Our Lady of the Genocides and the Gospel of Forgiveness

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.

For a detailed account of the predictions see here.

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.

http://www.garabandal.org/
http://www.garabandal.com/
http://www.ourlady.ca/info/churchPositionUpdate.html

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.



(Visit Immaculee's website here)

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.

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Back from Bosnia: Marian Apparitions in Kihebo, Rawanda

I've just returned from a summer retreat in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, with five peaceful days spent in the Marian shrine of Medjugorje. Each time I visit this town, I am stunned into silence by the profound and extraordinary peace that pervades the place, a peace so profound and so penetrating that it silences all doubts. An energy this holy cannot be based upon a lie. Still, I spent some time reviewing the many criticisms and accusations about the alleged apparitions still taking place here, and there are signs of contradiction and causes of concern, intermixed with lies and slanders and deliberate obfuscations. Clearly the Blessed Mother, if she is indeed appearing here (as I truly believe) has decided not to make it easy for anyone to reach a judgement about the place - not without considerable prayer and discernment. Which is why I'm with Cardinal Schonborn on this one. If you haven't been here yourself and you haven't subjected the Shrine to your own personal prayerful, interior discernment, then no amount of rational analysis of the pros and cons will do you any good. This is the classic kind of case spoken of by St. Ignatius in The Spiritual Exercises. When you are faced with an issue or a problem in which the negative and the positive seem to be weighed almost equally, then you must resort to a careful discernment of spirits, and ask you self when considering the negative and the positive, which gives you the greater peace. Always go with the peace was the advice given by this great 16th century saint. And the peace of Medjugorje is simply too overwhelming to ignore, it pours into the atmosphere from such a profound source of sacredness and imbues the air with grace and holiness.

Nonetheless,  the town itself has become 'honky tonk city' at night, with wild young men roaring about on giant motorcycles, teenage boys zipping by on the sidewalks on their bicycles with no thought to the pedestrians (I was almost run over by two of them who seemed delighted by my alarm), pubs and bars (a few) bustling with patronage, and everyone eating and drinking, chatting and shopping and having a merry time. As I've said before on this blog, it feels very much like a beach resort in Thailand, without the go go bars and prostitutes. I did stop for a beer in the one semi-night club in town, right at the end of the main road leading to the Church. Rock music videos were blaring from the giant LCD screen, the beat of the music thumping and blaring from the giant speakers. However, during the course of half an hour, I noticed that all of the music videos had been carefully selected for their 'appropriate content,' insuring that the usual sexual images of most music videos were screened out. Making such a selection must have been a daunting task. Yet despite the beat and the beers, and the giant Harleys parked on the curb outside, and the burly, tattooed men at the bar, the club seemed quaintly and charmingly innocent.  Someone had clearly intended it as a fun place to be at night for tourists, without in anyway offending the religious tone of the shrine. I was rather amused, actually, and thought it quite wholesome. How many husbands or sons are dragged to Medjugorje by devout wives and mothers and in need of a little harmless but raunchy release (most of the customers in the club were men).

The tackiness and commercialism of the main street seem to be a necessary prop to the shrine, because one can't but be shocked by the contrast of the bustling commerce going on right outside the sanctuary and the extraordinary radiance of holiness that hits you like a primal force once you step into the sanctuary grounds. It's as if an invisible but palpable spiritual wall protects the sanctuary from the worldliness of the street. I've been to many shrines and holy places in my 68 years, among them Assisi, Jerusalem, Fatima and Lourdes, the sacred temples and mountains of Thailand, but I have never experienced anything like the holiness and peace of Medjugorje.

This same 'effect' is also palpable on Apparition Hill. Once you step off the tiny lane crammed with souvenir shops right up to the very edge of the path of ascent, you are immersed in a sea of tranquility and sacredness that I can only compare feebly to the rush of humidity that hits you when you step off the plane in Bangkok, Thailand. It is that strong a force.

On this visit, I managed for the first time to ascend the second holy mountain in the area, Krizevac Mountain (Holy Cross), an arduous ascent made difficult by the numerous stones placed in the pathway to provide a walkway of penance to pilgrims who make the very moving stations of the cross. I started the ascent at 9 in the morning, before the heat of the day and by 10 I was sweating like a pig. I took refuge in some shade and sat on a rock to drink some water, with my cane resting on my knee. As I was sitting there, four very formidable Italian 'peasant' women (for so they appeared to me) came walking down the rock strewn pathway without any canes and with no hesitation. They were all in their 60's at least, skipping from rock to rock like mountain goats with no hesitation and no sign of strain, and not a drop of sweat, as if to say, "Look at us, you sissies. You call this a penance? Piece of cake."

After a few more minutes I reached the summit and approached the giant white concrete Cross at the top. These crosses are found all throughout BosniaCroatia and instill misgivings in those of us who know the history of violent, intolerant Croatian Catholic nationalism and the forced conversion campaigns in the 40's. These horrendous assaults on conscience, approved by both the Vatican and Cardinal Stepanic (though he timidly distanced himself from some of the more extreme manifestations, without condemning the campaigns themselves) resulted in hundreds of thousands of Orthodox Serbs forced to profess allegiance to the Catholic Church and hundreds of thousands more executed in the most brutal fashion - frequently at the hands of Franciscan priests and nuns. These giant crosses do not give off a very holy resonance, in fact they gave me a chill. There is one looming over the tragic town of Mostar some thirty miles away, scene of some of the most violent clashes between Christians and Muslims during the Yugoslav Wars. This is a city almost evenly divided between Muslims, Catholics and Orthodox Serbs. What must the Muslims and Serbs think of this symbol of Catholic triumphalism dominating the skyline of their war torn city? There is another equally dominant Cross on the mountain top overlooking the city of Dubrovnik, the jewel of the Adriatic. 

Yet the ascent of Mt. Krizevac felt holy and profound to me, as I meditated at each station of the cross on the horrors of religious violence during the Yugoslav wars. What more fitting subject of meditation could there be in this place? After all, Our Lady first appeared here as "Queen of Peace," and early in the apparitions  she was seen by the children weeping on the hillside and crying out, "Peace, peace." The panoramic views of the surrounding plains and valley were also deeply moving, but I can't say I experienced the same peace that was so evident in the santuary down in the valley below and on Apparition Hill.

