Apparition Hill at Dawn, Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina
WHILE only the Public Revelation of Jesus Christ requires the assent of faith, the Church teaches that it would be imprudent to ignore the prophetic voice of God or “despise prophecy,” as St. Paul says. After all, authentic “words” from the Lord, are, from the Lord:
One can therefore simply ask why God provides them continuously [in the first place if] they hardly need to be heeded by the Church. —Hans Urs von Balthasar, Mistica oggettiva, n. 35
Even controversial theologian, Karl Rahner, also asked…
…whether anything God reveals can be unimportant. —Karl Rahner, Visions and Prophecies, p. 25
The Vatican has insisted upon remaining open to the alleged apparition thus far as it continues to discern the authenticity of the phenomena there. (If that’s good enough for Rome, it’s good enough for me.)
As a former television reporter, the facts surrounding Medjugorje do concern me. I know they concern many people. I have taken the same position on Medjugorje as Blessed John Paul II (as witnessed to by Bishops who have discussed the apparitions with him). That position is to celebrate the wonderful fruits flowing from this place, namely conversion and an intense sacramental life. This is not an ooey-gooey-warm-fuzzy opinion, but a hard fact based on the testimonies of thousands of Catholic clergy and countless laymen.