Journey to Medjugorje

by Matushka Katherine Swanson

Th= e=20 Marian Apparitions: Divine Intervention or = Delusion?=20

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The appearance, continuously for several years now, of = the Virgin=20 Mary to a number of young children in a small village in = Croatia has=20 been the source of both enthusiasm and controversy in the = Roman=20 Catholic world. Encouraged by the local Franciscan clergy, = tens of=20 thousands of pilgrims have visited Medjugorje to hear the = messages=20 conveyed to the children when the Virgin allegedly appears = before=20 them. These messages consist of statements of a general kind = about=20 religion, but with a decidedly ecumenical flavor, of late = [see, in=20 this regard, paragraph seven, below]. There are also widely = reported=20 miraculous healings associated with the apparition. In spite = of=20 local church support and the sustained popularity of such=20 pilgrimages, however, the happenings in Medjugorje have met = with=20 disapproval from the Croatian Roman Catholic hierarchy and = from the=20 Vatican. They have also transformed a small village into a=20 flourishing tourist attraction, replete with all of the = tacky=20 trappings that go along with such places and the windfall = profits=20 they provide.

In 1986, I had the opportunity to visit this Roman = Catholic place=20 of pilgrimage. My employer at the time, an investor and = developer=20 and a Roman Catholic, had asked me to accompany his wife, a = devout=20 woman, to Medjugorje and to report back to him on what I = saw. My=20 husband, an Orthodox Priest and a psychologist who works as = an=20 administrator at a local Jesuit university, was = apprehensive, at=20 first, about my making such a trip, since he is by training=20 sceptical about popular religious phenomena and, on account = of his=20 association with a Roman Catholic institution, is fully = aware of the=20 attitude of Rome towards the apparitions at Medjugorje. As a = traditionalist and conservative Orthodox clergyman, he also=20 questioned the prudence of an Orthodox Christian visiting = this kind=20 of place, especially given its increasing fame as an = "ecumenical=20 center."

However, on hearing of my desire to conduct an objective=20 investigation, but with no intention of compromising my own = Faith in=20 any way whatsoever, Father and I eventually decided, = together, that=20 my trip could prove useful, in terms of informing other = Orthodox=20 Christians about the realities of Medjugorje. (This village, = incidentally, is a short distance from the Jagodnjaca Pit, = where=20 more than a thousand Or= thodox=20 Christians were slaughtered and buried in World War II by = the=20 Croatian Ustashi, a brutal Nazi rgime supported and = aided by the=20 Croatian Franciscans. In Medjugorje itself, twenty Serbian = Orthodox=20 Priests were publicly tortured, castrated, and buried alive. = For=20 reports of these events, see the book The Suppressed = Serbian=20 Voice [Los Angeles, CA: SAVA, 1994], 2nd ed., s.v.=20 "Medjugorje," as well as "The Madonna of Medjugorje," a=20 Westernhanger/BBC video tape presentation, produced by = Angela Tilby=20 and available from WTVS, Detroit [1-800-441-3000].) Hence, = as though=20 to prove our thinking correct, my present report for = Orthodox=20 Tradition and its readers.

Our trip to Croatia was organized by a Roman Catholic = tour group=20 and we were guided by a Roman Catholic priest. When we = arrived in=20 Zagreb, I visited a local Orthodox parish (a very beautiful = Church),=20 after which we were joined by a tourist guide, a woman who = happened=20 to be Orthodox and who bluntly indicated that she considered = the=20 apparitions at Medjugorje to be a hoax. When we finally = reached=20 Medjugorje by bus, we were placed in local homes, households = which=20 had obviously benefited materially from the tourist trade = generated=20 by the apparitions. Though the village was filled with = admittedly=20 pious, if desperate, pilgrims, many obviously ill and = seeking cures=20 for every sort of disease, the locals were nonchalant about = the=20 religious aspects of their newfound fame. The woman with = whom we=20 were placed, much like our Orthodox tourist guide, dismissed = the=20 whole phenomenon with what was essentially a verbal = shrug.

