July 1987: Declaration of the Bishop of Mostar on Medjugorje
Brothers and sisters, today here in Medjugorje the sacrament of
confirmation will be administered, and probably you are expecting
me to say a few words about those events which are the talk of the
entire world. The Church watches all this, and especially what is
of interest to her. This is confided to certain individuals and to
commissions. As you know, at present, a Commission is mounting an
inquiry on the matter. The said Commission has been established by
the Yugoslavian Bishops' Conference, for the Church cannot
endanger her credibility in this 20th Century world. It [the
world] keeps an eye on her to catch her off guard, to criticize
her and be able to say: this is what you do with everything else
in your faith, everything else is like that...this is the way it
is with your Christ.
I can tell you that during these six years I prayed, studied and
kept silent. Many others also prayed, and I am grateful to them
for that. In each Mass I celebrated, I had a thought for
Medjugorje; in every rosary that I recited daily, I prayed to the
Madonna for God's and the Holy Spirit's enlightenment. This helped
me to gain a strong and firm conviction about everything I have
heard, read and experienced.
Here people are praying and fasting a lot, inspired as they are,
of course, by the belief that these events are indeed
supernatural; and to preach untruth to the faithful about God,
Jesus and the Madonna is worthy of the depths of Hell.
Through all my prayers, my work and research, I have sought one
goal only: the discovery of truth. For that purpose, in 1982, I
established a Commission of four members which later was expanded
to fifteen, thanks to some bishops and father provincials. The
larger body included people from nine theological faculties, seven
dioceses and four provinces, as well as two highly qualified
psychiatrists. Consulting their colleagues in their respective
fields, all these people worked for three full years. The Holy See
was informed about their work and the events. Today, the
Commission set by the Yugoslavian Bishops' Conference is studying
the same problems.
In the meantime, there were some who were in a hurry and wanted to
go ahead, before the Church's verdict. They proclaimed the
existence of miracles and supernatural happenings; from the altar
they preached private revelations, a breach to Church regulations
as long as those revelations have not been recognized as
authentic. For this reason, various Church authorities kept
warning against organizing pilgrimages and to wait for the
Church's verdict. On March 24, 1984, the Commission on the
Medjugorje events also issued a warning. Unfortunately all this
remained fruitless. Then, in the month of October of the same
year, the Yugoslavian Bishops' Conference issued an order
prohibiting official pilgrimages to Medjugorje; and an official
pilgrimage was defined as any group organized to come to
Medjugorje. This did not help either. Later, on May 13, 1985, the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith sent a special letter
to the Italian Bishops' Conference asking the bishops to
discourage organized pilgrimages... as well as all forms of
propaganda. This did not bring any results either. Finally, when
the second Commission was set up, His Eminence Cardinal Franjo
Kuharic, and the Ordinary of Mostar, declared on behalf of the
Yugoslavian Bishops' Conference in their January 9, 1987 press
release: "For that reason, it is not permitted either to organize
pilgrimages or to arrange other manifestations motivated by the
supernatural character which might be attributed to the Medjugorje
events." This was said by the highest authority in the Church, and
this should not be overlooked as if nothing had been said.
At the outset, when the first news was announced about the
extraordinary happenings in this parish, the Chancery Office of
Mostar intently followed the news and collected everything that
might be of help in the search for truth. The Bishop gave all
latitude to the pastoral personnel and the children, he even
defended them from the attacks of the newsmedia and civil
authorities. We taped all interviews, we gathered chronicles and
diaries, letters, documents, and all this has been studied by the
Commission composed of theology professors and physicians. The
three-year research produced the following result: two members of
the Commission voted in favor of the supernaturality and
authenticity of the Medjugorje events. One member abstained from
voting, another wrote that there was something supernatural at the
beginning only, while eleven members of the Commission voted
against the supernatural character of those events, and thus, that
there were no apparitions.
