Originally Released on June 25, 2015 A.D.
Bishops have been approving Medjugorje for 34 years. Hundreds of cardinals and bishops from around the world have made pilgrimages to Medjugorje and have not only been impressed, but have returned to their dioceses and have encouraged their people to go to Medjugorje. Medjugorje is too important and has captured the hearts of too many Catholics worldwide, for bishops to be indifferent to it. Bishop Franjo Komarica, a member of the Bishop’s Conference of Yugoslavia, who was part of the development of the Zadar Declaration, said the following in a homily given in Medjugorje on November 21, 1990:

Franjo Komarica
Banja Luka
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, a very strong voice for Medjugorje, also speaks of the responsibility the bishops have towards Medjugorje. When in Lourdes in July 1998, he made the following statement:

Vienna, Austria
What are the “obvious fruits” that Cardinal Christoph Schönborn speaks of? In another interview, in 1998, he stated:

Vienna, Austria
Hundreds of bishops around the world have accepted the invitation to go to Medjugorje, which now includes Cardinal Schönborn who visited the village in December 2009. Their testimonies are presented here so that believers and non-believers alike can view the experiences of the shepherds of the Church, their observations and their prayerful discernment of what the meaning of Medjugorje is for them. These are personal testimonies of those who have journeyed to the village of Medjugorje physically, often with pilgrims from their dioceses where they have seen firsthand how impacting the Medjugorje experience is in the lives of the faithful, first while they are pilgrims in Medjugorje, and then after they return home, changed by their experience and desiring to live out their conversion by returning to, or more fully engaging in, the life of the Church. Many bishops expressed that they themselves were recipients of significant graces that impacted and changed their lives, renewed their priesthood, and led them into a closer relationship with Jesus and Our Lady. They were deeply moved by the whole experience of Medjugorje where they could see the renewal of the Church taking place right before their eyes.
Pope Saint John Paul II repeatedly encouraged the bishops who came to him about Medjugorje to go there, and to allow their faithful to go there as well. As Bishop Komarica stated above, bishops should visit Medjugorje to personally witness what is happening. Hundreds of bishops have in fact come to Medjugorje and their testimonies are very positive. Some came because they felt a responsiblity to their flock, to see what Medjugorje is all about. However, what they discovered was that Medjugorje was not only for their flock, but for themeslves as well. It is hard, if not impossible, to disregard or ignore the testimonies of so many cardinals and bishops, along with millions of lay Catholics who have experienced Medjugorje personally. What follows are the words of our shepherds. Is this not the Church speaking?
Bishops have spoken of their certainty that Medjugorje will be approved by the Church in the future…
Personal Testimonies

Domenico Pecile
Latina, Italy

Kenneth Steiner
Portland,Oregon, USA

Jos, Nigeria
“Since the time my faithful are coming to Medjugorje, I too, as archbishop, feel the duty to come, to see what happens and to have a personal experience of this place of intense prayer. I still remember the strong impressions I had after my previous visits. Our Lady’s messages are simple, practical and life changing…
“Even though it is not always easy or possible, I would like my diocesan priests to come to Medjugorje because it is important for them to come, see and experience. I permit no one, myself included, to be prejudiced, because that means to judge without seeing. As an archbishop, I would like to invite all those who have not yet done so, to come to Medjugorje!”6
Whatever it was that brought them to Medjugorje, many bishops discovered it to be a place filled with graces for them personally. It was personal renewal that convinced them that Medjugorje is a gift from God. It is very common to hear amongst those who do not understand what Medjugorje has to offer comments such as: “You don’t have to go anywhere to receive graces; God is present to you at all times. You don’t have to go to Medjugorje; the source of grace is available in your own Church in your own hometown.” A Friend of Medjugorje, who has taken thousands of pilgrims to Medjugorje over the years, has a ready answer for such comments. He says:
“We often hear from our pilgrims once we are in Medjugorje that, ‘You know, I’ve realized I didn’t have to come to Medjugorje to see Mary or receive graces, I have Jesus back home in the Tabernacle.’ Our response is ‘Yes, you did have to come. You had to come to learn that Jesus is in the Tabernacle back in your own home church and to receive the graces to understand that.'”
A Friend of Medjugorje went on to say:
“We had the Sacraments before Medjugorje began in 1981. We had the Church. Yet, with the Sacraments and the Church, people were falling away and neglecting them. Was there no more power in the Sacraments? In the Church? Nineteen eighty-one, when the apparitions began, marked a spiritual turning point in the world. …Through this event, the life that has always been in the Sacraments, but was lost because of our weak faith, again began to be found because our faith was increasing. At that point, June 24, 1981, in the world, faith was in crisis. Several of the first messages of Our Lady’s apparitions concerned faith. On June 27, 1981, Jakov asked what Our Lady expected of the Franciscans in Medjugorje. Our Lady said:
“Have them persevere in faith and protect the faith of the people.”
The next day, after asking the day before what was expected of the Franciscans, the visionaries asked what Our Lady expected of the people.”
June 28, 1981
“That people believe and persevere in faith.”
Our Lady shows why there is a crisis of faith by saying:
January 21, 1982
“My children, don’t you see that the faith begins to extinguish itself and that it is necessary to awaken the faith among men.”
The faith of returning pilgrims back to their own home parishes spoke loudly to bishops around the world. Many bishops, curious as to what had caused such impressive conversion in their parishioners, after accepting the invitation to go to Medjugorje, were surprised at the profound spiritual renewal they themselves received there.

Joseph Mugenyi Sabiti
Fort Portal, Uganda

Louis Kébreau

Iryney Bilyk
Byzantine rite
Buchach, Ukraine

Patrick Power
Canberra-Goulburn, Australia
Victor Maldonado Barreno
Guayaquil, Ecuador

Frane Franić
Split-Makarska, Croatia

Jesus A. Cabrera
Alaminos, Philippines

Fabio Betancourt Tirado
Manizales, Columbia

João Evangelista Martins Terra
Brasília, Brazil

Sebastian Thekethecheril
Vijayapuram, India
Church Approval
On the subject of Church Approval, many bishops have spoken of their certainty that Medjugorje will be approved by the Church in the future. Their concern, therefore, is not in Church approval of the apparitions, but that Medjugorje will be ignored by many in the Church until the time the approval happens. Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar, who was regarded by many to be John Paul II’s favorite theologian stated:
“There is only one danger alone for Medjugorje—that people will pass it by!”17
Von Balthasar was convinced in the validity of Medjugorje.

Hans Urs von Balthasar
Lucerne, Switzerland
This is an impressive statement coming from a theologian who is widely respected within the Church. As you read through the following statements of bishops, you will see that so many of them came to the same conclusion as Cardinal Von Balthasar. Believing in the apparitions, the important thing then becomes not so much the rubber stamp approval from the Vatican, but that people convert.

Stanislas Lukumwena Lumbala
Kole, Congo

Séamus Hegarty
Derry, Ireland

Giuseppe Siri
Genova-Bobbio, Italy

Philip M. Hannan
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Geevarghese Mar Divannasios Ottathengil
Bathery, India

Henry Joseph Kennedy
Armidale, Australia

Murilo Krieger
São Salvador da Bahia, Brazil
The strength of many bishops’ conviction concerning Medjugorje as a supernatural gift from God is startling to read by those who have only heard negative comments about Medjugorje from the negatively biased media, or those indifferent or closed to Medjugorje. Yet, so many within the hierarchy of the Church are enthusiastic about what is happening in this village and cannot see how the fruit they witnessed can be denied.

Stanislas Lukumwena Lumbala
Kole, Congo
“I can personally say that it is clear to me that all that is happening in Medjugorje, especially the great number of people, cannot be interpreted in any other way than a special intervention from God…I personally am praying that the moment of recognition comes as soon as possible.
“I would recommend to all communities that do not have vocations to come here and pray in this spirit that is alive in Medjugorje and they will certainly have vocations!”25
United States of America
“A priest from the United States, Fr. Bernard, tells us: ‘In the past, my bishop before has always advised caution about the apparitions, he never actually expressed belief in them. But one day he heard that I was going to Medjugorje and he asked me to pray for vocations there. I knew it worked every time. Whenever a priest from our diocese would go there we would always get at least one vocation.
“When my bishop greeted me upon my return, his first words were, ‘I’m going to have to send you right back!’ During that period, his diocese received 10 vocations to the priesthood.”26
José de Jesús Nuñez Viloria
Ciudad, Guayana, Venezuela

André-Joseph
Mutien Léonard
Belgium, Military
If the apparitions are in fact true, as many bishops are convinced they are, then the world places itself in a precarious situation by not seriously responding to this great gift that God has given. It is, therefore, a grave responsibility for those in the Church who are in the position to pass judgment over the events of Medjugorje.

Frane Franić
Split-Makarska, Croatia
“If Jesus has sent His Mother to preach about conversion, then Her call is definitely coupled with a great grace of conversion which can only be received at Medjugorje. Jesus wanted exactly those graces, which He is distributing through His Mother, the Queen of Peace, to give peace to our people.
“That’s why I feel that those who have hindered a greater response to Our Lady Queen of Peace in Medjugorje carry a great responsibility. However, it is not too late yet…”29
Bishop Albin Małysiak, from Poland, a strong believer in Medjugorje for 20 years, worked closely with Pope John Paul II.

Albin Małysiak
Kraków, Poland

Franziskus Eisenbach
Mainz, Germany
It is clear that many bishops are saying, “go to Medjugorje and experience the grace of conversion.” They state clearly that the Church is not hindering anyone from going and experiencing Medjugorje.

Thomas Luke Msusa
Blantyre, Malawi
“The Church will be the last to pronounce a judgment about Medjugorje. In the meantime, the experience of the faithful is essential. However, I see that the attitude of the Church is positive, because it doesn’t prevent anyone from coming. On the contrary, the Church allows people to go to Medjugorje. Unofficially, we can say that the Church has already accepted Medjugorje.
“As for the official judgement, we will have to wait some more time…Roused by Our Lady’s words, we need to pray primarily for conversion, because what is happening in Medjugorje also helps the Church to advance. I do not believe that the Church will ever refuse conversions. This is why I believe that, one day, the Church will recognize Medjugorje.”32
Still some will say, how can you be certain that the Virgin Mary is appearing in Medjugorje? How does one judge? Following are some of the responses that bishops gave to that question.

Bruno Tommasi
Lucca, Italy

Georg Eder
Salzburg, Austria

Ersilio Tonini
Ravenna-Cervia, Italy
“I think Medjugorje is a blessed place and a grace of God; [one] who goes to Medjugorje returns transformed, changed, he reflects himself in that source of grace that is Christ. Christ is at the same time the tap and the source. If in Medjugorje, as it is obvious by now, many conversions happen, it surely means that there is the hand of God.
“I believe that we should look at Medjugorje with serenity and trust, appreciating all the good and holy things that happen in that place….Only unbelievers do not believe in Our Lady and in Medjugorje. For the rest, nobody is forcing us to believe, but let us at least respect it.”35

Michael D. Pfeifer
SanAngelo, Texas, USA
“…To say nothing is happening there is to deny the living, prayerful witness of hundreds of thousands who have gone there. There is something other-worldly taking place at Medjugorje. There seems to be a special Divine presence there, motivating and inspiring the millions who visit this village to have a new love of God, and to strengthen and renew their commitment to live out the Gospel of Christ.”36
“As the Church continues to study and reflect on these mysterious and supernatural happenings of Medjugorje, I can only offer my personal opinion. I am convinced that Mary is appearing at Medjugorje, and that She is calling us to a deeper union with Jesus Christ, and to the faithful living out His Gospel in our daily lives…each one according to his or her vocation…Mary comes back today at Medjugorje as a kind and loving Mother, pleading with our world…with all of us…to simply do what Christ tells us to do. If we listen to her gentle command, Christ, through the Holy Spirit, will work new and wonderful signs of grace and love in our individual hearts, in our families, in our communities, in the entire world.”37
Many ask why is the Church taking so long to come to a decision?

Emilio Ogñénovich
Mercedes-Luján, Argentina

Bernardo Maria Cazzaro Bertollo
Puerto Montt, Chile
“…Where is the main thing? …The fruits that derive from it…If I go in an orchard full of trees with beautiful, mature fruit, I do not go to see if the roots are all right or worm-eaten, ill. I see the beautiful fruit, I take it, I eat it, I offer it. If the fruits are good, the roots will also be good, says Jesus…
“…You do not have to go so much to the roots. Look at the fruits, the fruits of conversion, the invitation and the content of the messages. They are all evangelical contents. You cannot throw away the Gospel, even if it comes to you chewed in form of baby food, because we are like children, and Our Lady is giving us the baby food. We have become children, we are to be re-evangelised. Our Lady says it in a simple way like a mother, in small, but precious portions, in order to make us digest the Gospel that we have forgotten. This is important.
“…Let the Church go slowly, study, make commissions, examine for and against, whatever it wants. We say that the Church ‘should approve’. What is this ‘Church’? And what are we? We are Church, we have already approved! The responsible hierarchy is prudent, in order to avoid errors, in order to confirm all the good that is made…
“Altogether, I do not see here anything crooked, nothing worrisome. As a bishop, I do not see whims here, or strange things. Everything happens according to the norms of the Church: liturgy, prayer, sacrifice, especially conversion. It is good. We are grateful to God. If the Church says, ‘it’s true’, if it says it tomorrow or in twenty years, it is not important. Let us not have haste! Let us leave the Church free! Let us leave free the competent authorities that is the local bishop, or in our case here, the Vatican. It has no importance. I respect the fruits.”39
Medjugorje is Unique
It is not uncommon to hear people say of Medjugorje, “It’s just another Fatima. It’s just another Lourdes.” And yet, for many who have been to these and other shrines in Europe and around the world, there is a marked difference in how they speak of Medjugorje. There are great differences in how pilgrims are impacted in Medjugorje as compared to other pilgrimage sites. Medjugorje is different.

Pavel Mária Hnilica
Titular Bishop, Rusadus

José Luís Azcona Hermoso
Marajó, Brazil

Franc Kramberger
Maribor, Slovenia

Francesco Colasuono
Apostolic Nuncio
Emeritus to Italy

André-Joseph
Mutien Léonard
Belgium, Military

Pavel Mária Hnilica
Titular Bishop
Rusadus

Joseph Lafontant
Port-au-Prince
Haïti

Joseph Vianney Fernando
Kandy, Sri Lanka

Datus Hilarion Lega
Manokwari-Sorong
Indonesia
Some Bishops sense that Medjugorje’s difference lies in the plan of God to spread the peace, the Gospel, the faith of Jesus Christ so evidenced in this village around the world. Medjugorje is the center of this plan, the radius, from which these graces flow.
Monsignor Roland About Jaoude
Vicar General of the Maronite Patriarch
Titular Bishop of Arca de Pheniere, Lebanon
Monsignor Chucrallah Harb
Bishop Emeritus of Jounieh, Lebanon
Monsignor Hanna Helou
Vicar General of the Maronite Diocese of Saida, Lebanon
“The fruits of Medjugorje are neither only for the local people nor only for Christians, but for all humanity, because the Lord has commanded us to carry to all humanity the Truth He has revealed to us, and thus to sanctify the whole world. Christianity exists for 2000 years now and we are only two billion Christians!”
“Medjugorje contributes to the apostolic enthusiasm and to evangelization, to which our Lord has sent us and which the Church is transmitting.”49

Séamus Hegarty
Derry, Ireland

Pearse Lacey
Toronto, Canada
Because of the immensity of God’s plan through Medjugorje, the villagers have a large responsibility in seeing Our Lady’s desires fulfilled.

Murilo Krieger
São Salvador da Bahia
Brazil

Gerard Dionne
Edmundston, Canada
For some, it’s the fact that the apparitions are happening now, in our present day that makes Medjugorje an experience unlike anything that can be experienced today.

