Međugorje

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Međugorje
Међугорје
Međugorje (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Paris plan pointer b jms.svg
Basic data
State : Bosnia and Herzegovina
Entity : Federation of BiH
Canton : Herzegovina-Neretva
Municipality : Čitluk
Coordinates : 43 ° 11 '  N , 17 ° 41'  E Coordinates: 43 ° 11 '25 "  N , 17 ° 40' 40"  E
Height : 22  m. i. J.
Residents : 2,306 (2013)
Telephone code : +387 (0) 36
Postal code : 88266
Structure and administration (as of 2016)
Mayor : Pero Barbarić ( HDZ 1990 )
Postal address : Međugorje bb
88266 Međugorje
Website :

Međugorje [ mɛdʑuɡɔːrjɛ ] ( Cyrillic  Међугорје ; transcribed also Medjugorje ) is a local community of greater community Čitluk in southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina . Međugorje is located about 30 km southwest of Mostar and 16 km from the border with Croatia . Međugorje roughly means "between the mountains".

Međugorje is an internationally known Roman Catholic pilgrimage site , after residents have been reporting about apparitions of Mary since 1981 . The Holy See does not recognize the apparitions, but has allowed pilgrimages since 2019 with the indication that this is not to be understood as recognition of the supposed miraculous appearances . It is estimated that up to a million pilgrims visit the small town every year .

history

Modern times

The Serbian Orthodox monastery Žitomislići has existed east of Međugorje in the Neretva valley since 1566 . Gravestones from the Middle Ages have been preserved in the Catholic cemetery Groblje Srebrenica in the Miletina district and in the Vionica district. In the area of ​​the cemetery in Miletina there were also buildings from Roman times, the remains of which have not yet been fully excavated.

19th and early 20th centuries

In 1882, the railway line between Mostar and the Adriatic Sea was built with the station in the Šurmanci district, which gave the village at that time a connection to rail traffic.

Second World War

In 1941, when Medjugorje belonged to the Independent State of Croatia , the Žitomislići Monastery was sacked by the Ustaša and the monastery refectory burned down. On June 21, 1941, members of the Ustaša committed a massacre of 559 Serbian civilians in the Šurmanci district , which prompted the local bishop Alojzije Mišić to write a protest letter to the Archbishop of Zagreb, Alojzije Stepinac , in September 1941 . The communist government of Yugoslavia closed the cave in which the corpses were with a concrete slab, which is why they could not be exhumed until 1989 and buried in the Prebilovci cemetery in the neighboring town of Čapljina .

Development into a place of pilgrimage

On June 24, 1981, the reports about the apparitions of Mary on Mount Crnica in the district of Bijakovići began and a little later the first related disputes with the Yugoslav state; Pilgrimage donations were confiscated by the police and access to the so-called Apparition Hill was temporarily blocked.

In October 1981 the pastor at the time, Jozo Zovko, was sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment with forced labor for alleged involvement in a nationalist conspiracy . After Amnesty International , among others , had campaigned for his release and was appealed, the Yugoslav Federal Court in Belgrade reduced the sentence to one and a half years and the pastor was released from prison in 1983. In the last few years before the fall of Yugoslavia , pilgrimage traffic was no longer hindered by the state.

Bosnian War

During the Bosnian War , Medjugorje remained in the hands of the Croatian Defense Council and in 1993 became de facto part of the internationally unrecognized Republic of Herceg-Bosna . Through the Dayton Agreement in 1995, Medjugorje was incorporated into the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina , which is largely inhabited by Bosniaks and Croats .

In July 1992 the place was the starting point of a so-called " ethnic cleansing " on the part of the Croatian Defense Council, which led to the complete destruction of the Serbian Orthodox monastery Žitomislići . Since 1993 Croatian warlords operated five larger prison camps in the vicinity, including the Dretelj camp , in which Bosniak and Serbian prisoners were tortured and murdered.

On April 2, 1995, at the height of the conflict in the diocese, Bishop Ratko Perić was kidnapped by Croatian irregulars , beaten and taken to a chapel run by the Međugorj Franciscans , where he was detained for ten hours. At the initiative of the Mayor of Mostar, with the help of the United Nations peacekeeping force, he was freed bloodlessly.

