Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
James Martin, S.J.January 05, 2010

From the Daily Telegraph, news of a bishops' "row" over Medjugorge

Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, the Archbishop of Vienna, was subjected to unprecedented public criticism by Bishop Ratko Peric of Mostar for spending Christmas in the town in his Bosnian diocese where the Virgin is said to have appeared more than 40,000 times since 1981.  Bishop Peric is insistent that the claims are false and is furious that the cardinal has appeared to lend credibility to them.  In a three-page statement, the bishop said he regretted the visit of Cardinal Schonborn, the leader of the Catholic Church in Austria, claiming it had "contributed to the suffering of the local church and even added to it." He accused the cardinal of working against "peace and unity" and said that the visit "does not imply any recognition of the 'apparitions'."  Pope Benedict XVI defrocked Father Tomislav Vlasic, the priest said to be the "creator" of Medjugorje, last summer.

I don't know much about the shrine, other than the general outlines of the story of the visionaries, but a good friend was, before his death, very devoted to Our Lady of Medjugorge.  Sadly, this fighting is the opposite of the "mir," or peace that Mary offers.  Read the rest of the Daily Telegraph story here.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
Jim McCrea
15 years ago
Medjugorge:  where the church finally cares enough to suppress the very worst.
Michael Liddy
15 years 1 month ago
I believe in Medjugorge. My sister visited and Mary appeared to her while she was there. All of the rosaries that she brought back for us turned to gold too, though I am told there might be other reasons for that.

The latest from america

A Reflection for Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, by J.D. Long García
J.D. Long GarcíaJanuary 31, 2025
A timeline of the Vatican’s decade-long history of leadership in the field of A.I. ethics—a history that has earned it significant influence among tech leaders, particularly at Microsoft and IBM
Colleen DulleJanuary 31, 2025
A man carries a bag of wheat supplied by Catholic Relief Services and USAID for emergency food assistance in a village near Shashemane, Ethiopia, in this 2016 photo. (CNS Photo/Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services)
Most humanitarian agencies operate just ahead of insolvency in the best of times, Nate Radomski, the executive director of American Jesuits International, says.
Kevin ClarkeJanuary 31, 2025
Peter Sarsgaard, left, as Roone Arledge in ‘September 5’ (Paramount Pictures)
“September 5,” a claustrophobic chronicle of the ABC sports journalists who brought the 1972 Munich Olympics terrorist attack to 900 million viewers, is a story of confidence and failure.
Ryan Di CorpoJanuary 31, 2025