José Antúnez de Mayolo
Ayacucho, Peru

George Pearce
Suva, Fiji Islands

Nicolas Hakim
Superior General
Melkite Basilian Order of Chueirites

Gerard Dionne
Edmundston, Canada
“Everything I have seen here during my stay has impressed me deeply. Something like this is hard to find any place else. The faith of the people here, the attendance at Holy Mass and the spirit of self-denial cut deeply into my heart. I watched how crowds of countless people go up mountains that are not easy to climb, go to confession and pray. They were from every part of the world. It is difficult therefore to conclude that all this is accidental, that this is an ordinary place and that nothing has happened here. In my opinion, only faith could lead these people to come here, faith that is convinced of something concrete…According to the fruits that I see, I can say there is something really special taking place here. It is not the Franciscans who are drawing the people here. I also have Franciscans in my parish, but there is nothing special going on. God is the one who is drawing the people to come.
“I believe Our Lady is appearing here. I don’t know how I would in any other way explain the phenomenon that is alive here. It is not possible that the devil is at work, since people are praying. Likewise, all this cannot be an ordinary deception. People can be deceived for a while, but not a full seventeen years* and then not millions of people. I believe that something special is happening here because of the fruits. There cannot be so much good fruit on a bad tree.
“Observing the liturgical life in the parish of Medjugorje…it is the everyday customary life of the Church. Mass is celebrated just like in other places. There is nothing here out of the ordinary. Last night we had Adoration before the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. Everything was so simple: a few words, a few songs, just like the Church wants it to be. People are so strongly attracted to it that they are prepared to spend hours on their knees. We do the same thing in our churches, but people do not come in such great numbers. Why? I cannot answer differently than to say that God is present here in a special way.”57
* Thirty-four years as of June 25, 2015
Renewing the Church
Some of the most powerful testimonies from bishops come from their observation that Medjugorje is bringing about the renewal of the Church. They admit that so many of their own initiatives and current programs are producing little to no conversions, which makes the tremendous conversions taking place in Medjugorje that much more amazing.

Hans Urs von Balthasar
Lucerne, Switzerland

Frane Franić
Split-Makarska, Croatia

Denis Croteau
Mackenzie-Fort Smith
Canada
Cardinal František Tomášek of Prague, very well-known and respected for his combating Communism behind the Iron Curtain, and for what he suffered for the faith, was a staunch believer in the Medjugorje apparitions.

Frantisek Tomasek
Prague, Czech Republic
“I think that we here are indebted to the events of Medjugorje for this huge new springtime of our faith, that God has given us through Mary. Prayer and fasting, faith and conversion, and then the invitation to peace, this can only come from God.
“I have many people who have been on pilgrimage to Medjugorje. They are full of hope, and willingness to testify and bear witness to their faith. I know many prayer groups who have shown me how they pray and fast, and this began in Medjugorje. The people are hungry and thirsty for the Word of God.
“Whenever people in whatever way set up obstacles, God always finds a way to seek out and gather His children together. I am deeply thankful to God for Medjugorje…Putting it simply, I hear very much, but I am always desirous of hearing more about Medjugorje. Oh, how I would love to go on pilgrimage to Medjugorje, and drink of this New Water. Many of my faithful would love to do likewise…”61

Georg Eder
Salzburg, Austria
“My impressions here are not surprising. I know that groups from Salzburg very often go to Medjugorje, that new prayer groups are constantly being started, that there are more and more people who say: ‘In Medjugorje I received my vocation!’ I am reflecting: We are losing three things that we are getting back again in Medjugorje: penance, conversion, and vocations. In Austria we look in vain for these things: conversion is not even mentioned anymore because people do not need it; Confession is dying out with us except in shrines and in the Churches of religious orders where this Sacrament is sought and lived; spiritual vocations are less and less. In Medjugorje this is happening constantly: Confessions, conversions and spiritual vocations!
“That is what I ask myself: What must we do for conversion to happen to someone? I have repeated to the members of Peoples’ Initiative that, for me, conversion in their program has disappeared. Are we the ones who do not need conversion, the way Jesus says it in the Gospel? Conversion is being excluded, and Confession is being lost, spiritual vocations are less and less, and we are asking ourselves how can we at all keep up a seminary? But all that is found in Medjugorje. We are finding exactly that which for us has disappeared.”62
There is no doubt in the minds of many bishops, the renewal of the Church is directly linked with what is happening in Medjugorje. Archbishop Eder continues:

Georg Eder
Salzburg, Austria

Bernardino Echeverria Ruiz
Guayaquil, Ecuador
Referring to Our Lady’s messages from Medjugorje during his homily at Mass with 3,000 of the faithful at the National Shrine of Beauraing, Belgium, Bishop André-Joseph Mutien Léonard said:

André-Joseph
Mutien Léonard
Belgium, Military

Donald Montrose
Stockton, California
USA
It is difficult to explain what one sees happening in Medjugorje. What is causing the conversion? Bishop Adelio Tomasin, from Brazil, says that theology or psychology cannot explain this profound renewal in the Church through Medjugorje. Whatever the cause, there is no doubt that it is coming through the hands of Our Lady.

Adelio Tomasin
Quixadá, Brazil
“In 1984 when I first came to Medjugorje I was impressed by the fact that even before the evening prayer the poorly lit Church was full of the faithful, so many of whom were young. I was also struck by the profound devotion – which was not fanaticism – and by the Confessions, and the prayer on the hills. I went to the Church and remained there in prayer nearly the entire day. That’s how I spent my days in Medjugorje; I did not speak to any of the Franciscans or the visionaries.
“Back home I felt profoundly renewed. I understood Mary better; also that thanks to Her the Church is renewed. I came again…deeply convinced that many things happen here that theology or psychology cannot explain. I discovered the true meaning of faith and its fruits. No one can doubt the fruits of Medjugorje, for God’s presence and His mercy are obvious; the Church can see that God’s grace is handed out by the Mother of Mercy, the Mother of Sinners, who was close to the Cross. This is a truth which cannot be denied.”67
The Church is being renewed through the conversion of individual hearts. It’s not happening from the top, down, but rather from the bottom, up. And it’s happening throughout the whole Church.

Bruno Tommasi
Lucca, Italy

László Bíró
Hungary, Military
Archbishop Gregory Yong, on the 7th anniversary of the apparitions in Medjugorje, June 25, 1988, spoke the following words in a homily at a Mass in honor of the Queen of Peace in the Cathedral in Singapore. He was speaking of the fact that the churches in Singapore are packed in their daily Masses from those who have gone to Medjugorje.

Gregory Yong
Singapore

Johannes Joachim Degenhardt
Paderborn, Germany

Hermann Raich
Wabag
Papua New Guinea

Adriano Langa
Inhambane, Mozambique
Renewing the Nations
Our Lady has come as the Queen of Peace to bring peace to the whole world, through each nation choosing the way of peace. It is beautiful to hear from Bishops around the world testifying to the impact Medjugorje is making in their own beloved homeland.

Bernardino Eccheverria Ruiz
Guayaquil, Ecuador

Donal McKeown
Derry, Ireland

Leonard Hsu Ying-fa
Taipei, Taiwan

Frederick Dranuba
Arua, Uganda

Pavel Mária Hnilica
Titular Bishop
Rusadus

Georg Eder
Salzburg, Austria

Jean Chabbert
Perpignan-Elne
France
“…I have noticed that here they discover the importance of prayer in everyday life…and many French people have discovered Our Lady here. These encounters between the Mother and Her children bring about profound change in their lives.
“Medjugorje is the actual answer to the serious problems of today’s world. In God’s love, the Mother wishes to unite Her divided children so they will look upon one another as brothers. This will help us sew back together the torn dress of mankind. Mary’s presence on the earth will re-establish the omnipresence of Jesus.
“Living according to the messages means ensuring peace in the world. With Her apparitions Our Lady is preparing the faithful for the Lord’s return to this valley of tears. Medjugorje teaches how to overcome and defeat all that satan has done in the world.”80

Henry Joseph Kennedy
Armidale, Australia

Franc Rodé
for Institutes of Consecrated Life
and Societies of Apostolic Life

Ghislain Ndondji, OFM
Lumumbashi, Congo

José Antúnez de Mayolo
Ayacucho, Peru
Silas S. Njiru
Meru, Kenya

Hieronymus Herculanus Bumbun
Pontianak, Indonesia

Albin Małysiak
Kraków, Poland

José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta
Panamá

Ludwig Schwarz
Linz, Austria

Joseph Oyanga
Lira, Uganda

Stanislav Szyrokoradiuk
Kharkiv-Zaporizhia
Ukraine

Bernardino Echeverria Ruiz
Guayaquil, Ecuador
The Messages
What of Our Lady’s messages after 34 years and thousands of messages? Bishop Michael D. Pfeifer of San Angelo, Texas, believes Our Lady to be a modern-day prophet.

Micheal D. Pfeifer
SanAngelo, Texas
USA

Rubén Héctor di Monté
Mercedes-Luján
Argentina

Gabriel Gonsum Ganaka
Jos, Nigeria
One bishop said that the simple fact that the visionaries have been steadfast all these years in professing the same message is what impresses him.

Frederick Drandua
Arua, Uganda
“This is really an important experience for me, especially at the level of prayer. I cannot say that Our Lady is not appearing. Fifteen years* have gone by and the visionaries are always repeating the same message. They don’t change at all. The message is simple: to pray, to fast, to believe, to confess and to adore. That’s precisely why we must be dealing with a supernatural event, because they are steadfast in their one message.”96
* Thirty-four years as of June 25, 2015

Adalbert Ndzana
Mbalmayo, Cameroon
For some, the duration of the apparitions and the tens of thousands of messages given over the years is difficult to accept. Yet, Archbishop Bernardo Maria Cazzaro, from Chile, does not personally find this a stumbling block.

Bernardo Maria Cazzaro Bertollo
Puerto Montt
Chile
“This is another topic, the duration of these apparitions. For me, it is not a great problem. I do not ask God to make accounts to me. He will ask me, not I to the Lord. If the Lord wants to appear two times, or twenty times or two hundred times, what should I say? I listen.
“This is not the picture here. This is the frame. The picture is what the Lord says to us, what He wants from us, that problem He wants to resolve. That is the picture. He wants to change us, He wants to change the whole world, and as we are stubborn, then the Lord insists, educates us slowly through these messages, which are all a reflection of the Gospel.
“If we would read more the Gospel and meditate on it, we would not need the messages. We have forgotten, that’s it, and the messages remind us. They do not say anything extraordinary, or difficult, we just have to change our hearts. Jesus is saying this for 2,000 years now.”98
Bishop Mendieta from Panama beautifully describes the power of Our Lady’s messages in the lives of people he has observed. He does not see the messages as boring or repetitive, but that they lead to a burning desire for people to change their hearts.

José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta
Panamá
“The simplicity of these messages is enticing. The Medjugorje messages are an evangelical call to conversion and to peace; there is nothing apocalyptic in them. Without prayer, without fasting and without the Eucharist—and these are the foundations of Christianity—we cannot answer the call to holiness addressed to us by Mary.
“I have heard from many people that they experience the need to change, and to change within the Church and through the Sacraments. One cannot leave Medjugorje without this burning desire to change and to start anew.”99
Many bishops see Our Lady’s messages paralleling Holy Scripture. They testify seeing nothing contrary to Scripture but rather, they confirm the teaching and the spirit of the faith of the Church.

Séamus Hegarty
Derry, Ireland
“I have read the messages the Mother of God is said to be giving to the visionaries. And what I have seen and heard tells me that there is a strong accord, a parallel, between these messages and what the Gospels say about the teaching of Christ. The emphasis lies very strongly on prayer, fasting, reconciliation and peace—themes that occur over and over again in Scripture.
“One thing is clear about the Medjugorje messages; they contain nothing that contradicts the Church’s official teaching, which is based on Scripture as on a foundation. Here the emphasis is on prayer and on how to pray—that is, with more giving of ourselves and intensity, and new methods of prayer—prayer not only in words, but as something lived.”100

José Gabriel Diaz Cueva
Guayaquil, Ecuador
“I believe that I am able to say, HERE THE HAND OF GOD IS AT WORK! And I pray for this, that the message of the most Blessed Virgin be accepted more and more. This message is not any different from the Good News (i.e., the Gospel), but they are still the words of a Mother who is concerned for the good of humanity and for the salvation of every single human being.
“I believe that what the Holy Virgin tells us is nothing other than an echo of the words of St. Paul: ‘This is God’s will—your salvation.’ I hope that the messages which the Holy Virgin has communicated to us for so long will be of great use to the entire Church and to each one of us. I believe that we should give the gift of attention to Her words, to Her who tries to say through these simple and good young people (the visionaries) so much to us that will bring us to salvation.”101

Issam John Darwish
Greek Melkite Rite
Zahleh e Furzol, Lebanon
Archbishop Georg Eder from Austria, in studying the events of Medjugorje, came to an understanding of why Our Lady has been coming for such a long time.

Georg Eder
Salzburg, Austria
“I began to ask myself more and more often: why these completely simple messages that are still being repeated? It is always a call to prayer, fasting, penance, prayer for peace. I said: that must have some meaning!…What does a mother do when she raises her child? I experienced that at home: she always repeats the same thing: I have already often told you that! But I cannot stop saying: Pray, or do so and so.
“Mary acts the same way in Medjugorje. She always says the same thing to Her children who are already now adult persons. And what else would a priest have to do in his parish? He is always calling to prayer. John Paul II once said that priests have to be the first to pray and have to be the teachers of prayer.
“That is what Mary, a good Mother, does. She teaches us to pray, really in a very simple way. Now I have to say truly that Christ’s Word has the value for me of being the recognizable sign: by their fruits you will know them!”103
In this day and age where secularism has made such advances even within the Church, Bishop Hieronymus Herculanus Bumbun from Indonesia sees Our Lady’s messages as a good remedy for families who desire to counteract these secular influences. He said on Radio Mir that he was:

Hieronymus Herculanus Bumbun
Pontianak, Indonesia
In the end, where do the messages lead? According to Bishop Stanislas Lukumwena Lumbala from the Congo, he sees Our Lady’s messages leading to a deep and profound spiritual life.

Stanislas Lukumwena Lumbala
Kole, Congo
The Visionaries
The visionaries are the first witnesses of Our Lady. They are Our Lady’s announcers, Her instruments in revealing Her plans and Her messages to the world. Although some of the bishops said it wasn’t necessary for them to meet the visionaries in order to believe, the visionaries made strong impressions among bishops who had the opportunity to observe, listen and speak to them.

Patrick Power
Canberra-Goulburn
Australia

Harry J. Flynn
Saint Paul – Minneapolis
Minnesota, USA
Bishop Stanley Joseph Ott from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, traveled to Medjugorje staying at the home of the brother of Medjugorje visionary, Marija, for one week. He had the opportunity to see Marija every evening for dinner. He said it was a pleasure for him to be able to meet with her on an informal basis. He described her as “humble, personable, and hospitable.”

Stanley Joseph Ott
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
USA

Pavel Mária Hnilica
Titular Bishop
Rusadus
“After my third visit in these places, I was able to arrange for a little more time to speak with the visionaries and also with the people who live close to them in everyday life. I wanted to examine and understand what reasons the one who talks against Medjugorje and is opposed to it had for doing so. I am convinced that this is a case of slandering.
“These children are not manipulated. They are simple and sincere. I see a supernatural aspect in these events. Morally, they force us to treat them very seriously. Upon my conscience, I must come to the conclusion that the voice of God is speaking with power at Medjugorje.”109

Geevarghese Mar Divannasios Ottathengil
Bathery, India

Deogratias Muganwa Byabazaire
Hoima, Uganda

Eduardo Horacio Garciá
San Justo, Argentina

Denis Croteau
Mackenzie-Fort Smith
Canada
‘Sensus Fidelium’
(Sense of the Faithful)
Millions of people going to Medjugorje and converting is a sign to the Church that something authentic is happening there. Most people who go to Medjugorje do not speak vaguely of their experience, but they testify that they feel the presence of Our Lady or have had an encounter with the Mother of God in some way. Their faith is deepened, they return to the Church and Sacraments, prayer becomes part of their daily lives, they become active in Church ministries, etc.

Emilio L. Bataclan
Cebu, Philippines
“I have no difficulties believing that Our Lady is here because, above all, the ‘sensus fidelium’ (sense of the faithful) says that Mary is here, and also my priestly and pastoral experience through a full 25 years, and now also that of being a Bishop helps recognize the special signs that Mary is present here and that She is caring for Her children.
“I would like to say to everyone: ‘Mary is the Mother who loves and truly has to come to this world. She comes and says what we have to do, because She cares for us.’ I hope that the world will open its heart and soul to this good Mother.”114
It’s one thing to read in a report about the millions of pilgrims coming to Medjugorje, and another thing altogether, seeing the multitudes with your own eyes climbing the mountains, filling the Church every hour of the day with strong, fervent prayers, praying on their knees on hard and rocky ground, forming long lines for Confession night after night, witnessing the joy and tears of so many conversions. The witness of this is something that cannot be easily dismissed.