Post-war development

View of Medjugorje

After the end of the Bosnian War , peace returned to the country; UN peacekeeping forces remained stationed in western Herzegovina. Efforts by the politician Ante Jelavić to create a Croatian entity of their own were unsuccessful, leaving Međugorje with the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the post-war period, the town and the surrounding area experienced a rapid economic boom. The community provides several thousand beds in hotels and hostels for pilgrims. The municipality of Medjugorje has the most overnight stays in Bosnia-Herzegovina with around one million visitors annually.

Mostar Airport , about 20 kilometers to the northeast , which was closed in 1991, was reopened for civil air traffic in 1998 and has since made it easier to travel by air. The road network was expanded after the Bosnian War. The Šurmanci district also has a train station in the lower Neretva valley on the route from Ploče to Sarajevo .

Protests, some of which were violent, broke out in the region on April 6, 2001, after the United Nations protection force, among other things, over the local branch of Hercegovačka banka , through which a large part of the payment transactions in Herzegovina and the international donations intended for Medjugorje were processed suspected white-collar crime and closed it. The Franciscan Province responsible for the parish was a shareholder in the bank.

religion

Marian apparitions

Podbrdo ("Under the Hill", place of the alleged Marian apparitions)

The Blessed Mother is supposed to appear in the village and proclaim messages that were first perceived on June 24, 1981 by six local "seers" Mirjana Dragičević, Ivan Dragičević, Ivanka Ivanković, Vicka Ivanković, Marija Pavlović and Jakov Colo (at that time in childhood) and communicated to the public were. The messages are meant to be about peace, faith, repentance , prayer, fasting and repentance and are meant to continue into the present. On the 25th of each month, the Informativni Centar Međugorje publishes a message in several languages. In the Church of St. James in Međugorje, Eucharistic adoration hours are held regularly and a spiritual program is offered for the pilgrims. In Germany, supporters have come together in the Medjugorje Germany Association. The followers of Međugorje call the Blessed Mother “Gospa” and worship her as the “ Queen of Peace ”.

Place of prayer

In September 2013 it turned out that a glowing statue of the Virgin Mary from the possession of the “seer” Vicka Ivanković-Mijatović had been coated with luminous paint . The Croatian chemist Pavle Močilac identified the substance as a color based on strontium aluminate using photos showing the spectrum of colors typical of the luminous paint . In the days before, the supposed miracle had attracted more than 15,000 believers. Ivanković-Mijatović presented the process as a "sign of Our Lady".

In 2019, the Slovenian artist Andrej Ajdič raised allegations of fraud against the parish in front of the parish church in Međugorje in connection with the use of the statue of Christ made by him, which he said was on permanent loan . This denied Ajdič's claims that according to the customs declaration the statue was a gift.

In March 2020 the “seer” Mirjana Dragičević announced that Our Lady had announced that from now on she would no longer appear on the second day of each month. However, three of the seers continued to have daily apparitions because they had not yet been given all the secrets.

Attitude of the universal Church

The Roman Catholic Church recognized Međugorje neither as a place of pilgrimage nor as a place of Marian apparitions. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith responded to a request in this regard with the verdict of the former All-Yugoslav Bishops' Conference in 1991: " Based on the investigations carried out so far, it is not possible to say that the apparitions or revelations are supernatural". Pilgrimages , i.e. pilgrimages by dioceses and Catholic associations, were therefore not allowed. As private trips for individuals with a spiritual goal, pilgrimages to Medjugorje are only permitted on the condition that they do not pursue the goal of authenticating the events.

In a letter dated July 22, 1998, the then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger , stated that positive statements on Medjugorje ascribed to him and Pope John Paul II were fictitious. On May 30, 2008, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith imposed the interdict as a church punishment against a spiritual guide of the "seers", Fr Tomislav Vlašić OFM, for various offenses against church discipline. In 2009 he was laicized at his own request and left the Franciscan order.

In 2008 it was confirmed that a Vatican commission of inquiry had been set up in 2006, which, according to the Archbishop of Vrhbosna , Cardinal Vinko Puljić , was to investigate both the alleged apparitions of Mary and the nature of the pastoral activity of the priests on site. The commission came to the conclusion that the apparitions were not of a supernatural nature. In November 2009, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith confirmed the full jurisdiction of the local bishops in the Medugorje affair and expressed its negative attitude.

