Medjugorje Skeptics in a Funk

Medjugorje skeptics turn up empty in search for “Medjugorje Mastermind”

As the world waits for the Vatican to decide on how the Church will move forward into the future with Medjugorje, it seems believers  in the events  are not the only ones nervous about what the Pope may say.

Skeptics of Medjugorje have put down good money in the form of their reputations by front running the Vatican’s decision with an on slot of scathing articles.  Positive news on Medjugorje is met with silence. Innuendo and rumor from unknown sources are  reported with authority.

A few months  ago a blog report from National Catholic Register rocked the world of Medjugorje. The blog post was titled “Medjugore Bombshell”

What followed was a flood of negative articles about Medjugorje.  The usual suspects Mark Shea, Sincha Fisher and Greg Kandra, elite  Catholic Bloggers skeptical of Medjugorje, all rushed out numerous blog posts warning against Medjugorje.
But recently, the tide has shifted after news from Rome suggested strongly that the Vatican Commission investigating Medjugorje has not discovered any evidence of fraud and in fact they say the spiritual fruits of Medjugorje run deep and wide. Catholic bloggers were forced to accept that  the mastermind who “invented” Medjugorje had not been found.

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/medjugorje-ruini-31362/

A few months ago Mystic Post spent some time with the journalists and bloggers who have taken it upon themselves to “protect” and warn Catholics and Christians about the potential dangers of becoming “attached ” to the extraordinary event known the world over as “Medjugorje”
Medjugorje is renowned for a great mystery that centers on claims that apparitions of the Blessed Mother have been taking place since 1981. Medjugorje is a small village town in Bosnia/Herzegovina

After spending hours talking to a number of Medjugorje “Doubters” the debate boiled down to the following three points:

1. Doubters say the phenomenon is a gigantic case of fraud and disobedience towards the Bishop of Mostar. They say Bishop Peric, who oversees the parish in Medjugorje, has already ruled against the authenticity of the apparitions and that his proclamation against the matter should have ended the Medjugorje movement long ago. Everything associated with Medjugorje from that point forward has been disobedient to the local Bishop and therefore to the “Holy Mother Church”

Those who “believe” in the events, on the other hand, understand that the decision to rule on Medjugorje has now been placed into the hands of the Vatican and the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF) and will take their marching orders from the Pope not the Bishop Mostar.

2. Doubters do not dispute the enormous “spiritual fruits” of Medjugorje, but conclude it is a giant devil’s snare. Some doubters like Mark Shea call Medjugorje a fraud (with no evidence) Even his own readers think Mark Shea is a bully when it comes to criticizing Medjugorje including priests who leave comments on his blog.

Medjugorje believers simply accept the events at face value. The visionaries say “We see what we see” and what they claim to see is the Virgin Mary. And the Virgin Mary known as the Queen of Peace has brought “messages” to the world focused mostly on a call for a return to prayer. Millions of Christians admit that the so called “messages” have helped them deepen their faith.

3. The Doubters of Medjugorje find great fault with the lifestyles of the visionaries – To them it is inconceivable that those who see heaven and speak with the Blessed Mother would not have chosen celibate vocations in a convent or seminary. Believers admire the visionaries modern example of the Catholic lifestyle they live and greatly respect the choice of marriage by the visionaries as their Catholic vocation.

Speaking with the doubters somewhere along the line it occurred to us that the doubters had no real answers that could explain the great mystery of Medjugorje in a satisfactory manner. They had no smoking gun to support their claims of a fraud or hoax.

Today, most doubters interestingly do not think Medjugorje is fraud, though some do. So if it is not a hoax,  then what is it?

The so called “high profile” Medjugorje critics were very uncomfortable with having to stick their necks out and come up with a viable explanation. When pressed to explain the mystery they simply pushed the Bishop Mostar forward and said “The Bishop has ruled the events are not “supernatural”. A few brave critics flat out said Medjugorje is the work of the Devil.

But the Bishop of Mostar’s ruling still did not explain the mystery. The visionaries have spoken as well and clearly their narrative of the events of Medjugorje are viewed with credibility by millions of Catholics around the world.

We want to know what is going on in Medjugorje. The events are too extraordinary to simply put one’s head in the sand and accept at face value one man’s opinion. After all,the Catholic Church has a long history of Bishops making errors eg. ex-communication of the Australian Saint Mary Mackillop.

We point out to the doubters that they have had over  thirty years to unravel the hoax. We have asked them to tell us – who or what – is behind the events of Medjugorje.

Bring us the “Mastermind”, we say,  and then Medjugorje will end.  The “Doubters” are a tireless lot for sure – there is not a rock unturned in their quest to find the smoking gun. But so far – no guns – no bullets – no smoke.

The village of Medjugorje is still missing its “Masterminds ” and its inventors.