I am deeply convinced that all the members of the Commission
worked conscientiously and examined everything that might be of
help in finding the truth. The Church cannot risk her credibility,
and often in similar cases she carefully probed these kinds of
events and banned crowds from gathering where it had been
established that the events were not of supernatural origin. It is
sufficient to recall Garabandal in Spain, San Damiano in Italy,
and tens of similar cases in recent years. In Garabandal the
visionaries kept saying that the Madonna had promised a big sign
for the entire world. Since then twenty-five years have passed and
that big sign has not appeared. Had the Madonna left a sign here,
everybody would know what this is all about.
The Madonna, they say, started to appear on the Podbrdo of the
Mountain Crnica, but when the militia forbade going there, she
came into houses, into forests, fields, vineyards and tobacco
fields; she appeared in the church, on the altar, in the sacristy,
in the choir loft, on the roof, on the church steeple, on the
roads, on the way to Cerno, in a car, on busses, in classrooms, in
several places in Mostar and Sarajevo, in monasteries in Zagreb,
Varazdin, Switzerland and Italy, once again on the Podbrdo, atop
Krizevac, in the parish, in the rectory, etc. It is certain that
not even half of the places where the alleged apparitions have
taken place have been mentioned, so much so that an earnest man-
who venerates the Madonna-asked himself: "My Madonna, what are
they doing to you?"
In this diocese, by divine decree, I am the shepherd, teacher of
faith, and judge in the matters of faith. Since Medjugorje's
events have created tension and division within the Church (some
believe in it, some do not), and have evaded Church control, since
the recommendations and decisions of the said authorities such as
the Commission, the Congregation, and the Bishops' Conference have
been ineffective, I, the Ordinary of Mostar, responsible before
God for the discipline in the diocese, repeat and sanction former
decisions of the ecclesiastical authorities. I do forbid the
priests who organize pilgrimages or come here ascribing a
supernatural character to these events, to celebrate Mass in the
territory of my diocese, and this until the Commission of the
Bishops' Conference ends its inquiry.
I turn to you, Immaculate Virgin and Mother, Mother of God and
Mother of the Church, Mother of this congregation which is looking
for you, prays to you and loves you. I am turning to you, as your
servant and Bishop of Mostar, and before the entire world I
proclaim my deep and unshakeable faith in all the privileges that
God has endowed you with, by which you are the first and the most
distinguished creature. I also affirm my deep and unshakeable
faith in your intercession with almighty God for all the needs of
your children in this valley of tears. I assert my deep and
unshakeable faith in your love toward us sinners, and that love
you confirmed with your apparitions and assistance. I myself have
led pilgrimages to Lourdes. Exactly through the virtue of that
faith, I your servant, Bishop of Mostar, before the great
multitudes which called on you, find and accept your great sign
which became sure and clear after these six years. I am not in
need of a special sign, but it is necessary to those who believed
in the untruth. That sign to me is that for six years you
steadfastly remained silent to all rumors about the sign: it will
be, they said, on the hillside of apparitions, visible and
permanent; it is going to be realized soon; it will be before
long, in a while; be patient for a while, so they were saying in
1981... Then again: it will be realized on the feast of the
Immaculate Conception, for Christmas, for the New Year. etc.
Thank you, Madonna, because with your long silence of six years
you have demonstrated that you have not spoken here, nor appeared,
nor given any message or secret nor promised a special sign.
Blessed Virgin, Mother of Christ and of us, intercede for peace in
this restless region of the Church, in the diocese of Mostar,
intercede especially for this place, for this parish, where
innumerable times your blessed name was mentioned in words which
were not yours. Make them stop fabricating messages in your name.
Accept, Blessed Virgin, satisfaction through the sincere prayers
of the devout souls who have no part in fanaticism and
disobedience to the Church. Let us all reach the real truth. Dear
Madonna, humble and obedient servant of God, let the faithful of
Medjugorje follow with their firm steps the shepherd of the local
Church so that all of us might together glorify and praise you in
truth and love. Amen!
+ Pavao Zanic, Bishop
Mostar, July 24, 1987
