Today is the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima, commemorating the first apparition of the Blessed Lady in White to three peasant children in Fatima, Portugal 96 years ago. In four more years, it will be the 100th anniversary of the apparitions. Despite the psycho-babble over the years which has attempted to explain the whole phenomenon in terms of psychological repression and projection on the part of the eldest child, Lucy dos Santos, there is something deeply moving about this whole story - inexplicable, mysterious, holy. The story of the children's lives is one of suffering, trials and contradictions, endless contradictions, which one wouldn't wish on any child.
Pope Francis received the original Fatima stature into St. Peter's Square last evening, followed by prayers and a vigil. This Sunday morning, he celebrated Mass in St Peter's Square before a large crowd of faithful and devout "Marianists," to coin a word. It was a moving experience to witness Pope Francis' evident deep devotion to Mary in her Fatima manifestation. However, to be honest, I found it so disconcerting to witness the preponderance of male clerics dominating the services, no women priests apparent anywhere (of course). But at this point in history, it is such a jarring vision to see, and tends to mar the ceremonies.
Blue Eyed Ennis has some wonderful links to videos of the events at her very spiritual blog.
I am also a devotee of Fatima, despite the numerous signs of contradiction surrounding these phenomena. Every corrupt Portuguese dictator has felt compelled pro forma to sink to his knees before the same stature that so moved the Holy Father last evening. Right wring groups of every shade and persuasion have appropriated the legend for their own uses, thereby alienating more liberal Christians who shun such manifestations of religious fanaticism. And homophobia, in particular, is rampant and virulent among Fatima devotees, to a very alarming extent. This alone should give pause to any gay Christians. Yet, I continue to discern Our Blessed Mother's true presence here, calling all of us, across all ideological lines, to a life of penance, prayer and sacrifice. And I believe she calls persons of my own orientation and persuasion precisely to make the point that her apparitions are not to be appropriated by any extremist faction, however loudly they proclaim their ownership. Fatima is holy and sacred, the children reached heights of loving sacrifice that were astonishing, and Sister Lucy lived to nearly 90, both blind and deaf before her passing in 'the odor of sanctity'. There is a mystery here that defies explanation, whatever the human element may be.
The apparitions of Garabandal, Spain (remember those) in the 1960's have been long eclipsed by its more flamboyant and famous younger sister, Medjugorje in Bosnia. Yet Garabandal has been linked to Fatima, and some are predicting that the long awaited consummation of Garabandal will take place in 2017, on the 100th anniversary of Fatima. I was profoundly moved by the Garabandal story while in the Sacred Heart Jesuit Novitiate in Los Gatos , California. I have remained among the small, loyal remnant who - 48 years later - are still waiting for Garabandal's moment to arrive. One of the original visionaries has passed on, one has 'defected' and denied the apparitions, The two other visionaries, now in their sixties, remain faithful and patient, living ordinary married lives, with children and grandchildren. Like Fatima and Medjugorje, the call is the same, prayer, prayer and more prayer, penance, sacrifice and prayer, and great devotion to the Holy Eucharist. There is little that is controversial or partisan about the messages of these appearances. Yet it remains a mystery why 'the conservative right' rushes to own them with disconcerting noise and fanfare, while the more liberal part of the church finds the whole phenomenon distasteful. That is a generalization, of course, but fairly accurate on the whole. I remain one of the strange exceptions, but while we are few, we are not alone. Two summers ago, during the 30th anniversary of the apparitions at Medjugorje (another shrine surrounded by contradictions), I sat next to two very progressive nuns from a liberated order. Their habits consisted of long skirts with a beautiful, colorful weave, white flowing silken long sleeved blouses, simple wooden crosses around their necks, no head coverings, and long, flowing grey hair, gracefully coifed down their backs. Their very appearance bespoke dedicated spiritual women, who valued their own feminine natures and beauty and were in no way espousing the traditional ascetic image of self denial of most religious sisters. We got into a conversation, I told them I was a gay Catholic living on the edge, and they responded simply and warmly. One of them told me with deep sympathy about the gay issue, "The Church does change, slowly, very slowly, but change does come." She gave me such a warm, understanding smile. Gracious, intelligent, liberated, progressive - and here they were honoring Our Lady at the shrine of Medjugorje in Bosnia Herzogovina. Mary is calling many of us of a similar outlook and orientation to journey to her shrines, to honor her, to receive her call and her graces, and to witness to others that such a call is not in contradiction to our own most cherished values and principles. Mary is for all, and the call to prayer, penance and sacrifice can be embraced by all of us from one end of the spectrum to the other in this sacred family called church. Let us not let one end of the spectrum so dominate the conversation that the simple grace and beauty of Mary's call becomes confused with the cacophony of human ego.
