In October 1986, Cardinal Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, placed the responsibility of investigating the apparitions of Medjugorje in the hands of a national commission under the authority of the Yugoslavian Episcopal Conference. Bishop Zanic remained on the commission, but Bishop Franjo Komarica of Banja Luka was made the head of the Conference in October. This action of Cardinal Ratzinger, who was acting on behalf of Pope John Paul II, kept Medjugorje from being condemned, and was an unprecedented move from the Vatican to protect the apparitions.
