Historic Moment for Many Catholics …
After 5 years of investigation, Vatican committee concludes “Early Medjugorje apparitions were real.”
Contradicting recent statements of skepticism — including those of Pope Francis — the Vatican commission established by Pope Benedict XVI to study the Medjugorje apparitions in Bosnia-Herzegovia, voted overwhelmingly to recognize as supernatural the first seven days.
The “real core” of the commission’s report, said Pope Frances, is “the spiritual fact, the pastoral fact” that thousands of pilgrims go to Medjugorje and are converted. “For this there is no magic wand; this spiritual-pastoral fact cannot be denied.”
The spiritual fruits of the pilgrimages, he said, are the reason why in February he appointed Polish Archbishop Henryk Hoser of Warsaw-Praga to study the best ways to provide pastoral care to townspeople and the pilgrims.
According to Vatican Insider, 13 of the 14 commission members present at one meeting voted to recommend lifting the Vatican ban on official diocesan and parish pilgrimages to Medjugorje.
The commission also recommended turning the town’s parish church of St James into a pontifical shrine with Vatican oversight. The move, the commission said, would not signify recognition of the apparitions, but would acknowledge the faith and pastoral needs of the pilgrims while ensuring a proper accounting of the financial donations pilgrims leave.
The commission’s role was to make recommendations to the Pope; its report is not an official church judgment on the apparitions.
See also:
http://www.mysticpost.com/2017/05/historic-moment-many-catholics-vatican-investigation-concludes-medjugorje-apparitions-real/
A new Medjugorje book! OF MEN AND MARY: How Six Men Won the Greatest Battle of Their Lives. Endorsed by Fr. Donald Calloway and Fr. Gary Thomas.
The Medjugorje book, Full of Grace: Miraculous Stories of Healing and Conversion through Mary's Intercession. Endorsed by Wayne Weible, with a foreword by Fr. Robert Faricy.