Paul KeenanThe Vatican has warned Catholics not to participate in events where the alleged Medjugorje visionaries promise apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In a letter to the bishops of the United States, dated October, but only coming to light this week, Papal Nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano insists that “clerics and the faithful are not permitted to participate in meetings, conferences or public celebrations during which the credibility of such ‘apparitions’ would be taken for granted”.
The note comes from the Vatican’s powerful doctrine watchdog the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The wording of the message is a reminder to Catholics that alleged events at Medjugorje are still under investigation by Rome, and Archbishop Vigano’s letter notes that, in the absence of a definitive judgement from the CDF on Medjugorje, Catholics should be guided by the 1991 message of the bishops of the then-Yugoslavia that “on the basis of the research that has been done, it is not possible to state that there were apparitions or supernatural revelations”.
It is further reported that, on foot of the Nuncio’s letter, two planned appearances by Medjugorje seer Ivan Dragicevic in the US were cancelled.
Mr Dragicevic, one of the alleged Medjugorje seers, had been scheduled to appear at two New England parishes in late October. However, both events were subsequently cancelled.