by Jakob Marschner
When the Vatican’s doctrinal office took away permission to participate in Medjugorje events, it did so by misquoting a statement from the Yugoslav bishops. The error is critical and damaging, and has caused people to believe Medjugorje is at best questionable, says author Wayne Weible.
The decisive part of the letter in which the Vatican’s doctrinal office forbids participation in events that take the authenticity of the apparitions in Medjugorje for granted
Medjugorje arrangements are being cancelled, and the visionaries are increasingly being kept from appearing in public outside of Medjugorje due to the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) misquoting the only official Church document on Medjugorje.
This document, the April 10th 1991 so-called Zadar Declaration from the Catholic bishops of then-Yugoslavia, was the only document referred to when CDF on October 21st 2013, via the papal nuncio to the United States, circulated a letter forbidding participation in events that take the authenticity of the apparitions “for granted” to all the American bishops. Recently, the letter was re-inforced to have visionary Ivan Dragicevic’s scheduled appearance in St. Charles, MO, cancelled.
Cardinal Franjo Kuharic of Zagreb (1919-2002) chaired the Yugoslavian Bishops Conference that formulated the Catholic Church’s only official statement on Medjugorje in the 1991 Zadar Declaration which is now being misquoted by the Vatican’s doctrinal office. Cardinal Kuharic’s cause for beatification will now be postulated by Croatians, it was recently revealed
But the passage from the Zadar Declaration that CDF employed as jumpboard for the ban does not quote the Zadar Declaration correctly.
Two words were omitted, and the apparitions were no longer mentioned in present tense, as in the Zadar Declaration, but in past tense. Errors which have been causing serious damage to Medjugorje and the credibility of the visionaries, says Wayne Weible, the author of ten books on the events of Medjugorje.
With the changes to the Zadar Declaration, it appears as if the Yugoslav bishops closed the case of Medjugorje with a negative decision in 1991 while their declaration in fact left the case open.
“On the basis of the investigations, so far (our emphasis, ed.) it cannot be affirmed that one is (our emphasis, ed.) dealing with supernatural apparitions and revelations” the Yugoslav bishops wrote in the Zadar Declaration.
“On the basis of the research that has been done, it is not possible to state that there were (our emphasis, ed.) apparitions or supernatural revelations” CDF quoted the declaration in 2013, having first referred to the Zadar Declaration as a document that “all should accept”.
The postman: Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the papal nuncio to the United States, circulated the restriction letter on Medjugorje to the American bishops upon CDF’s order
The misquoted part of the Zadar Declaration was the only material used by CDF to justify why participation in Medjugorje events is no longer permitted. In the following paragraph of the letter, CDF concludes:
“It follows, therefore, that clerics and the faithful are not permitted to participate in meetings, conferences or public celebrations during which the credibility of such “apparitions” would be taken for granted. In order, therefore, to avoid scandal and confusion, (CDF Prefect) Archbishop Müller asks that the Bishops be informed of this matter as soon as possible.”
The initiator: the restriction letter on Medjugorje was sent to the American bishops at the request of Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Emphasizing that the case of the authenticity of Medjugorje was being left open, the Yugoslav bishops ended the Zadar Declaration by stating they would keep on following the place:
” (…) through their Commission (the Yugoslav bishops) will continue to keep up with and investigate the entire event in Medjugorje” the bishops stated in 1991.
Before CDF’s circulated letter of restrictions in 2013, the Zadar Declaration had never been employed to stop events related to Medjugorje.
Wayne Weible: “the carelessness of this error cannot be overlooked due to the damage it has done to the followers of Medjugorje here in the United States”
The misquotations are very serious, says author Wayne Weible.
“The error has caused people to withdraw from any event concerning Medjugorje, including conferences, gatherings and pilgrimages to the site. In fact, there is strong sentiment among the faithful that the Church is stating that the apparitions at Medjugorje are questionable at best” Wayne Weible tells Medjugorje Today.
“Were the two words deliberately left out of the quoted statement? I would like to think not, but the carelessness of this error cannot be overlooked due to the damage it has done to the followers of Medjugorje here in the United States. Pilgrimages to the village are down considerably and there are only a handful of conferences that focus on the apparitions – this from a country that sent millions of pilgrims there in the eighties” Weible continues.
Medjugorje visionary Ivan Dragicevic with whom a public arrangement in Missouri was recently cancelled when CDF’s restriction letter was being re-inforced
The author points out that CDF’s restriction letter also contains misspellings, and displays “lack of respect and possibly bias”.
“Adding to this obvious error of omission of these important words, the name “Medjugorje” is twice misspelled in the letter as “Medjogurje”, and visionary Ivan Dragicevic is referred to as one of the “so-called” visionaries, lending further evidence that it was written in haste and possibly with bias. Referring to Ivan as a so-called visionary shows a lack of respect of him and the apparitions, which the Church may one day rule as worthy of belief, making him an authentic visionary of the Blessed Virgin” Wayne Weible says.
Ex-Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls
Banning participation in Medjugorje arrangements also contradicts a statement of clarification given on August 21st 1996 by then-Vatican Press Office spokesman Dr. Joaquin Navarro-Valls, Wayne Weible calls to mind:
“You cannot say people cannot go there until it has been proven false. This has not been said, so anyone can go if they want” Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.
“Frankly, the harshness of the language of (CDF’s) letter is damaging in itself by stating that the faithful are not permitted to attend meetings, gatherings, conferences or any celebrations that would take for granted that the apparitions are authentic. On the contrary, the faithful, as individuals, are allowed to believe in, promote, make pilgrimage, write about and attend such events until the Church formally rules on an alleged apparition. We are then to accept the ruling as obedient members of the Church” Wayne Weible says.
“I can only hope the CDF would acknowledge the error and issue a corrected announcement with corrected and less harsh language” he concludes.
http://www.medjugorjetoday.tv/
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