Our Lady of Medjugorje

According to the seers, on 24 June 1981 around 4pm, fourteen-year-old Ivanka Ivanković, whose mother had died the previous May, and her friend Mirjana Dragičević were returning to the village, having gone for a walk. Ivanka noticed the silhouette of a woman on nearby Mount Podbrdo which she immediately took to be the Madonna. She drew this to Marija's attention, but her friend scoffed at the idea as being unlikely and they continued on their way. They then met Milka Pavlovic, who asked them to help bring in the sheep, so the three returned to the nearby hill, where all three saw the apparition.[8] They were then joined by their friends Vicka Ivanković, Ivan Dragičević and Ivan Ivankovic. Ivan Dragicevic was frightened and left; the others followed. All of them later said they saw the same apparition.

The next day Ivanka Ivankovic, Mirjana Dragicevic, Vicka Ivankovic, and Ivan Dragicevic returned to the site. Ivan Ivankovic did not accompany them. As Milka Pavlovic's mother kept the twelve-year-old to help her in the garden, Vicka Ivankovic brought along Milka's sister, Marija Pavlovic, and ten-year-old Jakov Colo. (Milka experienced no further apparitions.) The six seers told Franciscan friar Father Jozo Zovko that they had seen the Virgin Mary at Medjugorje.[9] Zovko was the parish priest at St. James Church in Medjugorje.

However, Mirjana gave a different account to Bishop Pavao Žanić, saying that they went to smoke cigarettes in hiding. There, they claimed they saw an apparition, for which they thought was Mary, mother of Jesus. (In a latter conversation with Žanić, Mirjana tried to convince the bishop they were looking for the missing sheep, a claim the seers continued to advocate.[10]

Yugoslav officials condemned the reports as "clerical-nationalist" conspiracy on the part of Croat extremists.[11] Bishop Žanić took a stand for the seers and the local Franciscans against the communist authorities who tried to prosecute them. He informed the Pope about the events in September 1981. The whole of that time, the Bishop remained cautious towards the apparitions, without any final conclusion. He became skeptical towards the apparitions after the apparition accused him of the disorder in Herzegovina that existed between the Franciscans and the diocesan clergy and defended the two Franciscans who refused to leave their parishes as requested by the Papal decree Romanis Pontificibus.[12]

Fr. Janko Bubalo, a Franciscan of the Hercegovinian province, followed the events associated with the apparitions from the beginning. In order to avoid confusion in the future, Fr. Bubalo sent a questionnaire to all the visionaries asking them to describe the Virgin Mary's appearance. Five of the six visionaries responded and signed their completed questionnaire forms at Humac in 1992. These five were: Ivan Dragićević, Ivanka Ivanković, Marija Pavlović, Mirjana Dragićević, Vicka Ivanković. Jakov Čolo couldn't return his questionnaire form but said he agreed with the others and had nothing to add.[13]

The visionaries wrote that Our Lady appears to be 18 to 20 years old, slender and around 165 centimetres (5 ft 5 in) tall. Her face is long and oval. She has black hair. Her eyes are blue with delicate eyelashes and thin black eyebrows. She has a little nose and rosy cheeks. She has reddish thin lips and her smile is more like some indescribable gentleness. It's visible as if somehow under her skin.Her simple dress is bluish-grey and falls freely all the way down to the little whitish cloud on which she is standing. Her veil is pure white and covers her head and shoulders. It also reaches down to the little cloud. She has a crown of twelve golden stars on her head.Finally he asked, "Is Our Lady really beautiful, as you have said?" Their answer was, "Well, really we haven't told you anything about that. Her beauty cannot be described. It is not our kind of beauty. It is something ethereal, something heavenly, something that we'll only see in Paradise and then only to a certain degree.[13]

Seer Mirjana, in her autobiography, says that when they asked Gospa, "How is it possible that you are so beautiful?" Our Lady gently smiled. "I am beautiful because I love," she said. "If you want to be beautiful, then love."[14]

When the area came under Ottoman control in the late fifteenth century it lost any effective diocesan administration and pastoral care for the resident Catholics fell to the Franciscan friars who remained. By the latter part of the nineteenth century Bosnia and Herzegovina became part of Austria-Hungary, and in 1881 Pope Leo XIII took steps to establish dioceses (1881) and appoint local bishops, as had been done elsewhere. This included transferring parishes administered by the Franciscans to diocesan clergy. A smooth transition was inhibited by both a lack of sufficient diocesan clergy and more particularly by the resistance of the friars to the divestment of their parishes. This would have entailed the loss of both income to support their monasteries, and their hard-earned status as community leaders.[21] They therefore encouraged popular opposition to diocesan parish takeovers.

