Bosnia: Medjugorje not supernatural.

Christian Order, a monthly Catholic magazine in Britain, and Culture Wars, an American monthly edited by E. Michael Jones, both report that the Bishop of Mostar, Ratko Peric, has ruled out the supernatural character of appearances of Our Lady at the famous place of pilgrimage in Bosnia, Medjugorje.

Christian Order, (Feb. 1998, p. 98) states: "What, unsurprisingly, many readers of The Universe, The Catholic Times, or The Catholic Herald (Editor: all Catholic weeklies in Britain) may be unaware of, is that Our Lady is certainly not appearing at Medjugorje. The local Ordinary, that is the local Bishop who has ecclesiastical competence in such affairs, has concluded this. Both the previous bishop and the present one have published statements making this clear, but then how could readers know this if those newspapers refuse to publish the facts?

"The bishop of Mostar's Vicar General appeared on the Channel Four documentary pointing out that the Church has found and declared that the Mother of God is definitely not appearing at Medjugorje. Another interviewee drew attention to the fact that the Franciscans running Medjugorje are not in good standing with either the local Ordinary, the Holy See, or even their own Order!"

Dr. Jones has forwarded us a photocopy of a letter from Bishop Ratko Peric to the Secretary General of Famille chretienne, Mr. Thierry Boutet in Paris, dated October, 7, 1997. Paragraphs 4 and 5 read as follows:

4) On the basis of the serious study of the case by 30 of our `studiosi' [academics] (well, three Commissions), on my episcopal experience of five years in the Diocese, on the scandalous disobedience that surrounds the phenomenon, on the lies that are at times put into the mouth of the "Madonna," on the unusual repetition of "messages" of over 16 years, on the strange way that the "spiritual directors" of the so-called "visionaries" accompany them through the world making propaganda of them, on the practice that the "Madonna" appears at the "fiat" (let her come!) of the "visionaries," my conviction and position is not only non constat de supernaturalitate [the supernaturality is not proven] but also the other formula, constat de non supernaturalitate [the non-supernaturality is proven] of the apparitions or revelations of Medjugorje.

5) Nevertheless I am open to a study that the Holy See would undertake, as the supreme court of the Catholic Church, to speak the supreme and definitive judgment on the case, and that as soon as possible, for the good of souls and for the honour of the Church and of Our Lady.

signed Ratko Peric

Bishop's seal of Mostar

Editor's note: Bishop Peric's predecessor as Bishop of Mostar, Bishop Zanic, also denied the supernatural character of the appearances.