I've just finished reading the trinity of books by Rawandan genocide survivor, Immaculee Ilibagiza, and the experience was so profound and moving it will take me several weeks of reflections to absorb the full experience. This was a literary encounter with one of the most extraordinary spiritual witnesses of our times.
I read the books in reverse chronological order, however, the last, Our Lady of Kibeho, I read first, followed by the middle book, Led By Faith, followed by her bestseller, Left to Tell. This gave me a unique perspective on the evolution of this woman's faith and her ascent to holiness, because the last book in the series, Our Lady of Kibeho, recounts the enormous impact which the 1981-85 apparitions of Our Lady to three schoolgirls in Kibehoo had upon the childhood faith of Immaculee. She became completely absorbed, almost obsessed, with the apparitions and followed the news stories of the event assiduously, begging her father to one day take her to the site of the apparitions as they were taking place. However, her father, a cautious man, refused to take his youngest child, though he did go himself several times, returning with many stories and anecddotes as well as expressing his faith in the authenticity of the visions being given to three young African schoolgirls. Immaculee yearned to visit the shrine herself, but she would be in her twenties before the opportunity finally presented itself. We learn through this book, however, that her Catholic faith was profoundly shaped by her devotion to Our Lady of Kibeho, and that when she passed through the horrors of the genocide, with all but one member of her family killed, it was the memory of these Marian visions which sustained her faith in God and Mother Mary.The rosary became her lifeline and she clung to the rosary of her father, the last tangible sign left to her of his loving presence.
The Vatican would eventually approve the apparitions of Kibeho in 2003, and indeed, in light of the Rawandan genocide, how could they not. Looking back on the events thirty years later, we can only be shocked and moved by these events - which are hardly known in the 'Western' Christian world. In short, Our Lady predicted - in a shocking and graphic manner - the 1994 Rwandan genocide, showing to the three schoolgirls graphic visions of thousands upon thousands of bloodied, murdered Rwandans with their heads and limbs hacked off. These visions were given to the girls during what was to have been a day of great celebration, with 20,000 Rwandans gathered at Kibeho to witness what they believed would be apparitions of joy, encouragement and peace. Instead, the three girls - who during previous apparitions had been rapturously joyful - were seen screaming and writhing in agony at the apparition site. It was a shocking event for all the participants and completely unexpected. It was also deeply disturbing and portentous. The message, of course, was the same as with so many previous Marian apparitions. If the world - and in this case - Rwanda - did not repent, a great evil would descend upon the country, a horror of bloodshed and murder. Sadly, fourteen years later, this came to pass. Many Catholic believers -who found their faith profoundly shaken by the genocide - were also sustained in their faith by the knowledge that the Merciful Mother of the Lord had warned her children of this eventuality.
This is only a short summary of the book, however, because the story is so extraordinary and multidimensional that it requires a careful reading to fully absorb it, particularly in the way the apparitions 'spread' from one girl to another. However, what struck me about the event was this. The apparitions occurred in the same year that the apparitions first began in Medjugorje, Bosnia, 1981, and these visions began (depending on accounts) with a vision of a Lady in White weeping on a hill crying out for peace. Some ten years later the first skirmishes of the horrific Yugoslav wars began and fourteen years later, at the time of the Rwandan genocide, the Yugoslav wars had reached a peak of ferocious intensity. The coincidence, to me, is more than striking.