Thankfully, a Bosnian man was sitting under a tree at the summit with several ice coolers filled with water, fruit drinks and sodas. I went up to speak with him, but his English was limited. But I was struck by his air of humility and gentleness. The average price of a small bottle of water in the shops was 1 euro, and he was charging only 1.50 for providing this service on top of a very high mountain which lacks any road of ascent. This means he must carry the bottles and the ice upon his back every early morning up an ascent that takes an ordinary person with canes over one hour! The thought is simply staggering. How and why does he do it and why doesn't he charge more? I tried to ask him these questions, suggesting that 2 euros would be considered a very fair price for providing such a necessity at the top of Holy Cross mountain. (There have been numerous stories of heat stroke among the pilgrims, particularly the elderly, in attempting the ascent.) No, no, he said, "For the Madonna, for the Madonna." Now that is penance and sacrifice borne out of love, which makes my own sweaty ascent look like a skip in the park.  He also had a very simple souvenir stand next to his ice chests. I bought a beautiful stone cross from him made from the rocks of Medjugorje - for five euros. And then I began the descent, chastened, humbled, moved.

The owner of the pensione where I stayed, Ana, spoke to me with a sad shake of her head about the profusion of hotels and luxury resorts still being built around Medjugorje, most of it "foreign money". Clearly this has put a strain on her business.  She also spoke of the clan violence which racked the community in the early 90's, when tourist numbers began dwindling and two rival clans fought for control of the tourist trade, resulting in several dozen deaths. At least those were Ana's numbers. When one reads the articles on the subject, particularly from Medjugorje critics, the numbers are put into the hundreds. Not so, said, Ana, only several dozen (which seems horrible enough) and perhaps she has a reason for minimizing the scandal, but she seemed quite certain. Ana charges 20 euros a night for a single room with en suite bathroom, and another 18 euros for full board. She is hardly getting rich off the hostel, which consumes all her time. Clearly another example of service to the Madonna.

I've avoided any comment upon the many wonderful rich graces I received on this trip, but there was one 'revelation' that was providential. Before arriving I had purchased for my kindle reader a copy of Immaculee Ilibagiza's very moving book, Our Lady of Kibeho. The book recounts the now Vatican approved apparitions of the Blessed Mother to three school girls in Rawanda in 1981, the same year the apparitions began in Medugorje. The Kibeho apparitions prophesied in the most graphic manner the horrors of the genocide which would overtake Rawanda fourteen years later. The parallels with Medjugorje are striking, the same Madonna weeping at the horrors about to overtake each community, but I will save my reflections and comparisons for a subsequent post.

I will end with a note of heartfelt gratitude to the Mother of the Lord for having led me once again to the Bosnian shrine of Medjugorje, which has been the source of so many graces and healings in my own life. May I be worthy of such graces and may Mary show me the way I may best serve her in return. 

Hail Mary Full of Grace

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The Madonna of Medjugorje on Contraception and Homosexuality

Quite by 'accident' (while exploring the present contraceptive tempest in a teapot in the US),  I came across this diatribe from an irate Christian complaining stridently that the Madonna of Medjugorje has had nothing to say about abortion, contraception or homosexuality in the past 'twenty five years,' since the article was written.  Shock, horror, but no surprise to me.

Since the word ‘abortion’ brought no results, I next looked to see how many times ‘contraception’ was mentioned in all of these hundreds of messages.  Same result – ZERO.  Well, how about ‘pornography’ – nope, a ZERO again.   What about ‘homosexuality’ or ‘sodomy’ – ZERO.  

     And yet these apparitions are supposed to be ongoing communications and warnings from the Blessed Virgin Mary urging us to turn back from our sins or else face great chastisements.  The holocaust of legalized abortion is the defining crime and offense of our era against God, with millions upon millions of innocent victims. For this cause alone, God surely has in store for us a great chastisement.  But in the public messages delivered over the course of the past twenty-five years, we do not hear one peep about abortion from the “Madonna of Medjugorje.” This is the kind of silence one would expect from that other false Madonna. 

Those of us in the gay community who feel drawn to Medjugorje (and we are many) would not be surprised in the least by this revelation and would take it as one more positive sign of the essential balance and health of the whole phenomenon at its core, despite the peripheral aberrations (which include, to be scrupulously honest, the visits of known priestly pedophiles to Medjugorje). The apparitions simply don't fit into the traditional conservative mindset. The very first sermon I heard in Medjugorje on my very first visit three years ago was from an Irish prelate reflecting on "St Peter in Chains." It is we, the devout Catholic faithful, who put Peter in chains, the priest explained,  by attributing to the Petrine office a constant, persistent, infallible authority it does not really possess. The prelate pointed out that Peter stumbles and falls just as often as he remains upright in the storms, and it is when we forget this and project upon Peter a sacred invincibility that is not rightly and humanly his that we contribute to the distortion of the Petrine office. Peter needs to be firmly confronted and chastised when he wanders off into the wilderness and misleads the flock. (This was clearly the case with Humanae Vitae and Contraception, a position almost universally rejected by the 'sense of the faithful.) While the Irish sex abuse scandal was not mentioned in the sermon, it hovered in the air and those of us in the audience (mostly Irish pilgrims) were certainly thinking of it.  Wow, I thought to myself, what on earth have we here, from the pulpit of the parish church of Medjugorje? Fatima this is not! A more profound examination of the problems of authority in the Church would be hard to find. However, what was even more impressive than the content of the sermon was the Irish priest's evident joy,  serenity and confidence in the protection of the Gospa, (as the White Lady is called), gracing us with her guiding presence and aiding us in healing the wounds of the Church. It was a quintessentially Catholic moment, far more profound and inspiring than the fawning adulation of authority that characterizes the false distortions of  tribal religion.  Hail Mary full of grace and indeed we were filled with grace on that Sunday morning, and the wounds of the sex abuse scandal and the distortions of authority in the Church seemed to dissipate before our eyes in the serenity and peace of Medjujgorje.

On another note, a reader of this blog very kindly sent me this link to a recent article on the apparitions of Medugorje in the distinguished journal of Transpersonal Psychology.

http://bit.ly/zCGSHX
 http://bit.ly/A8Llt4
 http://www.rivier.edu/faculty/pcunningham/Publications/trps-43-01-04-Cunningham-1-final.pdf

(Readers will have to copy and paste the above links, but the links below should work automatically.)