In March 2010, another Vatican commission of inquiry was set up. The subject of these investigations was the spiritual life in the parishes and the care of pilgrims in Međugorje. At the end of February 2012, the commission headed by Cardinal Camillo Ruini declared that all six “seers” had already been questioned in the Vatican . The results of the investigation should be sent to Pope Benedict XVI in the same year. but the timeline was not met and the Commission remained active until 2014.

In autumn 2013, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Müller , prohibited even lay people from participating in events at which the alleged Marian apparitions were believed to be credible. On January 17, 2014, the commission of inquiry set up in 2010 concluded its work; Results were not disclosed. On June 8, 2015, Pope Francis announced an imminent final decision after his visit to Sarajevo , where he had not commented on Medugorje.

On November 17, 2016, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, asked the faithful to await the final decision of the universal Church with regard to the phenomena in Medjugorje. On February 11, 2017, Pope Francis appointed the Bishop of Warsaw-Praga , Archbishop Henryk Hoser , as his special envoy for Medjugorje. Hoser was supposed to gather knowledge about the situation on site and the needs of the pilgrims as well as make suggestions for pastoral initiatives. Hoser's mandate, which he performs alongside the management of his diocese, should be completed by June 2017. The exclusively pastoral character of this mission was expressly emphasized.

In May the Ruini Commission declared its skepticism about the first seven alleged apparitions from June 24th to July 3rd, 1981; they would have to be further checked for authenticity. The later appearances are seen even more critically. Pope Francis said: “This is not the mother of Jesus. And these apparent apparitions are of little value. ”The Ruini report recommended lifting the ban on pilgrimages to Medjugorje and was criticized by parts of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. A papal decision was announced for summer 2017 after Archbishop Hoser's proposed recommendations were presented. As of December 2017, according to the Catholic Church in Germany , no such decision had been made.

In May 2018 Archbishop Hoser was appointed by Pope Francis as Apostolic Visitator for Međugorje and commissioned to get an idea of ​​the priestly care of the pilgrims there. In July 2018, Hoser warned of the presence of the mafia , in particular the southern Italian Camorra from Naples , in the pilgrimage shop of Međugorje. In October 2018 the Pope declared that God works miracles in Medjugorje “despite” the seers, their supposed apparitions and messages from Mary. At the beginning of February 2019, Hoser's mandate in Međugorje was over; a papal decision was not available at this point in time.

In May 2019, Hoser and the Apostolic Nuncio Luigi Pezzuto announced that they would also be allowed to make official pilgrimages, but it was not a recognition of the alleged Marian apparitions. The Vatican Press Office confirmed the announcement.

Attitude of the regional church

As a representative of the Roman Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina , the bishop of Mostar-Duvno Ratko Perić , like his predecessor Pavao Žanić , opposed the alleged apparitions. He repeatedly and in detail stated that the statements of the "seers" were on very thin ground and accused them of cheating and deceiving. In a sermon on June 15, 2006 in the parish of Međugorje, he stated that "something comparable to a schism " now exists, and that a number of priests have already been expelled from the Franciscan order for permanent disobedience and that the sacraments have subsequently not been valid donated or assisted in church weddings, which led to the invalidity of the marriages.

On June 12, 2009, Bishop Perić forbade the community Oasi della Pace ("Oasis of Peace") active in their Medjugorjer chapel from any further stay in the diocese and forbade the parish to call itself a "sanctuary" ("shrine"). Priests who look after the parish of Medjugorje or those who come as visitors are not allowed to express their private views on the attitude of the Church to the so-called "apparitions" and "messages", neither during the celebration of the sacraments nor in the case of other forms of public prayer and piety still in the Catholic media. In June 2018, the local bishop repeated his view that Mary did not appear in fact during the first seven days of the alleged phenomenon in Medjugorje .

Sexual abuse

In April 2009 a suspended Peruvian priest was sentenced to eight years imprisonment by the criminal court in Rimini, Italy, for the serious sexual abuse of an Italian child on a pilgrimage to Međugorje . The Court of Appeal in Bologna reduced the sentence in March 2010 for four years, but upheld the conviction of the priest to pay restitution in the amount of 350,000 euros and ordered his immediate detention.