In 1975 a decree by Pope Paul VI, Romanis Pontificibus, ordered that Franciscans to withdraw from most of the parishes in the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno, retaining 30 and leaving 52 to the diocesan clergy. In the 1980s the Franciscans still held 40 parishes under the direction of 80 friars.[22]

The Mostar Cathedral of Mary, Mother of the Church was completed in the summer of 1980 and consecrated on September 14, 1980 by Cardinal Franjo Šeper, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In order to create the cathedral parish it was decided to split the parish of SS. Peter and Paul. The Franciscans objected to this as being unfair.[23] Friars Ivica Vego and Ivan Prusina, were chaplains in the parish of SS Peter and Paul in Mostar, who refused to obey the Papal decree Romanis Pontificibus and relocate from the parish. After several warnings, Bishop Žanić suspended their priestly faculties throughout the dioceses under his jurisdiction. (Honorius Pontoglio, General Vicar of the Order of Friars Minor expelled Fr. Ivan Prusina from the Order on 29 January 1982.)[24]

Fr. Ivan Prusina and Fr. Ivica Vego appealed to the Franciscan Order and the Congregation for Clergy, who declined their appeal considering the decisions to be final. However, the Apostolic Signatura, the highest judicial court of the Holy See, on 27 March 1993 concluded that they had a right on appeal and saw this as a violation of the procedure and declared the dismissal to be null and void;[25] the same followed for Fr. Ivica Vego as well.[26] The Franciscan Province of Herzegovina tried to present this as a sign of victory against the bishop, however, the bishop's revocation of Fr. Ivan Prusina's priestly jurisdiction remained in force,[25] and the Apostolic Signature never reviewed the matter itself, only the procedural defects.[26] However, only later it became known that Fr. Ivica Vego had made a nun Leopolda pregnant, whom he eventually married and lives with her near Medjugorje.[27]

In the meantime, on 15 January 1982, the bishop invited the alleged seers to his residence to ask them if there were any messages from the Madonna on the issue, and they replied that there were not. However, on 3 April 1982, the seers came to the bishop to tell him that the Madonna scolded them for not telling the truth and that she requested that the two friars remain in Mostar and continue to celebrate mass and hear confessions. The Madonna allegedly told Vicka that Fr. Ivan Prusina and Fr. Ivica Vego "are not guilty of anything" in the matter.[28][29] Tomislav Vlašić took responsibility for the lies of the seers telling the bishop he instructed them not to tell the truth because the bishop might dispute the authenticity of the apparitions.[24]

On 21 June 1983, one of the seers, Ivan Dragičević, sent a threatening message allegedly from the Madonna to the bishop, in which she requests the bishop's conversion regarding her apparitions, otherwise, he would be "judged by me [the Madonna] and my son Jesus".[24][30] On 6 February 1985, Ivan Dragičević sent somewhat more tolerant message from the Madonna, with her stating that if he doesn't believe in her apparitions, at least he shouldn't persecute her priests who believe in her messages and promote them".[24][31]

Archbishop of Split-Makarska Frane Franić, who supported the alleged apparitions from the beginning, tried to persuade Vicka to retract the messages about the two friars, so the authenticity of the apparitions could be defended more easily.[24] However, both Vicka and Ivan continued to claim that the messages regarding the two friars were from the Madonna.[29]

The messages included the accusations against Bishop Pavao Žanić and encouragement for the two friars not to leave the parish.[32] It was then when Bishop Pavao took his final negative stance on the alleged apparitions.[33]

Vicka allegedly received messages from the Maddona from 19 December 1981 until 29 September 1982, and recorded them in her diary.[34] On 21 September Fr. Ivan Prusina, along with other Franciscans, with the help of the crowd, violently expelled diocesan priests from the parish. Because of his disobedience, Fr. Ivan Prusina had his priestly jurisdiction revoked by Bishop Pavao Žanić on 9 October 1980.

"If, on the occasion of a presumed supernatural fact, there arises in a spontaneous way among the faithful a certain cult or some devotion, the competent Ecclesiastical Authority has the serious duty of looking into it without delay and of diligently watching over it."[35] The competent Ecclesiastical Authority, in the first instance, is the local Ordinary.