Packiam Arokiaswamy
Tanjore, India

Andre Fernand Anguile
Gabon, Africa

Thomas Luke Msusa
Blantyre, Malawi
“What I have experienced here goes far beyond my expectations. The encounter with so many pilgrims is an excellent experience. I can see their desire to convert and to change. Medjugorje amazes (my pilgrims), and they will remain under the influence of seeing so many people coming here to pray.
“I am very enthusiastic about my visit here. I saw pilgrims from all over the world, all united in prayer. I am delighted to see the piety here…I am so amazed…I have no words to describe what I feel.”117

Gratian Mundaden
Bijnor, India
Pilgrims express how deeply they were able to enter the prayer of the Mass in Medjugorje. The Croatian Mass in the evenings, though in a language most pilgrims are not able to understand, is also very moving to them. Everyone in St. James Church participates in the prayer and singing, from the heart. The Church is filled to capacity, and the overflow is gathered on benches outside the Church, but all are still very much attentive to the Mass. It is a beautiful and powerful experience.

Deogratias Muganwa Byabazaire
Hoima, Uganda
“I’ve spent a week in Medjugorje and I felt that it emanates much prayer, peace and friendliness. I met so many people who really pray and who seek prayer. I visited Krizevac and Podbrdo. I saw many, many people praying…
“The evening Mass made a deep impression on me. The Church was full every evening, and there were even more people hearing the Mass from outside. And even though they didn’t understand the language, they were deeply united in devotion and prayer. But even so, the most beautiful part of the prayer program was the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. I saw a great number of priests confessing and a multitude of pilgrims and local people confessing.”119

Salvador Piñeiro García-Calderón
Peru, Military

Tadeusz Werno
Koszalin-Kołobrzeg
Poland
The Fruits of Medjugorje
The conversions of Medjugorje are very impressive. It is a common occurrence to see people return to the Sacraments after being away from the Church for many years. It is not an emotional experience, but rather a real desire to come back to God.

Rubén Héctor di Monté
Mercedes-Luján
Argentina
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna, on December 1, 2002, in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna made a strong statement in favor of Medjugorje when he said:

Christoph Schönborn
Vienna
Austria
One obvious fruit of Medjugorje is what happens when pilgrims return home. They desire to bring Medjugorje home with them, to make it a permanent change in their lives, and to become a witness for Our Lady so that others may discover the richness of conversion through Medjugorje. In fact, many bishops have been to Medjugorje through the invitation and witness of those who live in their diocese.

John Dew
New Zealand, Military

Robert Rivas
Castries, Saint Lucia
Antilles
Aquila

Philip M. Hannan
New Orleans
Louisiana, USA

André-Joseph
Mutien Léonard
Belgium, Military
“I remember that in the theologate I began fasting Fridays quite regularly, following the example of some of my students of theology or other students who I met at the university and who had fasted after pilgrimage to Medjugorje.
“When I became a bishop I met some believers of my diocese who fasted every Friday, who discovered the Sacraments, thanks to their encounter with Medjugorje. I established the fact that, regularly, among the students of theology there were those who experienced conversion and received a vocation, thanks to Medjugorje.
“Now I have thirty students of theology, among whom there are some who have undergone a spiritual experience here [in Medjugorje] which has marked their vocation. Such fruits are of interest to me…the fact that so many positive discoveries take place, just with thanks to Medjugorje, is positive evidence in favor of Medjugorje.”128

Andre Fernand Anguile
Gabon

Séamus Hegarty
Derry, Ireland
When asked how those in his parishes have changed their lives after returning from Medjugorje, Bishop Nicholas D’Antonio of New Orleans stated:
Bishop
Nicholas D’Antonio

Julio Ojeda Pascual
San Ramón, Peru

Christoph Schönborn
Vienna
Austria

Henry Joseph Kennedy
Armidale, Australia
“Pilgrims who hear the messages here [Medjugorje], at the source, will experience them much more real and intensely and, once returned home, they will find it so much easier to live them. Messages written down cannot, not even nearly enough, convey that feeling of deep inner peace, which the message, given in Medjugorje, at the source, radiates.
“That is why it is not sufficient to distribute the messages and to show photos of Medjugorje; people must be persuaded to go and visit this place here themselves. They must be brought to understand what a deep experience is awaiting them on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, and how this will have a profound and positive influence on their future life.”134
Confession
Conversions happen in many ways in Medjugorje, but for the priest, the greatest conversion experiences have been in the confessional. It is in the confessional where priests are confronted with the profoundness of the grace that is impacting peoples’ lives in Medjugorje. Some bishops see that the confessionals in Medjugorje are bringing about the conversion of the nations. Medjugorje is known as the “Confessional of the World.”

Francesco Tarcisio Carboni
Macerata-Tolentino-Recanati-Cingoli-Treia
Italy

Augustine Harris
Middlesbrough, England
“…the important thing here is Confession. People truly are ready to come face to face with themselves; they are ready to repent and make penance. I am sure that this is the deepest experience here; ie. renewal and conversion…
“What I would like to say is this: when a person comes here to pray and wants to confess and change [their] life, you cannot say no…I would say to them that it is good to come here where one’s conscience is freed and one finds the essential and where confusion is overcome…At the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross I saw more than 50 priests confess. This is wonderful.”136

Frederick Drandua
Arua, Uganda

Gabriel Gonsum Ganaka
Jos, Nigeria

Séamus Hegarty
Derry, Ireland

George Pearce
Suva, Fiji Islands

Pearse Lacey
Toronto, Canada

Harry J. Flynn
Saint Paul – Minneapolis
Minnesota, USA
“The great moment, for me, was the hearing of confessions every afternoon from 5 p.m. until 10 or 10:30 p.m. There were 46 priests hearing confessions in various languages. What a great grace that is onto itself: ‘People turning toward God.’
“I just walked around and looked at the lines. There were 26 confessional stations in which there was a priest and then 20 more priests hearing confessions in temporary stations. This happened also on Sunday afternoon from 5 p.m. until about 8:30 p.m. I heard confessions in English, and it was a great grace for me and a wonderful experience.”142
The awareness of sin has been all but lost in our modern, secularized world. Only a handful of people are in line for Confession on Saturday afternoons in most Churches across America, but everyone is in line to receive Holy Communion every Sunday. How many Communions are being consumed unworthily? But in Medjugorje, the opposite is true. Pilgrims often go to Confession 2 to 3 times during a 10-day pilgrimage. They hunger to be reconciled with God, and to be healed in their hearts.

Bruno Tommasi
Lucca, Italy

Eduardo Horacio García
San Justo, Argentina

Hermann Raich
Wabag
Papua New Guinea

Bernardo Maria Cazzaro Bertollo
Puerto Montt
Chile
Silas S. Njiru
Meru, Kenya

José Antúnez de Mayolo
Ayacucho, Peru
The Youth
Our Lady said on August 15, 1988:
“…Young people find themselves now in a very difficult situation…”
Today’s youth are surrounded by so many destructive and diabolical influences. Many come from broken families and do not have the moral foundation to stand up against the assaults made against their innocence. And yet, the youth have a very strong attraction to the spiritual life that Medjugorje has to offer, and long to know that there is more to this life on earth than what the world has to offer. Tens of thousands of youth come to Medjugorje every year. The Church sees great hope in this.

Andre Fernand Anguile
Gabon, Africa

Jean-Vincent Ondo Eyene
Oyem, Gabon

Salvatore Boccaccio
Frosinone-Veroli-Ferentino
Italy
Bishop Thomas McMahon, from London, was very impressed at how Medjugorje attracted the young people. So many, he said, had grown:

Thomas McMahon
Brentwood, England
Bishop
Nicholas D’Antonio
Renewing the Priesthood
One of the most moving experiences in Medjugorje is to be in St. James Church and see 30, 40 or more priests filling up the entire sanctuary. Old and young, from many different parts of the world, they bring with them a deep love for Our Lady. Through the length of a pilgrimage, the hearts of pilgrims are often moved during Mass, as many priests share their own stories of conversion that Medjugorje has brought about in their lives. Many of the young priests received their vocations in Medjugorje and come back to thank Our Lady for leading them to the priesthood.

Christoph Schönborn
Vienna
Austria

Geevarghese Mar Divannasios Ottathengil
Bathery, India

Kenneth Steiner
Portland, Oregon, USA

Lázaro Pérez Jiménez
Celaya, México
“I became very interested in the events after having read a book by the theologian Laurentin. In the book he wrote: ‘In an era when the gardens of the Church are no longer giving fruit, the moment has come for the Virgin to renew them and give them a new freshness.’ I came to the conclusion that the fact that the problems which exist in the Church are still not resolved is to be blamed on us pastors. I did not feel excluded.
“We need holy priests and pastors ready to live according to the teachings of Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd and His Sacred Heart. The unresolved problems have opened the door to atheism, secularism and a consumerism society which has created its own set of values which oppose the Gospel teachings.
“A theologian friend advised me against coming to Medjugorje, saying that he would not put his dignity at risk by coming here. Professor Laurentin told me that there are theologians who teach Marian doctrine but do not try to deepen their personal relationship with Mary. All this helped me to become much more interested in the Virgin. I think it is important to pay attention to the good fruits of Medjugorje.
“I will invite the faithful from my diocese to come here. Personally, I think that if the Virgin is trying, through Christ, to reintroduce these values, (conversion, fasting, prayer, forgiveness and Holy Confession) then this should be the fundamental task of each priest and of each bishop. We have to show the faithful that there is a way of salvation in this world because Christ is our Way and our Saviour and this is what Christ’s Mother is calling us to.”157

Jaime Sin
Manila, Philippines
“I have a Jesuit friend, Father Antonio Olaguer, who was an activist during the time of President Markos [in the Philippines]. He was a problem because he lacked a faith dimension. He was somewhat leftist. Then someone invited him to go to Medjugorje, paying his fare, so he went. People there were telling him about the wonders they were seeing, but he didn’t believe them. Then one day he entered the Church there, just to reflect and to meditate. He heard a voice and it was the voice of Our Lady. ‘Father, you are my son, as Christ is my Son. Follow His footsteps.”
“And now Father Olaguer is a different man. He is working for Our Lady all the time. He is now superior of the Jesuits in Manila. He said this is a great surprise because before he was a problem and now he is the superior.”158

Denis Croteau
Mackenzie-Fort Smith
Canada
“When I came to Medjugorje the first time, I came incognito. I came as a ‘foot soldier,’ so to speak…I wanted to get the feel of it, to see what it contained. This time I came as…a bishop, an ordained minister, and it is a completely different impression. As a priest and a bishop, I felt really enriched by the experience for my ministry. It is something very touching.
“The highlight for me has been hearing Confessions. For a priest it might be the best place to really know and discover what Medjugorje is all about. I can’t conceive of a priest coming here and hearing Confessions for an hour without being convinced, absolutely convinced that Heaven is at work in Medjugorje. We can touch with fingers the work of Mary and the work of God in listening to people and how they are transformed…The priest experiences this firsthand.
“That is what struck me the most, this time around, the depth of the experience that the priest has. So, those two things (Confession and Mass) from the point of view of being a minister of Christ, a priest and bishop, have been the highlights of my presence here for the last 8 days.”159
A priest from Mexico was sent to Medjugorje to make a case against Medjugorje and the apparitions in order to discourage pilgrims from Mexico from going to Medjugorje. But in only a few days, Fr. Salvatore began to experience powerful graces in the village and came away from his experience convinced of Our Lady’s presence there. He said, “My priesthood was born in Medjugorje.” His bishop was greatly surprised at his positive report. Fr. Salvatore became an apostle of Our Lady in his own parish, spreading knowledge of Our Lady’s messages, the result being a total renewal of his own parish.160

Frantisek Tomasek
Prague, Czech Republic

Gabriel Diaz Cueva
Guayaquil, Ecuador

Damian Kayaruzi
Sumbawanga, Tanzania

George Tracy
Reston, Virginia
USA
“I have been coming to Medjugorje for many years. I have realized during this stay more than ever that this is a school of prayer for the world. We are taught by our Mother Mary in this beautiful mountain reality and in the Church to be in the central part of the world, in the central part of our hearts, real honest Catholics of great prayer.
“Just this week I was reading a paper by a very well known cardinal in Europe who wrote, regarding Medjugorje, that there was nothing to worry about in a critical way—he had only praise. In Medjugorje you learn how to pray! Medjugorje began to have a great influence [on me] when I came here for the first time and it has continued…I want to be Mother Mary’s child.”164
Medjugorje Spirituality

Silvério Jarbas Paulo
de Albuquerque
Feira de Santana, Brazil

Domenico Pecile
Bishop Emeritus
Latina, Italy

José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta
Panamá
Bishop Jose Domingo Ulloa Mendieta also spoke of the spiritual transformation in the lives of pilgrims who come to Medjugorje.

José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta
Panamá

Abílio Rodas de Sousa
São Tomé e Príncipe

Hermann Raich
Wabag
Papua New Guinea

Abílio Rodas de Sousa
São Tomé e Príncipe

Joseph Oyanga
Lira, Uganda

Denis Croteau
Mackenzie-Fort Smith
Canada

Bernardo Maria Cazzaro Bertollo
Puerto Montt
Chile
Fulfillment of Fatima
In many interviews by bishops who have visited Medjugorje, the apparitions of Fatima are often referenced, in that many bishops believe that Medjugorje is the continuation and the fulfillment of what Our Lady began in Fatima. Pope Saint John Paul II said this and believed this himself.

Frantisek Tomasek
Prague, Czech Republic

Rubén Héctor di Monté
Mercedes-Luján
Argentina

Gratian Mundaden
Bijnor, India

Adalbert Ndzana
Mbalmayo, Cameroon

Jaime Sin
Manila, Philippines

Ludwig Schwarz
Linz, Austria
“The Second Vatican Council says that the Blessed Virgin Mary, after Her Assumption, remains close to Her children, helps them and leads them. This is why there is the possibility of apparitions of the Mother of God. We know that the Church has recognized the apparitions in La Salette, in Lourdes and in Fatima.
“The Mother of God is the model of the Church, She loves us, She loves Her children and She leads us towards Salvation, towards Jesus Christ. ‘Per Marinam ad Jesum’. Her most important themes in Lourdes and in Fatima, which we find also here in Medjugorje, are prayer, Eucharist, penance, conversion, the sacrament of reconciliation, involvement in favor of peace. These are the intentions that we find also in the Gospel, Jesus’ own intentions.”180
In Fatima, Our Lady came with warnings to heed Her requests for prayer, conversion, and penance to avoid disasters in the future. We see all around us the “signs of the times” which Vatican II spoke of as well as Our Lady in Fatima, and also in Medjugorje. Many bishops see the apparitions of Fatima and Medjugorje as a “sign” for our times and believe that much of what will happen in the future depends upon how we respond to Our Lady’s persistent calls today.

Andre Fernand Anguile
Gabon, Africa

Augustine Harris
Middlesbrough, England

Abílio Rodas de Sousa
São Tomé e Príncipe
“Here, people share the same ideas and make sacrifices for the Church. Such behavior can help the Church a lot to walk in the spirit of self-giving, and the consequence may be the unity of the world. I admit that personally I feel richer and stronger in my faith.
“[In] our times, there are more apparitions than in the past. I think that this is a sign, a sign given by a Mother seeking Her children. The apparitions are a sign that people went astray from God’s path. This is why the Mother comes with love and warns us, She tells us that we really have to turn to God!”183

André-Joseph
Mutien Léonard
Belgium, Military
“The perseverance with which Mary is speaking to us in these times of ours made a very strong impression on me. Sometimes someone will say to me, ‘How are such long lasting apparitions possible?’ or ‘Mary talks so much!’ I personally do not have any preconceived ideas either about how [long] or how much Mary should talk. I tell myself that perhaps Mary is knocking on our doors with such unusual persistence just because there are such great and urgent needs in our times. I interpret Mary’s persistence as a stimulus to our conversion.
“The Medjugorje fruits are blessed fruits. Frequently people confide in me relating their experiences for which I can testify that they are rich with fruits of conversion, discovery of prayer, love, peace, penance, fasting and returning to sacramental life and the Eucharist.
“In order to achieve peace in the world, peace in families and in our hearts, I want to invite both you and myself to accept all those unceasing invitations into our life and in a special way to accept the call to prayer and fasting.”184
The extraordinary events at the end of the past millennium with the peaceful dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the averting of a nuclear catastrophe that so many feared could not be avoided were linked by many in the Church to Our Lady, through Fatima and Medjugorje. It gives evidence that Our Lady has come not with a forecast of doom, though She does come to warn us that the world is moving in a dangerous direction, but to bring renewal and rebirth through accepting Her invitation to convert and return to holiness. Again, many bishops made these observations in studying the world events in light of Our Lady’s apparitions in Medjugorje.