In May 2019, Pope Francis transferred the imprisoned priest Michele Barone from Casapesenna in the diocese of Aversa and in the province of Caserta to lay status . Barone, the founder of the sect-like community Piccola Casetta di Nazareth , is charged with the physical abuse of a child as part of an exorcism and the sexual abuse of several girls in Medjugorje. With Barone, the parents of the injured child and a police officer who belonged to the Barone community and who is accused of thwarting punishment in favor of Barones, were charged and arrested in 2018. Previously, the local bishop of Aversa, Angelo Spinillo , had suspended Michele Barone from duty.

Parish

St. James Church

The Catholic parish of Sveti Jakov ( St. James ) was established in 1892 by Paškal Buconjić , the bishop of Mostar. In addition to Me umfasstugorje, the parish area also includes the villages of Bijakovići, Vionica, Miletina and Šurmanci. The parish is cared for by priests from the Herzegovinian Province of Franciscans .

Križevac mountain ("Kreuzwegberg")

In 1934 the twelve-meter-high concrete cross was completed on the Križevac (" Cross Mountain "), which closes the parish's Way of the Cross .

In August 2001, 180,000 believers received Holy Communion in the parish of Meorugorje and 4,490 priests from home and abroad concelebrated in the holy masses . According to the parish, communion was given to 330,000 people in August 2010 and 7,742 priests concelebrated.

Social facilities

There are several facilities in Medjugorje to help people in need. They were founded on the initiative of Fr. Slavko Barbarić . The "village Cenacolo" (ital. For the Upper Room ) and the drug center "Campo della vita" ( "City of Life"), the young people support facilities at the way out of drug addiction. The Majčino selo (“mother village”) is an institution for pre-school education and social care for orphans and young people. During the Bosnian War , orphans of fallen soldiers, single mothers and raped women found shelter and care here.

There is also a first aid station on site, which is operated by the Malteser Aid Service, mainly with German helpers, every year from March to October. In addition to the helpers from Germany, this station also has local medical and nursing care. The station serves as the first point of contact for pilgrims with medical problems of any kind and is financed entirely from their donations.

Radio station

Međugorje owns the radio station Radio "Mir" Međugorje (Radio "Peace" Međugorje), which broadcasts in large parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina via a network of mostly low-power transmitters via ultra-short waves . Since the most powerful transmitter is on the Croatian side of the Plješevica mountain range and has an output of 50  kilowatts , the program can also be received in large parts of Croatia .

Events

The Međugorje Youth Festival takes place every summer in the summer. In 2010 around 50,000 young people took part. About 500 priests regularly concelebrated at the evening masses.

Once a year there is a marathon from Grude via Ljubuški to Međugorje. Its motto is "Let's run to Gospa".

Personalities

Sons and daughters

Connected to the place

literature

  • Donal Anthony Foley: Understanding Medjugorje. Heavenly Visions or Pious Illusion? . Augsburg 2011, Dominus-Verlag, ISBN 978-3-940879-16-5 .
  • Rudo Franken: A trip to Medjugorje. Appearance concerns. With contributions by Mark Waterinckx and Manfred Hauke . 2nd edition, Augsburg 2011, Dominus-Verlag, ISBN 978-3-940879-15-8 .
  • Kevin Orlin Johnson: 20 questions about Medjugorje. Verax, Müstair 2001, ISBN 3-909065-23-6 .
  • E. Michael Jones: The Medjugorje Fraud. History and facts about its detection. Verax, Müstair 2001, ISBN 3-909065-19-8 .
  • René Laurentin : 14 years of apparitions - Latest news from Medjugorje: prayer, conversions, humanitarian aid. A stronger movement than war. 1995, ISBN 3-901228-28-4 .
  • René Laurentin, Ljudevit Rupčić: The events of Medjugorje. An investigation. Graz 1985, ISBN 3-907523-66-0 .
  • Thomas Lintner: The importance of private revelations using the example of the "Gospa" of Medjugorje. Bautz, Nordhausen 2003, ISBN 3-88309-126-X .
  • Thomas Müller: Medjugorje - A charism and its confirmation by the people of God. Prayer campaign Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-901228-59-4 .
  • Andreas Resch , G. Gagliardi: I Veggenti di Medjugorje: Ricerca psicofisiologica 1998. Resch, Innsbruck 2000, ISBN 3-85382-069-7 .
  • Andreas Resch: The seers of Medjugorje. Resch, Innsbruck 2005, ISBN 3-85382-078-6 .
  • Ljudevit Rupčić : The Truth About Medjugorje. Künzli, 1991, ISBN 3-87449-226-5 .
  • Stefan Teplan , Valentin Reitmajer : Maria speaks in Medjugorje: All the messages of the Mother of God. Reimo, 2002, ISBN 3-9805810-7-1 .
  • Vencel Čuljak (2014, dissertation): Fenomen Međugorje kao svjetski brend i top destinacija vjerskog turizma (for example: “The phenomenon of Medjugorje as a global brand and the top destination for religious tourism” ).