Bishop Pavao Žanić established the first two commissions for the investigation of the alleged apparitions

In the beginning, Bishop Pavao Žanić of Mostar defended the seers from the communist authorities that tried to suppress the cult of Our Lady of Medjugorje,[12] but at the same time avoided recognizing the apparitions as authentic. He informed the Pope about the events in September 1981. In January 1982, Žanić established the first of two commissions for the investigation of the apparitions. The first commission, made up of four members was active from 1982 to 1984.[36]

Žanić was quickly disillusioned with the phenomenon after three of the seers claimed that the Madonna supported the Herzegovinian Franciscans in their pretension for parishes in the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno, an old dispute between them and the diocese known as the Herzegovina Affair.[37] He became skeptical towards the apparitions after it was alleged that the apparition accused him of the disorder in Herzegovina that existed between the Franciscans and the diocesan clergy and defended the two Franciscans who refused to leave their parishes as requested by the Papal decree Romanis Pontificibus.[12]The Franciscans used the apparitions to promote their interests, claiming that they come from the Madonna, while the bishop claimed that they were a product of Franciscan manipulation.[38] Žanić accused the Franciscans of manipulating the seers, forbade pilgrimages and transferred the spiritual director of the seers Tomislav Vlašić, whose sexual scandal wasn't known yet at the time. In August 1984, Vlašić was replaced by Franciscan friar Slavko Barbarić,[39] who, unbeknownst to Žanić, was already working in Medjugorje.

In February 1984 Žanić expanded the initial commission to fifteen members. It included nine professors from various theological faculties and two psychiatrists.[40]

The second commission examined Fr. Tomislav Vlašić's Chrinicles and Vicka's diaries. The Chronicles and diaries were found incredible, with records kept irregularly, entered subsequently, and some parts of Vicka's diaries were forged.[36] The commission asked Vlašić to hand over the Chronicle, which Vlašić did, but only with a long delay and after modifying the Chronicle.[41]In May 1986, the Commission declared that it could not establish that the events in Medjugorje were of a supernatural character.

Medjugorje had become a global phenomenon, while Žanić's authority was undermined by the supporters of the phenomenon.[38] In January 1987, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, suggested that the matter be referred from the local ordinary to the Yugoslav Bishops Conference,[42] which agreed with the second commission and ruled "non constat de supernaturalitate", stating in April 1991, that: "(o)n the basis of studies it cannot be affirmed that supernatural apparitions and revelations are occurring."

The Conference had instructed that pilgrimages should not be organized to Medjugorje on the supposition of its being supernatural, which ruling remained in effect.[43] In its declaration the commission noted that thousands of pilgrims come to Medujorje and were in need of pastoral care.

In 1993 Bishop Žanić retired. In April 1995, during the Bosnian War, his successor, Bishop Ratko Perić, and Perić's secretary, were abducted and beaten by Croat militiamen in a local Franciscan chapel. They were held for eight hours until rescued by UN peacekeepers and the Mayor of Mostar.[11] In October 1997, Bishop Perić, in response to a letter, expressed his personal opinion that the events alleged at Medjugorje were no longer non constat de supernaturalitate (that their supernatural nature is not established) but constat de non supernaturalitate (it is not of a supernatural nature).[44]

The Vatican commission set up to study Medjugorje concluded on 18 January 2014.[45] On 7 May 2015, Pope Francis announced the results would come soon.[46] On 11 June 2015, the Vatican's chief spokesman communicated that no decision was expected until the Fall of 2015.[47]

Pope John Paul II

There are a number of statements attributed to Pope John Paul II regarding the Medjugorje phenomenon. Some of these statements were denied, including some of those collected by Sister Emanuel Maillard. Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, when presented the list of statements collected by Sister Emmanuel Maillard, responded: "I can only say that the statements about Medjugorje attributed to the Holy Father and me are mere fabrications." ("frei erfunden")[48][49] Many other similar claims supportive of the Medjugorje phenomenon were attributed not just to Pope, but many other Church officials, with none of them being proved as authentic.[50] One such claim of Bishop Pavol Hnilica was denied by the Vatican's Secretariate of State.[51]

Both Bishop of Mostar Pavao Zanic and his successor Ratko Peric expressed serious reservations concerning the alleged apparitions. According to Peric, both Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI supported the judgments of the local bishops.[52] The pope's private secretary Stanisław Dziwisz stated that the Pope had entrusted the whole matter to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and thereafter maintained "a prudent distance."[53]

Christian apologist Patrick Madrid characterizes the stories from Medjugorje supporters about how Pope John Paul II favored the authenticity of the apparitions as "apocryphal".