The article is entitled  THE APPARITION AT MEDJUGORJE: A TRANSPERSONAL PERSPECTIVE

by Dr. Paul Cunningham. ( Part Two is here.) A look at his credentials revealed that he completed his BA degree at Our Lady of Providence Seminary in Providence, RI. Evidently  he was at one time a Catholic candidate for the priesthood, but judging by his very sophisticated article he has moved far beyond the traditional Catholic framework of his youth. The article gives a very detailed and fair-minded survey of the various psychological theories that attempt to 'explain' the phenomena of the apparitions, and the possible psychological mechanisms behind them. You could not ask for a more up to date evaluation. The author's own perspective, which becomes clear by the end of the article, is very much a transpersonal, trans-cultural one, by which I mean he lifts the whole experience out of its explicitly Catholic context and examines it from a religiously pluralistic viewpoint. The most interesting question facing trans-personal psychologists today is not whether the apparitions are fraudulent or the product of psychological aberrations ( positions he rules out in light of the extensive psychological testing the visionaries have undergone over the years). Rather, the truly challenging areas of examination for psychologists and para-psychologists focus on the precise mechanism by which the images are created in the visionaries' consciousness. Assuming that there is a spiritual entity communicating to the visionaries (an assumption Cunningham does not take for granted), to what extent does this benevolent entity itself through a psychic energy transmission  'create' the image of a Croatian Madonna in the eyes of the visionaries and to what extent does this spiritual presence rely upon the psychic processes of the visionaries themselves to come up with the appropriate psychic images that conform to their own religious culture. This would then be a process that they would jointly communicate to each other telepathically. In other words, the visionaries would jointly 'create' the image most suitable to their own psychological development, but a creative process that is done in cooperation with a genuine, authentic trans-personal inspiration that is guiding them through the whole process . That is a very crude simplification of Cunningham's highly sophisticated, subtle and nuanced position. He ends with a call to psychologists everywhere to 'expand their metaphysical base,' because the present traditional scientific paradigm renders most psychologists incapable of doing true justice to phenomena such as the apparitions of Medjugorje. Cunningham does not assert unequivocally  that the apparitions are 'authentic,' (i.e. the product of a genuine spiritual disembodied being communicating to the minds of the young visionaries), but he does clearly lean in that direction. He also clearly understands that  this entire spiritual phenomenon far transcends it's limited traditional Catholic framework, which it has simply appropriated as a means of communication. Or to put it another way, the mystery of the Divine Black Mother God predates Christianity by thousands of years. And she is with us still.

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Medjugorje Day Two: Crossing the Threshold

Last evening's 7pm 30th anniversary celebratory Mass was a profoundly moving experience, with record crowds of about 150,000 people spilling out of the amphitheater proper and spreading out over the green fields beyond. Many, many, many children running about freely, this was very much a family affair, and a notable number of 'progressive' nuns were also in view, to judge by their very liberated habits, some of the most beautiful I've seen. A very lovely elderly nun sat next to me, her silver hair tied in a bun and pined with a silver broach.  I'm ashamed to say I forgot the name of her order (French Franciscans), but she was dressed in a delicate linen blouse with sleeves to the wrists, a graceful medal of Our Lady around her neck, a  very long skirt to the ankles made of a lovely turquoise plaid pattern with white cross lines, very lovely to look at, soothing and rather reassuring as habits go, and of course, sandals and white socks. A moment later one of her companions came and sat next to her, with the exact same pattern on her skirt, but in cream color. When I remarked on this, she said with a chuckle, "Oh, yes, we're allowed to choose our own colors." I knew this had to be a very open minded order of nuns.  I wasn't mistaken in my judgement. She took one look at my "Gay is the Way" button and said with an impish smile, "For everyone?" I said, "Oh no, just for me." "Ah, just for you. Well, good for you!" Then she said rather sweetly, "Well, we do change in the church, we really do. It comes slowly, but it does come." And that was that. Both her words and her presence felt like a grace from Our Lady herself. Clearly there was no need for further discussion on the matter.  She was listening to a French instantaneous translation of the service on a transistor radio, which were readily available at the main center of the shrine as well as all over the shops in town. I hadn't known that before hand. Apparently the service was being translated on the spot in fifteen different international languages  including Hebrew, Arabic and Korean. What a profound phenomenon, just that in itself.  During the priest's deeply emotional sermon, the Sister (oh why can't I remember even her name, getting old!), gave me a running commentary, but the gist of it resonated with something I've felt for years about these Marian shrines. You do not come here with a list of requests to make to Mary. You come with only one question: How Can I serve? Then you listen in your heart to the voice of the Divine Mother, who clearly wants some very simple things, penance, sacrifice, prayer, peace, reconciliation, and above all a return to the Churchćs ancient tradition of fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays. For each individual person, there will be something a little more specific to each one's unique vocation. Once you have listened in your heart, and responded with an open hearted, unconditional surrender to whatever the Divine Mother may ask by way of sacrifice, then you may make your requests, but not before. It was a beautiful thought, suitable to a beautiful day, a profound day, and a day filled with a sense of the holiness of family and the need for families to pray together, and of course that includes gay families, and thank god for the grace of gay marriage in New York.  

The cafes may have been zipping with happy, self-indulgent customers, the souvenir shops bustling with commerce, but once you cross the threshold into the shrine compound itself, silence reigns and it's all pervasive peace is irresistible and profound. The contrast is actually quite shocking, and suddenly you realize why all of the tackiness on the streets is so necessary - as a counter sign and contrast to the holiness of the sacred sanctuary itself. It's as if an invisible wall exists right at the entrance of the shrine, keeping out all of the hustle and bustle outside, but without necessarily passing a negative judgement upon it. Once you have crossed into Mary's space, however, you feel that this is a Divine Mother with a very serious intent and all frivolity stops at the door. Joy is pervasive as well, but it is a sobering joy of the inner heart that coexists with an equally sobering awareness of human sin and suffering, and the profound need for peace and reconciliation within the world and within the church itself. 

