Rome Finally speaks to the Medjugorje Phenomenon

I just came across a translated interview relating that the Pope has definitively spoken on the question of Medjugorje's legitimacy as a Marian apparition. The whole interview is worth careful and deliberative reading. I will here only quote two exchanges that deal with the often overlooked history of the Medjugorje shrine and its significnce.

9. Based on some talks with some Croats and some reports, it can be concluded that Medjugorje is a mass movement which, on a subconscious level, excuses the bloody things done, mostly, against Serbs, but also against Gypsies and Jews, unfortunately, by certain number of Croats known as Ustashas? What is your opinion about this?

Jones: There are many levels to the Medjugorje phenomenon, and one of them may very well be the collective guilt which the village felt because of its role in the massacre of Surmanci, which took place just on the other side of the apparition hill. There were also numerous links between the Medjugorje branch of the Franciscans and the Ustashe. I personally saw the pictures of Ustashe soldiers on the wall of the monastery at Siroki Brijeg when I visited there. Jozo Zovko deliberately injected a political note into the apparitions when he put the grb on the altar during the early celebrations of Mass at the time of the first apparitions in 1981.

11. What do we do with Medjugorje? What do we do with the fraud lasting for 28 years now?

Jones: All we can do is to continue to tell the truth. My hope is that the recognition of the truth about Medjugorje at the highest level of the Catholic Church will lead to reconciliation — particularly between Catholics and Orthodox in the Balkans — and the healing of the wounds which this hoax has caused.

This detail has long been known in the Orthodox world as a central point of scandal and apparent betrayal in Rome's protestations of its desire for reconciliation with the Orthodox Church. Perhaps more forthright actions like this recent one by good Pope Benedict will help restore and build the necessary sense of trust and transparency that will soon (please God!) bring about the true Unity of the Faith.

Read the entire interview here.