Medjugorje did not contain graphic visions of the Yugoslav wars, but similar to the apparitions of Garabandal, Spain in the 1960's, the visions did warn of a great chastisement coming upon human kind if we did not repent in the future. Ordinarily, I don't focus upon the prophecies of the future of either Medjugorje or Garabandal, but the apparitions at Kihebo have moved me to make this reflection. Just as the prophetic visions of Kibeho were intended to comfort and support devout Catholics (and any who believe) through an impending trial by storm, it has always been my conviction that this is the primary purpose of Medjugorje and Garabandal, at least the prophetic aspects of these events. Something is coming down upon us of enormous magnitude and unimaginable suffering, and many sincere, devout Christians who have visited these shrines and believed in them, will no doubt be succored and comforted in the future by the memory that such trials were predicted. It is also possible that those who feel led to Medjugorje are those most in need of support during this time of trial, or those most authentically called to offer comfort and support to others. The admonition that the impending trials can be mitigated if enough devout believers lovingly practice penance and sacrifice must be taken as poetic metaphor (not to denigrate the value of prayer and sacrifice and their possible salutary effect upon the future). Since the fast majority of the world's peoples have never heard of Medjugorje (let alone Garabandal, which has been eclipsed by it's younger sister) and if they heard of the apparitions, they would not know what to make of these strange events, the message of penance and sacrifice is already limited demographically. In other words, the visions and prophecies should not be seen as a desperate call to 'change the world' before it is too late. but rather as visions of hope and comfort to be remembered 'after the fact' during a time of terrible and overwhelming suffering. We are being prepared to pass through a dark night and perhaps those most in need of succor and support are precisely those who feel most deeply called to visit these holy places of Mary's visitation. Mary is preparing us.
This was the opinion expressed by the lead visionary of Garabandal, Conchita Gonzalez, in a 1980 Spanish TV interview, during which she expressed her belief that it was unrealistic to expect the world to 'repent' in time to ward off the 'chastisement' and as a result she feared for the lives of her children, who she said, would experience the brunt of the catastrophe in their own lives.
She implied that she herself would not be alive to pass through the full force of this future trial, thereby implicitly placing the fulfillment of the prophecies of Garabandal far into the future (as of 1980). Conchita Gonzales is now 62 years old, and for whatever reason, monies are pouring into this tiny hamlet in Northern Spain, the road of ascent is being widened to accommodate a massive influx of pilgrims - after years of relative obscurity-the infrastructure is being developed, hostels put up. Where is the money coming from and why, now in the second decade of the 21st century? Someone knows something, it seems. As with Medjugorje, tales of financial malfeasance are already swirling about and rumors - which I hold to be trustworthy - of Opus Dei seeking to control the tourist trade. Difficult to know what to make of it all, but I was always impressed by the deep spirituality and integrity of this lead visionary, who has remained virtually silent over the past fifty years, living her own quiet live as wife and mother in upper New York State. Yet there are signs and 'whispers' that Conchita, who alone 'knows' the date of the expected 'Miracle', is quietly preparing the devotees of the apparitions for their final fulfillment.
(as an aside, here is an interesting question presented to Conchita in a 1973 interview - Conchita no longer grants interview, but in light of so many revelations over the past fifty years, the statement reverberates in the heart)
Doctor: What do you think about the statement
that "many cardinals, bishops and priests are on the road to perdition?"
Conchita: I think every day the Virgin appeared
she mentioned priests and that we should pray for them. We never understood
why. For us priests were like saints because we never had many come to
our village. It was considered a privilege whenever one came.
Regarding bishops and cardinals,
we thought it very strange, but we would repeat it the way she said it.)
For any interested in information about this relatively obscured apparition in Garabandal, Spain in the 1960's (obscured by the greater notoriety of Medjugorje) here are several websites. They must be read with careful discernment, however, particularly by anyone of a more liberal Catholic outlook.
