Catholic theologians call Medjugorje apparitions demonic

Apparition Hill in Medjugorje. Photo: messaggimedjugorje

Six Vatican theologians concluded that the reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Medjugorje were the result of demonic intervention and called for the local visionaries to be condemned to ecclesiastical oblivion. Italian journalist David Murgia published details of a secret 2016 vote by members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, LifeSiteNews reports.

Earlier, 33 cardinals, bishops, and experts had submitted written assessments of the authenticity of the events. Most participants in the vote rejected their supernatural origin. Six dissenting theologians, including three cardinals, went further and explicitly described the phenomena as satanic in origin.

In their view, only direct demonic intervention could explain the decades-long phenomenon in Bosnia. Commission members referred to the events in Medjugorje as a “satanophany” rather than the more usual “Mariophany.”

The theologians called for the local visionaries to be consigned to complete oblivion. They also urged the full rehabilitation of the pastoral actions of Bishops Pavao Žanić and Ratko Perić, who had strongly opposed recognition of the apparitions.

The critics based their conclusions on the 1991 Zadar Declaration. That document of the Yugoslav Bishops’ Conference officially stated that the supernatural character of the Medjugorje events could not be established. The opponents also challenged the conclusions of Cardinal Ruini’s 2010 international commission, arguing that its favorable assessment had been based on incomplete archival material.

The Medjugorje apparitions began in June 1981. Pope Francis later permitted pilgrimages to the Bosnian village but stopped short of officially recognizing the apparitions as supernatural. In 2024, the Vatican introduced new rules for evaluating such phenomena, shifting the focus toward their spiritual fruits rather than proving their authenticity.

In September of that year, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, published a note on the spiritual experience of Medjugorje. The dicastery subsequently permitted pilgrimages while acknowledging the presence of certain theological inaccuracies.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that vandals in Bosnia desecrated a statue of the Virgin Mary and set an altar on fire.

Read also