Bernardo Witte
Concepción, Argentina
“I have kept an eye on the events of Medjugorje for the past 20 years and have been convinced they are true! They convey a message of faith and a message of hope, which the Church is conveying, while calling to prayer, to fasting and to conversion. This intensity is rather surprising, but this is how I interpret it: morality and ethics in the world are in great danger. In an extreme danger for the world, for the Church and for souls, extreme measures are needed. I marvel and I rejoice! Each apparition is a new hope and a new challenge.
“Also to this question, I have the same answer: In a great danger of the civilization of death, these apparitions promote a civilization of life. I have the impression that everything is happening in a harmonious way: these apparitions, the pontificate of John Paul II who encourages the renewal of the pastoral life in the Church, and many bishops who consciously give a Marian orientation to their episcopate…”
“To resume, I would repeat the words of Our Lady in Fatima: ‘At the end, my Immaculate Heart shall triumph!’ I think that both, the apparitions of Fatima and of Medjugorje, signify a call to the renewal of Europe. In Medjugorje, the Communist East has begun to collapse. Medjugorje is a carrier of joy, of hope and of trust.”185

Bruno Tommasi
Lucca, Italy

Gabriel Diaz Cueva
Guayaquil, Ecuador
“I believe that the messages of the Blessed Virgin have very much to do with the future of humanity and therefore also with the Holy Church. In the entire course of Church history the Blessed Mother has again and again perceived Her mission as that which the Lord gave Her from the Cross (when He said of Her to John): ‘BEHOLD YOUR MOTHER!’ She has really become the Mother of the Church and of the whole of humanity, and She continues to avail Herself of this role that which the Lord gave Her, as She stood at the foot of the Cross…
“Through prayer, namely the interior life with God, I believe we can really soften God’s anger, which has been provoked by so many sins and misdeeds of humanity. The Blessed Virgin calls us repeatedly to prayer, fasting and dedication to God, through which we can attain everything from the mercy of God.”187

Joseph Devine
Motherwell, Scotland
“Looking around the world order, it is not the advance of peace which we see. Quite the reverse. So here we see a peace which has to be won for the world, a peace which has to be sought, a peace which has to be prayed for and paid for if a calamity is to be averted.
“That is my understanding of Our Lady under the title of Queen of Peace, which title has been associated with recent happenings in Medjugorje. It is a peace which is yet to be, and only will be through a communal turning back to conversion, prayer and penance. But that turning back is nothing other than going to the very heart of the Gospel. It is the very stuff of the Christian life.”188
Bishop
Nicholas D’Antonio
“The purpose of the apparitions? She tells us in Her own words: ‘I am the Blessed Virgin Mary. I came to convert the people of the world. I am the Queen of Peace. I came to bring peace to the world!’
“She stressed the need of prayer, penance, fasting on bread and water on [Wednesdays and] Fridays…conversion, reconciliation with one another and with God, and especially a firm faith as the pre-conditional means of avoiding catastrophic wars and thus assuring peace and the salvation of mankind. She recommended priests to keep their faith and to preserve the faith of the people. Does this message sound simplistic and trite? So does the Gospel to those who lack faith…If anyone knows the will of Her Son, She does! Let’s step out in faith and do what She says. We want peace, not a nuclear holocaust! The diabolical and idolatrous lust for power and money in this age has brought about a crisis of faith and authority. There is almost total confusion in matters of faith and morals…
“The service of the common good will not be realized until we stop trying to solve our world problems without the inspired teaching of the Church and the fulfillment of Our Lady’s simple message. The best gift you can give Jesus…is to do what His Mother, the Queen of Peace, recommends you do.”189
José de Jesús Nuñez Viloria
Ciudad, Guayana
Venezuela
The events occurring in Medjugorje are a:

Stanley Joseph Ott
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
USA
1. Komarica, Bishop Franjo. homily given in Medjugorje: St. James Church, November 21, 1990. Print.
2. Domej, Dr. Max. Interview with Cardinal Schönborn. July 1998. Print.
3. Schönborn, Cardinal Christoph. testimony at Lourdes on July 18, 1998, Stella Maris, #343, pp. 19,20. Print.
4. Pecile, Bishop Domenico. Talk Given in Medjugorje. October 4, 2005. Print.
5. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #105, December 2, 1998. Print.
6. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #8, March 15, 1995. Print.
7. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #129, November 3, 1999. Print.
8. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #105, December 2, 1998. Print.
9. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #189, August 26, 2003. Print.
10. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #87, March 25, 1998. Print.
11. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #122, July 28, 1999. Print.
12. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #57, January 29, 1997. Print.
13. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #192, November 26, 2003. Print.
14. Echo of Medjugorje, Vol. 135, September-October, 1997. Print.
15. Medjugorje Newsletter, Weible Columns, Vol. 9 #12. May-June 1998. Print.
16. Mons. Sebastian Thekethecheril from India participated in the International Seminar for Priests. Medjugorje.hr. Web. July 7, 2007.
17. Foley, Richard. Interview with Cardinal Hans Urs Von Balthasar. November 1985. Print.
18. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #215, October 25, 2005. Print.
19. Medjugorje Messenger, June 1989. Print.
20. R. del Car. p. 4. October 1987. Print.
21. Hannan, Archbishop Philip M. Spoken at a dinner in New Orleans. Spirit Daily.com. Web.
22. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #213, August 26, 2005. Print.
23. Glasnik Mira. Medjugorje. August 1995. Print.
24. Bishops and Archbishops in Medjugorje and on Medjugorje, Medjugorje.hr. Web. February 27, 1998.
25. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #131, December 1, 1999. Print.
26. Medjugorje Newsletter, Weible Columns, Volume 10, #4. October 1998. Print.
27. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #131, December 1, 1999. Print.
28. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #23, October 11, 1995. Print.
29. Nasa Ognjista vol. XXV, pp. 4,9. 1995. Print.
30. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #103, November 4, 1998. Print.
31. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #139, March 2000. Print.
32. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #216, November 26, 2005. Print.
33. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #214, September 24, 2005. Print.
34. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #108, January 13, 1999. Print.
35. Bruno Volpe, www.pontifex.roma.it. Web. March 8, 2009
36. Pfeifer, Bishop Michael D. Pastoral Letter: “The Gospel, Mary and Medjugorje.” August 5, 1988. Print.
37. Pfeifer, Bishop Michael D. “The Medjugorje Story.” Medjugorje Magazine, April 1989. Print.
38. Information Center “Mir.” Medjugorje, May 2006. Print.
39. Information Centre “Mir.” Medjugorje, May 22, 2007. Print.
40. Hnilica, Bishop Paulo. Testimony of Cardinal Siri. Gebetsaktion #4, 1990. Print.
41. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #214, September 26, 2005. Print.
42. Glasnik Mira. Medjugorje, March 2002. Print.
43. Colasuono, Cardianl Francesco. Speech of Fr. Gianni Sgreva. The National on Medjugorje. University of Notre Dame. 1991.
44. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #150, August 22, 2000. Print.
45. Hnilica, Bishop Paolo. The National Conference on Medjugorje. University of Notre Dame. 1992.
46. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #105, December 2, 1998. Print.
47. Interview: Mons. Joseph Vianney Fernando, President of the Bishop’s Conference of Sri Lanka. Medjugorje.hr. Web. August 23, 2006.
48. Medjugorje.hr. Web. September 17, 2010.
49. Bishops in Medjugorje and About Medjugorje in 2001. Medjugorje.hr. Web. 2001.
50. Medjugorje Messenger, June 1989. Print.
51. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #180, November 26, 2002. Print.
52. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #86, March 11, 1998. Print.
53. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #91, May 20, 1998. Print.
54. Bishops in Medjugorje and About Medjugorje in 2001. Medjugorje.hr. Web. 2001.
55. Information Centre “Mir.” Medjugorje, October 2002. Print.
56. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #163, June 26, 2001. Print.
57. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #91, May 20, 1998. Print.
58. Vlasic, Tomislav. Echo of Medjugorje, Vol. 78. Interview with Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar. October 15, 1983. Print.
59. Grothues, Dirk. Is Medjugorje a Spiritual Movement in the Church? 1998. Print.
60. Children of Medjugorje.com. Web. November 15, 2001.
61. Barbaric, Slavko. “Conversations.” Sveta Bastina, Duvno 1990, pp. 182,183. Print.
62. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #108, January 13, 1999. Print.
63. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #128, October 20, 1999. Print.
64. Ruiz, Cardinal Bernardino Echeverria. Homily at the Marian Conference in Quito, Equador, October 1995.
65. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #23, October 11, 1995. Print.
66. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #89, April 22, 1998. Print.
67. Echo of Medjugorje, Vol. 140, 1998. Print.
68. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #214, September 26, 2005. Print.
69. August 20, 2007. Medjugorje.hr. Web. 2007.
70. The Tablet. International Catholic News Weekly. July 30, 1988. Print.
71. Degenhardt, Archbishop Johannes Joachim. Report to his Diocese, Medjugorje: Impulse to Renewal of the Christian Life. March 1991. Print.
72. Rupcic, Ljudevit. “A Door to Heaven…” Mostar, 1990, p. 181. Print.
73. March 17, 2012. Medjugorje.hr. Web. 2012.
74. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #122, July 28, 1999. Print.
75. Bishops in Medjugorje and About Medjugorje in 2003. Medjugorje.hr. Web. 2003.
76. Hnilica, Bishop Paulo. National Conference on Medjugorje. University of Notre Dame. 1992.
77. Bishops in Medjugorje and About Medjugorje in 2001. Medjugorje.hr. Web. 2001.
78. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #128, October 20, 1999. Print.
79. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #66, July 4, 1997. Print.
80. Echo of Medjugorje. Vol. 117, January-February 1995. Print.
81. Glasnik Mira, August 1995. Print.
82. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #187, June 26, 2003. Print.
83. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #168, November 26,2001. Print.
84. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #162, May 26, 2001. Print.
85. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #175, June 26, 2002. Print.
86. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #211, June 26, 2005. Print.
87. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #103, November 4, 1998. Print.
88. Mendieta, Bishop José Domingo Ulloa. Radio “Mir” Medjugorje, September 2005.
89. Bishops in Medjugorje and About Medjugorje in 2003. Medjugorje.hr. Web. 2003.
90. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #66, July 4, 1997. Print.
91. Glasnik Mira, VI, no.6, p. 13. 1997. Print.
92. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #122, July 28, 1999. Print.
93. Pfeifer, Bishop Michael D. The National Conference on Medjugorje. University of Notre Dame. May 1990.
94. Echo of Medjugorje. Vol. 118, March-April, 1995. Print.
95. Echo of Medjugorje. Vol. 138, September-October 1997. Print.
96. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #66, July 4, 1997. Print.
97. Information Centre “Mir.” Medjugorje, May 22, 2007. Print.
98. Echo of Medjugorje. Vol. 118, March-April, 1995. Print.
99. Mendieta, Bishop José Domingo Ulloa. Radio “Mir” Medjugorje. September 2005.
100. Medjugorje Messenger, June 1989. Print.
101. Medjugorje Gebetsakion, #16, 1990, pp. 30-31. Print.
102. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #215, October 25, 2005. Print.
103. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #108, January 13, 1999. Print.
104. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #211, June 26, 2005. Print.
105. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #215, October 25, 2005. Print.
106. Medjugorje Newsletter, Weibel Columns, Vol. 9 #12. May-June 1998. Print.
107. The Catholic Spirit, St. Paul—Minneapolis. October 19, 2006. Print.
108. Medjugorje Newsletter, Weibel Columns, Volume 2, #3. April 1991. Print.
109. Madre di Dio, #4. 1986. Print.
110. Medjugorje Newsletter, s Column, Volume 9, #2. Print.
111. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #213, August 26, 2005. Print.
112. Information Center “Mir.” Medjugojre, October 25, 2008. Print.
113. Information Center “Mir.” Medjugojre, October 29, 2001. Print.
114. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #131, December 1, 1999. Print.
115. Medjugorje Newsletter, Weible Columns, Volume 9, #5. October 1997. Print.
116. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #75, October 8, 1997. Print.
117. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #216, November 26, 2005. Print.
118. Mundaden, Bishop Gratien. Christmas letter to Diocese, Mary’s Mantle, Winter 1990. Print.
119. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #66, July 4, 1997. Print.
120. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #187, 2003. Print.
121. Bishops and Archbishops in Medjugorje and on Medjugorje, Medjugorje.hr. Web. August 1999.
122. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #6, February 15, 1995. Print.
123. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #182, January 26, 2003. Print.
124. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #89, April 22, 1998. Print.
125. Bishops and Archbishops in Medjugorje and on Medjugorje, Medjugorje.hr. Web. February 2000.
126. Echo of Medjugorje. March 8, 1987. Print.
127. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #32, February 14, 1996. Print.
128. Bishops and Archbishops in Medjugorje and on Medjugorje, Medjugorje.hr. Web. July 2000.
129. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #75, October 8, 1997. Print.
130. Medjugorje Messenger, June 1989. Print.
131. D’Antonio, Bishop Nicholas. Medjugorje Peace Conference: Irvine, California. August 12, 1990.
132. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #177, August 26, 2002. Print.
133. Schönborn, Cardinal Christoph. Vienna stadium. Vienna, Austria. September 12, 1996.
134. Glasnik Mira. August 1995. Print.
135. Echo of Medjugorje. March 8. 1987. Print.
136. Echo of Medjugorje. Vol. 131. January-February, 1997. Print.
137. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #66, July 4, 1997. Print.
138. Echo of Medjugorje. Vol. 118. March-April, 1995. Print.
139. Medjugorje Messenger, June 1989. Print.
140. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #180, Nov. 26, 2002. Print.
141. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #180, Nov. 26, 2002. Print.
142. The Catholic Spirit, St. Paul—Minneapolis. October 19, 2006. Print.
143. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #214, September 26, 2005. Print.
144. Information Center “Mir.” Medjugojre, October 25, 2008. Print.
145. Bishops in Medjugorje and About Medjugorje in 2001, medjugorje.hr. Web. 2001.
146. Interview: Mons. Bernardo Cazzaro, Archbishop Emerito di Puerto Montt (Chile), Medjugorje.hr. Web. May 18, 2007.
147. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #175, June 26, 2002. Print.
148. Bishops in Medjugorje and About Medjugorje in 2001, medjugorje.hr. Web. 2001.
149. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #75, October 8, 1997. Print.
150. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #178, September 26, 2002. Print.
151. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #211, June 26, 2005. Print.
152. Medjugorje Messenger, October 1988. Print.
153. D’Antonio, Bishop Nicholas. Medjugorje Peace Conference: Irvine, California. August 12, 1990.
154. Schönborn, Cardinal Christoph. Vienna stadium. Vienna, Austria. September 12, 1996.
155. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #213, August 26, 2005. Print.
156. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #105, December 2, 1998. Print.
157. Echo of Medjugorje. Vol. 138. March-April, 1998. Print.
158. Medjugorje Magazine, October-December 1992. Print.
159. Children of Medjugorje.com. Web. November 15, 2001.
160. Echo of Medjugorje. Vol. 140. July-August, 1998. Print.
161. Medjugorje Gebetsaktion, # 1. 1988. Print.
162. Medjugorje Gebetsaktion, #16, 1990. Print.
163. Medjugorje Press Bullletin, #68, July 2, 1997. Print.
164. Information Center “Mir.” Medjugorje, May 22, 2004. Print.
165. Medjugorje Press Bulletin, #93, June 17, 1998. Print.
166. Pecile, Bishop Domenico. Talk Given in Medjugorje. October 4, 2005. Print.
167. Mendieta, Bishop José Domingo Ulloa. Radio “Mir” Medjugorje, September 2005.
168. Ibid.
169. Information Center “Mir.” Medjugorje, September 2003. Print.
170. Bishops in Medjugorje and About Medjugorje in 2001, medjugorje.hr. Web. 2001.
171. Information Center “Mir.” Medjugorje, September 2003. Print.
172. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #66, July 4, 1997. Print.
173. Children of Medjugorje.com. Web. November 15, 2001.
174. Information Center “Mir.” Medjugorje, May 22, 2007. Print.
175. Medjugorje Gebetsaktion, #17, pp.26,27. 1990. Print.
176. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #6, February 15, 1995. Print.
177. Mundaden, Bishop Gratien. Christmas letter to Diocese, Mary’s Mantle, Winter 1990. Print.
178. Medjugorje Press Bulletin, #68, July 2, 1997. Print.
179. National Catholic Register, September 27, 1992. Print.
180. Bishops in Medjugorje and About Medjugorje in 2003, medjugorje.hr. Web. 2003.
181. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #75, October 8, 1997. Print.
182. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #52, November 20, 1996. Print.
183. Medjugorje Press Bulletin, #191, 2003. Print.
184. Medjugorje Press Bulletin, #26, November 22, 1995. Print.
185. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #197, April 26, 2004. Print.
186. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #214, September 25, 2005. Print.
187. Medjugorje Gebetsaktion #16, pp. 30,31. 1990. Print.
188. Devine, Bishop Joseph. Sermon at Evening Mass in St. James, Spanish Place, London. June 25.
189. Mary’s Message, December 1985. Print.
190. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #131, December 1, 1999. Print.
191. Medjugorje Newsletter, Weible Columns, Vol. 2 #12. April 1991. Print.
Originally Released on June 25, 2015 A.D.
Bishops have been approving Medjugorje for 34 years. Hundreds of cardinals and bishops from around the world have made pilgrimages to Medjugorje and have not only been impressed, but have returned to their dioceses and have encouraged their people to go to Medjugorje. Medjugorje is too important and has captured the hearts of too many Catholics worldwide, for bishops to be indifferent to it. Bishop Franjo Komarica, a member of the Bishop’s Conference of Yugoslavia, who was part of the development of the Zadar Declaration, said the following in a homily given in Medjugorje on November 21, 1990:
Franjo Komarica
Banja Luka
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, a very strong voice for Medjugorje, also speaks of the responsibility the bishops have towards Medjugorje. When in Lourdes in July 1998, he made the following statement:
Vienna, Austria
What are the “obvious fruits” that Cardinal Christoph Schönborn speaks of? In another interview, in 1998, he stated:
Vienna, Austria
Hundreds of bishops around the world have accepted the invitation to go to Medjugorje, which now includes Cardinal Schönborn who visited the village in December 2009. Their testimonies are presented here so that believers and non-believers alike can view the experiences of the shepherds of the Church, their observations and their prayerful discernment of what the meaning of Medjugorje is for them. These are personal testimonies of those who have journeyed to the village of Medjugorje physically, often with pilgrims from their dioceses where they have seen firsthand how impacting the Medjugorje experience is in the lives of the faithful, first while they are pilgrims in Medjugorje, and then after they return home, changed by their experience and desiring to live out their conversion by returning to, or more fully engaging in, the life of the Church. Many bishops expressed that they themselves were recipients of significant graces that impacted and changed their lives, renewed their priesthood, and led them into a closer relationship with Jesus and Our Lady. They were deeply moved by the whole experience of Medjugorje where they could see the renewal of the Church taking place right before their eyes.
Pope Saint John Paul II repeatedly encouraged the bishops who came to him about Medjugorje to go there, and to allow their faithful to go there as well. As Bishop Komarica stated above, bishops should visit Medjugorje to personally witness what is happening. Hundreds of bishops have in fact come to Medjugorje and their testimonies are very positive. Some came because they felt a responsiblity to their flock, to see what Medjugorje is all about. However, what they discovered was that Medjugorje was not only for their flock, but for themeslves as well. It is hard, if not impossible, to disregard or ignore the testimonies of so many cardinals and bishops, along with millions of lay Catholics who have experienced Medjugorje personally. What follows are the words of our shepherds. Is this not the Church speaking?
Bishops have spoken of their certainty that Medjugorje will be approved by the Church in the future…
Personal Testimonies

