Is the Holy See taking action against Medjugorje?

Catholic Christians who are familiar with the alleged Marian apparitions in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, might be interested in the following developments. Although a definitive judgment has yet to be announced by the Church-a commission formed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has been, or was, investigating Medjugorje over the last few years-there have been recent indications that the Holy See deems the alleged apparitions not worthy of belief.

CHICAGO, IL (Catholic Online) - Catholic Christians who are familiar with the alleged Marian apparitions in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, might be interested in the following developments.

Although a definitive judgment has yet to be announced by the Church-a commission formed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has been, or was, investigating Medjugorje over the last few years-there have been recent indications that the Holy See deems the alleged apparitions not worthy of belief.

According to Crown of Stars,  a pro-Medjugorje blog:

News from Italy is that Ivan Dragicevic's scheduled witness at Saint Bartholomew Church in Mestrino (Padua) on May 22 has been cancelled by the local ordinary, Archbishop Antonio Mattiazzo.

Another Medjugorje seer cancelled her visit to South America in January. Marija Pavlovic had been invited to witness in Nicaragua, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela but organizers gave notice that the seer had cancelled 'due to personal reasons.'
      
And in March 2015 there was this news item out of St. Louis:

Earlier this month, Archbishop Robert Carlson addressed a memo to priests and deacons in the archdiocese:

In recent days, a source informed me that the aforementioned Vatican commission has concluded that the alleged apparitions are false, "but because of the publicity surrounding [them] and the potential chaos that could result from the announcement, the authorities in Rome are sitting on it for now."

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I asked veteran Catholic journalist John L. Allen Jr., associate editor at The Boston Globe and Crux, if he could verify what I was told by my source.

Mr. Allen responded:

"What you describe has actually been the case for a while, reaching back at least to the time when [Cardinal Tarcisio] Bertone was in the [Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]. The dilemma is wanting to back up the local bishops versus not wanting to impugn the legitimate spiritual fruits."

EWTN theologian Colin B. Donovan writes:

"These 2013 letters [from Church officials regarding the alleged seers of Medjugorje] clearly represent a change of pastoral attitude on the part of the Holy See, one which began before the end of the pontificate of Pope Benedict and which has now been affirmed by Pope Francis.

Those earlier statements proscribed pilgrimages organized under official auspices; however, common sense suggests that a conference or other activity sponsored by a diocese, parish or other Catholic institution was also prohibited."

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Matt C. Abbott is a Catholic commentator with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication, Media and Theatre from Northeastern Illinois University. He's been interviewed on MSNBC, NPR, WLS-TV (ABC) in Chicago, WMTV (NBC) in Madison, Wis., and has been quoted in The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. He can be reached at mattcabbott@gmail.com.

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