Web links

Commons : Međugorje  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Diocese of Mostar-Duvno: Il contesto di "fenomeno de Medjugorje" , September 26, 2009, (Italian)
  2. ↑ a b Cardinal Schönborn's visit to Medjugorje 'not a statement,' spokesman says , Catholic News Agency, November 16, 2009
  3. ^ Church and Life, Münster Germany: Medjugorje: Pope allows pilgrimage - miracles not recognized. Retrieved September 5, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Pope Francis allows official pilgrimages to Medjugorje - Vatican News. May 12, 2019, accessed September 5, 2019 .
  5. ↑ a b c András Riedlmayer: Zitomislici ( Memento of July 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), Haverford College , undated, in the Internet Archive
  6. ^ Franjo Sušac: Stećci ( Memento from December 8, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), Turistička zajednica općine Čitluk, 2002; compare also local map
  7. ↑ Presentation of regional history on the website of the Informativni Centar Međugorje ( Memento from June 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ^ A b c E. Michael Jones: The Ghosts of Surmanci , South Bend (Indiana) , February 1998
  9. ^ Roger Cohen: Serbian Church Blocking Pope's Visit to Belgrade , New York Times , September 6, 1994
  10. ↑ a b Ulrike Rudberg: In the evening when Maria comes. Die Zeit , June 26, 1987
  11. ^ Father Jozo Zovko ( memento of October 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) on medjugorje.de
  12. ↑ Orthodox Žitomislić rebuilt in Hercegovina ( Memento of 7 October 2007 at the Internet Archive ), Kath Press , Vienna , message 112/2005
  13. ↑ a b Michael Sells: Crosses of Blood ( Memento from July 8, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  14. ^ Bosnia Camp Guard Convicted in Denmark , New York Times , November 23, 1994
  15. ↑ Bojan Aleksov, Marian Apparitions and the Yugoslav Crisis (PDF; 226 kB), Central European University , Budapest , June 2004
  16. ^ René Laurentin : Medjugorje Testament , Ave Maria Press, Toronto 1998, ISBN 0-9697382-6-9 , quoted by Craig L. Heimbichner
  17. ^ East European Constitutional Review ( Memento June 24, 2004 in the Internet Archive ), New York University , 2001
  18. ↑ Representation of NATO from April 18, 2001
  19. ↑ Critical comment on hercegbosna.org, 2001
  20. ↑ https://www.medjugorje.de/medjugorje/seher/
  21. ^ Messages of Our Lady , Informativni Centar Međugorje
  22. ↑ Medjugorje Germany e. V.
  23. ↑ Novena to the Queen of Peace ( Memento of the original from October 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on medjugorje.ws. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.medjugorje.ws
  24. ↑ Descubren que el milagro de la Virgen de Medjugorje se debe a una sustancia fluorescente , ABC , September 26, 2013
  25. ↑ Medjugorje Germany e. V .: Luminous statue . medjugorje.de: "Official website for German-speaking countries", as of October 9, 2013, accessed on October 16, 2015
  26. ↑ Martin Sander: Jesus - made in China. Deutschlandfunk Kultur on October 27, 2019
  27. ↑ Susanne Finner: “Seer” from Medjugorje proclaims: No more monthly apparitions of the Blessed Mother. In: de.catholicnewsagency.com. May 12, 2019, accessed March 19, 2020 .
  28. ↑ a b Zenit News Agency : Medjugorje: 20 Years Later, the Questions Linger ( Memento of July 8, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), July 3, 2001.
  29. ^ A b English translation of Bishop Perić's statement, February 17, 2004 .
  30. ^ Announcement of the decision by the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno on August 31, 2008.
  31. ↑ Father Tomislav Vlašić laized , kath.net , July 30, 2009
  32. ↑ Vatican / Bosnia-Herzegovina: Commission of Inquiry for Medjugorje ( Memento of November 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), Vatican Radio , July 8, 2008.