I am not aware of the Holy Father ever publicly commenting, one way or the other, whether verbally or in writing, on Medjugorje....[T]here are numerous instances of private comments alleged to have been made by JPII about Medjugorje, but none that I am aware of which have been verified with documentation, such as video or audio recordings. Peruse these comments, and you’ll see they are all third-hand.[54]

Pope John Paul II allegedly confided in a number of Catholic confidantes about how he felt about Medjugorje. The Vatican has never confirmed those statements.[55]

Bishop Pavol Hnilica, went to Russia on March 25, 1984 with Mother Teresa's rosary,[56] to be present in Russia when Pope John Paul II in Rome consecrated Russia and the whole world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. When Hnilica returned to Rome, Pope John Paul II invited him to a private lunch and they shared a three-hour lunch talking about the consecration. During that meeting the Pope allegedly said, "...Medjugorje is the continuation and it is the completion of Fatima!"[57][58][59][60] Hnilica was a member of the Secretariate of the "Queen of Peace Committee", along with other prominent supporters of the Medjugorje phenomenon, including Jozo Zovko and Slavko Barbarić.[61]

Monsignor Murilo Sebastiao Ramos Krieger, Archbishop of Florianopolis in Brazil was going on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje for a fourth time and Pope John Paul II confided and confirmed to Krieger that "Medjugorje is the spiritual center for the world!"[59]

Cardinal Frantisek Tomasek, Archbishop Emeritus of Prague, heard Pope John Paul II say that, if he wasn't pope, he would have liked to have been in Medjugorje helping with the pilgrimages.[59][62]

Mirjana Dragicevic, one of the seers, said that Pope John Paul II confided to her, "If I weren't pope, I would already be in Medjugorje confessing."[59] Cardinal Dziwisz disputes this. "I can exclude it in the strongest terms. They say that one of the visionaries, ...came one day to the general audience and greeted the Pope as he passed. But he said nothing to her. Otherwise he would have remembered. Besides, the Pope had not even realized who it was."[53]

Monsignor Michael David Pfeifer in a pastoral letter to the diocese on August 5, 1988 wrote: "During my visit ad limina with the bishops of Texas, in a private conversation with the Holy Father, I asked him what he thought about Medjugorje. The pope spoke of it in very favorable terms and said:'To say that nothing is happening in Medjurgorje means denying the living and praying testimony of thousands of people who have been there.'"[59]

Marek and Zofia Skwarnicki, Pope John Paul II friends, made available letters he wrote to them 'abounding in specific references to Medjugorje.' He wrote on the back of a picture of a saint: "I thank Zofia for everything concerning Medjugorje. I too go there every day in prayer: I am united with all who are praying there and who receive the call to prayer from there. Today we better understand the summons."[59]

During a meeting with the Superior General of the Franciscan Order, the Holy Father asked: "All around Medjugorje bombs have been falling, and yet Medjugorje itself was never damaged. Is this not perhaps a miracle of God?"[62]

Pope Benedict XVI

Like to the Pope John Paul II, many statements affirmative towards Medjugorje were ascribed to Pope Benedict XVI while he was still a cardinal, which he dismissed as "mere fabrications".[48][49]

Bishop Peric visited Rome in 2006 and reported that in his discussion with Pope Benedict XVI regarding the Medjugorje phenomenon, the pope said, "We at the congregation always asked ourselves how can any believer accept as authentic apparitions that occur every day and for so many years?"[63]

In 2009, Pope Benedict defrocked Tomislav Vlašić, the spiritual director of the alleged seers.[64]

Cardinal Camillo Ruini headed the commission established by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010

In 1991 the country of Yugoslavia was dissolved, and the consituent republics declared their independence. On 17 March 2010, the Holy See announced that, at the request of the bishops of Bosnia Herzegovina, it had established a commission, headed by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, to examine the Medjugorje phenomenon.[65][66] Other prominent members of the commission included Cardinals Jozef Tomko, Vinko Puljić, Josip Bozanić, Julián Herranz and Angelo Amato, psychologists, theologians, mariologists and canonists. The commission was to "collect and examine all the material", and publish a "detailed report" based on its findings.[67] It was tasked to evaluate the alleged apparitions and to make appropriate pastoral recommendations for those pilgrims who continued to go to Medjugorje despite the ban on official pilgrimages. The Commission was active until 17 January 2014.

The Ruini Commission made a distinction between the first appearances from 24 June 1981 until 3 July 1981, with reportedly 13 votes in favor of those apparitions being of "supernatural" origin, one vote against, and an expert with a suspensive vote. Regarding the rest of the apparitions, from July 1981 onwards, the Commission found them to be influenced by heavy interference caused by the conflict between the Franciscans and the diocese over the redistribution of parishes. The Commission deemed later visions to be "pre-announced and programmed", and they continued despite the seers stating they would end.[67]