=20

The appearance of the Virgin=E2=80=94at present to two = young children,=20 four other children ("seers") having gone off to = college=E2=80=94occurs in=20 the so-called "Apparition Room," inside a large church = rectory into=20 which only select individuals are admitted (see photograph = at left).=20 Through a series of interesting events that I will not = recount here,=20 I was mistaken, while standing with the huge crowd gathered = outside=20 the rectory, for a member of the London press. Neither = assenting to=20 nor disagreeing with this misidentification, I was quickly = shuffled=20 up to the front of the crowd and into the door of the = Apparition=20 Room, while my employer=E2=80=99s wife, who had come to = Medjugorje as a=20 pilgrim, ironically enough, was left standing with the rest = of the=20 people. And so it was that I saw the Medjugorje apparition=20 first-hand, something which most pilgrims, after travelling, = in some=20 cases, halfway around the world, never get to see.

What, then, did I experience? Let me begin by saying that = the=20 Franciscans who operate the Medjugorje complex are, almost = to a=20 number, exceedingly officious, rude, and even nasty. In = fact, as I=20 entered the Apparition Room, a brutish Franciscan, = "elbowing" his=20 way in, grabbed me by the collar and simply pushed me aside. = My=20 strong protest was met with indifference. This nastiness was = complemented by the cold, chilling atmosphere of the hall, = which=20 gives little evidence of being a religious shrine. At any = rate, as I=20 stood at the back of the room, two young people walked in, = knelt,=20 Crossed themselves in Latin style, and then stood and stared = at the=20 front wall. After a short time, one related the = Virgin=E2=80=99s message for=20 the day. Such was the Medjugorje miracle. I saw nothing. I = can only=20 attest to the total lack of a spiritual atmosphere in the = Apparition=20 Room and to the cold chill that prevailed in it. Nor did I, = when=20 outside the building, witness anything like a "dancing sun," = another=20 phenomenon reported by pilgrims to Medjugorje. Rather, I am = aware of=20 the case of one young man who, looking too long at the sun = for this=20 supposed miracle, seriously impaired his vision.

=20

I should add that, after leaving the rectory, our guide = took our=20 group for an audience with the "seers." During this = audience, a=20 pilgrim asked one of children the following question: "Does = the=20 Virgin say that the Catholic Church is the true church?" The = response given by the child (Marija, pictured at right) = provides=20 clear evidence of the ecumenical content and religious = relativism=20 which, oddly enough, increasingly mark the "revelations" at=20 Medjugorje: "Our Blessed Mother says that all religions = are=20 equally pleasing to God."

My brief report, here, is not meant to ridicule those = sincere=20 Roman Catholic believers who flock to Croatia looking for a = miracle,=20 whether to restore their faith or their health. The wrong = beliefs of=20 Roman Catholic Christianity are not things in which we = Orthodox=20 exult; rather, we deeply grieve for the pious, sincere = believers in=20 that church, believers who have been separated from the = Grace-filled=20 life of Orthodoxy, in which the miraculous is not a cause of = faith=20 and restoration, but a product of these things. Nor do I = wish to say=20 that the chilling cold of Medjugorje is a sign of the = "demonic," as=20 that word is so often misused. People do not flock there to = do or to=20 worship evil. They are seeking God. But in this place, their = zeal=20 and faith are met by what is unreal=E2=80=94whether the = unreality of=20 delusion or a fantasy contrived by the lovers of cash and = profit, I=20 cannot firmly say=E2=80=94, which is a devilish, if = lamentable, circumstance=20 indeed.

Matushka Katherine is an Orthodox Christian = of Albanian=20 descent. Her husband, the Reverend Dr. Martin Swanson, is = Pastor of=20 the St. Basil the Great Orthodox Church in St. Louis, MO, a = parish=20 of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. This article = originally=20 appeared in Orthodox Tradition, Vol. XIII, Nos. = 3&4,=20 pp. 51-53.

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Journey to Medjugorje

by Matushka Katherine Swanson

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