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March 08, 2010
New Vatican Initiative on Medjugorje?
(Jimmy Akin)
It may well just be rumor, but there are increasing reports in the press that the Vatican will initiate a new initiative on Medjugorje.
Specifically: It's reported that the Holy See will create a commission under the direction of Cardinal Camillo Ruini (pictured, left), who news reports describe as being associated with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, though I haven't been able to establish that by Googling.
We'll have to see if this pans out, though there are significant indications that it might.
Still, WE'VE HEARD THIS BEFORE.
If a commission is established, what will its verdict be?
We may never know.
The Holy See could take its results under advisement and never say anything.
If we do hear back, both sides should be prepare for something that doesn't fit their script (we have a pope of surprises, after all).
And one should not overlook what is currently published on the Diocese of Mostar's web site.
Posted by Jimmy Akin | Permalink
Comments
Thanks Jimmy.
Whatever the outcome of any new investigation, I find this general reminder about the status of 'private revelation' helpful. [My emphasis]
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church 66-67
There will be no further Revelation
"The Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new and definitive Covenant, will never pass away; and no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ." Yet even if Revelation is already complete, it has not been made completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of the centuries.
Throughout the ages, there have been so-called "private" revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ's definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.
Christian faith cannot accept "revelations" that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment, as is the case in certain non-Christian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such "revelations".
Posted by: Leo | Mar 8, 2010 2:55:11 PM
Jimmy, I suspect that either I am misreading you here, or you are misreading the passage from Panorama you quote in the post at your NCReg blog. I think they are saying, not that Cardinal Ruini is personally associated with CDF, but that the commission of inquiry he is chairing is associated with CDF.
Posted by: Paul | Mar 8, 2010 3:19:43 PM
Thanks for covering this, Jimmy.
As a bonus, here's a new article from Bishop Perić reviewing ten cases of messages that are incoherent or doctrinally problematic:
http://catholiclight.stblogs.org/archives/2010/03/the-deviations-of-medjugorje.html
The visionaries are downright funny at times. For example, when Vicka has a vision of Heaven, she says no one there is fat, and sort of obsesses about the point. Since I have a devotion to St. Thomas Aquinas, I personally find that hard to believe.
Posted by: RC | Mar 8, 2010 3:46:58 PM
"Since I have a devotion to St. Thomas Aquinas, I personally find that hard to believe."
G.K. Chesterton would be surprised, too, I think.
Posted by: Tim J. | Mar 8, 2010 5:56:54 PM
Well, nobody in Heaven but Mary and Jesus (and possibly Enoch et al) has a body in Heaven. So it would be a bit hard to be fat, unless Mary ate a lot of her own Jewish mother cooking! (Which, now that I think about it, is actually fairly likely. A lot of Jewish older ladies get a bit stout, in an energetic and attractive way.)
Now... whether anybody's glorified body is stout, particularly after the general resurrection and running around in the heavenly Jerusalem on the new earth, I don't know. But if martyrs' wounds are glorified, it's certainly possible for Aquinas and Chesterton to have glorified tubbiness. It would indeed be a case of having more there to love. :)
Posted by: Maureen | Mar 8, 2010 7:18:18 PM
That point -- that no one in Heaven except Jesus, Mary, and maybe Enoch or Elijah has his body -- relates to one of the doctrinal deviations involved.
The "messages" of Medjugorje said that people in Heaven and Hell have their bodies now, as if the resurrection of the body had already happened. No wonder CDF wanted Tomislav Vlasic to take a remedial course on the Nicene Creed.
Posted by: RC | Mar 8, 2010 8:01:46 PM
Here's a strange message from Medjugorje on Mary's role in the Church:
September 4, 1982
"Jesus prefers that you address yourselves directly to Him rather than through an intermediary. In the meantime, if you wish to give yourselves completely to God and if you wish that I be your protector, then confide to me all your intentions, your fasts, and your sacrifices so that I can dispose of them according to the will of God."
Posted by: Nick | Mar 8, 2010 11:39:48 PM
In case you're wondering what an atypical discussion on Medjugorje's fruits is, here is a sample: http://medjugorje-online.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=156210
But this might not be the case for everyone!
Posted by: Nick | Mar 8, 2010 11:53:14 PM
As someone from Corpus Christi might say, "Howdy y'all. Tune in to "Catholic Answers Live" on March 24, with guest Patrick Madrid. We're covering this announcement....and the all the main points of the neverending Medjugorje saga. Thanks for posting on it, Jimmy. I have to gently disagree with your assessment of the outcome, though. Both the late Bishop Zanic and now Bishop Peric have practically begged the Holy See to put a bow on this phenomenon once and for all. After two episcopal judgments and the findings of three national Bishops' Commissions (which have fallen on mainly deaf ears) the faithful around the world *really* need to hear from Rome in a definitive way. Not that the zealots will lose their zeal....but still.
"No definitive teaching" from the CDF on this is highly unlikely, owing to the global division that has already shown itself. No one is saying that it is, but this is far from a US-based enthusiasm. A great many countries have some contingent of Medj zealots who routinely disregard the directives of the local Ordinary. Such a state of confusion and fractiousness in the Church can't go on forever. God forbid.
We'll be discussing this and other fact-based dimensions of Medjugorje on March 24. Check out the radio link at catholic.com or Channel 160 on Sirius. That toll free number is 888-318-7884!
Patrick
Posted by: Patrick Coffin | Mar 9, 2010 2:23:07 PM
Jimmy said: “It may well just be rumor, but there are increasing reports in the press that the Vatican will initiate a new initiative on Medjugorje.”
Fresh initiative could be restructuring the diocese of Mostar-Duvno and creating a new bishopric for the parish of Medjugorje. Following the exodus of tens of thousands of Catholics from Bosnia & Herzegovina and not returning after the war, a rethink on diocesan boundaries is up for discussion. Shifting Medjugorje could solve a lot of problems for the current bishop of Mostar and the Holy See. Perhaps the bishop’s visit to Rome last weekend had nothing to do with talk of a new commission?
Posted by: pilgrim | Mar 10, 2010 2:12:47 PM
I was very happy and thankful to read that the Vatican confirmed the establishment of the commission.
ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON MEDJUGORJE
VATICAN CITY, 17 MAR 2010 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office today published the following communique:
"An international investigative commission on Medjugorje has been constituted, under the presidency of Cardinal Camillo Ruini and dependent upon the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Said commission - made up of cardinals, bishops, specialists and experts - will work privately, submitting the results of its work to the authority of the dicastery".
OP/INVESTIGATIVE COMMISSION/RUINIVIS 100317 (80)
St. Patrick pray for us!
Take care and God bless,
Inocencio
J+M+J
Posted by: Inocencio | Mar 17, 2010 3:24:07 PM
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