“Nothing stands in the way” of the spirituality associated with the Marian shrine of Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina. This “Nihil obstat” is the Vatican’s verdict, awaited for years and delivered on September 19, 2024. In the light of the new norms for investigating supernatural phenomena, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) has recognized the positive fruits of this place of pilgrimage, without however pronouncing itself on a supernatural character of the alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary that began in 1981. Rome also has reservations about certain messages, urging caution in their interpretation.
The shrine of Medjugorje, which has been the subject of controversy and of particular attention from the Holy See, attracts over one million pilgrims annually and has been the site of alleged Marian apparitions for more than 40 years.
Faced with the scale of the phenomenon, springing from six “visionaries” who were children at the time of the first apparitions, the Vatican established a commission of inquiry in 2010.
According to leaks published in the press in 2017, the conclusions of this commission, chaired by Italian Cardinal Camillo Ruini, recognized the validity of the first parts of the phenomenon. However they expressed doubts about its management over time and about the personal lives of the visionaries, some of whom say they continue to receive daily “messages” from the Virgin.
In 2018, Pope Francis appointed an “apostolic visitor” – now Archbishop Aldo Cavalli – to oversee the spiritual elements associated with visits to Medjugorje.
After decades of “divergent opinions,” Rome’s verdict came with a 17-page note published in eight languages, approved by Pope Francis and titled “The Queen of Peace.”
The Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, gave the “nihil obstat.”
“While this does not imply a declaration of the supernatural character of the phenomenon in question — and recalling that the faithful are not obliged to believe in it — the Nihil obstat indicates that the faithful can receive a positive encouragement for their Christian life through this spiritual proposal, and it authorizes public acts of devotion,” he explains in the note.
(None of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary, even those in well established places such as Lourdes and Fatima, are considered part of revelation, as apparitions are only “private revelations.” The Catholic Church understands the essentials of faith to be contained in the Bible and tradition, not in private revelations.)
Rome also makes it clear that “that the conclusions of this Note do not imply a judgment about the moral life of the alleged visionaries.” Moreover, the text makes no mention of the excommunication of the first spiritual guide of the visionaries in 2020. The note says from the beginning:
[T]he reader should be aware that whenever this Note refers to “messages” from Our Lady, it always intends this to mean “alleged messages.”
A positive analysis of the messages
The prefect of the DDF offers an examination of the spirituality of the shrine in the light of the new investigative standards published on May 17.
He highlighted “positive elements” in the Medjugorje phenomenon as a whole, including “abundant conversions, a frequent return to the sacraments (particularly, the Eucharist and Reconciliation), many vocations to priestly, religious, and married life, a deepening of the life of faith, a more intense practice of prayer, many reconciliations between spouses, and the renewal of marriage and family life.”
Supporting his argument with abundant quotations from Our Lady’s “alleged messages” — often called “Gospa” meaning “Lady” in Croatian — Cardinal Fernández analyzed the central aspects of the messages of the one who presents herself as the “Queen of Peace.”
In the course of his text, he mentions the invitation to a total abandonment to God, the call to conversion, to “fight against evil and the influence of Satan,” and the exhortation to “constant and insistent” prayer.
“The spirituality of Medjugorje is joyful, celebratory, and includes a call to live the joy of following Christ, giving thanks even for the small, good things in life,” he explained, adding that it is not “individualistic” and includes “a strong call to awaken the desire for heaven.”
“The messages overall possess great value and express the constant teachings of the Gospel in different words,” the Prefect of the DDF wrote.
Rome’s reservations
Cardinal Fernández does, however, specify some “clarifications.”
A positive judgment “does not exclude the possibility of ‘some error of a natural order’” and “imprecise and ultimately theologically incorrect mystical language,” he wrote, explaining that “a few messages” seem to “contradict” the main, overall message.
The DDF also calls for “prudence” with regard to “reprimands and threats” from Our Lady, who “seems to show some irritation because some of her instructions were not followed.” The text also distances itself from messages from the Virgin that give “orders about specific dates, places, and practicalities and when she makes decisions about ordinary matters.”
“Our Lady’s messages cannot replace the ordinary role of the parish priest, the pastoral council, and the synodal work of the community,” the note insists.
Some “misleading” messages can be “explained solely from the personal desires of the alleged visionaries,” Cardinal Fernández explains.
He cites as an example the message of August 1, 1984: “This August 5 will mark the celebration of the second millennium of my birth […]. I ask you to prepare yourselves intensively over three days […]. Do not work on these days.”
The cardinal writes:
It is reasonable for the faithful, using prudence and common sense, not to take these details seriously nor heed them. One must always recall that in this spiritual experience (as in other spiritual experiences and alleged supernatural phenomena), positive and edifying elements are mixed with other elements that are to be ignored. But this fact should not lead one to spurn the richness and the good of the Medjugorje proposal as a whole.
“Everything Mary accomplishes is always at the service of the Lord’s plan and his divine plan of salvation. Mary does not have her own plan for the world and the Church,” he writes. “As a result, these messages can only be interpreted in this sense: that Our Lady fully assumes God’s plans to the point of expressing them as her own.”
He also criticizes the “misuse of the word ‘mediatrix’” in reference to Mary. In the Christian faith, Christ alone is the Savior.
For the Vatican, in the end, “it is Gospa herself who calls upon us to put her messages in perspective. For, she clearly affirms that we must listen to the Gospel.”
Lumen Gentium, 62
Read this Vatican II document here, which is cited by the Catechism, here.
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