I was also surprised at the very few numbers of 'crazies' around, for some reason I was expecting more of them, but everyone in the area seemed composed, prayerful and - I can't quite find the words to describe it, not somber or serious, but clearly aware of a profound and holy will at work here. I'm thinking especially of the large tour groups with banners and flags, their group members wearing hats and bandannas. I expected (judgmentally and uncharitably), I guess, more frenetic energy, more frizzle, more...well, in a word, craziness, so I could look down upon them condescendingly. But this was not to be. Even the flag wavers seemed aware than a divine presence had manifested herself in this holy place with a cry of the heart that precluded all frivolity and co-optation. This was not a charism one could manipulate at will, but a deeply sacred intelligent mystery manifesting a loving request that required profound respect, silence and receptivity. There was one electrifying moment at the beginning of the service when the priest asked for silence, and to my shock, that entire crowd of 150,000 - children included - were instantaneously silent. It was the loudest silence I have ever encountered, and dare I say that Pope Benedict, when he visited Prague three years ago, could not have asked for nor received such a thunderous silence. Clearly the Divine Mother wins hands down over the Papa.

That was yesterday evening, with massive traffic jams leading out of the city for hours afterwards far into the night. Today Medjugorje is almost, but not quite a ghost town in comparison. And it is wonderful to be here without all of the bustle and chaos, but I have to say - for any prospective visitors - choose your pensione wisely and stay out of the city center. For all of my silliness in describing the lively, hugely enjoyable cafe scene, it can be dis-edifying and even disrespectful to everything the Madonna represents in this holy place. Wise folk with a contemplative bent, and this includes a large number of nuns, choose the pensiones on the outskirts, in the countryside, where one can walk in the silence of the day, gaze at the hills, including Holy Cross Mountain and Apparition Hill, pray in silence and solitude and soak up the very special atmosphere  of grace that is Medjugorje. As St. Teresa is famous for saying, "When it is time to fast, I fast, when it is time to feast I feast."  Medjugorje is above all, a call to balanced and wholesome asceticism and self-abnegation, it is a gentle, loving, non-violent reminder that some values and practices of the old church, such as penance and fasting, need to be recovered, but not in such a way as to endanger the precious breakthroughs of renewal and reform that were ushered in by Vatican II. After all, Medjugorje's openminded religious tolerance would have been impossible before Gaudium et Spes, the great Vatican constitution on the Church and the Modern World. Likewise, the witness of the visionaries, not one of whom has chosen to enter formal religious life, is very much a post Vatican II witness in support of the importance of the laity. This was never more apparent than at the end of yesterday's very moving celebratory Mass, with over one hundred (male) priests  concelebrating, when the five visionaries (one being absent because of illness) were brought up to the altar for a brief prayer. Each of them was given a chance to speak, before disappearing again into the church. In the midst of all of that priestly finery and hierarchical splendor, here came the real channels of charismatic power, simple, unassuming, ordinary laypersons, four of them women, two of them men (altogether), and only one of them, Marija, giving evidence of rapidly ascending the heights of Christian holiness - which is why she has become, most fittingly, the chief spokesperson for the group. Genuine charismatic holiness brings with it its own internal authority, instantly recognizable, trustworthy and profound. It was such a moving sight, significant in its implications, and it left us all deeply stirred. Medjugorje is very much a post Vatican II phenomenon and succeeds in giving a loving, non violent witness to the necessity of healthy integration of the very best of the old with the very best of the new. There is no restoration here. There is only new life moving forward, while lovingly preserving the precious spiritual values of the ancient catholic tradition. Mary shows the way. 

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Return to Medjugorje with the Blessings of Sainte Foy

Tomorrow I leave for Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina and the beginning of a seven day retreat, which I'm spending partly on the sea south of Split and partly in the village of Medjugorje, the site of Marian apparitions since 1981. Most of my more progressive friends 'eschew' the Marian site, turned off (quite understandably, in my opinion) by the rumors of financial scandals swirling about the place and the expropriation of the entire phenomenon by the far religious right for their own 'restorationist' agenda (though many conservative groups are outraged by Medjugorje's seemingly tolerant attitude of religious pluralism). However, it is my own considered judgement, after years of prayerful reflection on this phenomenon, that both the corruption involving money and the theological expropriation itself represent profound and sinful distortions of what is inherently a truly sacred and authentic experience - at it's core. I don't expect anyone to agree with me on this, and mine has been a lonely path for the past thirty years, yet this witness is something I feel called to make, and will continue to make as long as the interior inspiration remains constant. Medjugorje, for me, is a perfect microcosm of the entire church, in that an inherent charism of great holiness is surrounded by genuine evil, which seeks both to repudiate it and employ it for it's own purposes. In other words, the corruption does not emanate from nor penetrate into the essential core of the holy mystery.  Just as I feel the very heart and soul of Catholicism at this point in history is under attack by a very vocal and powerful fundamentalist movement, so too Medjugorje's image and reputation have been sullied by these same forces. Just as I do not believe the entire Catholic tradition deserves to be scuttled because of the apparent 'victory' of restorationist forces aligned with powerful interest groups of vast wealth and money, so too I do not believe that Medjugorje should be repudiated, even though its very integrity is under attack by these same forces, which seek to harness it's charismatic power for their own corrupt purposes.

By their fruits you will know them - one must go to Medjugorje in a spirit of prayer and discernment in order to properly understand this holy mystery. As with all pilgrimages, you will encounter the persons and the experiences you are meant to meet.

Last summer at this time in Medjugorje, I met two lovely French ladies, both spinsters, who ran a pensione in the little town of Conques in Southern France. They were staying in the same pensione as I and we became friends sitting in the garden in the early evening drinking wine. Their tiny village in France is a pilgrimage site to the holy relics of the fourth century virgin martyr, Sainte Foy. These charming women both invited me to visit their village and stay in their pensione for free, a gracious offer I'm ashamed to say I have yet to take advantage of - but someday for sure I will make my way to their pensione and to the altar of Sainte Foy, when the time is right and when the tiny saint herself extends me the courtesy of an invitation. 