Domenico Pecile
Latina, Italy

Kenneth Steiner
Portland,Oregon, USA
Jos, Nigeria
“Since the time my faithful are coming to Medjugorje, I too, as archbishop, feel the duty to come, to see what happens and to have a personal experience of this place of intense prayer. I still remember the strong impressions I had after my previous visits. Our Lady’s messages are simple, practical and life changing…
“Even though it is not always easy or possible, I would like my diocesan priests to come to Medjugorje because it is important for them to come, see and experience. I permit no one, myself included, to be prejudiced, because that means to judge without seeing. As an archbishop, I would like to invite all those who have not yet done so, to come to Medjugorje!”6
Whatever it was that brought them to Medjugorje, many bishops discovered it to be a place filled with graces for them personally. It was personal renewal that convinced them that Medjugorje is a gift from God. It is very common to hear amongst those who do not understand what Medjugorje has to offer comments such as: “You don’t have to go anywhere to receive graces; God is present to you at all times. You don’t have to go to Medjugorje; the source of grace is available in your own Church in your own hometown.” A Friend of Medjugorje, who has taken thousands of pilgrims to Medjugorje over the years, has a ready answer for such comments. He says:
“We often hear from our pilgrims once we are in Medjugorje that, ‘You know, I’ve realized I didn’t have to come to Medjugorje to see Mary or receive graces, I have Jesus back home in the Tabernacle.’ Our response is ‘Yes, you did have to come. You had to come to learn that Jesus is in the Tabernacle back in your own home church and to receive the graces to understand that.'”
A Friend of Medjugorje went on to say:
“We had the Sacraments before Medjugorje began in 1981. We had the Church. Yet, with the Sacraments and the Church, people were falling away and neglecting them. Was there no more power in the Sacraments? In the Church? Nineteen eighty-one, when the apparitions began, marked a spiritual turning point in the world. …Through this event, the life that has always been in the Sacraments, but was lost because of our weak faith, again began to be found because our faith was increasing. At that point, June 24, 1981, in the world, faith was in crisis. Several of the first messages of Our Lady’s apparitions concerned faith. On June 27, 1981, Jakov asked what Our Lady expected of the Franciscans in Medjugorje. Our Lady said:
“Have them persevere in faith and protect the faith of the people.”
The next day, after asking the day before what was expected of the Franciscans, the visionaries asked what Our Lady expected of the people.”
June 28, 1981
“That people believe and persevere in faith.”
Our Lady shows why there is a crisis of faith by saying:
January 21, 1982
“My children, don’t you see that the faith begins to extinguish itself and that it is necessary to awaken the faith among men.”
The faith of returning pilgrims back to their own home parishes spoke loudly to bishops around the world. Many bishops, curious as to what had caused such impressive conversion in their parishioners, after accepting the invitation to go to Medjugorje, were surprised at the profound spiritual renewal they themselves received there.
Joseph Mugenyi Sabiti
Fort Portal, Uganda
Archbishop
Louis Kébreau
Iryney Bilyk
Byzantine rite
Buchach, Ukraine
Patrick Power
Canberra-Goulburn, Australia
Victor Maldonado Barreno
Guayaquil, Ecuador
Frane Franić
Split-Makarska, Croatia
Jesus A. Cabrera
Alaminos, Philippines
Fabio Betancourt Tirado
Manizales, Columbia
João Evangelista Martins Terra
Brasília, Brazil
Sebastian Thekethecheril
Vijayapuram, India
or Continue Reading Below
Church Approval
On the subject of Church Approval, many bishops have spoken of their certainty that Medjugorje will be approved by the Church in the future. Their concern, therefore, is not in Church approval of the apparitions, but that Medjugorje will be ignored by many in the Church until the time the approval happens. Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar, who was regarded by many to be John Paul II’s favorite theologian stated:
“There is only one danger alone for Medjugorje—that people will pass it by!”17
Von Balthasar was convinced in the validity of Medjugorje.
Hans Urs von Balthasar
Lucerne, Switzerland
This is an impressive statement coming from a theologian who is widely respected within the Church. As you read through the following statements of bishops, you will see that so many of them came to the same conclusion as Cardinal Von Balthasar. Believing in the apparitions, the important thing then becomes not so much the rubber stamp approval from the Vatican, but that people convert.
Stanislas Lukumwena Lumbala
Kole, Congo
Séamus Hegarty
Derry, Ireland
Giuseppe Siri
Genova-Bobbio, Italy
Philip M. Hannan
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Geevarghese Mar Divannasios Ottathengil
Bathery, India
Henry Joseph Kennedy
Armidale, Australia
Murilo Krieger
São Salvador da Bahia, Brazil
The strength of many bishops’ conviction concerning Medjugorje as a supernatural gift from God is startling to read by those who have only heard negative comments about Medjugorje from the negatively biased media, or those indifferent or closed to Medjugorje. Yet, so many within the hierarchy of the Church are enthusiastic about what is happening in this village and cannot see how the fruit they witnessed can be denied.
Stanislas Lukumwena Lumbala
Kole, Congo
“I can personally say that it is clear to me that all that is happening in Medjugorje, especially the great number of people, cannot be interpreted in any other way than a special intervention from God…I personally am praying that the moment of recognition comes as soon as possible.
“I would recommend to all communities that do not have vocations to come here and pray in this spirit that is alive in Medjugorje and they will certainly have vocations!”25
United States of America
“A priest from the United States, Fr. Bernard, tells us: ‘In the past, my bishop before has always advised caution about the apparitions, he never actually expressed belief in them. But one day he heard that I was going to Medjugorje and he asked me to pray for vocations there. I knew it worked every time. Whenever a priest from our diocese would go there we would always get at least one vocation.
“When my bishop greeted me upon my return, his first words were, ‘I’m going to have to send you right back!’ During that period, his diocese received 10 vocations to the priesthood.”26
José de Jesús Nuñez Viloria
Ciudad, Guayana, Venezuela
André-Joseph
Mutien Léonard
Belgium, Military
If the apparitions are in fact true, as many bishops are convinced they are, then the world places itself in a precarious situation by not seriously responding to this great gift that God has given. It is, therefore, a grave responsibility for those in the Church who are in the position to pass judgment over the events of Medjugorje.
Frane Franić
Split-Makarska, Croatia
“If Jesus has sent His Mother to preach about conversion, then Her call is definitely coupled with a great grace of conversion which can only be received at Medjugorje. Jesus wanted exactly those graces, which He is distributing through His Mother, the Queen of Peace, to give peace to our people.
“That’s why I feel that those who have hindered a greater response to Our Lady Queen of Peace in Medjugorje carry a great responsibility. However, it is not too late yet…”29
Bishop Albin Małysiak, from Poland, a strong believer in Medjugorje for 20 years, worked closely with Pope John Paul II.
Albin Małysiak
Kraków, Poland
Franziskus Eisenbach
Mainz, Germany
It is clear that many bishops are saying, “go to Medjugorje and experience the grace of conversion.” They state clearly that the Church is not hindering anyone from going and experiencing Medjugorje.
Thomas Luke Msusa
Blantyre, Malawi
“The Church will be the last to pronounce a judgment about Medjugorje. In the meantime, the experience of the faithful is essential. However, I see that the attitude of the Church is positive, because it doesn’t prevent anyone from coming. On the contrary, the Church allows people to go to Medjugorje. Unofficially, we can say that the Church has already accepted Medjugorje.”
“As for the official judgement, we will have to wait some more time…Roused by Our Lady’s words, we need to pray primarily for conversion, because what is happening in Medjugorje also helps the Church to advance. I do not believe that the Church will ever refuse conversions. This is why I believe that, one day, the Church will recognize Medjugorje.”32
Still some will say, how can you be certain that the Virgin Mary is appearing in Medjugorje? How does one judge? Following are some of the responses that bishops gave to that question.
Bruno Tommasi
Lucca, Italy
Georg Eder
Salzburg, Austria
Ersilio Tonini
Ravenna-Cervia, Italy
“I think Medjugorje is a blessed place and a grace of God; [one] who goes to Medjugorje returns transformed, changed, he reflects himself in that source of grace that is Christ. Christ is at the same time the tap and the source. If in Medjugorje, as it is obvious by now, many conversions happen, it surely means that there is the hand of God.
“I believe that we should look at Medjugorje with serenity and trust, appreciating all the good and holy things that happen in that place….Only unbelievers do not believe in Our Lady and in Medjugorje. For the rest, nobody is forcing us to believe, but let us at least respect it.”35
Michael D. Pfeifer
SanAngelo, Texas, USA
“…To say nothing is happening there is to deny the living, prayerful witness of hundreds of thousands who have gone there. There is something other-worldly taking place at Medjugorje. There seems to be a special Divine presence there, motivating and inspiring the millions who visit this village to have a new love of God, and to strengthen and renew their commitment to live out the Gospel of Christ.”36
“As the Church continues to study and reflect on these mysterious and supernatural happenings of Medjugorje, I can only offer my personal opinion. I am convinced that Mary is appearing at Medjugorje, and that She is calling us to a deeper union with Jesus Christ, and to the faithful living out His Gospel in our daily lives…each one according to his or her vocation…Mary comes back today at Medjugorje as a kind and loving Mother, pleading with our world…with all of us…to simply do what Christ tells us to do. If we listen to her gentle command, Christ, through the Holy Spirit, will work new and wonderful signs of grace and love in our individual hearts, in our families, in our communities, in the entire world.”37
Many ask why is the Church taking so long to come to a decision?
Emilio Ogñénovich
Mercedes-Luján, Argentina
Bernardo Maria Cazzaro Bertollo
Puerto Montt, Chile
“…Where is the main thing? …The fruits that derive from it…If I go in an orchard full of trees with beautiful, mature fruit, I do not go to see if the roots are all right or worm-eaten, ill. I see the beautiful fruit, I take it, I eat it, I offer it. If the fruits are good, the roots will also be good, says Jesus…
“…You do not have to go so much to the roots. Look at the fruits, the fruits of conversion, the invitation and the content of the messages. They are all evangelical contents. You cannot throw away the Gospel, even if it comes to you chewed in form of baby food, because we are like children, and Our Lady is giving us the baby food. We have become children, we are to be re-evangelised. Our Lady says it in a simple way like a mother, in small, but precious portions, in order to make us digest the Gospel that we have forgotten. This is important.
“…Let the Church go slowly, study, make commissions, examine for and against, whatever it wants. We say that the Church ‘should approve’. What is this ‘Church’? And what are we? We are Church, we have already approved! The responsible hierarchy is prudent, in order to avoid errors, in order to confirm all the good that is made…
“Altogether, I do not see here anything crooked, nothing worrisome. As a bishop, I do not see whims here, or strange things. Everything happens according to the norms of the Church: liturgy, prayer, sacrifice, especially conversion. It is good. We are grateful to God. If the Church says, ‘it’s true’, if it says it tomorrow or in twenty years, it is not important. Let us not have haste! Let us leave the Church free! Let us leave free the competent authorities that is the local bishop, or in our case here, the Vatican. It has no importance. I respect the fruits.”39
or Continue Reading Below
Medjugorje is Unique
It is not uncommon to hear people say of Medjugorje, “It’s just another Fatima. It’s just another Lourdes.” And yet, for many who have been to these and other shrines in Europe and around the world, there is a marked difference in how they speak of Medjugorje. There are great differences in how pilgrims are impacted in Medjugorje as compared to other pilgrimage sites. Medjugorje is different.
Pavel Mária Hnilica
Titular Bishop, Rusadus
José Luís Azcona Hermoso
Marajó, Brazil
Franc Kramberger
Maribor, Slovenia
Francesco Colasuono
Apostolic Nuncio
Emeritus to Italy
André-Joseph
Mutien Léonard
Belgium, Military
Pavel Mária Hnilica
Titular Bishop
Rusadus
Joseph Lafontant
Port-au-Prince
Haïti
Joseph Vianney Fernando
Kandy, Sri Lanka
Datus Hilarion Lega
Manokwari-Sorong
Indonesia
Some Bishops sense that Medjugorje’s difference lies in the plan of God to spread the peace, the Gospel, the faith of Jesus Christ so evidenced in this village around the world. Medjugorje is the center of this plan, the radius, from which these graces flow.
Vicar General of the Maronite Patriarch
Titular Bishop of Arca de Pheniere, Lebanon
Monsignor Chucrallah Harb
Bishop Emeritus of Jounieh, Lebanon
Monsignor Hanna Helou
Vicar General of the Maronite Diocese of Saida, Lebanon
“The fruits of Medjugorje are neither only for the local people nor only for Christians, but for all humanity, because the Lord has commanded us to carry to all humanity the Truth He has revealed to us, and thus to sanctify the whole world. Christianity exists for 2000 years now and we are only two billion Christians!”
“Medjugorje contributes to the apostolic enthusiasm and to evangelization, to which our Lord has sent us and which the Church is transmitting.”49
Séamus Hegarty
Derry, Ireland
Pearse Lacey
Toronto, Canada
Because of the immensity of God’s plan through Medjugorje, the villagers have a large responsibility in seeing Our Lady’s desires fulfilled.

Murilo Krieger
São Salvador da Bahia
Brazil

Gerard Dionne
Edmundston, Canada
For some, it’s the fact that the apparitions are happening now, in our present day that makes Medjugorje an experience unlike anything that can be experienced today.

