Jpinto, I too appreciate your honest, critical approach towards the private revelations
of Medjugorje; it's more prudent than a rashly sentimental approach that often leads
to superstition and the formation of minority cults within the Catholic Church. Indeed,
there are presently over sixty dubious and disapproved claims to private revelations in the
Catholic Church today. The supernatural events of Medjugorje have been dismissed by the
Bishop of Mostar, but the claims of the visionaries, the contents of the messages they
have received, the scientific investigations, and the response of the universal Church
indicate that these revelations are highly reliable and will most likely be fully approved by
the Church in time, along the same path as Lourdes and Fatima, for example, in modern
and contemporary time.
Please note that the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was infallibly proclaimed by Pius lX
on 8 December 1854 in his Constitution, 'Ineffabilis Deus'. However, the Catholic Church had
been celebrating the Feast of the Immaculate Conception as of 8 December 1476. Pope
Sixtus lV established the original feast day because the Church - the sensus fidelium- believed
in their hearts that Mary was conceived without sin. It was simply a matter of time until this
official doctrine and prevalent belief among the faithful became irrevocable dogma by
the infallible decree of a pope. The Bishop of Fatima officially approved the apparitions there
thirteen years after the great Miracle of the Sun which was witnessed by over 70,000 people.
Give Medjugorje time, and please go there. I intend to return a third time to celebrate Easter
and the Annunciation this year.
) so I can reply.