It may seem as if I've wandered off topic, but not really. I believe that Garabandal, the approved apparitions of Kibeho, and Medjugorje are united by a common vision and form a trinity of intention on the part of the Mother of the Lord. They are linked together and Kibeho is the key that unlocks the mystery of the other two. We are being prepared for a time of great trial and suffering and the merciful Mother of the Lord is calling us, through her manifold visitations, to absolute faith and trust in the ultimate wisdom and compassion of the Lord of History, no matter what trials may come. Part of this trust and faith, however, entails seeing through the signs of contradiction and even the sinfulness and evil swirling around the apparition sites themselves and not allowing ourselves to be weakened in our faith in the sacredness of their deepest center of holiness. Such is the life of faith in the whole Church itself, seeing the evil without denial, but adhering to the absolute goodness and sacredness within the heart of Mother Church herself - wounded, tattered, sinful, holy, compassionate, wise.
Having read Immaculee Ilibagiza's third book in her trilogy, Our Lady of Kibeho, which described the formation of her Catholic faith in the light of the apparitions and her profound devotion to Our Lady, I fully expected her to have mentioned this fact in her two previous books, which recount her ordeals through the genocide itself, her maturing faith and intimacy with God during this terrible time, and the journey of faith she underwent in the immediate years after the genocide, as she attempted to heal her soul and pull the pieces of her life together. However, this is not the case. Though she does mention her deep devotion to Our Lady and the rosary as the mainstays of her faith during this terrible time, she does not mention the source of this faith in her early childhood awareness of the apparitions at Kibeho. Prudently, perhaps, because she wished to reach the widest audience with her two earlier books, she saves this most intimate disclosure for last - and for those who feel called to journey in faith with her through to her third book. It was a wise choice.
Unfortunately, as usual, I'm rushing through this blog post before taking off for two more weeks of summer camp with Czech children, so I can't do justice to Immaculee's two extraordinary accounts of her spiritual passage through the genocide. I can only urge you to read these books, which are among the most inspiring stories of faith of our time. There is a reason why her first book, Left to Tell, has become an international bestseller, with over 350,000 copies sold worldwide (as of this writing). It recounts Immaculee's horrific ordeal during the genocide, when she was sealed up together with seven other women in a tiny bathroom in the house of a Protestant pastor, who wavered in his commitment to protect them, with the killers screaming right outside the door, calling for blood and vengeance. Yet for some inexplicable reason the killers never discovered the women's hiding place, despite being within inches of the door several times. This tiny, cramped, confined space (in which the women had to relieve themselves in close proximity to each other, but which they quickily accepted as a minor inconvenience) became Immaculee's inner monastery of prayer and solitude. Because the women could not even whisper a word for fear of being overhead by the pastor's family who did not know of their presence, Immaculee spent most of her time - up to fifteen hours a day - absorbed in the most intense prayer. As a result of this enforced, prolonged and very intense retreat, experienced under the most harrowing pressure, Immaculee evolved with astonishing speed through the stages of the spiritual life - and that is a very dry descriptive account of the experience she relates. It has to be read to be believed. She reached a depth of serenity, peace and and heartfelt acceptance that can only be called a miracle of grace. This was a depth of surrender under trial usually demonstrated by the great saints of the tradition. Clearly, Immaculee was 'gifted by grace' so that she would be 'left to tell' her story of transformation, that the Spirit of Love and forgiveness can be reached through total surrender in trust to the indwelling Spirit, even when experiencing the greatest threat to one's own life. As a result, when Immaculee finally emerged into freedom, she realized she had been spared because she had been called by 'God' to witness to the power of forgiveness. In one deeply moving scene, Immaculee travels to the prison to visit the head Hutu who directly orchestrated the murders of her mother and father, and who sought her own death so ferociously. She even heard him screaming outside the bathroom door (hidden by a wardrobe), "Where is that cockraoch Immaculee. "Find her, kill her, smash her. " Once in front of her 'enemy,' who cowered in her presence, Immaculee tells him simply and peacefully that she forgives him. It is a powerful moment, but it can only be believed and comprehended by reading her full account. Only then does the reader understand that this is not a facile forgiveness, but springs from the depths of a heart deeply wounded by suffering and even more profoundly healed by grace. Immaculee does reiterate throughout the book her belief that the killers must be apprehended and properly punished for their crimes, but she calls for this (not their deaths) for the sake of their own souls, for their repentance, and not for any wish of her own for vengeance. It is the great message of the book and the single, fundamental message of her own ordeal. Forgiveness is all. Forgiveness of our enemies lies at the heart of the Christian message. "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." Forgiveness forged through suffering and through the divine union she experienced through nine months of confinement in a bathroom space so small she could never stretch out her legs - squatting for nine months under imminent threat of death, but attending to the gentle live giving breathe of the Spirit within- forgiveness is the only force that can truly heal the wounds of the genocide. It is a message few of her fellow Tutsi survivors were willing to hear.
