(Photo: Reuters/ Damir Sagolj)
Christian Post Report – A reported apparition site of the Virgin Mary in the Bosnian town of Medjugorge.
The Vatican is expected to make a ruling on the highly controversial apparitions of the Madonna which allegedly first began in the Bosnian town of Medjugorje in 1981.
Six children in the obscure town first reported seeing Jesus’ mother Mary in a vision and since then the town has become a major pilgrimage site. Many critics however have dismissed the apparitions as a hoax.
Pope Francis commented on the Vatican deliberations on the apparitions while flying back to Rome from a recent visit to Sarajevo, according to Reuters and he says a ruling is expected soon.
“We are about to make decisions and then they will be communicated,” he said after being asked about the Vatican investigation into the alleged apparitions.
Pope Francis also stated that he recently received a long study by a Vatican commission and that the case was now before the Holy See’s doctrinal department, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
An international commission of Catholic cardinals, bishops, theologians and other experts were set up in 2010 to investigate the claims of the six young people who claim that Mary appeared to them daily starting in 1981.
The commission has completed its study and Pope Francis said the members “did a beautiful job.”
Medjugorje is home to around 4000 people and has become a place of spiritual pilgrimage since the sightings began. The town’s local Bishop Ratko Peric of Mostar-Duvno said he believes nothing supernatural is happening there.
The Vatican has said individual diocese should not organize official pilgrimages to Medjugorje. Catholics are free to visit the town and pray there and the Diocese of Mostor-Duvno normally organizes pastoral care for them.
Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed that the Church never requires Catholics to believe in apparitions, even those that are officially recognized by the Vatican.
The Christian Post contacted the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for comment on the ruling but the organization did not respond in time for this story.
Source : Christian Post