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By Michael K. Jones

UPDATE: November 25, 2011. Medjugorje Seer Mirjana became the third visionary to be interview by the new 4th "Independent" Medjugorje Commission. Earlier this year Vicka was requested to appear before the Commission in October and Ivanka followed in July. Remaining Seers not yet interviewed by the Independent Commission are, Ivan, Mirija and youngest visionary, Jakov.

News agencies are reporting that the current Medjugorje commission is requesting audience with the Medjugorje visionaries for questioning about claims the Virgin Mary is appearing to them since June of 1981. Media sources report some of the Medjugorje seers have already been questioned by the Vatican appointed 17 members panel. This step indicates the forth attempt to investigate the Medjugorje apparitions is proceeding with proper protocol and procedure according to the guidelines of the Catholic Church. http://www.medjugorjeusa.org/apparitioncriteria.htm .

Never before has the Vatican involved itself in the investigation of any apparitions in the history of the known Church. The examination of supernatural phenomena of this nature is the duty of a local bishop where the claimed apparitions are said to be appearing. In the case of Medjugorje this due process failed three times.

Strong evidence was presented to the Vatican by sources including the 1981 U.S. Ambassador to Yugoslavia David Anderson. The information concluded that the first Medjugorje commission was formed to purposely present a negative result. The second commission was dismissed without finding and the third commission conducted by the local Conference of Bishops was also tainted. The shocking truth of the commissions can be found in this article, http://www.medjugorjeusa.org/medjugorjecommissiontruth.htm

In the previous Medjugorje Commissions the seers’ testimony was not welcomed and  reluctantly considered even though such actions are a violation of proper church protocol. (Source declassified U.S. State Department documents.) Information gathered by the local Medjugorje parish of St. James was refused by at least the first commission and likely by the following two, causing infringement of due process. (Source of information declassified U.S. State Department documents.)

Finally realizing a fair unbiased investigation of the Medjugorje apparition is not possible, the “Sacred Congregation of the Doctrine Faith,” took lead in forming the 4^th investigation called an “Independent Medjugorje Commission.”  The independent commission was formed on March 18, 2010 under the appointed direction of Cardinal Ruini.

Cardinal Ruini was born February 1931 in Italy. He obtained a licentiate in philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

Ruini was ordained in 1957 and taught at the diocesan seminary till 1968. Teaching also in other venues through the years, on May 16, 1983 he was named auxiliary bishop and titular bishop of Nepte and was consecrated a bishop June 29, the same year.

In 1986 Pople John Paul named him secretarial general of Italian bishops’ conference. Since 1988 has been consultor of the Congregation of Bishops.  In January 91 he was named auxiliary bishop and pro-vicar general for the Diocese of Rome. In March 91 he became president of the Italian Bishops and elevated to Cardinal in June 1991 and was named vicar general of His Holiness for the Diocese of Rome and archpriest of the Basilica di San Giovanni of Laterano in July of the same year. He was also granted grand chancellor of the Lateran Universality and Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family.

In addition to serving as Cardinal Vicar, Ruini served in the Roman Curia as member of the Congregation of Bishops and Pontifical Council for the Laity.  Extending his list of credits he was also named Council of Cardinals for the Study of Organizational and Economic Affairs of the Holy See.

Ruini was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that elected Pope Benedict.

Some members of the Conference of Bishops from previous Medjugorje commissions are members of the newly formed 4^th Commission and or are other religious from the local region. Their names and brief bio are

Josip cardinal Bozanic – Croatia. Archbishop of Zagreb

Vinko cardinal Puljic – Bosnia & Herzegovina. Archbishop of Vrhbosna (Sarajevo)

Msgr Franjo Topic Croatia. President of the Croatian Cultural Society ‘Progress’ in Sarajevo.

Fr Mijo Nikic – Croatia. Superior of the Jesuit Order in Zagreb and a professor of religious psychology.

Fr Mihaly Szentmartoni – Serbia. Another Jesuit and a director of the Spirituality Institute at Rome’s Gregorian University. As a professor of clinical psychiatry he served on the medical committee of the previous Commission undertaken by the former Yugoslavia Bishops Conference. The medical committee of six concluded in 1988 that according to the criteria laid down by the CDF in 1978, the six ‘visionaries’ were considered mentally balanced and showed no inclination to psychotic disorder or hysteria, or other phenomenon of this kind.

Sr Nela Veronica Gaspar – Bosnia & Herzegovina. Theologian.

Knowing about the previous tainted commissions there may be some room for concern from these appointed members who serve the local area surrounding Medjugorje which were once all a part of Yugoslavia. The rest of the members of the 4th commission are from Italy, Spain, Poland, France and Germany.

There is no question the current investigation is a broad based religious panel assembled to investigate the seers and claimed Medjugorje apparitions. Recent media reports that the seers are appearing before the board is truly a positive indication the guidelines and procedure of Church policy is being applied where they were previously ignored. The outcome of Medjugorje is left to be seen but likely will be a stalemate. In the History of the Church there are many apparitions that were not approved for very long periods. Such thinking is a protection for the whole and good of the Church. A premature approval could later be deemed deceptive. If this happened it would cause instability between the Church and the Faithful. In cases where apparitions appear noteworthy of investigation but also problematic, a response usually follows that the apparition can not be proven one way or the other because there is not enough evidence. The Church believes the passage of time in such matters brings more prudent understanding.

Would you like to view all Medjugorje USA’s articles on the Medjugorje Commissions? http://www.medjugorjeusa.org/commissionsorganized.htm

Would you like to see a video from Rome Reports where we are informed the Vatican is considering asking the Medjugorje Visionaries to appear before the 4^th Independent Commission? http://www.romereports.com/palio/Visionaries-of-Medjugorje-may-appear-before-the-Vatican-english-2441.html

Ending Note: Having read this article many may wonder why an appointed Commission would seek a negative result without following Church protocol in their investigation? There are many different reasons this could happened but regardless of the reasons what we should seriously note is division.

In past years we have heard about priest and other religious who take a stand saying abortion is okay or priest’s should be allowed to marry. There are even other religious who believe Church doctrine should be changed. An example of this is the formation of the “Marian Movement of Priest,” who took root to stand against other religious who believe Mary should be removed from the Dogma of the Church and be considered no more but a vessel that was used by God. There are even religious who believe the Church should become more social in serving the people more like the Salvation Army or Red Cross, rather spending so much time serving God.

Though free thinking people such as these may have a large variety of agenda, none the less we should clearly see the Church is divided. Jesus said, “A house divided can not stand.” Matthew 12:25. On this note I highly recommended we all pray for the reunification of our Church.

These free thinkers who break from traditions are often referred to as modernists. If you would like to know more about modernists vs. traditionalists you can search online with key words such as “Catholic Modernists.”

What exactly is a Catholic Modernist? One example of a free thinker is a well know senator from Massachusetts who is Catholic and believes in abortion and birth control and still feels he has a right to receive the Eucharist in the Church. Such thinking is a violation of Church tradition. Publicly exposing his modernism, the next time this senator went to church he was refused the Eucharist by the parish priest who is a traditionalist.

The point of this note is to suggest that the tainted Medjugorje commissions could easily have root in the division of traditionalism vs. modernism. The Local Bishop during the first Medjugorje commission wrote a letter stating that many in the Church are tired of apparitions given to lay people and do not believe in them. (Source of information book, “Medjugorje Investigated,” U.S. State Department declassified documents.) These documented facts show at least one reason why three Medjugorje commissions have failed.

If you would like to write Medjugorje USA
email:info@medjugorjeusa.org