As a result of her attitude and practice of forgiveness - and the story of her encounter with her parents' killer, which reverberated throughout Rwanda - Immaculee received numerous death threats from her fellow Tutsis, who were bent on wreaking vengeance themselves for the horrors of the genocide; In Immaculee's second very moving book, Led by Faith, she recounts how she was led by the Spirit to leave Rwanda and journey through crooked paths and byways to the United States, where she would eventually be employed by the United Nations and where she met her future husband and the father of her two children. It is a deeply moving story of a woman chosen by grace, nourished through the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Kihebo, purified and sanctified by the Spirit through suffering and trial, and 'left to tell' her extraordinary story of mercy and forgiveness. There are no accidents in this world, only mysteries of synchronicity, and Immaculee's story is one of the most providential of all.
And the providential thread that links the apparitions of Kihebo with those of Garabandal and Medjugorje, with their warnings of chastisements yet to come? What are we to make of this connection and how to view it in faith? That is the question I am considering, but I know that the answer lies in absolute surrender in trust, faith and love to the indwelling Presence of the Beloved within, who is also the Lord of History and the Compassionate Mistress/Master of our sufferings and trials. Whatever may be coming, we are comforted, sustained and protected through the life giving Peace that flows through us from the pierced heart of the Crucified and Risen Lord.
Angels figure very prominently in the Marian apparitions of Garabandal, Spain, mainly distributing 'Holy Communion' to the four young visionaries. The essential message of Garabandal, apart from the now familiar call to penance and conversion, is respect for the Eucharist, reverence for priests and the necessity of 'obedience to the Church,' making this Marian visitation more than palatable to the Vatican leadership of the Church. This is in stark contrast to the ecumenical message of Medjugorje, which originated in Communist Yugoslavia in the 80's and witnessed to the necessity for respect and tolerance between religions, particularly Islam and Christianity, some years before the outbreak of the horrific religious/ethnic wars of the 90's. This brings up a very insightful comment made by William Lindsey in response to an earlier post here (September 10):
This makes me wonder about everyone's certainty that the Lady/Gospa is the Virgin Mary. I understand the identification of the person the visionaries saw/see with Mary.
But implicit in that identification is a whole set of assumptions about the "kind of" Virgin Mary that people see when they encounter Mary, which may not be true to the original experience at all. As an example: was the lady with roses whom Juan Diego encountered the Virgin Mary of European iconography, or someone completely different, an Aztec maiden with a different form and message?