Regarding the pastoral fruits of Medjugorje, the Commission voted in two phases. In the first phase, they disregarded the behavior of the seers and voted six in favor of the positive outcome (including three experts), seven stating they are mixed (including three experts) with most being positive, and other three experts stating the fruits are a mix of positive and negative. In the second phase, taking into consideration the behavior of the seers, twelve members (including four experts) stated they cannot express their opinion, and other two members voted against the supernatural origin of the phenomenon.[67]

The Ruini Report was completed in 2014,[68] and was viewed with some reservations by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which expressed doubts regarding the apparitions.[67] Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, who headed the Congregation at the time, said in April 2017 regarding Medjugorje, that "pastoral questions" cannot be separated "from questions of the authenticity of apparitions".[69]

Pope Francis

In an interview in May 2017, Pope Francis commented on the findings of the commission headed by Cardinal Camillo Ruini saying that the report said of the initial apparitions that they "need to continue being studied" and expressed doubts in the later apparitions. He also expressed his own suspicion towards the apparitions saying he prefers "the Madonna as Mother, our Mother, and not a woman who's the head of the telegraphic office, who sends a message every day".[67][70]

In February 2017 Pope Francis named Polish Archbishop Henryk Hoser as a special envoy to "acquire more in-depth knowledge of the pastoral situation in Medjugorje" and “above all, the needs of the faithful who come to pilgrimage” to “suggest any pastoral initiatives for the future.”[71][72]

In 2017, around two million people from more around eighty countries from all over the world visited Medjugorje.[73] The Archbishop reported to the Pope in the summer of 2017.[74]

On 31 May 2018 Pope Francis nominated Archbishop Hoser a second time “as special apostolic visitor for the parish of Medjugorje” with the mandate lasting for “an undefined period..." at the discretion of the Pope. Archbishop Hoser was appointed by Pope Francis to evaluate the quality of pastoral care people were receiving at Medjugorje.[71] The Ruini Commission had recommended that the town's parish Church of St. James be made a pontifical shrine with Vatican oversight. From a pastoral perspective, this would both recognize the devotion of those who travel to Medjugorje and "ensure that 'a pastor and not a travel agency' is in charge of what happens there".[75]

According to Marshall Connolly of the media company California Network, what Hoser witnessed convinced the archbishop that something genuine has happened. Hoser told the Polish Catholic news agency, KAI, "All indications are that the revelations will be recognized, perhaps even this year." He added, "Specifically, I think it is possible to recognize the authenticity of the first apparitions as proposed by the Ruini commission."[76]

On May 12, 2019, Pope Francis authorized pilgrimages to Medjugorje considering the "considerable flow of people who go to Medjugorje and the abundant fruits of grace that have sprung from it." While pilgrimages can now be officially organized by dioceses and parishes, the permission did not address still outstanding doctrinal questions relating to the authenticity of the alleged visions.[77] As a result, the Apostolic Visitor "will have greater facility—together with the bishops of these places—of establishing relations with the priests who organize these pilgrimages” to ensure that they are “sound and well prepared."[78] The first sanctioned event was the Thirtieth Annual Youth Festival, which took place from August 1-6 2019. During the pilgrimage, approximately 50,000 young Catholics from all over the world took part.[79]

Ivanka Ivanković was born in Bijakovići on June 21, 1966. At the time of the alleged apparitions, she was 14. Her mother had died in May of that year. She was the first to see the apparition. She, like Ivan Dragičević and Vicka Dragičević, claims that Gospa told her biography between January and May 1983. She claims to have had regular apparitions until May 7, 1985, and that since then the apparitions occur only once a year. She claims the tenth secret was given to her by Gospa.[80]

She is married to Rajko Elez with whom she has three children. They live in Međugorje.[80]

Mirjana Dragičević Soldo was born on 18 March 1965, in Sarajevo. She was 15 at the time of the alleged apparitions. She lived in Sarajevo for a long time, where she has also finished her education. She claims to have had regular apparitions between 24 June 1981, and 25 December 1982. She claims that she became depressed and prayed for the apparition to see her again. According to her claims, Gospa left her "a gift" that she could see her on her birthday. As Međugorje became more and more popular, Soldo later said that as of 2 August 1987, the apparition would appear every 2nd day of every month. As of 2 January 1997, Soldo knew the exact hour of the apparition (10 to 11 AM).[81]

She claims that the apparition told her ten secrets, which are intended "for humanity in general, for the world, then for Međugorje, Yugoslavia, and some other areas". Soldo also said that every seer has a special mission. She was given those who do not know the love of God, Vicka Ivanković and Jakov Čolo for the sick, Ivan Dragičević for the young and the priests, Marija Pavlović for the souls in purgatory, and Ivanka Ivanković for families.[82]

