Bishop of Medjugorje . . . Declares Apparitions Are Not Real

Bishop of Medjugorje . . . Declares Apparitions Are Not Real

Over the past 25 years, millions of Catholics have flocked to the Bosnian
town of Medjugorje — where, it was commonly asserted, the Blessed Virgin
Mary was appearing regularly — for a religious experience.

Despite appeals from the local bishops, public confrontations between the
Franciscans who staffed the parish church and Church authorities, the flood
of pilgrims has barely stopped, forcing the local bishop to once again
proclaim that apparitions of the Virgin Mary are not occurring there, and
pleading with the "seers" to stop the hoax they are perpetrating on
gullible Catholics.

In addition, the bishop firmly warned any Catholic priests who come to
Medjugorje that they are not to preach, teach, or write about the so-called
apparitions, and he reminded pilgrims that pilgrimages are not allowed by
Church authorities.

During a Confirmation on the Feast of Corpus Christi, Bishop Ratko Peric of
Mostar-Duvno devoted the second part of his homily to the alleged
apparitions, saying flatly that "I would be an irresponsible minister of
the Mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ, if today I were not to
publicly advise, from this place and on this occasion as well, to all those
interested throughout the world, that in this local Church of Mostar-Duvno,
there exists something similar to a schism.

"A number of priests that have been expelled from the Franciscan OFM Order
by the Generalate of the Order, due to their disobedience to the Holy
Father," the bishop continued, "for years now have been forcefully keeping
a few parish churches and rectories along with church inventory.

"They have not only been illegally active in these parishes, but they have
also administered the sacraments profanely, while others invalidly, such as
Confession and Confirmation, or they have assisted at invalid marriages.
This type of anti-ecclesial behavior is shocking to all of us. At the same
time, this scandal of sacrilegiously administering the sacraments,
especially of the Most Holy Body of Christ, must shock all the faithful as
well who invalidly confess their sins to these priests and participate in
sacrilegious liturgies. We pray to the Lord that this scandal and schism be
uprooted as soon as possible from our midst.

"Thirdly," Bishop Peric continued, "I am truly grateful to the Holy Father
the Pope, to John Paul II of blessed memory and to the reigning Benedict
XVI, who have always respected the judgments of the bishops of
Mostar-Duvno, of the previous as well as the current bishop, regarding the
so-called 'apparitions' and 'messages' of Medjugorje, all the while
recognizing the Holy Father's right to give a final decision on these
events. The judgments of the bishops, after all the canonical
investigations made thus far, can be summarized in these following points:

"1) Medjugorje is a Catholic parish in which liturgical and pastoral
activities are carried out, just as in all the other parishes of this
diocese of Mostar-Duvno. No one except the official Church authorities is
then authorized to attribute the formal title of 'shrine' to this place.

"2) On the basis of Church investigations of the events of Medjugorje,
it cannot be determined that these events involve supernatural apparitions
or revelations. This means that till now the Church has not accepted,
neither as supernatural nor as Marian, any of the apparitions.

"3) Priests who canonically administer this parish of Medjugorje or
those who come as visitors, are not authorized 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.

"4) The Catholic faithful are not only free from any obligation to
believe in the authenticity of the 'apparitions' but they must also know
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.'

"5) As the local bishop, I maintain that regarding the events of
Medjugorje, on the basis of the investigations and experience gained thus
far, throughout these last 25 years, the Church has not confirmed a
single 'apparition' as authentically being the Madonna. The fact that
during these 25 years there has been talk of tens of thousands
of 'apparitions' does not contribute any authenticity to these events,
which according to the words of our current Pope, whom I encountered during
an audience on February 24 this year, commented that at the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith they always questioned how all
these 'apparitions' could be considered authentic for the Catholic
faithful.

"They particularly do not seem to be authentic when it is known beforehand
that these so-called 'apparitions' will occur:

"To one of the 'seers' on the 18th of March every year, but, along with this
she will also receive an, 'apparition' on the 2nd of each month,
with 'messages' which you can expect, according to the established
procedures;

"The second will receive an apparition on every day of the year, and if this
were not enough, an added special 'apparition' on the 25th of each month
along with a type of press release, which once again you can foresee and
expect;

"The third will receive an 'apparition' on the 25th of December, on
Christmas day, along with a message similar to the ones already mentioned;

"The fourth with receive an 'apparition' on the 8th of September every year
along with a specific message;

"The remaining two will receive the same, every day along with 'messages'
that can be anticipated since they are variations on the same theme. This
fact and the flood of so-called apparitions, messages, secrets, and signs,
do not strengthen the faith, but rather further convince us that in all of
this there is nothing either authentic or established as truthful.

"Therefore I responsibly call upon those who claim themselves to be 'seers,'
as well as those persons behind the 'messages,' to demonstrate
ecclesiastical obedience and to cease with these public manifestations and
messages in this parish. In this fashion they shall show their necessary
adherence to the Church, by neither placing private 'apparitions' nor
private sayings before the official position of the Church.

"Our faith is a serious and responsible matter. The Church is also a serious
and responsible institution!"

© Wanderer Printing Co.


mozil wrote:


http://www.theboholchronicle.com/mevents.php?issue=218&s1=2921&s2=2935&s3=&s4=&s5=2927&s6=808&s7=&s9=&s10=

Medjugorge Prophecy on RP soon to be fulfilled?
By BINGO P. DEJARESCO

MANILA. A message from Our Lady of Medjugorge spoke of the Philippines
to become the "global spiritual center." Will this become a reality soon?

The Philippines, the only Catholic nation in Asia, has a special
devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Last January 7, two thousand people watched the groundbreaking of the
Shrine of Montemaria dedicated to "Mary Mother of the Poor" at the
Southern part of Batangas City Bay area facing the famous Verde Island.

The statue of the Shrine of Montemaria will be 102 meters high - higher
than New York City's Statue of Liberty (96 meters high) and Rio de
Janeiro has Statue of Jesus (100 meters high).

The pilgrimage site is five-hectares of land (donated by Batangas
tycoon) whose development will cost P8 billion funded from donations of
Filipinos - P200 million of which is already deposited in a bank.

The pilgrim site which can accommodate as much as 2,000 pilgrims will
honor the massive shrine together with a Montemaria oratory of the
Blessed Virgin, a cathedral-like complex to be built along the slope of
the mountain. In the complex will be a Rosary Garden, Way of the cross,
Eucharistic and Adoration Chapel, St. Joseph Chapel, Divine Mercy
Chapel, colambarium and retreat houses for pilgrims.

The humongous statue of the Blessed Virgin can be seen from the ships
passing through a major shipping lane called "Verde Strait" where as
many as 200 ships pass daily. The Verde Island, known for its
biodiversity of aquatic species is part of the "Sulawesi Triangle
extending from Batangas to Borneo in the West and Celebes in the South.

The "Sulawesi Triangle" a 300,000 square kilometer area is the "richest
in marine biodiversity in the world."


--
I SPILLED SPOT REMOVER ON MY DOG..............AND NOW HES GONE!!
.