Here is how Hannah Green describes St. Foy in her charming book Little Saint, which my friends recommended to me:

She is the sacred center. Around her the wheel of the story with it's thousand starry spokes spins. It might begin at any time, from the hour when she was born at Agen in December of the year 290 to the hour of her martyr-death less than thirteen years later, and at as many shining points as there are gemstones on her statue or silver nails in arabesques on the coffer that holds her bones; but the story opens now in the mountains of the Rouerge, here at Conques, where, since 866, her bones have been enshrined and guarded.

We came first as travelers, Jack and I, in the springtime of 1975, to have our hearts caught unaware - Jack a painter, a Californian by birth, I a writer, an Ohioan from an old Swedenborgian and Episcopalian background, a stranger to saints; and yet I was given through Sainte Foy, in this remote and ancient place of pilgrimage, the gift of seeing into that zone which has been held sacred since the beginning of human consciousness.

The message I received from this fortuitous and utterly charming encounter with these two very charming French ladies and their stories of Sainte Foy was simply a reminder of the richness and beauty of the Catholic sacramental tradition, which enshrines, preserves, protects the folk religion of devotion to the saints and reverence for the mystery of Marian apparitions. Yes, there have always been distortions, excesses, fanaticism, extremes, but none of these are reason enough to scuttle the entire tradition, which has been a source of inspiration and sanctification for so many. As humans, we need the human touch, that sense of the finger of the divine emerging from the mists of faith for one brief moment, and touching our hearts, just here, just so.

The Blessed Lady of Medjugorje is reputed to have said to the visionaries - in almost the same breathe in which she  counseled that 'God' does not make distinctions between religions, only humans do - that there is a reason why the Marian apparitions have been entrusted to the Catholic Church. Just a simple statement, just that and no more, no explication, certainly no assertion of superiority on the part of the Catholic tradition, since as Marija has testified, "Our Lady has never said that the Catholic Church is the only way to Jesus." Amen. Just that...well, there is a reason why the apparitions belong within the Catholic tradition, since this is part of its special charism.

On the same visit to Medjugorje last year, quite by chance (not really) in a cafe just across the street from the main church, I encountered two high spirited and lovely lesbian women who had come to Medjugorje to ask for Our Lady's blessing upon their decision to have a child.  Both women glowed with peace and joy and were rapturously in love with the entire village and valley. Clearly, they felt that Our Lady had bestowed the blessing they had asked for, and who was I to doubt them. They radiated peace. We had a good laugh over much of the silliness around us, though thankfully we had not encountered too many Kooks with rosary beads around their necks ( I saw some). We also marveled at the mysterious coincidence of three gay people meeting in a cafe in Medjugorje, We imagined (with some sympathy) the apoplectic reaction of the more reactionary traditionalists among the pilgrims if they learned that lesbian women had 'received' a blessing from the Lady of Mejugorje to proceed with their holy project of conceiving a child. How many lesbian women would even consider such a pilgrimage of discernment to be necessary? Such a sign of contradiction, but here we were, all three of us joyful faggoty beings, receiving affirmation and love in the heart of Medjugorje. Such is its mystery and such is the power of the place.

Here - for those with eyes to see - is a video of the December 2009 annual apparition given to Jakov Colo, the youngest of the visionaries. It proves nothing, it will convince no one, it simply is on its own terms, as a witness to the prodigious mystery that is Medjugorje.

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The Three Mary's, the Dark Mother, and the Mists of Medjugorje

Taking off for Jerusalem in a week for the Holy Week celebrations, first time in my life this has become possible. Will be staying at a hotel run by a Palestinian family I met  some six years ago, whose son was working as a taxi driver as well as a member of the Palestinian Authority. He picked me up outside the Jaffa Gate and took me to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial - and waited for me for three hours, after which he took me to his home in East Jerusalem, where I was feasted by his mother.  One of life's mystical connections. He described for me how difficult it was for him to get into the Palestinian territories, even with his 'government connections,' taking nearly three hours to traverse a  stretch of road that should have taken fifteen minutes. And we have been friends ever since.

Then in May I take off for the south of France to the coastal port of Saintes Maries de la Mar for the annual festival of the Gypsies in honor of St. Sara and the three Mary's - Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, mother of Lazarus, and Mary Magdelaine, the 'wife' of Jesus together with their daughter, Sara. According to the legend, the three women and infant girl were expelled from Jerusalem around 40 AD and traveled by boat across the Mediterranean without sails, oars or provisions, arriving miraculously upon the shores of present day France. The story, of course, is an embarrassment to the Roman Catholic Church which has modified the story, making Sara a dark skinned servant. Hence the devotion of the dark skinned and outcast Romany to this mysterious saintly figure.  And of course, the story piqued the interest of an American pop novelist, Dan Brown, resulting in The Da Vinci Code. 

For three days in May, the Gypsies converge on this sea coast town from all over Europe for their annual pilgrimage, three days of prayers and song and dance and celebration. It has long been one of my dreams to join them (as it has been to join the Christians in Jerusalem for Holy Week.).

In preparation for this journey, I've been re-reading China Galland's great book, Longing for Darkness, Tara and the Black Madonna, which describes China's own pilgrimage through Nepal, India, Switzerland, France, Yugoslavia and Poland in search of images and sacred sites devoted to the dark mother. 

China Galland has a wonderful website devoted to images of the Black Madonna, Images of Divinity, though she hasn't updated it in a while - and a very interesting blog, Circles of Love,  also not updated, but well worth pursuing.

China also has a wonderful, wise and insightful chapter on her journey to Medjugorje in 1988, and her meeting with the visionary, Mirjana, which is well worth reading for a sensitive, spiritual, feminist but non-Christian view of this on going phenomenon. She also received from Mirjana the clearest account of the controversial statement from the Lady of Medjugorje that 'all religions are the same,' which turns out to be quite different than the apoplectic accounts on some ultra conservative websites.

'All people of faith are one in the eyes of God, only on earth have we created such divisions.'

"Our Lady has never specifically said that our only way back to Jesus is the Catholic Church. She did say that she was 'the mother of All,' and this on more than one occasion."

Not quite the same as the way it has been translated world wide. But then there is so much distortion on the web about this Marion phenomenon that one must be wary and cautious and exercise careful discernment.