I think this comment is spot on. The religious right so quickly assumes that these visitations (and the Lady behind them) are a vindication of their own positions on so many issues within the Church, but significantly a large number of 'rightists' are outraged by Medjugorje's ecumenical tolerance (I've decided not to link to the comments, because they are quite toxic). On the other hand, Garabandal (among the minority who are aware of it) is universally taken to be an endorsement and confirmation ofconservatives' outrage at many of the reforms of Vatican II and what they take to be a resulting neglect of the sacred gift of the Eucharist. Comments tend to focus on the diminished reverence for the Sacrament, the use of inappropriate vessels, the relegating of the Eucharist to a side altar, etc. However, in fairness to the conservative view, I have to say there is a point to this, an inevitable loss of 'attunement' to the charismatic dimension of the Eucharist, but a loss which is perfectly understandable during a time of reform and re-balancing of emphases within the Church. It is a question of finding the right balance and not throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Personally, I have a great devotion to the practice of "Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament" and was quite overwhelmed by the Eucharistic vigil at the Church of the Assumption at Stara Boleslav on the eve of Pope Benedict's visit and mass the next day (an experience I keep trying to get back to and reflect on). This is very much a 'conservative' devotion and very much in vogue here in the Czech Republic. However, this radical gay fairie has a very heterodox relationship to the Eucharist, which I touched on (only very briefly) in a previous post, Emmaus Walk, yet I felt an instant and very powerful connection to the apparitions at Garabandal when they first hit the news in the 1960's without fully understanding the connection. I visited the village in Northern Spain twice, once during the same summer as the election and death of John Paul I and once some fifteen years later, after having passed through a very powerful, transformative experience regarding the Eucharist, which placed me very far outside 'orthodox' conceptions of the sacrament. It was only on this second visit that I clearly understood why the sense of connection was so powerful. Garabandal is the Marian apparition of the Eucharist par excellence and this very heterdox gay fairie was being assured by the 'Lady of the Pines' that the particular charism of the Eucharist that characterizes an essential part of my vocation was more than included in her embrace and blessing at Garabandal (according to my own fallible, subjective experience, of course). In other words, Our Lady of Garabandal is much larger and all-inclusive than the "Virgin Mary" of traditional Catholic piety. Which is why Bill's comment resonated with me so powerfully: implicit in that identification is a whole set of assumptions about the "kind of" Virgin Mary that people see when they encounter Mary, which may not be true to the original experience at all.
Without getting into details, (which I hope to elaborate on at a later date), I believe we are at a momentous turning point where the Sacraments of Eucharist and Ordination are concerned. Somehow, the Eucharist needs to be freed from its present very rigid ecclesiastical control and its absolute dependence on a restricted rite of sacramental ordination. This is such an enormous issue theologically, and one does not tamper lightly with this most sacred element of the Roman Catholic tradition, nor fly in the face of this tradition's profound sense of sacerdotal mystery and the concomitant need for a minister who is specially blessed to officiate and represent the community at its own Eucharist sacrificial celebration. Nonetheless, we are at a radical turning point in the evolution of this sacrament. It began with the Jewish tradition of consuming the sacred temple bread only once a year and only by the high priest alone, with the sacred bread only reserved in the great temple in Jerusalem. It evolved through Christian creative adaptation into daily celebration and consumption of the sacred bread and wine, and its reservation in Churches worldwide (and I'm not implying any sense of Christian supersessionism over Judaism here). It is my deeply held conviction that we are slowly (and clumsily) moving into the next stage of spiritual evolution of this Sacrament, where the Eucharist will move out of exclusive residence in Churches and will be increasingly celebrated within intimate Christian communities and families, with parents celebrating the Eucharist with their children much like the Jewish seder and with the Eucharist reserved in Christian homes. It may take a century or more for this development to occur, but I believe we are riding the wings of the Spirit and this profound liberation is at hand.
I've posted another sane and balanced article on the Shroud by Professor Barrie Schwortz (see post below), because, apart from my own personal reverence for the Shroud, the sacred icon tends to be 'owned' by the ultra-orthodox who use it to assert that Christianity in general, and Roman Catholicism in particular, are the exclusive channels of divine grace and salvation in this world. So apart from Jewish folk and agnostics who believe in the Shroud's authenticity, I felt we needed a few radical gay fairies to come forward and express their support as well, just to shake up those ultra-certain-dox persons of the right.
Barrie Schwortz was the Official Documenting Photographer for the Shroud of Turin Research Project, the team that conducted the first in-depth scientific examination of the Shroud in 1978. Today, he plays an influential role in Shroud research as the editor and publisher of the internationally recognized Shroud of Turin Website (www.shroud.com), the largest and most extensive Shroud resource on the Internet, with visitors from more than 160 countries. Mr. Schwortz has conducted Shroud lectures around the world and is frequently called upon as a leading imaging expert.