Soldo is married to Marko Soldo since 1989 and they have two children. They live in Međugorje,[83] where they own a hotel.[84] They also own a mansion at the Croatian island of Hvar in Sućuraj, which they rent for 25,000 Croatian kunas (equivalent to 3,300 Euros or 3,850 United States dollars) a week.[85] One of her daughters, Veronika, studied at the University of Mostar, and is remembered by her colleagues for arriving at classes in a luxury Range Rover.[84]

Soldo wrote several books, including an autobiography titled Moje srce će pobijediti (My heart will win).[84]

Marija Pavlović

Marija Pavlović was born on April 1, 1965, in Bijakovići near Međugorje. She was 15 at the time of the alleged apparitions. She finished secondary school in Mostar.[86]

She was once asked why she didn't become a nun, to which she replied: "Through all those years I thought I'm gonna be a nun. I started visiting a monastery; my desire to go there was very strong. But the abbess told me: "Marija, if you tend to join, you can, but if Bishop decides that you cannot talk about Međugorje, you must listen to him." In that moment, I started to think that my calling is perhaps that I witness to what I saw and felt, and that I will seek my sainthood outside the monastery."[86] She also claims to have daily apparitions and that she keeps nine secrets from Gospa. She claims that Gospa sends her monthly messages for the world. These messages were at first made public by fra Tomislav Vlašić, then after him by fra Slavko Barbarić.[87]

Later, in February 1988, she joined fra Tomislav Vlašić,[88] a New Age promoter,[89] and his group of 15 young men and women in the community "Queen of Peace, - totally yours – Through Mary to Jesus" in Parma, Italy. Together they participated in spiritual exercises for five months. Vlašić was an ex-friar since 1987 who with his German assistant Agnes Heupel founded a mystic community. Heupel also claimed to receive messages from Gospa. Vlašić claimed that through Pavlović's testimony the community was a work of Gospa herself, and that Pavloviće had delivered him an answer in March 1987 to his question to Gospa about the community, which, among other things, stated: "This is God's plan" and that "Gospa leads the group through father Tomislav and Agnes, through which she sends her messages for the community".[90] She left the group in July 1988 denied any messages from Gospa regarding the community.[91]

She married an Italian, Paolo Lunetti, in Milan in 1993. They live in a six-story mansion in Monza,[20] but spent most of the time in Milan.[19]

Vicka Ivanković is the oldest of the alleged seers, born on September 3, 1964, in Bijakovići, a village near Međugorje. She was 16 at the time of the alleged apparitions. She claims to have had daily apparitions, and on occasions two, three, four or five times a day. According to her claims, the apparition told her her biography from January 1983 to April 1985.[92]

One of the major controversies of the Međugorje phenomenon was her diary about the apparitions, which went public with or without her consent. She claimed that the copying of her diaries occurred without her knowledge or consent.[92] She married Marijo Mijatović in 2002.[81]

She claims to have prayed and talked with Our Lady and to have been given nine "secrets". Her "prayer mission", given by the Blessed Virgin Mary, is to pray for the sick. Vicka says that her daily apparitions have not yet stopped. Vicka claims to have received a biography of Mary's life, contained in two handwritten notebooks, which Vicka has said will be published when the Blessed Virgin Mary tells her to do so.

Regarding her alleged visions, Vicka Ivanković once stated:

Before, I prayed from pure habit. Now I've turned completely to prayer. I commit my life completely to God. I feel sorry for those who do not believe in God, because Our Lady wants no one to be lost. We can help each other find the right way to God. It's up to the people to obey the messages and be converted. Great things are happening here – Our Lady is among us. She wishes to attract everyone to Her Son. That's the reason She has been coming so long and so often. Here everyone feels the nearness and the love of God. As role model and example, Gospa (Mary) began, in January 1983, to tell me Her life story, which took over two years.[93]

Ivanković lives in a mansion in Krehin Gradac near Medjugorje.[84] On March 18, 2020 Mirjana Dragićević announced that the Blessed Mother would no longer appear to her at that time, the second of each month.[94][95]

Ivan Dragičević was born in Mostar on May 25, 1965. He was 15 at the time of the alleged apparitions. After graduating from elementary school, he enrolled at a secondary school in Čitluk, but failed to pass the first class. In August 1981 he applied to the seminary of the Herzegovinian Franciscan Province, where he was already known for the alleged apparitions. He was sent to a seminary in Visoko. In the seminary, he also claimed to have daily apparitions. Again he failed to pass the first class and was sent to the gymnasium in Dubrovnik, where it was thought he would pass the class more easily. Thus, in autumn 1982, he was transferred from the Franciscan seminary to the humanist gymnasium in Dubrovnik. He was unsuccessful there as well and left the school altogether in January 1983.[96]