I was involved in a minor debate on the issue at the website,  Open Tabernacle, in response to a posting there, but after prayer and reflection, decided I was not to enter into a debate, but merely add some reflections in the comments section. In June, I will be returning to the Shrine for my annual seven day retreat, staying at the home of my friend, Phero, who is sixty six years old, who has lived through it all, and who has taught me so much about the history of the village, the rise of the tourist industry, the holiness and the madness, the lies and defamations, and the unparallelled sacredness that fills the valley with light.

To give just one example. I had read on a website hostile to Medjugorje, that the visionaries were profiting off of the phenomenon, lived comfortable lives in luxurious houses and that the youngest visionary, Jakov Colo, lived in 'a luxurious, expansive orange house in the suburbs with a satellite dish on the roof." When I mentioned that to Phero, he said, "Well, let's go take a look at it." I protested vigorously, because I didn't want to become just another silly, crazy pilgrim/tourist gawking at a visionary. But Phero said we wouldn't bother them, just take a look at the house. Off we went in Phero's rattly truck some ten miles outside of Medjugorje itself to another small hamlet that seemed set down in the valley for no apparent reason and he stopped by a modest orange house set aside in a grove of trees. It looked very peaceful and secluded. By California standards (my home state) it would be considered lower middle class. By Croatian standards it was just average, and not as big as Phero's house. It did indeed have a satellite dish on the roof - but then so does every house in the region, because that is how the TV stations are received. A minor story perhaps, but once it gets blown up by prejudice and hatred it became a 'luxurious, expansive orange house with a satellite dish on the roof.'
I had also seen the house of the visionary, Mirjana, in Medjugorje itself and this as well was very modest, though it had an extension on the side for extra rooms for pilgrims. But in terms of taste and luxury it would be considered lower middle class by normal US standards. 

This is not to say that all of the disturbing stories about Medjugorje have no substance to them. The tales of money swirling around are too many to dismiss, but even so they must be carefully checked, very carefully, since there is so much irrational animosity surrounding this shrine. However, there are also many sincere observers, some of them original supporters, who have felt obliged in conscience to distance themselves from the shrine. However, it is a  great pity that more progressive Christians have allowed the religious right to own such religious sites, (once they have adjusted the messages to remove any suggestion that 'all religions are the same). These conservative groups make such a loud noise and cause such confusion by equating the messages with their own aggressive right wing agenda, which in turn provokes a violent reaction from skeptics and scoffers. If anything, Medjugorje is a progressive Marian movement, and a profound manifestation of the re-emergence of the divine feminine. The messages themselves are remarkably simple and uncontroversial, and they seem to have been composed deliberately to avoid controversy and division, as they scrupulously avoid all of the contentious issues in the Church. In the words of Marija spoken to China Galland, "Fasting, prayer, peace, conversion, and mass - this is the main message of what Our Lady wants." Nothing could be more simple - or more profound - or less sectarian. Progressives in the Church  do a disservice to the Church and to the Marian mystery by allowing the ultra orthodox to not only "own" the Marian apparitions as their personal property, but to dominate the conversation. Something profoundly ecumenical is being expressed here at Medjugorje, and this was never more apparent than during the height of the war, when more prayers were uttered in the main Church for the Muslims and the Serbian Orthodox than for their own Croatian fighters. (Phero's vehement testimony). Swastikas and Croatian fascist symbols appeared in the souvenir shops, the Croatian National Defense League terrorized the village, ultra nationalist groups sometimes appeared on Apparition Hill itself, and Croatian soldiers in the field sometimes carried the banner of the Lady of Medjugorje - all of these were distortions of the fundamental message of the Lady in White. But across the threshold of the sanctuary, peace reined and the villagers of Medjugorje remained faithful to the gift that had been given them, the gift of peace and reconciliation.

I will now close these reflections with some passages from China Galland's account of her visit to Medjugorje and the apparition which she witnessed in the church choir:


Marija and Ivan are praying out loud at first, softly, I can hear them, then I feel a clammy heat sweep through me and I no longer hear them. They are looking up intently, at what appears to be the same spot in the air. Then their lips stop moving. They nod their heads as though indicating that they understand something that's just been said to them. Ivan seems to ask a question, but no words are uttered out loud. Marija nods. ...Something clearly has come over them, though I cannot see or even sense anything of what is going on for them. In this moment I have no doubt that they are seeing Mary. I am present for - and very close to - a remarkable event, and I give thanks, put down the camera on the floor next to me and bow low, touching my forehead to the floor out of respect, then kneel quietly with them until the apparition is over, perhaps five minutes. Then they make the sign of the crosss, return to themselves and begin to leave.

I was in front of Marija and Ivan the whole time they were seeing the apparition. I watched them closely from the very start. Marija is guileless and strong. Yes, they seem to see something, why can't it be Mary? What may seem far-fetched to many seems possible to me. I am grateful to have been allowed into the presence of the Mother of God, or God the Mother, as I think of her, but we are always in this presence. Only rarely do we become aware of it....

The simple aphorism "take what you need and leave the rest" releases me from imagining that I have to resolve or understand what is happening at Medjugorje. As I leave I'm acutely aware of how different this experience has been from earlier ones. People stare at the sun in Medjugorje. There is talk of miracles and more mention of Satan than I've heard in years. Yet the quiet flood of joy and happiness that I experienced in the choir loft is a clear indication that something true and good has happened for me here. Many moments here have moved me. Of some, I remain wary.

Cyril's words, "the messages are a mystery, they must be approached with prayer," I took with me from Medjugorje.

