Battleground Mary

As Catholics, we profess to believe in a number of pretty staggering things, such as immaculate conceptions and resurrections. It is therefore logical to suppose that some pretty staggering things may be happening today, such as Marian apparitions in a small Bosnian town.

Yet, much suspicion surrounds Medjugorje, where three young people say they have been receiving messages from our Lady since 1981.

Successive bishops of Mostar, the archdiocese in which Medjugorje falls, have expressed grave reservations about the reported apparitions (although not about the content of Mary’s putative revelations). This has not served to discourage many thousands of people in their devotion to Medjugorje.

The Vatican’s position has remained ambivalent. As yet, the events at Medjugorje have not been canonically recognised. Moreover, the Holy See has decreed that pilgrimages to Medjugorje “should not be organised either on a parish or diocesan level.” (This means that such pilgrimages may be organised only by laypeople, not by clergy or religious).

The Medjugorje issue is unlikely to be settled anytime soon, but will remain a source of dispute. One side will point to the demonstrable graces received by pilgrims to Medjugorje. Others may argue that such graces may be better obtained at approved sites than at unauthenticated Medjugorje.

In absence of clear evidence to the contrary, one must not conclude that Medjugorje is inevitably a scam, as many allege. At the same time, until the devotion is fully authorised by the Church, devotees should exercise some caution in accepting the apparitions without qualification.

As Catholics, we are not required to accept every, or indeed any, Marian apparition (or the apparitions of Christ to St Faustina, which informs the Divine Mercy movement).

Devotions to such apparitions and their reputed revelations are a matter of private choice, an individual piety.

Marian apparitions are not every Catholic’s cup of tea. Even without them, there is much in Scripture and Church teachings that will enable any Catholic to maintain an enriching devotion to the Blessed Virgin.

At the same time, devotions based on Marian apparitions have very apparent faith-strengthening properties and Medjugorje is no exception.

Little good is accomplished by intemperate debate between proponents and adversaries of Medjugorje or other controversial devotions, such as the Divine Mercy.

It most certainly cannot be the will of our Lady that devotion to her be turned into a battleground.