  33. ↑ Bosnian Cardinal denies claims of the Vatican commission for Medjugorje , Catholic News Agency , November 20, 2009
  34. ^ Bosnia: No Commission on Medjugorje ( Memento of November 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), Vatican Radio, November 25, 2009
  35. ↑ Vatican investigates Medjugorje ( Memento of May 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), Catholic news agency , published by Domradio Cologne, March 17, 2010
  36. ↑ Something supernatural? ( Memento of November 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Domradio Cologne, March 18, 2010
  37. ↑ Medjugorje, pronunciamento entro il 2012 ( Memento of March 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), Andrea Tornielli , La Stampa , February 27, 2012
  38. ↑ a b Commissione chiude lavori Medjugorje , Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata , January 18, 2014
  39. ↑ USA / Vatican: Distance to Medjugorje ( Memento of February 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), Vatican Radio, November 7, 2013
  40. ^ Research on Medjugorje completed ( Memento from February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), Vatican Radio , January 18, 2014
  41. ^ Pope: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith discusses Medjugorje. kath.net , June 8, 2015
  42. ↑ 'Adoration of Mary does not depend on appearances and revelations'. kath.net, November 17, 2016
  43. ↑ Comunicato della Segreteria di Stato: Nomina dell'Inviato Speciale della Santa Sede per Medjugorje. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, February 11, 2017, accessed February 11, 2017 (Italian).
  44. ^ Medjugorje: Pope appoints special envoy. ( Memento from February 11, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Vatican Radio from February 11, 2017
  45. ^ Phenomenon of the Marian apparitions. Domradio from March 6, 2017
  46. ↑ Anian Christoph Wimmer: Three Things Everyone Should Know About Medjugorje and the “Ruini Report” Catholic News Agency of May 18, 2017
  47. ^ Catholic news agency : No Pope decision on Medjugorje yet. Catholic.de of December 11, 2017
  48. ^ Francis sends a visitor to Medjugorje. Vatican News of May 31, 2018
  49. ↑ Pope envoy warns of Mafia business in Medjugorje. The press of July 9, 2018
  50. ↑ Synod editor in book: Pope forbade Medjugorje-seer appearance ( memento of October 24, 2018 in the web archive archive.today ) kathpress of October 22, 2018
  51. ↑ Alexander Brüggemann: The Vatican is having a hard time with the Medjugorje phenomenon. Domradio from February 2, 2019
  52. ↑ Christine Seuss, Massimiliano Menichetti: Pope Francis allows official pilgrimages to Medjugorje. Vatican News of May 12, 2019
  53. ↑ Medjugorje: No recognition of the alleged apparitions. kathpress from May 12, 2019
  54. ^ English translation of Bishop Perić's sermon, June 15, 2006 .
  55. ^ Ratko Perić: Le "apparizioni" dei prime sette giorni a Madjugorje. Diocese of Mostar-Duvno and Trebinje-Mrkan, June 2, 2018
  56. ↑ Rimini: pedofilia, ex sacerdote condannato a otto anni , Romagna Oggi, April 28, 2009.
  57. ↑ Pedofilia. Corte d'appello prima dimezza la pena poi arresta ex prete , Blitz Quotidiano, March 20, 2010.
  58. ↑ Casapesenna, Papa Francesco riduce allo stato il prete laicale accusato di violenza sessuale. La Repubblica on May 6, 2019
  59. ↑ Most severe sanction of canon law. Domradio from May 6, 2019
  60. ↑ Marilù Musto: “Il prete esorcista mi palpeggiava durante i pellegrinaggi a Medjugorje”. Il Mattino on February 25, 2018
  61. ↑ a b Medjugorje , description of the place on truepeace.com.au
  62. ↑ Medjugorje on friedenskoenigin.de
  63. ↑ Statistics of the parish (general overview)
  64. ↑ Medjugorje Youth Festival 2007 , article on www.medjugorje.de
  65. ↑ Youth Festival 2010 , article on www.medjugorje.hr
  66. ^ "Let us run to Gospa!" Peace Marathon, Medjugorje Information Center website, May 25, 2006