Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!apple!julius.cs.uiuc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!news.cs.indiana.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: sjfc!dlm@cci632.cci.com (Don Muench) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: for soc.religion.christian Message-ID: Date: 22 Jan 91 05:48:24 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 60 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Please post the following for me.... I wish to quote an article by John Thavis of Catholic News Service, which appeared in the Idaho register, 7 December 1990. Here it is: ROME - Yugoslavian bishops heard a report from a commission investigating the alleged Marian apparitions at Medjugorje, but decided not to issue an immediate statement on the controversial events there. The Yugoslavian bishops' conference held the special session Nov. 27-28 in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, for an in-depth discussion of the developments at Medjugorje. At the start of the meeting, the bishops said that they were going to hear evidence and, if necessary, publish pastoral direcctives for priests and faithful who wish to visit the site in western Yugoslavia. After the meeting ended, however, the bishops' conference said it would not issue pastoral norms at this time. A source in Rome said the decision reflected the delicate nature of the conflict at Medjugorje, which has pitted the local Bishop against the Franciscan pastors who guide the young visionaries. The reported apparitions began in 1981 when six children claimed they were having daily visions of Mary. Since then, Medjugorje supporters say, Mary's appearances have continued on a regular basis. Most members of a diocesan investigative panel concluded that the events were not supernatural, but their report was never published. At the Vatican's request, a nationwide commission of Yugoslavian church and medical experts was convened in 1987 to further study the Mdjugorje events. This commission presented an extensive report to the bishops at their latest meeting in Zagreb. Bishop Pavao Zanic of Mostar-Duvno, the diocese that includes Medjugorje, said in a telephone interview Nov. 30 that the bishops would publish a statement on the events at a later time. He said that he had attended the meeting, but could not comment on what was discussed. Bishop Zanic has complained for years about the influx of pilgrims to Medjugorje. he has also questioned the authenticity of the alleged apparations. In 1984 and 1987, the Yugoslavian bishops asked for an end to organized church pilgrimages to Medjugorje. Their statements were published by the Vatican newspapaer, L'Osservatore Romano. The ban on church-organized pilgrimages was reiterated last May in a letter >From Cardinal Joseph ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to Bishop Josef Stimpfle of Augsburg, Germany. Cardinal Ratzinger, noting that a German group was organizing Medjugorje pilgrimages under the spiritual leadership of priests, told the bishop that the rules against such initiatives "are still valid". Pilgrims, including many priests, continue to flock to Medjugorje from around the world. ********************************************************************** Don Muench Phone: (716) 385-8155 Dept. of Math. & Comp. Sci. E-mail: uunet!uupsi!cci632!sjfc!dlm St. John Fisher College or sjfc!dlm@cci.com Rochester, NY 14618-9987 Fax: (716) 385-8129 **********************************************************************