He himself also appeared to the rest of the seers on 12 November 1981 sending them his regards.[97]

While in the Franciscan seminary, he claimed that Gospa came to an image of Jesus and said: "Angel, this is your Father", which was never taught by any Christian denomination. He also claimed, like Vicka Dragičević, that Gospa told him her biography from December 1982 to May 1983.[98]

Dragičević married Laureen Murphy, a former Miss Massachusetts, in 1994. They have four children and live in Boston and then resides in the other half the year in the parish of Medjugorje.[99][98] His wife owns a tourist agency for pilgrims to Medjugorje. Dragičević owns a hotel in Medjugorje and a mansion worth a million of the United States dollars.[84]

In October 2013, Archbishop Gerhard Müller of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith wished the U.S. bishops to be aware that Dragicevic was scheduled to give presentations at parishes across the country and was anticipated to have more apparitions during these talks. The Apostolic Nunciature to the United States advised the bishops that the 1991 Zadar declaration that Catholics, whether clergy or laypeople, "are not permitted to participate in meetings, conferences or public celebrations during which the credibility of such 'apparitions' would be taken for granted".[100] The letter was sent to every diocese in the U.S. as the CDF determined that the judgment of the Yugoslavian bishops which precluded such gatherings remained in force.[101]

Jakov Čolo

Jakov Čolo was born in Bijakovići on March 6, 1971. He was 10 at the time of the alleged apparitions. He claimed to have had daily apparitions from June 25, 1981, to September 12, 1998. As of then, he claims that he has one apparition a year on Christmas Day. He claims that Gospa told him the tenth secret.[102]

He married Anna-Lisa Barozzi, an Italian, in 1993. They have three children and live in Međugorje.[102]

Other seers include the former parson of Medjugorje Jozo Zovko who had a vision of Our Lady in a church on 11 April 1983.[103]

Jelena Vasilj, a young woman from Medjugorje, allegedly also had apparitions of Our Lady on 24 May 1983.[104]

Fr. Tomislav Vlašić became a spiritual guide of the seers and was conducting the Chronicle of Apparitions (Kronika ukazanja).[105] The Chronicle covers the period from 11 August 1981 to 15 October 1983. The chronicle is written to give the impression of immediacy, using terms such as “same scene as yesterday” or “tonight” and “tonight”. However, Nikola Bulat, member of the commission that examined the apparitions, concluded that the Chronicle wasn't written daily as it seems.[106] Under the number dates, events that occurred later were recorded.[107] The intro of the Chronicle was written only on 25 February 1982, so Bulat concludes that it is possible that Vlašić started writing the Chronicle only then, eight months after the apparitions or during the October 1981 at its best.[108]

The commission also received Vicka's three out of four diaries. The first diary was written by Vicka's sister Ana and it encompasses the period from 24 June 1981 to 6 September 1981.[109] Some of the problematic aspects the commission found with the diary is that Vicka never saw it nor wrote it, and it contained the information Vicka claimed to have never told to her sister.[110]

The second diary was largely copied from Vlašić's Chronicle, and it encompasses the period from 12 October 1981 to 14 December 1981. The 18 October 1981 was written twice, with different content. It contains two handwritings, non of which is Vicka's. Vicka told the commission that this diary was also written by her sister.[111]

Vicka's third diary is the only one written by Vicka. It includes the period between 6 February 1982 to 25 March 1982. It isn't reliable as the dates in it do not correspond to the days of the week, while only the first eight days are correctly written. For example, on the day of Ash Wednesday, it says it was Good Friday. It also contains songs and quotes unrelated to the apparitions. It has poor grammar and content.[112]

The question of the Vicka's fourth diary remains unresolved. Vicka claimed in a letter to Bishop Pavao that she has been writing it since the beginning of the apparition, and the second time she claimed that she never had it.[113] Similarly, Fr. Vlašić claimed that the fourth diary exists, and then later swore on the Cross that he never held it in his hands.[114]

Vicka Ivanković used her apparitions to mediate in business disputes. The two shareholders of a hotel, whom Kutleša names as A.A. and B.B., on one side, had certain issues with the third shareholder, referred to as C.C., so they asked Vicka for help. Vicka allegedly consulted the Maddona.[115]

I asked about you and heard what was going on with C.C. and she understood everything he wanted. I asked Our Lady about you. It's like this. Regarding C.C., he should be warned not to do so because he is not aware of what he is doing. She said that he would not last long and that he too would be put to an end because he does not believe in anything and does not follow God's order and that is why nothing can happen to him with a blessing. And let me tell you, don't talk about anything because he won't accept God's words. You don't have to talk to him because it's a big blow to him, only he won't admit it. And give up his wife because she wants to drive you to great evil and she wants to persuade him (ie her husband) to drive you out of there more easily. You stick to yours and don't give in and he will be finished.[116]

