Originally published at National Catholic Register
In a highly anticipated report on the alleged decadeslong apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Medjugorje, the Vatican’s doctrinal office on Thursday endorsed prudent devotion to Mary at the popular pilgrimage site in Bosnia and Herzegovina yet withheld any declaration on whether the alleged visions are supernatural in origin.
The Sept. 19 note from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), signed by prefect Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández and approved by Pope Francis in an Aug. 28 audience, grants a “nihil obstat” to the spiritual experience at Medjugorje. The authoritative judgment means that pilgrims may continue to visit and pray at the site, as some 40 million people from around the world have done since the apparitions allegedly first began 43 years ago.
Six children, who are now middle-aged, first reported experiencing visions of the Blessed Mother, originally on a hilltop near the rural village of Medjugorje, on June 24, 1981. The Vatican’s report notes that the remote site, formerly part of Yugoslavia, is now widely “perceived as a space of great peace, recollection, and a piety that is sincere, deep, and easily shared.”
While it offers no definitive judgment on the supernatural authenticity of the alleged