I don't know who this Bishop is warmly greeting Barrie Schwortz, but I like his hat! They even look like they might be related. (In fact, this is Archbishop Gewargis Sliwa, of the Assyrian Church of the East (Apostolic Church) of Baghdad, Iraq)
And on another front, Pope Benedict and his 'new' inquisitor, Archbishop soon to be Cardinal Levada, have finally cracked down on the spectacular but unruly Marian shrine of Medjugorje. Before I get into the complications of this issue (and it's so complicated that I dare not get in too deep), let me just say that I feel the restrictions applied to the shrine and village as of September 5, are probably healthy for all concerned. A little distance, silence and solitude will no doubt benefit the last remaining 'visionary' to be receiving 'visitations and messages,' all those tours from Ireland promising a personal interview with a visionary will have to think up a new selling point, and the Franciscans will have to get back in touch with their original charism and practice some measure of detachment regarding the vast sums of money generated by the shrine in the past. Of course, the distance and solitude will only be relative, since ways will be found to make the 'monthly' visitations accessible to the public off of church property. However, there will be a general cooling of the atmosphere and this seems like a spiritually sane turn of events. Things were becoming just a little too weird. This doesn't imply a negative judgment on my part (not that my opinion matters a whit). The whole phenomenon strikes me as an apt metaphor for the whole Roman Catholic Church - at it's core a mystery of inherent sacredness that defies explanation, but surrounding it are whorls and whorls of strangeness, weirdness, fanaticism and deceit. So I think it's time to take the visionary out of the storm and tell everyone to go home (they won't). One look at any of the videos of this woman available on You Tube and I defy anyone to claim that this women is 'faking it.'
And in fact - surprise! - that was the judgment of a commission of scientific experts convened by the diocese of Mostar a year ago to examine Mirjana. The commission expressed their opinion that Mirjana was not faking her visions, but was in fact seeing something of 'supernatural beauty,' at least from her own subjective point of view (repeating the judgments of earlier investigations of all of the visionaries). The commission concluded - very wisely to be sure - that they could not make a judgment about the objective nature or authenticity of Mirjana's visions.
So why the present judgment from Pope Benedict and Levada, stating, not implying, that it's all fakery and hokus pokus? Here are a few clues.
Medjugorje and its vast sums of money are not controlled by Opus Dei, which does control the tourist trade at Lourdes and buses tourists from Lourdes to its own shrine of Santuario de Torreciudad in Spain. As a possible motive, does this surprise anyone?
The Gospa of Medjugorje (The Lady of the Visions), whoever she may be, has proven to be tolerantly ecumenical from day one. Search through all of the statements over the years, remarkable for their blandness, and you will not see any statements that assert the superiority of Christianity or the Roman Catholic tradition. Quite the contrary, when the visionaries asked the Lady for an example of a truly prayerful person, the Lady referred to the one Muslim woman in the village. And there have been repeated statements from the theologically unsophisticated visionaries that the Lady of the Visions asserts that 'all religions are the same' in so far as they lead their adherents to a prayerful connection to the sacred. Well, I'm sorry, that is a position that is anathema to the present Pope, so for this reason more than any other, the crackdown is not a surprise.
We seem to have forgotten over the years the simple fact that these six young children saw a mysterious woman on the hillside, weeping and crying out for 'Peace', six months before the outbreak of the horrendous Yugoslavian war that pitted Christians against Muslims in the most savage example of ethnic cleansing in Europe since the Nazi death camps. This was a barbaric outbreak that took everyone by surprise, because you will search in vain through the commentary of the time to find any political analyst who saw it coming. No matter how 'obvious' the breakup of Yugoslavia after Tito might have seemed in hindsight, no one anticipated the sheer murderous savagery of the war, even in light of Yugoslavia's tragic past. Except six children on a hillside and a weeping Lady in White. Anyone confused by the phenomenon of Medjugorje should rest in contemplation of this simple fact. And let Pope Benedict and Archbishop Levada be the first.