Yet, in another dispute, at the beginning of 1995, problems arose over construction of hotel in Medjugorje, called "Pastoralni centar Međugorje".[117] A family from the Netherlands received a call for financial aid from a local family to build the hotel, whom Kutleša refers to as N.N.[118] Prior to that, the N.N. family asked Vicka of consult the Madonna for advice on when to start the construction several times. In April 1995, the Madonna told them: "It's not the right time yet, when the times comes, I'll let you know."[119] When they requested the advice the second time, the Madonna allegedly responded the same. The third time Vicka told them that the Madonna approved the start of the construction.[120]

The Dutch family sought a confirmation from Vicka's spiritual director Friar Slavko Barbarić, whether Vicka told the N.N. family to start the construction. However, before he was able to respond, Vicka, noticing the stall in money landing replied to them.[121]

"I have already written to you once via my friends N. N. and his family, so I am contacting you again because you may not have understood me well, and at the same time I am a little surprised that you are looking for someone else's messages through Our Lady.

When Our Lady approves and emphasises the beginning of work on the construction of the facility, then I do not know why you suspect and ask for some subsequent message and approval from ordinary people.

Our Lady - Mother of God's permission was given through me for the construction of the building, so if you believe in Medjugorje and the apparition of Our Lady, I do not know why all the doubts. I sincerely wish you a happy start to construction and joint cooperation.[122]

Friar Slavko, unaware of Vicka's response, replied to the letter he received on 28 March 1995, and informed the Dutch family that Vicka "did not consult the Mother of God on the issue". The next day, the Dutch family asked him how is possible that Vicka is saying them one thing, and to him the other. Fr. Slavko finally tried to sort the issue by sending them another letter on 3 April 1995.

My question was: Why did she then tell me that she did not ask her (Our Lady), why did she lie to me? I spoke to Vicka in front of her parents and she had little fear of her father to confirm the answer because her father was already angry at the insistence of the N.N. family. She has now also apologized in writing to me and says she never thought it was that important. She writes: It has happened now, and it will never happen again! ... To understand Vicka's situation, I will say something else in relation to the letter you received from Vicka and faxed it to me. When I read the letter, I was sure the text did not belong to Vicka. Then I asked her. And it was like this: She was getting ready for a trip to Rome and she had little time. Mr. N. N. and his son wrote the text and asked Vicka to sign the text with her own hand. In a hurry she signed the text with her own hand. Vicka has only the last sentence. Vicka therefore almost cried and apologized several times, because she knows what consequences this case of 'lies' can have, because you also wondered how ‘credible’ Medjugorje is.[123]

In October 1981, the parson of the Parish of Medjugorje Jozo Zovko was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for disrespecting the "People's Revolution" in his sermon on 11 July 1981. In the sermon, Zovko said that the people should be careful not to be seduced by the "false teaching and false teachers", which the communist authorities recognised as referring to themselves, however, Zovko defended his statement claiming it was referring to Bishop Pavao Žanić.[124]

The seers also claim to have had visions of Zovko who was under trial at the time. Jakov Čolo and Vicka Ivanković had the first apparition of Zovko on 19 October 1981. While they prayed, they saw Zovko who smiling with the Madonna. The Madonna asked them to invite youth and children to sing holy songs and pray, so Zovko can see how they "worship God and him".[125][103]

Jozo Zovko appeared to Jakov and Vicka for the second time two days later, on 21 October 1981. The Madonna told them not to worry about Zovko "because he's a saint", and that the trial would continue. However, his trial was over that very day, and the sentence was published the next day.[103][97]

Zovko himself allegedly had the apparition of Our Lady of Medjugorje on 11 April 1983.[103]

Ivan Dragičević also appeared to other seers on 12 November 1981 together with the Madonna to send them his regards.[97] Before he appeared, the seers prayed Credo with the Madonna. When they got to the part "He was incarnate by the Holy Ghost out of the Virgin Mary, and was made man", the Madonna started laughing out loud "out of love".[97]

On March 20, 2020 the Associated Press presented a video of the empty streets in Medjugorje, writing that the locals now "fear international and Europe wide travel restrictions and anxiety about the coronavirus pandemic will lead to a dramatic fall in visitors..." .[132]

On June 25, 2020 Reuters reported that the travel restrictions had caused a marked decrease in pilgrimages, down from over 100,000 per year, along with a loss in revenue for local businesses.[133]

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