Medjugorje: 20 years later, the questions linger (Bosnia).Rome--June 24 marked the 20th anniversary of the first reports of Marian apparitions in Medjugorje, the little village in Bosnia-Herzegovina. On that day in 1981, six children of Medjugorje, a hamlet of a few houses located 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Mostar, said they had seen the Blessed Virgin on a nearby hill. Since then, the hamlet has become part of the world circuit of pilgrimages, drawing at least 15 million people. Prayer meetings and associations of all kinds have started worldwide. Still, the Holy See and the Bishop of Mostar have questions about Medjugorje. Two elements in particular have made ecclesial Ec`cle´si`al a. 1. Ecclesiastical. approval of the apparitions difficult: the conduct of the Franciscans who directed the visionaries' parish in Medjugorje; and the quantity and character of the messages attributed to Mary. For now, neither the diocese nor the Holy See has approved or disqualified dis·qual·i·fy tr.v. dis·qual·i·fied, dis·qual·i·fy·ing, dis·qual·i·fies 1. a. To render unqualified or unfit. b. To declare unqualified or ineligible. 2. the apparitions. In September 1998, Archbishop Tarcislo Bertone, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) (Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei), previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, is the oldest of the nine congregations of the Roman Curia. , wrote a letter in response to a question from a French bishop: "We specify that, in regard to the credibility of the alleged apparitions, this dicastery adheres to what was already established by the bishops of former Yugoslavia in the Zara Declaration of April 10, 1991." On that occasion, the Yugoslavian bishops said: "In virtue of through the force of; by authority of. See also: Virtue the investigations conducted to date, it is not possible to affirm that these are supernatural apparitions or revelations." The Vatican aide's letter acknowledged that the investigations do not rule out the apparition apparition, spiritualistic manifestation of a person or object in which a form not actually present is seen with such intensity that belief in its reality is created. reports. So, for now, the apparitions are a matter of personal opinion. Archbishop Bertone confirmed the prohibition to organize official pilgrimages, but explained that "private" pilgrimages are allowed, with the stipulation An agreement between attorneys that concerns business before a court and is designed to simplify or shorten litigation and save costs. During the course of a civil lawsuit, criminal proceeding, or any other type of litigation, the opposing attorneys may come to an agreement that they not be regarded as authentication (1) Verifying the integrity of a transmitted message. See message integrity, e-mail authentication and MAC. (2) Verifying the identity of a user logging into a network. of the events, "which still require an examination by the Church." He suggested that Bosnian bishops study the matter further. (Zenit, 3 July, 2001) |
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