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CARDINAL SCHONBORN ON MEDUGORJE

 I am still reflecting on my recent retreat in Medugorje and hope to post further comments at a later time. One of the facts that recently came to my attention is the role of the Old Catholic Church in the area, a role that has both disturbed and outraged the local ordinary, Bishop Ratko Peric, who refers to the OCC as a "schismatic sect." Apparently some breakaway parishes in the area together with defrocked Franciscan priests are attempting to link up with the Old Catholic Church, inviting their bishop to perform confirmations. I can certainly understand how this would be seen by traditional, faithful Catholics as a countersign of 'disunity,' but since I have great regard for the OCC as an alternative and very spiritual witness to a different way of being 'Catholic,' my own view is more open-minded. I'm definitely intrigued by these developments. At this point in history, and this is only my marginalized view, we are going to witness far more of these breakaway, spirit-filled alternative communities, living authentic Catholic lives on the margins outside the formal control of the institutional Roman Church. Splintering and fragmentation, chaos and disunity? Perhaps, but my own faith tells me these are the signs of the times, the dividing walls are  dissolving, and tribal distinctions in religion are no longer necessary or important. Genuinely sincere spiritual seekers are being moved to form alternative communities of Catholic belief, while other equally sincere believers are being given the strength and charism to remain within the larger tent and struggle for reform from within. There seems to be both a place and a dire need for both alternatives. The Old Catholic Church in Bosnia Herzegovina, where Medugorje is located, has already gone on record acknowledging its belief - not in the authenticity of the original visions - but in the simple fact that 'Our Lady' is at work in Medugorje in a powerful, spiritual way. Whether or not one can accept the authenticity of the original, charismatic experience - which is still ongoing - it seems hard to deny the extraordinary spiritual fruits of this very holy place. To make my point, here is a beautiful reflection from Cardinal Schonborn, explaining how he made the decision to come to Medugorje last December. The statement is remarkable, not only for the Cardinal's views on the whole phenomenon, but for what it reveals about the deeply spiritual, fair-minded, and balanced character of this very unique prelate in the Roman Catholic Church. The future pope? One can only hope and pray.

I cannot explain exactly how this happened. I have known about Medugorje for many years, not personally because I have not been here before, but I have experienced the fruits of Medugorje in our diocese and even further. I always used to say what Jesus has said in the Gospels, “You will recognize the tree by its fruits.” When I see the fruits of Medugorje back home, I can only say that the tree is surely good. I will just mention two little examples.

At the Security Check point at Vienna airport, one of the guards recognized me, looked at my ticket and asked me if I was flying to Zagreb. I confirmed this and added that from Zagreb I was going to Split and then to Medugorje. His face immediately changed and he said, “I was in Medugorje before!” And with much excitement he began to talk about his experience of climbing Holy Cross Mountain and the spiritual atmosphere he experienced there. A security check point guard talks about Medugorje! Another example, early in the morning I was standing at the local train station. The manager of the station recognized me and we started talking and he confided in me the deep pain and loss he felt when his wife died of cancer. But he immediately added that his friends took him to Medugorje and that strengthened his faith even more. His face reflected such joy.

Those are just two little examples among many, many experiences I have had about Medugorje. I will just repeat what I once said in one interview: if there was something wrong about Medugorje, we would have to dismiss half of our seminarians, since so many of our priestly vocations are both directly and indirectly related to Medugorje.

How, then, did it happen that I decided to come to Medugorje? I always used to hesitate, and being a Cardinal, I am a very exposed person in the Catholic Church. Since there are many controversies, I did not want to start additional discussions and in my opinion, Medugorje is already well known. But this summer I visited the community of Cenacolo in Saluzzo. I have known Sister Elvira for the last couple of years, I love her and respect her as an extraordinary witness of the  Risen Lord and I am aware of the deep relationship the community of Cenacolo has with Medugorje. In Saluzzo, I was able to experience a very strong feeling of interior security: my time to go to Medugorje had arrived! I would say that it was a kind of interior encouragement. I expressed a desire that my visit remain confidential. I simply wanted to spend time in silence and prayer. I did not want to hide my intention to come, but also I did not want that to be the main subject of discussions. I just wanted to come to the place where Our Lady gives so many abundant graces. Besides that, the visionary Ivan Dragicevic was in Vienna last year and I spoke with him, and with Marija Pavlovic Lunetti this year, they were both in the Cathedral of St. Stephen and I gave my permission for those events. Both of those encounters have impressed me so much, primarily because of the modesty, simplicity, clarity and warm heartedness of those two visionaries. That only strengthened my decision to quietly and simply come to Medjugorje.

Read the Cardinal's full statement (in very rough translation) here. 


Here is a video of the youngest visionary,  Jakov Colo, receiving his annual apparition on Christmas day in Medugorje this last December, four days before the arrival of Cardinal Schonborn.

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REPORT FROM MEDJUGORJE

I have just returned from a pilgrimage/retreat to Medjugorje, but at the risk of seeming melodramatic, I'm still a little too overcome by the power of the experience to be able to reflect and write about it adequately.  I hope to do this at a later time, so these are just preliminary notes and reactions. of a rambling nature.

As a summary of the experience, I would have to say that not since my earliest childhood have I felt so profoundly and unconditionally loved by a maternal divine presence, a love that penetrates to the most intimate recesses of one's being. I was taken into a place of such profound peace, and was sustained by this peace for the full four days of my visit. There were 'messages' that were relevant to my own personal spiritual life, but the peace 'surpassed all understanding.' Medjugorje, above all, is a place of profound peace. There is the usual commercial aspect of the place as a major pilgrimage site, but I was not a bit offended by the numerous souvenir shops around the town center, they seemed appropriate (though their numbers seemed excessive). It was only on the pathway up to 'Apparition Hill" that the souvenir shops seemed quite offensive and out of place.  Likewise with the many guest houses, pensiones and hotels about the place, they simply give the whole town a festive, holiday air, very much like a beach resort in Thailand. Prices were far above (or below) being simply reasonable. My own family-run pensione in the countryside outside the town center charged me 20 euros a night for a double room with ensuite bathroom. Dinner was 9 euros and included a double portion of soup, home made bread, a huge salad with fresh ingredients from the family's garden, a main plate of chicken, potatoes, cucumbers that was large enough to feed three truck drivers, a generous plate of fruit and a half litre carafe of wine from the family's own vineyard. For 9 euros! This beautiful Croatian family offers rooms in their home as a service to pilgrims, not as a money making operation. So no one is really making any fortune off of the pilgrims, that I can see. Pensiones closer to the town center were charging 40 euros a night for room with bath, which is still more than reasonable. A meal in one of the fancier open air pizzerias right across from the church grounds cost me ten euros for soup, pasta, side salad, two cokes, cup of gelatto and espresso. 10 Euros, and it doesn't get more expensive than that. A week later I was dining in a simple pizzeria in Milan's Galleria and the same meal cost me 50 Euros! Is any of this relevant to the spiritual significance of the place? Indeed it is, because a lot of rather vicious gossip has been spread about the 'money making machine' of Medjugorje. I certainly saw no evidence of this, quite the contrary, though the Franciscans are undoubtedly receiving large and generous donations.  Medjugorje is also set in a spectacular location of astonishing beauty, lush green farm lands surrounded by blue misted mountains in the distance. It makes for a wonderful holiday retreat and at such prices.