José Antúnez de Mayolo
Ayacucho, Peru

George Pearce
Suva, Fiji Islands

Nicolas Hakim
Superior General
Melkite Basilian Order of Chueirites

Gerard Dionne
Edmundston, Canada
“I believe Our Lady is appearing here. I don’t know how I would in any other way explain the phenomenon that is alive here. It is not possible that the devil is at work, since people are praying. Likewise, all this cannot be an ordinary deception. People can be deceived for a while, but not a full seventeen years* and then not millions of people. I believe that something special is happening here because of the fruits. There cannot be so much good fruit on a bad tree.
“Observing the liturgical life in the parish of Medjugorje…it is the everyday customary life of the Church. Mass is celebrated just like in other places. There is nothing here out of the ordinary. Last night we had Adoration before the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. Everything was so simple: a few words, a few songs, just like the Church wants it to be. People are so strongly attracted to it that they are prepared to spend hours on their knees. We do the same thing in our churches, but people do not come in such great numbers. Why? I cannot answer differently than to say that God is present here in a special way.”57
* Thirty-four years as of June 25, 2015
or Continue Reading Below
Renewing the Church
Some of the most powerful testimonies from bishops come from their observation that Medjugorje is bringing about the renewal of the Church. They admit that so many of their own initiatives and current programs are producing little to no conversions, which makes the tremendous conversions taking place in Medjugorje that much more amazing.

Hans Urs von Balthasar
Lucerne, Switzerland

Frane Franić
Split-Makarska, Croatia

Denis Croteau
Mackenzie-Fort Smith
Canada
Cardinal František Tomášek of Prague, very well-known and respected for his combating Communism behind the Iron Curtain, and for what he suffered for the faith, was a staunch believer in the Medjugorje apparitions.

Frantisek Tomasek
Prague, Czech Republic
“I think that we here are indebted to the events of Medjugorje for this huge new springtime of our faith, that God has given us through Mary. Prayer and fasting, faith and conversion, and then the invitation to peace, this can only come from God.
“I have many people who have been on pilgrimage to Medjugorje. They are full of hope, and willingness to testify and bear witness to their faith. I know many prayer groups who have shown me how they pray and fast, and this began in Medjugorje. The people are hungry and thirsty for the Word of God.
“Whenever people in whatever way set up obstacles, God always finds a way to seek out and gather His children together. I am deeply thankful to God for Medjugorje…Putting it simply, I hear very much, but I am always desirous of hearing more about Medjugorje. Oh, how I would love to go on pilgrimage to Medjugorje, and drink of this New Water. Many of my faithful would love to do likewise…”61

Georg Eder
Salzburg, Austria
“That is what I ask myself: What must we do for conversion to happen to someone? I have repeated to the members of Peoples’ Initiative that, for me, conversion in their program has disappeared. Are we the ones who do not need conversion, the way Jesus says it in the Gospel? Conversion is being excluded, and Confession is being lost, spiritual vocations are less and less, and we are asking ourselves how can we at all keep up a seminary? But all that is found in Medjugorje. We are finding exactly that which for us has disappeared.”62
There is no doubt in the minds of many bishops, the renewal of the Church is directly linked with what is happening in Medjugorje. Archbishop Eder continues:

Georg Eder
Salzburg, Austria

Bernardino Echeverria Ruiz
Guayaquil, Ecuador
Referring to Our Lady’s messages from Medjugorje during his homily at Mass with 3,000 of the faithful at the National Shrine of Beauraing, Belgium, Bishop André-Joseph Mutien Léonard said:

André-Joseph
Mutien Léonard
Belgium, Military

Donald Montrose
Stockton, California
USA
It is difficult to explain what one sees happening in Medjugorje. What is causing the conversion? Bishop Adelio Tomasin, from Brazil, says that theology or psychology cannot explain this profound renewal in the Church through Medjugorje. Whatever the cause, there is no doubt that it is coming through the hands of Our Lady.

Adelio Tomasin
Quixadá, Brazil
“In 1984 when I first came to Medjugorje I was impressed by the fact that even before the evening prayer the poorly lit Church was full of the faithful, so many of whom were young. I was also struck by the profound devotion – which was not fanaticism – and by the Confessions, and the prayer on the hills. I went to the Church and remained there in prayer nearly the entire day. That’s how I spent my days in Medjugorje; I did not speak to any of the Franciscans or the visionaries.
“Back home I felt profoundly renewed. I understood Mary better; also that thanks to Her the Church is renewed. I came again…deeply convinced that many things happen here that theology or psychology cannot explain. I discovered the true meaning of faith and its fruits. No one can doubt the fruits of Medjugorje, for God’s presence and His mercy are obvious; the Church can see that God’s grace is handed out by the Mother of Mercy, the Mother of Sinners, who was close to the Cross. This is a truth which cannot be denied.”67
The Church is being renewed through the conversion of individual hearts. It’s not happening from the top, down, but rather from the bottom, up. And it’s happening throughout the whole Church.

Bruno Tommasi
Lucca, Italy

László Bíró
Hungary, Military
Archbishop Gregory Yong, on the 7th anniversary of the apparitions in Medjugorje, June 25, 1988, spoke the following words in a homily at a Mass in honor of the Queen of Peace in the Cathedral in Singapore. He was speaking of the fact that the churches in Singapore are packed in their daily Masses from those who have gone to Medjugorje.

Gregory Yong
Singapore

Johannes Joachim Degenhardt
Paderborn, Germany

Hermann Raich
Wabag
Papua New Guinea

Adriano Langa
Inhambane, Mozambique
or Continue Reading Below
Renewing the Nations
Our Lady has come as the Queen of Peace to bring peace to the whole world, through each nation choosing the way of peace. It is beautiful to hear from Bishops around the world testifying to the impact Medjugorje is making in their own beloved homeland.

Bernardino Eccheverria Ruiz
Guayaquil, Ecuador

Donal McKeown
Derry, Ireland

Leonard Hsu Ying-fa
Taipei, Taiwan

Frederick Dranuba
Arua, Uganda

Pavel Mária Hnilica
Titular Bishop
Rusadus

Georg Eder
Salzburg, Austria

Jean Chabbert
Perpignan-Elne
France
“…I have noticed that here they discover the importance of prayer in everyday life…and many French people have discovered Our Lady here. These encounters between the Mother and Her children bring about profound change in their lives.
“Medjugorje is the actual answer to the serious problems of today’s world. In God’s love, the Mother wishes to unite Her divided children so they will look upon one another as brothers. This will help us sew back together the torn dress of mankind. Mary’s presence on the earth will re-establish the omnipresence of Jesus.
“Living according to the messages means ensuring peace in the world. With Her apparitions Our Lady is preparing the faithful for the Lord’s return to this valley of tears. Medjugorje teaches how to overcome and defeat all that satan has done in the world.”80

Henry Joseph Kennedy
Armidale, Australia

Franc Rodé
for Institutes of Consecrated Life
and Societies of Apostolic Life

Ghislain Ndondji, OFM
Lumumbashi, Congo

José Antúnez de Mayolo
Ayacucho, Peru
Silas S. Njiru
Meru, Kenya

Hieronymus Herculanus Bumbun
Pontianak, Indonesia

Albin Małysiak
Kraków, Poland

José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta
Panamá

Ludwig Schwarz
Linz, Austria

Joseph Oyanga
Lira, Uganda

Stanislav Szyrokoradiuk
Kharkiv-Zaporizhia
Ukraine

Bernardino Echeverria Ruiz
Guayaquil, Ecuador
or Continue Reading Below
The Messages
What of Our Lady’s messages after 34 years and thousands of messages? Bishop Michael D. Pfeifer of San Angelo, Texas, believes Our Lady to be a modern-day prophet.

Micheal D. Pfeifer
SanAngelo, Texas
USA

Rubén Héctor di Monté
Mercedes-Luján
Argentina

Gabriel Gonsum Ganaka
Jos, Nigeria
One bishop said that the simple fact that the visionaries have been steadfast all these years in professing the same message is what impresses him.

Frederick Drandua
Arua, Uganda
“This is really an important experience for me, especially at the level of prayer. I cannot say that Our Lady is not appearing. Fifteen years* have gone by and the visionaries are always repeating the same message. They don’t change at all. The message is simple: to pray, to fast, to believe, to confess and to adore. That’s precisely why we must be dealing with a supernatural event, because they are steadfast in their one message.”96* Thirty-four years as of June 25, 2015

Adalbert Ndzana
Mbalmayo, Cameroon
For some, the duration of the apparitions and the tens of thousands of messages given over the years is difficult to accept. Yet, Archbishop Bernardo Maria Cazzaro, from Chile, does not personally find this a stumbling block.

Bernardo Maria Cazzaro Bertollo
Puerto Montt
Chile
“This is another topic, the duration of these apparitions. For me, it is not a great problem. I do not ask God to make accounts to me. He will ask me, not I to the Lord. If the Lord wants to appear two times, or twenty times or two hundred times, what should I say? I listen.
“This is not the picture here. This is the frame. The picture is what the Lord says to us, what He wants from us, that problem He wants to resolve. That is the picture. He wants to change us, He wants to change the whole world, and as we are stubborn, then the Lord insists, educates us slowly through these messages, which are all a reflection of the Gospel.
“If we would read more the Gospel and meditate on it, we would not need the messages. We have forgotten, that’s it, and the messages remind us. They do not say anything extraordinary, or difficult, we just have to change our hearts. Jesus is saying this for 2,000 years now.”98
Bishop Mendieta from Panama beautifully describes the power of Our Lady’s messages in the lives of people he has observed. He does not see the messages as boring or repetitive, but that they lead to a burning desire for people to change their hearts.

José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta
Panamá
“The simplicity of these messages is enticing. The Medjugorje messages are an evangelical call to conversion and to peace; there is nothing apocalyptic in them. Without prayer, without fasting and without the Eucharist—and these are the foundations of Christianity—we cannot answer the call to holiness addressed to us by Mary.
“I have heard from many people that they experience the need to change, and to change within the Church and through the Sacraments. One cannot leave Medjugorje without this burning desire to change and to start anew.”99
Many bishops see Our Lady’s messages paralleling Holy Scripture. They testify seeing nothing contrary to Scripture but rather, they confirm the teaching and the spirit of the faith of the Church.

Séamus Hegarty
Derry, Ireland
“I have read the messages the Mother of God is said to be giving to the visionaries. And what I have seen and heard tells me that there is a strong accord, a parallel, between these messages and what the Gospels say about the teaching of Christ. The emphasis lies very strongly on prayer, fasting, reconciliation and peace—themes that occur over and over again in Scripture.
“One thing is clear about the Medjugorje messages; they contain nothing that contradicts the Church’s official teaching, which is based on Scripture as on a foundation. Here the emphasis is on prayer and on how to pray—that is, with more giving of ourselves and intensity, and new methods of prayer—prayer not only in words, but as something lived.”100

José Gabriel Diaz Cueva
Guayaquil, Ecuador
“I believe that I am able to say, HERE THE HAND OF GOD IS AT WORK! And I pray for this, that the message of the most Blessed Virgin be accepted more and more. This message is not any different from the Good News (i.e., the Gospel), but they are still the words of a Mother who is concerned for the good of humanity and for the salvation of every single human being.
“I believe that what the Holy Virgin tells us is nothing other than an echo of the words of St. Paul: ‘This is God’s will—your salvation.’ I hope that the messages which the Holy Virgin has communicated to us for so long will be of great use to the entire Church and to each one of us. I believe that we should give the gift of attention to Her words, to Her who tries to say through these simple and good young people (the visionaries) so much to us that will bring us to salvation.”101

Issam John Darwish
Greek Melkite Rite
Zahleh e Furzol, Lebanon
Archbishop Georg Eder from Austria, in studying the events of Medjugorje, came to an understanding of why Our Lady has been coming for such a long time.

Georg Eder
Salzburg, Austria
“I began to ask myself more and more often: why these completely simple messages that are still being repeated? It is always a call to prayer, fasting, penance, prayer for peace. I said: that must have some meaning!…What does a mother do when she raises her child? I experienced that at home: she always repeats the same thing: I have already often told you that! But I cannot stop saying: Pray, or do so and so.
“Mary acts the same way in Medjugorje. She always says the same thing to Her children who are already now adult persons. And what else would a priest have to do in his parish? He is always calling to prayer. John Paul II once said that priests have to be the first to pray and have to be the teachers of prayer.
“That is what Mary, a good Mother, does. She teaches us to pray, really in a very simple way. Now I have to say truly that Christ’s Word has the value for me of being the recognizable sign: by their fruits you will know them!”103
In this day and age where secularism has made such advances even within the Church, Bishop Hieronymus Herculanus Bumbun from Indonesia sees Our Lady’s messages as a good remedy for families who desire to counteract these secular influences. He said on Radio Mir that he was:

Hieronymus Herculanus Bumbun
Pontianak, Indonesia
In the end, where do the messages lead? According to Bishop Stanislas Lukumwena Lumbala from the Congo, he sees Our Lady’s messages leading to a deep and profound spiritual life.

Stanislas Lukumwena Lumbala
Kole, Congo
or Continue Reading Below
The Visionaries
The visionaries are the first witnesses of Our Lady. They are Our Lady’s announcers, Her instruments in revealing Her plans and Her messages to the world. Although some of the bishops said it wasn’t necessary for them to meet the visionaries in order to believe, the visionaries made strong impressions among bishops who had the opportunity to observe, listen and speak to them.

Patrick Power
Canberra-Goulburn
Australia

Harry J. Flynn
Saint Paul – Minneapolis
Minnesota, USA
Bishop Stanley Joseph Ott from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, traveled to Medjugorje staying at the home of the brother of Medjugorje visionary, Marija, for one week. He had the opportunity to see Marija every evening for dinner. He said it was a pleasure for him to be able to meet with her on an informal basis. He described her as “humble, personable, and hospitable.”

Stanley Joseph Ott
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
USA

Pavel Mária Hnilica
Titular Bishop
Rusadus
“After my third visit in these places, I was able to arrange for a little more time to speak with the visionaries and also with the people who live close to them in everyday life. I wanted to examine and understand what reasons the one who talks against Medjugorje and is opposed to it had for doing so. I am convinced that this is a case of slandering.
“These children are not manipulated. They are simple and sincere. I see a supernatural aspect in these events. Morally, they force us to treat them very seriously. Upon my conscience, I must come to the conclusion that the voice of God is speaking with power at Medjugorje.”109

Geevarghese Mar Divannasios Ottathengil
Bathery, India

Deogratias Muganwa Byabazaire
Hoima, Uganda

Eduardo Horacio Garciá
San Justo, Argentina

Denis Croteau
Mackenzie-Fort Smith
Canada
or Continue Reading Below
‘Sensus Fidelium’
(Sense of the Faithful)
Millions of people going to Medjugorje and converting is a sign to the Church that something authentic is happening there. Most people who go to Medjugorje do not speak vaguely of their experience, but they testify that they feel the presence of Our Lady or have had an encounter with the Mother of God in some way. Their faith is deepened, they return to the Church and Sacraments, prayer becomes part of their daily lives, they become active in Church ministries, etc.

Emilio L. Bataclan
Cebu, Philippines
“I have no difficulties believing that Our Lady is here because, above all, the ‘sensus fidelium’ (sense of the faithful) says that Mary is here, and also my priestly and pastoral experience through a full 25 years, and now also that of being a Bishop helps recognize the special signs that Mary is present here and that She is caring for Her children.
“I would like to say to everyone: ‘Mary is the Mother who loves and truly has to come to this world. She comes and says what we have to do, because She cares for us.’ I hope that the world will open its heart and soul to this good Mother.”114
It’s one thing to read in a report about the millions of pilgrims coming to Medjugorje, and another thing altogether, seeing the multitudes with your own eyes climbing the mountains, filling the Church every hour of the day with strong, fervent prayers, praying on their knees on hard and rocky ground, forming long lines for Confession night after night, witnessing the joy and tears of so many conversions. The witness of this is something that cannot be easily dismissed.

Packiam Arokiaswamy
Tanjore, India

Andre Fernand Anguile
Gabon, Africa

Thomas Luke Msusa
Blantyre, Malawi
“What I have experienced here goes far beyond my expectations. The encounter with so many pilgrims is an excellent experience. I can see their desire to convert and to change. Medjugorje amazes (my pilgrims), and they will remain under the influence of seeing so many people coming here to pray.
“I am very enthusiastic about my visit here. I saw pilgrims from all over the world, all united in prayer. I am delighted to see the piety here…I am so amazed…I have no words to describe what I feel.”117

Gratian Mundaden
Bijnor, India
Pilgrims express how deeply they were able to enter the prayer of the Mass in Medjugorje. The Croatian Mass in the evenings, though in a language most pilgrims are not able to understand, is also very moving to them. Everyone in St. James Church participates in the prayer and singing, from the heart. The Church is filled to capacity, and the overflow is gathered on benches outside the Church, but all are still very much attentive to the Mass. It is a beautiful and powerful experience.

