question of obedience

By ANTHONY ENGLISH
10 September, 2006
MANY followers of Medjugorje cite private statements attributed to Pope John Paul II in support of the alleged apparitions. Such statements are weighted against the opposition of Bishop Peric of Mostar-Duvno and his predecessor to the claimed apparitions. What are faithful Catholics to do?

The situation is sometimes presented as good pope (and Our Lady) vs. bad bishop, or Rome vs. Mostar. In fact, those who would pose Pope John Paul II against the local bishop do a disservice to the late pontiff, suggesting that he privately undermined the Bishop of Mostar while maintaining a public silence and implicit support for him.

Fortunately, for the faithful, obedience doesn’t depend on how we judge the bishop’s personality, or the late pope’s holiness, or the private opinions of either one. Obedience – a necessary fruit of grace and charity – is owed to the legitimate Church authority. Obedience is a cement of unity within the Church because it flows from charity, the bond of perfection.

Bishop Peric observed in the parish of Medjugorje in June this year that both Pope John Paul and Pope Benedict have respected the judgments of the bishops of Mostar-Duvno. The example of these two popes is admirable and ought to be imitated by the faithful, especially in the light of what the bishop had to say.

On a visit to the parish in June this year Bishop Peric said that in the church at Medjugorje “there exists something similar to a schism”. He warned of what he called “anti-

ecclesial behaviour” including priests who had been expelled from the Franciscan OFM order administering the sacraments “profanely, while others invalidly, such as Confession and Confirmation, or they have assisted at invalid marriages.” Even the strongest enthusiast for Medjugorje must find these statements disoncerting.

What of the many reported conversions? Certainly, any authentic conversion comes about by the grace of God, and that is a cause for rejoicing. Of course, a genuine conversion to Christ and devotion to His Mother necessarily will bring about communion with His Church, which is Christ’s Mystical Body.

One of the measures of such a conversion is obedience to the legitimate ecclesiastical authority. In fact, it is one of the criteria – the fruits – by which the authenticity of an apparition is judged.

In the case of Medjugorje, the Bishop of Mostar-Duvno has rightly observed that the Church has not confirmed a single apparition as authentically being the Madonna. He has also called on the alleged visionaries and “those persons behind the messages to demonstrate ecclesiastical obedience and to cease with these public manifestations and messages in this parish”.

Priests who visit Medjugorje are not authorised 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, neither during other common acts of piety, nor in the Catholic media. The liturgy is the public worship of the Church which is why apparitions that have not been recognised are not to be promoted in homilies and official acts of worship.

Bishop Peric rightly observed that “Church pilgrimages are not allowed, whether official or private, individual or group, or from other parishes, if they presuppose the authenticity of the ‘apparitions’ or if by undertaking them attempt to certify these ‘apparitions’.”

Given the widespread promotion of pilgrimages to Medjugorje, it will be particularly interesting to see whether these statements will be obeyed in a spirit of obedience and unity.



*Anthony English is a Sydney father of four who gives talks on the faith to adult groups around Sydney. This is a reply to an article in the CW by Fr Paul Glynn SM.

Catholic Weekly

[KevinSymonds]

Alleluia. 'bout time someone put that snake out on the table.

I read Fr. Glynn's article back in August and wrote something on my site about it, but this guy said it better than I could have.

-KJS

[MarieT]

i like to keep tabs on the official vatican site regarding this new commission on medj......went there again tonight and typed 'medjugorje' in search engine...and the result

Search result: Nothing!

no mention whatsoever on the alleged apparitions etc...kinda says it all

[Denise]

Priests who visit Medjugorje are not authorised 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, neither during other common acts of piety, nor in the Catholic media. The liturgy is the public worship of the Church which is why apparitions that have not been recognised are not to be promoted in homilies and official acts of worship.

I don't know which part of the above paragraph people don't understand. Talk about spiritual blindness and blatant disobedience, which is rampant concerning this hoax.

If you read the lives of the saints, almost all of them stress "obedience" as the key to Heaven!

Denise

[KevinSymonds]

That above quote is why I was, in part, so upset with Fr. Michael Scanlan on September 8th, 2005. Not only did he preach Medjugorje from the pulpit in an approving fashion, but then he also put down the tradition of the Church!

-KJS

[MarieT]

thats sad when priests do that....it only adds to the confusion when the 'shepherd' talks badly about the Church he is supposed to be teaching about.....

well another saga....i was clearing out my filing cabinet and lo and behold found a harvest pilgrimmage company brochure which promoted catholic pilgrimmages......i was shocked to see that medj was included with authentic sites of lourdes, fatima...etc

made up my mind to send it to the Holy See when i discovered that the booklet was dated 2002, and they would have just said that its an old brochure.

well fate has a funny way of working because in this mornings mail was a large envelope from harvest pilgrimmages with all their 2007 itineraries and yessss there was a section on medj and implication that it is a permitted place of pilgrimmage.....grrrrr

so now i have both to send to the Holy Father....will keep u updated on the response....hopefully this doesnt get filed like the 2002 one did for a few years.

m7