Once one crosses the threshold of the sanctuary proper, however, it is as if an impregnable wall has been erected that keeps out all of the commercialism and carnival atmosphere. The sanctuary is a place of prayer and within the church I was carried into such a place of deep interior peace I felt I was back in my aunt Helen's kitchen ( she raised me until the age of 4) and could smell the peanut butter cookies she always baked for me.  It was so hard for me to leave the church, especially on the final day. Something within me wanted to linger within that profound spiritual security and peace. What about the crazies? Yes, some individuals have that special gleam in their eye and numerous persons wear rosary beads around their necks. But they seemed to be in the minority to me, with the majority of pilgrims looking like quite ordinary folk hungering for spiritual sustenance, which is so hard to find elsewhere in the contemporary church. No wonder they are coming in the millions to this very special place.  Thankfully, I didn't run into any hard core conservative cases, using the shrine as a weapon to bolster up their own traditional viewpoints. Undoubtedly such persons exist but it was my good fortune not to run into any.  I did run into two delightful ladies with rosary beads draped around their necks, Martine from France and Esther from the USA. They had that special gleam in their eye and seemed to be enjoying the wacky role they were playing, but they were such great fun to be around and were clearly equipped with the ability to critique their own daffy religiosity with some healthy self awareness. I enjoyed them immensely. They showered blessings on me when we parted, literally....extending their hands and arms and waving spiritual energy my way and laughing and smiling at the same time. A real treat and they both made me feel genuinely blessed. I also met a pair of Lesbian ladies when leaving, Kathy and Janet, waiting for the bus that would take them all the way back to Munich. They were on their way to a teaching gig in Saudi Arabia of all places and said they came here to receive some spiritual fortitude for the ordeal that lay ahead of them. I should say so. Lesbians in Saudi Arabia? I shudder to think. They had a wonderfully dry sense of humor and wanted to know if I would come back to Medjugorje. When I said, oh yes, with pious unction and tears in my eyes, they grunted their approval.

The messages of Medjugorje certainly have a 'radical' tolerance and openness about them, the Blessed Mother of the visions remarking that all religions are the 'same' in God's eyes in so far as they lead us to reverence and respect the divine. This has outraged some conservative Catholic groups who fulminate against the site on their blogs, calling it all an 'invention of diabolic inspiration.' One could see why they would be miffed. One of the visionaries, when asked what she had learned from the experience, said she had learned that "Mary is our mother, Jesus is our brother and companion on the way, and God is our loving father." Simple statement, to be sure, but a striking example of "Christology from below," with no exalted claims made for the Divine Master from Nazareth that would imply a superiority of Christianity over other faiths. As with the apparitions in Spain at Garabandal, the messages also contain a somber warning of future suffering, trials and contradictions. For anyone disturbed by this dimension, I would ask them to revisit the prophetic warnings of Jesus in the gospels about the destruction of Jerusalem. While scripture scholars once believed these warnings were written into the mouth of Jesus by the evangelists, based on the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the consensus of opinion has now swung the other way and the majority of scholars believe these prophecies originated with the Master himself and formed a major element in his preaching - warning of the consequences of violent hatred of the Roman occupation. The apocalyptic language used by Jesus himself is very similar to the tone and imagery of these Marian apparitions and give them a very somber dimension. I came away with the very strong conviction that the 'Blessed Mother' of Medjugorje is very serious about her call to penance, prayer, fasting and conversion. Very serious indeed. I have now adopted her requested practice of fasting on bread and water every Wednesday and Friday. Let us hope my will power holds out.

Speaking of radical openness, one of the English masses I attended in the beautiful church was celebrated by a very witty Irish priest on the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul. His entire sermon was focused on the profound betrayal of Jesus and his church committed by  both of these great apostles and that this should always soberly remind us that our leaders and the church in general were always in need of profound and radical conversion. He ended his sermon with a prayer to the Gospa (as the Lady is affectionately called here) for the continuing conversion and repentance of our church leaders. Wow! Contrary to most progressives' suspicions, Medjugorje is anything but a bastion of conservative, traditional Catholicism. There is indeed room for everybody.

These are my rambling thoughts and I've managed to skirt around the more serious, spiritual issues and the impact the visit had on my own inner sense of vocation and calling as a Christian in the Catholic tradition. The visit was a very special grace for me, affirming on so many levels. I will definitely go back. A place of great holiness and peace, and I have no doubt as to is 'supernatural' origins. Just to prove my point, I was not all surprised to hear that Cardinal Schonborn, who appears to be very much the man of the hour these days, paid a visit to Medjugorje last December,  a visit which annoyed the local bishop of Mostar considerably. Here is a quote from the Bishop's letter of complaint.

On Nov 16, 2009,the Catholic News Agency published the news story: “Cardinal Christoph Schönborn will visit Medjugorje, the small town in Bosnia-Herzegovina where six young people have allegedly been witnesses of apparitions from the Virgin Mary. But according to the Archdiocese of Vienna, the trip is 'completely private' and does not imply a statement from the cardinal on the veracity of the apparitions. It was supposed to be a completely private visit, it was not supposed to go out to the Internet,' said Fr. Johannes Fürnkranz, personal secretary to the Archbishop of Vienna.” 

4.      On December 29, 2009, Cardinal Schönborn arrived in Medjugorje. The media accompanied him the next day and on others as well. According to the news, he delivered a speech at the church of St. James the Apostle that highlighted the mercy of God the Father. In that speech, he said: “Who could put these things in motion? Who could invent them? A man? No, this is not the work of a human being.”

On December 31, 2009, journalists transmitted: “While some were expecting that the Cardinal’s visit to Medjugorje would be private, he has nevertheless surprised the locals by being very visible. He has spent time celebrating Mass at the Church of St. James the Apostle, walking up the hill where the apparitions occur with the visionary Marija Lunetti, praying in the silence of Adoration, and perhaps the most significant thing, delivering a speech at the parish church in the company of the Franciscans.”

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