Deogratias Muganwa Byabazaire
Hoima, Uganda
“I’ve spent a week in Medjugorje and I felt that it emanates much prayer, peace and friendliness. I met so many people who really pray and who seek prayer. I visited Krizevac and Podbrdo. I saw many, many people praying…
“The evening Mass made a deep impression on me. The Church was full every evening, and there were even more people hearing the Mass from outside. And even though they didn’t understand the language, they were deeply united in devotion and prayer. But even so, the most beautiful part of the prayer program was the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. I saw a great number of priests confessing and a multitude of pilgrims and local people confessing.”119

Salvador Piñeiro García-Calderón
Peru, Military

Tadeusz Werno
Koszalin-Kołobrzeg
Poland
or Continue Reading Below
The Fruits of Medjugorje
The conversions of Medjugorje are very impressive. It is a common occurrence to see people return to the Sacraments after being away from the Church for many years. It is not an emotional experience, but rather a real desire to come back to God.

Rubén Héctor di Monté
Mercedes-Luján
Argentina
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna, on December 1, 2002, in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna made a strong statement in favor of Medjugorje when he said:

Christoph Schönborn
Vienna
Austria
One obvious fruit of Medjugorje is what happens when pilgrims return home. They desire to bring Medjugorje home with them, to make it a permanent change in their lives, and to become a witness for Our Lady so that others may discover the richness of conversion through Medjugorje. In fact, many bishops have been to Medjugorje through the invitation and witness of those who live in their diocese.

John Dew
New Zealand, Military

Robert Rivas
Castries, Saint Lucia
Antilles
Aquila

Philip M. Hannan
New Orleans
Louisiana, USA

André-Joseph
Mutien Léonard
Belgium, Military
“I remember that in the theologate I began fasting Fridays quite regularly, following the example of some of my students of theology or other students who I met at the university and who had fasted after pilgrimage to Medjugorje.
“When I became a bishop I met some believers of my diocese who fasted every Friday, who discovered the Sacraments, thanks to their encounter with Medjugorje. I established the fact that, regularly, among the students of theology there were those who experienced conversion and received a vocation, thanks to Medjugorje.
“Now I have thirty students of theology, among whom there are some who have undergone a spiritual experience here [in Medjugorje] which has marked their vocation. Such fruits are of interest to me…the fact that so many positive discoveries take place, just with thanks to Medjugorje, is positive evidence in favor of Medjugorje.”128

Andre Fernand Anguile
Gabon

Séamus Hegarty
Derry, Ireland
When asked how those in his parishes have changed their lives after returning from Medjugorje, Bishop Nicholas D’Antonio of New Orleans stated:

Nicholas D’Antonio

Julio Ojeda Pascual
San Ramón, Peru

Christoph Schönborn
Vienna
Austria

Henry Joseph Kennedy
Armidale, Australia
“Pilgrims who hear the messages here [Medjugorje], at the source, will experience them much more real and intensely and, once returned home, they will find it so much easier to live them. Messages written down cannot, not even nearly enough, convey that feeling of deep inner peace, which the message, given in Medjugorje, at the source, radiates.
“That is why it is not sufficient to distribute the messages and to show photos of Medjugorje; people must be persuaded to go and visit this place here themselves. They must be brought to understand what a deep experience is awaiting them on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, and how this will have a profound and positive influence on their future life.”134
or Continue Reading Below
Confession
Conversions happen in many ways in Medjugorje, but for the priest, the greatest conversion experiences have been in the confessional. It is in the confessional where priests are confronted with the profoundness of the grace that is impacting peoples’ lives in Medjugorje. Some bishops see that the confessionals in Medjugorje are bringing about the conversion of the nations. Medjugorje is known as the “Confessional of the World.”

Francesco Tarcisio Carboni
Macerata-Tolentino-Recanati-Cingoli-Treia
Italy

Augustine Harris
Middlesbrough, England
“…the important thing here is Confession. People truly are ready to come face to face with themselves; they are ready to repent and make penance. I am sure that this is the deepest experience here; ie. renewal and conversion…
“What I would like to say is this: when a person comes here to pray and wants to confess and change [their] life, you cannot say no…I would say to them that it is good to come here where one’s conscience is freed and one finds the essential and where confusion is overcome…At the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross I saw more than 50 priests confess. This is wonderful.”136

Frederick Drandua
Arua, Uganda

Gabriel Gonsum Ganaka
Jos, Nigeria

Séamus Hegarty
Derry, Ireland

George Pearce
Suva, Fiji Islands

Pearse Lacey
Toronto, Canada

Harry J. Flynn
Saint Paul – Minneapolis
Minnesota, USA
“The great moment, for me, was the hearing of confessions every afternoon from 5 p.m. until 10 or 10:30 p.m. There were 46 priests hearing confessions in various languages. What a great grace that is onto itself: ‘People turning toward God.’
“I just walked around and looked at the lines. There were 26 confessional stations in which there was a priest and then 20 more priests hearing confessions in temporary stations. This happened also on Sunday afternoon from 5 p.m. until about 8:30 p.m. I heard confessions in English, and it was a great grace for me and a wonderful experience.”142
The awareness of sin has been all but lost in our modern, secularized world. Only a handful of people are in line for Confession on Saturday afternoons in most Churches across America, but everyone is in line to receive Holy Communion every Sunday. How many Communions are being consumed unworthily? But in Medjugorje, the opposite is true. Pilgrims often go to Confession 2 to 3 times during a 10-day pilgrimage. They hunger to be reconciled with God, and to be healed in their hearts.

Bruno Tommasi
Lucca, Italy

Eduardo Horacio García
San Justo, Argentina

Hermann Raich
Wabag
Papua New Guinea

Bernardo Maria Cazzaro Bertollo
Puerto Montt
Chile
Silas S. Njiru
Meru, Kenya

José Antúnez de Mayolo
Ayacucho, Peru
or Continue Reading Below
The Youth
Our Lady said on August 15, 1988:
“…Young people find themselves now in a very difficult situation…”
Today’s youth are surrounded by so many destructive and diabolical influences. Many come from broken families and do not have the moral foundation to stand up against the assaults made against their innocence. And yet, the youth have a very strong attraction to the spiritual life that Medjugorje has to offer, and long to know that there is more to this life on earth than what the world has to offer. Tens of thousands of youth come to Medjugorje every year. The Church sees great hope in this.

Andre Fernand Anguile
Gabon, Africa

Jean-Vincent Ondo Eyene
Oyem, Gabon

Salvatore Boccaccio
Frosinone-Veroli-Ferentino
Italy
Bishop Thomas McMahon, from London, was very impressed at how Medjugorje attracted the young people. So many, he said, had grown:

Thomas McMahon
Brentwood, England

Nicholas D’Antonio
or Continue Reading Below
Renewing the Priesthood
One of the most moving experiences in Medjugorje is to be in St. James Church and see 30, 40 or more priests filling up the entire sanctuary. Old and young, from many different parts of the world, they bring with them a deep love for Our Lady. Through the length of a pilgrimage, the hearts of pilgrims are often moved during Mass, as many priests share their own stories of conversion that Medjugorje has brought about in their lives. Many of the young priests received their vocations in Medjugorje and come back to thank Our Lady for leading them to the priesthood.

Christoph Schönborn
Vienna
Austria

Geevarghese Mar Divannasios Ottathengil
Bathery, India

Kenneth Steiner
Portland, Oregon, USA

Lázaro Pérez Jiménez
Celaya, México
“I became very interested in the events after having read a book by the theologian Laurentin. In the book he wrote: ‘In an era when the gardens of the Church are no longer giving fruit, the moment has come for the Virgin to renew them and give them a new freshness.’ I came to the conclusion that the fact that the problems which exist in the Church are still not resolved is to be blamed on us pastors. I did not feel excluded.
“We need holy priests and pastors ready to live according to the teachings of Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd and His Sacred Heart. The unresolved problems have opened the door to atheism, secularism and a consumerism society which has created its own set of values which oppose the Gospel teachings.
“A theologian friend advised me against coming to Medjugorje, saying that he would not put his dignity at risk by coming here. Professor Laurentin told me that there are theologians who teach Marian doctrine but do not try to deepen their personal relationship with Mary. All this helped me to become much more interested in the Virgin. I think it is important to pay attention to the good fruits of Medjugorje.
“I will invite the faithful from my diocese to come here. Personally, I think that if the Virgin is trying, through Christ, to reintroduce these values, (conversion, fasting, prayer, forgiveness and Holy Confession) then this should be the fundamental task of each priest and of each bishop. We have to show the faithful that there is a way of salvation in this world because Christ is our Way and our Saviour and this is what Christ’s Mother is calling us to.”157

Jaime Sin
Manila, Philippines
“I have a Jesuit friend, Father Antonio Olaguer, who was an activist during the time of President Markos [in the Philippines]. He was a problem because he lacked a faith dimension. He was somewhat leftist. Then someone invited him to go to Medjugorje, paying his fare, so he went. People there were telling him about the wonders they were seeing, but he didn’t believe them. Then one day he entered the Church there, just to reflect and to meditate. He heard a voice and it was the voice of Our Lady. ‘Father, you are my son, as Christ is my Son. Follow His footsteps.”
“And now Father Olaguer is a different man. He is working for Our Lady all the time. He is now superior of the Jesuits in Manila. He said this is a great surprise because before he was a problem and now he is the superior.”158

Denis Croteau
Mackenzie-Fort Smith
Canada
“When I came to Medjugorje the first time, I came incognito. I came as a ‘foot soldier,’ so to speak…I wanted to get the feel of it, to see what it contained. This time I came as…a bishop, an ordained minister, and it is a completely different impression. As a priest and a bishop, I felt really enriched by the experience for my ministry. It is something very touching.
“The highlight for me has been hearing Confessions. For a priest it might be the best place to really know and discover what Medjugorje is all about. I can’t conceive of a priest coming here and hearing Confessions for an hour without being convinced, absolutely convinced that Heaven is at work in Medjugorje. We can touch with fingers the work of Mary and the work of God in listening to people and how they are transformed…The priest experiences this firsthand.
“That is what struck me the most, this time around, the depth of the experience that the priest has. So, those two things (Confession and Mass) from the point of view of being a minister of Christ, a priest and bishop, have been the highlights of my presence here for the last 8 days.”159
A priest from Mexico was sent to Medjugorje to make a case against Medjugorje and the apparitions in order to discourage pilgrims from Mexico from going to Medjugorje. But in only a few days, Fr. Salvatore began to experience powerful graces in the village and came away from his experience convinced of Our Lady’s presence there. He said, “My priesthood was born in Medjugorje.” His bishop was greatly surprised at his positive report. Fr. Salvatore became an apostle of Our Lady in his own parish, spreading knowledge of Our Lady’s messages, the result being a total renewal of his own parish.160

Frantisek Tomasek
Prague, Czech Republic

Gabriel Diaz Cueva
Guayaquil, Ecuador

Damian Kayaruzi
Sumbawanga, Tanzania

George Tracy
Reston, Virginia
USA
“I have been coming to Medjugorje for many years. I have realized during this stay more than ever that this is a school of prayer for the world. We are taught by our Mother Mary in this beautiful mountain reality and in the Church to be in the central part of the world, in the central part of our hearts, real honest Catholics of great prayer.
“Just this week I was reading a paper by a very well known cardinal in Europe who wrote, regarding Medjugorje, that there was nothing to worry about in a critical way—he had only praise. In Medjugorje you learn how to pray! Medjugorje began to have a great influence [on me] when I came here for the first time and it has continued…I want to be Mother Mary’s child.”164
or Continue Reading Below
Medjugorje Spirituality

Silvério Jarbas Paulo
de Albuquerque
Feira de Santana, Brazil

Domenico Pecile
Bishop Emeritus
Latina, Italy

José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta
Panamá
Bishop Jose Domingo Ulloa Mendieta also spoke of the spiritual transformation in the lives of pilgrims who come to Medjugorje.

José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta
Panamá

Abílio Rodas de Sousa
São Tomé e Príncipe

Hermann Raich
Wabag
Papua New Guinea

Abílio Rodas de Sousa
São Tomé e Príncipe

Joseph Oyanga
Lira, Uganda

Denis Croteau
Mackenzie-Fort Smith
Canada

Bernardo Maria Cazzaro Bertollo
Puerto Montt
Chile
or Continue Reading Below
Fulfillment of Fatima
In many interviews by bishops who have visited Medjugorje, the apparitions of Fatima are often referenced, in that many bishops believe that Medjugorje is the continuation and the fulfillment of what Our Lady began in Fatima. Pope Saint John Paul II said this and believed this himself.

Frantisek Tomasek
Prague, Czech Republic

Rubén Héctor di Monté
Mercedes-Luján
Argentina

Gratian Mundaden
Bijnor, India

Adalbert Ndzana
Mbalmayo, Cameroon

Jaime Sin
Manila, Philippines

Ludwig Schwarz
Linz, Austria
“The Second Vatican Council says that the Blessed Virgin Mary, after Her Assumption, remains close to Her children, helps them and leads them. This is why there is the possibility of apparitions of the Mother of God. We know that the Church has recognized the apparitions in La Salette, in Lourdes and in Fatima.
“The Mother of God is the model of the Church, She loves us, She loves Her children and She leads us towards Salvation, towards Jesus Christ. ‘Per Marinam ad Jesum’. Her most important themes in Lourdes and in Fatima, which we find also here in Medjugorje, are prayer, Eucharist, penance, conversion, the sacrament of reconciliation, involvement in favor of peace. These are the intentions that we find also in the Gospel, Jesus’ own intentions.”180
In Fatima, Our Lady came with warnings to heed Her requests for prayer, conversion, and penance to avoid disasters in the future. We see all around us the “signs of the times” which Vatican II spoke of as well as Our Lady in Fatima, and also in Medjugorje. Many bishops see the apparitions of Fatima and Medjugorje as a “sign” for our times and believe that much of what will happen in the future depends upon how we respond to Our Lady’s persistent calls today.

Andre Fernand Anguile
Gabon, Africa

Augustine Harris
Middlesbrough, England

Abílio Rodas de Sousa
São Tomé e Príncipe
“Here, people share the same ideas and make sacrifices for the Church. Such behavior can help the Church a lot to walk in the spirit of self-giving, and the consequence may be the unity of the world. I admit that personally I feel richer and stronger in my faith.
“[In] our times, there are more apparitions than in the past. I think that this is a sign, a sign given by a Mother seeking Her children. The apparitions are a sign that people went astray from God’s path. This is why the Mother comes with love and warns us, She tells us that we really have to turn to God!”183

André-Joseph
Mutien Léonard
Belgium, Military
“The perseverance with which Mary is speaking to us in these times of ours made a very strong impression on me. Sometimes someone will say to me, ‘How are such long lasting apparitions possible?’ or ‘Mary talks so much!’ I personally do not have any preconceived ideas either about how [long] or how much Mary should talk. I tell myself that perhaps Mary is knocking on our doors with such unusual persistence just because there are such great and urgent needs in our times. I interpret Mary’s persistence as a stimulus to our conversion.
“The Medjugorje fruits are blessed fruits. Frequently people confide in me relating their experiences for which I can testify that they are rich with fruits of conversion, discovery of prayer, love, peace, penance, fasting and returning to sacramental life and the Eucharist.
“In order to achieve peace in the world, peace in families and in our hearts, I want to invite both you and myself to accept all those unceasing invitations into our life and in a special way to accept the call to prayer and fasting.”184
The extraordinary events at the end of the past millennium with the peaceful dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the averting of a nuclear catastrophe that so many feared could not be avoided were linked by many in the Church to Our Lady, through Fatima and Medjugorje. It gives evidence that Our Lady has come not with a forecast of doom, though She does come to warn us that the world is moving in a dangerous direction, but to bring renewal and rebirth through accepting Her invitation to convert and return to holiness. Again, many bishops made these observations in studying the world events in light of Our Lady’s apparitions in Medjugorje.