And to offer a more inspirational thought (maybe, maybe not), the roads from the main road up to the mountain top village of Garabandal in Spain are now being repaved and widened in anticipation of a massive influx of pilgrims who will be coming 'soon' to witness the anticipated 'miracle.' "Ahem....excuse me...," you say, "what the hell are you talking about?" To which I reply - You don't remember Garabandal in the 1960's, the site of the Marian apparitions to four young peasant girls that started the craze and which was so quickly overshadowed by its younger sister, Medjugorje?
How quickly we forget. Yes, Garabandal, which has not been condemned by Pope Benedict, is showing signs that it's anticipated consummation may be at hand (whatever that may mean). I visited Garabandal in the 90's also and was immediately impressed by the palpable spirituality of the place. A hilltop of genuine holiness and radiance with a peace that rivals that of Assisi. Is there something providential, then, about the Vatican restrictions on Medjugorje or is it by (sinister) design? Probably a little bit of both. After all, Bishop Jose Vilaplana Vasco, the Bishop of the diocese of Santander until 2007, where Garabandal is located, and its strong supporter, is a known member of Opus Dei, and Garabandal itself is a hundred miles or so away from the Opus Dei Marian shrine of Torreciudad. Let us see what the future may bring.
The Pines of Garabandal
However, to offer a counterbalance, Pope Benedict and Archbishop Levada also cracked down on a visionary of dubious merit (me opinionating here), Father Geno Burresi of the Fatima shrine of San Vittorino outside of Rome. This is old news from 2005, but in fairness to the Vatican watchdogs, it bears mentioning. Father Burresi was (is?) a renowned stigmatist who founded his own religious order and seminary together with a shrine devoted to the Virgin of Fatima at San Vittorino outside of Rome. The story is rather unsavory, so I refer any readers to John Allen's report in the NCR. But the gist of it is that Father Burresi was accused by several of his young seminarians of having lured them to his room at night where he then sexually molested them ("to the point of consummation", says the report!). Here we go again, you say, and you would be right (echoes of Marcial Maciel). This is not the accusation that is at the top of the list, but it probably should be. How wearisome it all gets, especially when you learn of the efforts of Pope John Paul II to protect this man, even to the point of dismissing his accusing superiors from their positions of authority.
I visited San Torrino sometime in the 90's and was sitting alone in the large circular gathering area outside the shrine, when Father Burresi emerged from one of the seminary buildings supported by two very young seminarians and proceeded to take an afternoon stroll around the circle. His wrists were clearly visible bound with black stips of cloth. He cast one brief glance in my direction, but the two young boys (15-16?) watched me carefully like young hawks. At five o'clock, I attended his 'sold-out' Mass in the church and I have to say it was impressive. The Father possessed a demeanor of great dignity and gravitas and the moment of consecration was the most powerfully reverent I have ever witnessed. At this point, I don't quite know what to make of it all. Surely he was not faking his devotion, no one could be that good of an actor, because it was a reverence that seemed seared into his very bones. And yet, call it instinct, but I trust the reports of the dazed and damaged seminarians who charge him with sexual abuse. And so it reminds me of some of the renowned Indian gurus of evident spiritual gifts, but not fully enlightened, who took their spiritual advancement for granted, whose sexuality was not yet fully integrated and who then used their spiritual fame as an excuse for indulging their not yet purified passions. The shock and scandal caused by such behavior is far greater than the abuse committed by a quite ordinary priest or minister. And Father Burresi was no ordinary priest. Every Good Friday, or so the story goes, he underwent the agonies of the Passion, his heart came to a stop and he remained clinically dead for up to 3 minutes, with two doctors on hand to revive him, just in case, which has never been necessary because his heart always resumed beating on its own. Is this story a hoax, just a piece of propaganda, spread by his deluded followers? Who knows? But it does serve as a stern warning where extraordinary phenomenon in the mystical life are concerned. And so I tip my hat to Pope Benedict and Levada for removing this man from the public eye and confining him to a life of penance and contemplation (It's my understanding his victims were of legal age at the time of the incidents, but who can be sure.).
Why does life have to be so complicated with so many signs of contradiction?
But to end on an inspirational note which takes us back to the mystery of the Cross, the Shroud and the witness of Redemptive Suffering in the Church:
