“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“…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

“…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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“…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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“…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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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