Bernardo Witte
Concepción, Argentina
“I have kept an eye on the events of Medjugorje for the past 20 years and have been convinced they are true! They convey a message of faith and a message of hope, which the Church is conveying, while calling to prayer, to fasting and to conversion. This intensity is rather surprising, but this is how I interpret it: morality and ethics in the world are in great danger. In an extreme danger for the world, for the Church and for souls, extreme measures are needed. I marvel and I rejoice! Each apparition is a new hope and a new challenge.
“Also to this question, I have the same answer: In a great danger of the civilization of death, these apparitions promote a civilization of life. I have the impression that everything is happening in a harmonious way: these apparitions, the pontificate of John Paul II who encourages the renewal of the pastoral life in the Church, and many bishops who consciously give a Marian orientation to their episcopate…”
“To resume, I would repeat the words of Our Lady in Fatima: ‘At the end, my Immaculate Heart shall triumph!’ I think that both, the apparitions of Fatima and of Medjugorje, signify a call to the renewal of Europe. In Medjugorje, the Communist East has begun to collapse. Medjugorje is a carrier of joy, of hope and of trust.”185

Bruno Tommasi
Lucca, Italy

Gabriel Diaz Cueva
Guayaquil, Ecuador
“I believe that the messages of the Blessed Virgin have very much to do with the future of humanity and therefore also with the Holy Church. In the entire course of Church history the Blessed Mother has again and again perceived Her mission as that which the Lord gave Her from the Cross (when He said of Her to John): ‘BEHOLD YOUR MOTHER!’ She has really become the Mother of the Church and of the whole of humanity, and She continues to avail Herself of this role that which the Lord gave Her, as She stood at the foot of the Cross…
“Through prayer, namely the interior life with God, I believe we can really soften God’s anger, which has been provoked by so many sins and misdeeds of humanity. The Blessed Virgin calls us repeatedly to prayer, fasting and dedication to God, through which we can attain everything from the mercy of God.”187

Joseph Devine
Motherwell, Scotland
“Looking around the world order, it is not the advance of peace which we see. Quite the reverse. So here we see a peace which has to be won for the world, a peace which has to be sought, a peace which has to be prayed for and paid for if a calamity is to be averted.
“That is my understanding of Our Lady under the title of Queen of Peace, which title has been associated with recent happenings in Medjugorje. It is a peace which is yet to be, and only will be through a communal turning back to conversion, prayer and penance. But that turning back is nothing other than going to the very heart of the Gospel. It is the very stuff of the Christian life.”188

Nicholas D’Antonio
“The purpose of the apparitions? She tells us in Her own words: ‘I am the Blessed Virgin Mary. I came to convert the people of the world. I am the Queen of Peace. I came to bring peace to the world!’
“She stressed the need of prayer, penance, fasting on bread and water on [Wednesdays and] Fridays…conversion, reconciliation with one another and with God, and especially a firm faith as the pre-conditional means of avoiding catastrophic wars and thus assuring peace and the salvation of mankind. She recommended priests to keep their faith and to preserve the faith of the people. Does this message sound simplistic and trite? So does the Gospel to those who lack faith…If anyone knows the will of Her Son, She does! Let’s step out in faith and do what She says. We want peace, not a nuclear holocaust! The diabolical and idolatrous lust for power and money in this age has brought about a crisis of faith and authority. There is almost total confusion in matters of faith and morals…
“The service of the common good will not be realized until we stop trying to solve our world problems without the inspired teaching of the Church and the fulfillment of Our Lady’s simple message. The best gift you can give Jesus…is to do what His Mother, the Queen of Peace, recommends you do.”189
José de Jesús Nuñez Viloria
Ciudad, Guayana
Venezuela
The events occurring in Medjugorje are a:

Stanley Joseph Ott
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
USA
1. Komarica, Bishop Franjo. homily given in Medjugorje: St. James Church, November 21, 1990. Print.
2. Domej, Dr. Max. Interview with Cardinal Schönborn. July 1998. Print.
3. Schönborn, Cardinal Christoph. testimony at Lourdes on July 18, 1998, Stella Maris, #343, pp. 19,20. Print.
4. Pecile, Bishop Domenico. Talk Given in Medjugorje. October 4, 2005. Print.
5. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #105, December 2, 1998. Print.
6. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #8, March 15, 1995. Print.
7. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #129, November 3, 1999. Print.
8. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #105, December 2, 1998. Print.
9. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #189, August 26, 2003. Print.
10. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #87, March 25, 1998. Print.
11. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #122, July 28, 1999. Print.
12. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #57, January 29, 1997. Print.
13. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #192, November 26, 2003. Print.
14. Echo of Medjugorje, Vol. 135, September-October, 1997. Print.
15. Medjugorje Newsletter, Weible Columns, Vol. 9 #12. May-June 1998. Print.
16. Mons. Sebastian Thekethecheril from India participated in the International Seminar for Priests. Medjugorje.hr. Web. July 7, 2007.
17. Foley, Richard. Interview with Cardinal Hans Urs Von Balthasar. November 1985. Print.
18. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #215, October 25, 2005. Print.
19. Medjugorje Messenger, June 1989. Print.
20. R. del Car. p. 4. October 1987. Print.
21. Hannan, Archbishop Philip M. Spoken at a dinner in New Orleans. Spirit Daily.com. Web.
22. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #213, August 26, 2005. Print.
23. Glasnik Mira. Medjugorje. August 1995. Print.
24. Bishops and Archbishops in Medjugorje and on Medjugorje, Medjugorje.hr. Web. February 27, 1998.
25. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #131, December 1, 1999. Print.
26. Medjugorje Newsletter, Weible Columns, Volume 10, #4. October 1998. Print.
27. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #131, December 1, 1999. Print.
28. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #23, October 11, 1995. Print.
29. Nasa Ognjista vol. XXV, pp. 4,9. 1995. Print.
30. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #103, November 4, 1998. Print.
31. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #139, March 2000. Print.
32. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #216, November 26, 2005. Print.
33. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #214, September 24, 2005. Print.
34. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #108, January 13, 1999. Print.
35. Bruno Volpe, www.pontifex.roma.it. Web. March 8, 2009
36. Pfeifer, Bishop Michael D. Pastoral Letter: “The Gospel, Mary and Medjugorje.” August 5, 1988. Print.
37. Pfeifer, Bishop Michael D. “The Medjugorje Story.” Medjugorje Magazine, April 1989. Print.
38. Information Center “Mir.” Medjugorje, May 2006. Print.
39. Information Centre “Mir.” Medjugorje, May 22, 2007. Print.
40. Hnilica, Bishop Paulo. Testimony of Cardinal Siri. Gebetsaktion #4, 1990. Print.
41. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #214, September 26, 2005. Print.
42. Glasnik Mira. Medjugorje, March 2002. Print.
43. Colasuono, Cardianl Francesco. Speech of Fr. Gianni Sgreva. The National on Medjugorje. University of Notre Dame. 1991.
44. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #150, August 22, 2000. Print.
45. Hnilica, Bishop Paolo. The National Conference on Medjugorje. University of Notre Dame. 1992.
46. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #105, December 2, 1998. Print.
47. Interview: Mons. Joseph Vianney Fernando, President of the Bishop’s Conference of Sri Lanka. Medjugorje.hr. Web. August 23, 2006.
48. Medjugorje.hr. Web. September 17, 2010.
49. Bishops in Medjugorje and About Medjugorje in 2001. Medjugorje.hr. Web. 2001.
50. Medjugorje Messenger, June 1989. Print.
51. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #180, November 26, 2002. Print.
52. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #86, March 11, 1998. Print.
53. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #91, May 20, 1998. Print.
54. Bishops in Medjugorje and About Medjugorje in 2001. Medjugorje.hr. Web. 2001.
55. Information Centre “Mir.” Medjugorje, October 2002. Print.
56. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #163, June 26, 2001. Print.
57. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #91, May 20, 1998. Print.
58. Vlasic, Tomislav. Echo of Medjugorje, Vol. 78. Interview with Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar. October 15, 1983. Print.
59. Grothues, Dirk. Is Medjugorje a Spiritual Movement in the Church? 1998. Print.
60. Children of Medjugorje.com. Web. November 15, 2001.
61. Barbaric, Slavko. “Conversations.” Sveta Bastina, Duvno 1990, pp. 182,183. Print.
62. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #108, January 13, 1999. Print.
63. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #128, October 20, 1999. Print.
64. Ruiz, Cardinal Bernardino Echeverria. Homily at the Marian Conference in Quito, Equador, October 1995.
65. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #23, October 11, 1995. Print.
66. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #89, April 22, 1998. Print.
67. Echo of Medjugorje, Vol. 140, 1998. Print.
68. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #214, September 26, 2005. Print.
69. August 20, 2007. Medjugorje.hr. Web. 2007.
70. The Tablet. International Catholic News Weekly. July 30, 1988. Print.
71. Degenhardt, Archbishop Johannes Joachim. Report to his Diocese, Medjugorje: Impulse to Renewal of the Christian Life. March 1991. Print.
72. Rupcic, Ljudevit. “A Door to Heaven…” Mostar, 1990, p. 181. Print.
73. March 17, 2012. Medjugorje.hr. Web. 2012.
74. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #122, July 28, 1999. Print.
75. Bishops in Medjugorje and About Medjugorje in 2003. Medjugorje.hr. Web. 2003.
76. Hnilica, Bishop Paulo. National Conference on Medjugorje. University of Notre Dame. 1992.
77. Bishops in Medjugorje and About Medjugorje in 2001. Medjugorje.hr. Web. 2001.
78. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #128, October 20, 1999. Print.
79. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #66, July 4, 1997. Print.
80. Echo of Medjugorje. Vol. 117, January-February 1995. Print.
81. Glasnik Mira, August 1995. Print.
82. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #187, June 26, 2003. Print.
83. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #168, November 26,2001. Print.
84. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #162, May 26, 2001. Print.
85. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #175, June 26, 2002. Print.
86. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #211, June 26, 2005. Print.
87. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #103, November 4, 1998. Print.
88. Mendieta, Bishop José Domingo Ulloa. Radio “Mir” Medjugorje, September 2005.
89. Bishops in Medjugorje and About Medjugorje in 2003. Medjugorje.hr. Web. 2003.
90. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #66, July 4, 1997. Print.
91. Glasnik Mira, VI, no.6, p. 13. 1997. Print.
92. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #122, July 28, 1999. Print.
93. Pfeifer, Bishop Michael D. The National Conference on Medjugorje. University of Notre Dame. May 1990.
94. Echo of Medjugorje. Vol. 118, March-April, 1995. Print.
95. Echo of Medjugorje. Vol. 138, September-October 1997. Print.
96. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #66, July 4, 1997. Print.
97. Information Centre “Mir.” Medjugorje, May 22, 2007. Print.
98. Echo of Medjugorje. Vol. 118, March-April, 1995. Print.
99. Mendieta, Bishop José Domingo Ulloa. Radio “Mir” Medjugorje. September 2005.
100. Medjugorje Messenger, June 1989. Print.
101. Medjugorje Gebetsakion, #16, 1990, pp. 30-31. Print.
102. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #215, October 25, 2005. Print.
103. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #108, January 13, 1999. Print.
104. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #211, June 26, 2005. Print.
105. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #215, October 25, 2005. Print.
106. Medjugorje Newsletter, Weibel Columns, Vol. 9 #12. May-June 1998. Print.
107. The Catholic Spirit, St. Paul—Minneapolis. October 19, 2006. Print.
108. Medjugorje Newsletter, Weibel Columns, Volume 2, #3. April 1991. Print.
109. Madre di Dio, #4. 1986. Print.
110. Medjugorje Newsletter, s Column, Volume 9, #2. Print.
111. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #213, August 26, 2005. Print.
112. Information Center “Mir.” Medjugojre, October 25, 2008. Print.
113. Information Center “Mir.” Medjugojre, October 29, 2001. Print.
114. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #131, December 1, 1999. Print.
115. Medjugorje Newsletter, Weible Columns, Volume 9, #5. October 1997. Print.
116. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #75, October 8, 1997. Print.
117. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #216, November 26, 2005. Print.
118. Mundaden, Bishop Gratien. Christmas letter to Diocese, Mary’s Mantle, Winter 1990. Print.
119. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #66, July 4, 1997. Print.
120. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #187, 2003. Print.
121. Bishops and Archbishops in Medjugorje and on Medjugorje, Medjugorje.hr. Web. August 1999.
122. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #6, February 15, 1995. Print.
123. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #182, January 26, 2003. Print.
124. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #89, April 22, 1998. Print.
125. Bishops and Archbishops in Medjugorje and on Medjugorje, Medjugorje.hr. Web. February 2000.
126. Echo of Medjugorje. March 8, 1987. Print.
127. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #32, February 14, 1996. Print.
128. Bishops and Archbishops in Medjugorje and on Medjugorje, Medjugorje.hr. Web. July 2000.
129. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #75, October 8, 1997. Print.
130. Medjugorje Messenger, June 1989. Print.
131. D’Antonio, Bishop Nicholas. Medjugorje Peace Conference: Irvine, California. August 12, 1990.
132. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #177, August 26, 2002. Print.
133. Schönborn, Cardinal Christoph. Vienna stadium. Vienna, Austria. September 12, 1996.
134. Glasnik Mira. August 1995. Print.
135. Echo of Medjugorje. March 8. 1987. Print.
136. Echo of Medjugorje. Vol. 131. January-February, 1997. Print.
137. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #66, July 4, 1997. Print.
138. Echo of Medjugorje. Vol. 118. March-April, 1995. Print.
139. Medjugorje Messenger, June 1989. Print.
140. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #180, Nov. 26, 2002. Print.
141. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #180, Nov. 26, 2002. Print.
142. The Catholic Spirit, St. Paul—Minneapolis. October 19, 2006. Print.
143. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #214, September 26, 2005. Print.
144. Information Center “Mir.” Medjugojre, October 25, 2008. Print.
145. Bishops in Medjugorje and About Medjugorje in 2001, medjugorje.hr. Web. 2001.
146. Interview: Mons. Bernardo Cazzaro, Archbishop Emerito di Puerto Montt (Chile), Medjugorje.hr. Web. May 18, 2007.
147. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #175, June 26, 2002. Print.
148. Bishops in Medjugorje and About Medjugorje in 2001, medjugorje.hr. Web. 2001.
149. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #75, October 8, 1997. Print.
150. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #178, September 26, 2002. Print.
151. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #211, June 26, 2005. Print.
152. Medjugorje Messenger, October 1988. Print.
153. D’Antonio, Bishop Nicholas. Medjugorje Peace Conference: Irvine, California. August 12, 1990.
154. Schönborn, Cardinal Christoph. Vienna stadium. Vienna, Austria. September 12, 1996.
155. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #213, August 26, 2005. Print.
156. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #105, December 2, 1998. Print.
157. Echo of Medjugorje. Vol. 138. March-April, 1998. Print.
158. Medjugorje Magazine, October-December 1992. Print.
159. Children of Medjugorje.com. Web. November 15, 2001.
160. Echo of Medjugorje. Vol. 140. July-August, 1998. Print.
161. Medjugorje Gebetsaktion, # 1. 1988. Print.
162. Medjugorje Gebetsaktion, #16, 1990. Print.
163. Medjugorje Press Bullletin, #68, July 2, 1997. Print.
164. Information Center “Mir.” Medjugorje, May 22, 2004. Print.
165. Medjugorje Press Bulletin, #93, June 17, 1998. Print.
166. Pecile, Bishop Domenico. Talk Given in Medjugorje. October 4, 2005. Print.
167. Mendieta, Bishop José Domingo Ulloa. Radio “Mir” Medjugorje, September 2005.
168. Ibid.
169. Information Center “Mir.” Medjugorje, September 2003. Print.
170. Bishops in Medjugorje and About Medjugorje in 2001, medjugorje.hr. Web. 2001.
171. Information Center “Mir.” Medjugorje, September 2003. Print.
172. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #66, July 4, 1997. Print.
173. Children of Medjugorje.com. Web. November 15, 2001.
174. Information Center “Mir.” Medjugorje, May 22, 2007. Print.
175. Medjugorje Gebetsaktion, #17, pp.26,27. 1990. Print.
176. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #6, February 15, 1995. Print.
177. Mundaden, Bishop Gratien. Christmas letter to Diocese, Mary’s Mantle, Winter 1990. Print.
178. Medjugorje Press Bulletin, #68, July 2, 1997. Print.
179. National Catholic Register, September 27, 1992. Print.
180. Bishops in Medjugorje and About Medjugorje in 2003, medjugorje.hr. Web. 2003.
181. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #75, October 8, 1997. Print.
182. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #52, November 20, 1996. Print.
183. Medjugorje Press Bulletin, #191, 2003. Print.
184. Medjugorje Press Bulletin, #26, November 22, 1995. Print.
185. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #197, April 26, 2004. Print.
186. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #214, September 25, 2005. Print.
187. Medjugorje Gebetsaktion #16, pp. 30,31. 1990. Print.
188. Devine, Bishop Joseph. Sermon at Evening Mass in St. James, Spanish Place, London. June 25.
189. Mary’s Message, December 1985. Print.
190. Medjugorje Press Bulletin #131, December 1, 1999. Print.
191. Medjugorje Newsletter, Weible Columns, Vol. 2 #12. April 1991. Print.