{"id":11700,"date":"2024-09-24T15:18:31","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T19:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=11700"},"modified":"2024-09-24T15:18:31","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T19:18:31","slug":"vatican-approves-site-where-mary-is-believed-to-have-been-sighted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2024\/09\/vatican-approves-site-where-mary-is-believed-to-have-been-sighted.html","title":{"rendered":"Vatican Approves Site Where Mary is Believed to Have Been Sighted\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Adobe Stock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Vatican\u2019s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith declared Medjugorje, a town in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has approved devotion at the site to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The site became popular in 1981 after a series of sightings of Mary were reported. The first sighting was recorded June 24, 1981, when Mary reportedly appeared to six children (referred to as \u201cvisionaries\u201d) during a time of war for the region. People have claimed Mary continues to visit the site ever since, giving visions to people as she does so. Pope Francis also appointed a special envoy, Msgr. Henryk Hoser to further investigate the region. The Pope later authorized pilgrimages to the site on May 12, 2019, but cautioned against the approval as indicating verification of the Mary sightings.<\/p>\n

The declaration from the Vatican, entitled \u201cThe Queen of Peace,\u201d avoided making any conclusive remarks about the Mary sightings. It declared \u201cnihil obstat\u201d or \u201cno objection\u201d to the sightings, meaning the declaration was made<\/a> \u201cWithout expressing any certainty about the supernatural authenticity of the phenomenon itself, many signs of the action of the Holy Spirit are acknowledged \u2018in the midst\u2019 of a given spiritual experience, and no aspects that are particularly critical or risky have been detected, at least so far.\u201d \u201cQueen of Peace\u201d refers to the name Mary attributed to herself during her first appearance in 1981.<\/p>\n

The Vatican\u2019s declaration did note the sight as a source of positive spiritual fruit. \u201cThe positive fruits are most evident in the promotion of a healthy practice of a life of faith, in accordance with the tradition of the Church. In the context of Medjugorje, this applies both to those who had been previously distant from the faith, as well as to those who had practiced the faith only superficially,\u201d it stated<\/a>. The Vatican also stated that the appearance of positive spiritual fruit in devotees is not proof that all the visions are legitimate. \u201cMoreover, the positive assessment that most of the messages of Medjugorje are edifying does not imply a declaration that they have a direct supernatural origin. Consequently, when referring to ‘messages’ from Our Lady, one should always bear in mind that they are ‘alleged messages.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The site has become somewhat controversial as visionaries continue to claim receiving messages, with some of the visionaries become a source of attraction for the pilgrims as well. The Vatican encouraged against meeting with alleged visionaries but that pilgrims should instead desire, \u201can encounter with Mary, the Queen of Peace, and \u2013 faithful to her love for her Son \u2013 to encounter Christ and listen to him through mediation on the Word, by participation in the Eucharist, and in Eucharistic Adoration.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Vatican\u2019s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith declared Medjugorje, a town in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has approved devotion at the site to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The site became popular in 1981 after a series of sightings of Mary were reported. The first sighting was recorded June 24, 1981, when Mary reportedly appeared…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":627,"featured_media":11703,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christian-news","category-church"],"yoast_head":"\nVatican Approves Site Where Mary is Believed to Have Been Sighted\u00a0<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2024\/09\/vatican-approves-site-where-mary-is-believed-to-have-been-sighted.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vatican Approves Site Where Mary is Believed to Have Been Sighted\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Vatican\u2019s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith declared Medjugorje, a town in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has approved devotion at the site to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 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