When asked about Medjugorje, Pope Benedict XVI told one of his possible successors to judge the tree by the fruits. And a personal friend of the Pope from his days as a Cardinal says Cardinal Ratzinger smiled and said “Just go!” when the place was mentioned, a lot like John Paul II’s reaction. Statements from Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras and from a personal friend of the Pope for many years both indicate that Medjugorje is closer to the heart of Pope Benedict XVI than previously hinted by the Pope. Asked by the Spanish-language Christian news portal Religion en Libertad if he ever heard Pope Benedict XVI...

The Virgin Mary is building a new humanity, a new generation that prays to God, visionary Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti told more than 2,000 people in Dublin, Ireland, on February 21. In the midst of a heated abortion debate, she pointed to the Rosary as the means to bring about a new, holy Ireland. Medjugorje visionary Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti sought to strengthen the current Irish battle against abortion when she talked and had a public apparition in Dublin on Thursday. She further placed the Irish battle within a larger scheme. “Our Lady is building a new humanity, a new generation that prays to God. That loves God and adores God. Make...

It is unknown if the Vatican Commission on Medjugorje will continue its work after its initiator, Pope Benedict XVI, leaves his office on February 28, Croatian tv’s Rome correspondent reports. With an unknown agenda, the Commission meets in Rome today, on the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter. Uncertainty surrounds the Vatican Commission’s work of investigating Medjugorje after Pope Benedict XVI resigns on February 28. At this point, it is unknown if the work will continue, the Croatian tv station HTV’s Rome correspondent Silvije Tomasevic reports, according to the regional news portal Brotnjo Info. What is known, however, is...

90 percent of the books about Medjugorje do not represent the truth, says visionary Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo who urges people not to buy any books about the place. She further laments and criticizes a widespread use of television, and calls tv a common excuse for people to avoid to pray. Medjugorje pilgrims should not buy books about the apparitions, for the far majority of the available books are not being loyal towards the truth, Medjugorje visionary Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo says in a so far un-translated August 2012 interview to the Italian online magazine Io Acqua e Sapone. “I want to tell you, as brothers and sisters, not to spend...

“Pray for your priests, especially for our Holy Father. Especially him who needs your help very much in the times we are living in now” Medjugorje visionary Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo told a crowd in Trieste, Italy, on February 9. Two days later, Pope Benedict XVI announced his abdication. Medjugorje visionary Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo begged for prayers for Pope Benedict XVI, and said he was in special need at this time, only two days before the Pope announced his resignment. “As your sister, and because I know everything that Our Lady is preparing us for, I beg you: Do love well. Do love your priests. Help them, pray for...

Pope John Paul II expressed his wish to go to Medjugorje, but never made it there. Now a Polish priest tells the Pope actually saw Medjugorje even then: He told the priest that whenever he flew eastwards, he would ask the pilot to fly over Medjugorje so he could bless the village from the air. Medjugorje never saw Pope John Paul II, but still then the Pope got to see Medjugorje. It took some creativity but also allowed him to see and bless the village on more than one occasion, the Polish priest Fr. Adamus Slawek told an Italian prayer group on October 19 last year. According to the priest’s testimony, quoted by the Facebook page Per...

Central America now has its own version of the Youth Festival in Medjugorje, and Danli, Honduras has a precise replica of the Cross on top of Cross Mountain. On February 7, the openings of both were witnessed by the local Cardinal as well as by Medjugorje visionary Ivan Dragicevic. Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga of Honduras and Medjugorje visionary Ivan Dragicevic were both among the speakers when about 4,000 young Catholics from 12 countries opened the first annual Youth Festival in Danli, Honduras, that took place on February 7-9. After the festival was officially opened, the participants attended the solemn inauguration of...

Visionary Vicka Ivankovic-Mijatovic’s notes of the Virgin Mary’s life story are written in a script that protects them from being read before Mary has given permission, new book from renowned author tells. The procedure resembles the one to be used for the revelation of another seer’s secrets. Already in the early 1980s, the Medjugorje visionaries stated that the Virgin Mary had shared her life story with each of them, giving each visionary details of her life; It was also clear that Vicka Ivankovic received Mary’s story of her life in greater detail and length than the other visionaries. The Virgin told Vicka to...

When everything is being presented as lawful, we get to live in a world that is not real, visionary Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti said after receiving the Virgin Mary’s message on January 25. Visible fruits are arrogance, selfishness, and lack of respect, but Mary is creating a new civilization, she added. Medjugorje visionary Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti reinforced her critique of modern society and living on the phone to Radio Maria shortly after receiving the Virgin Mary’s message on January 25. ”It seems that we are living in an unreal situation here because everything is lawful. Do you feel comfortable when you look at the city, the...

Surpassed only by 2011, the 30th anniversary of the Virgin Mary’s apparitions, 2012 became Medjugorje’s the second-best year. The number of distributed Holy Communions went above 1,800,000 for only the third time, and the number of Mass concelebrations was the highest ever. Medjugorje had its second-best year ever in 2012, measured by the number of visiting pilgrims. 1,814,900 Holy Communions were distributed, according to new stats from the parish office. The second-best year so far, 2007, was surpassed by a narrow margin of 6,000 distributions. In lack of stats showing the number of guests at Medjugorje’s hotels and...

The Medjugorje seers are only a means to communicate a message, and so they are no more important than the pilgrims who basically have the same role, says visionary Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo. The privileged people are the priests, adds the seer who says the key is in opening the heart. Ascribing too much importance to visionaries can prevent some people from seeing that they are just as important themselves, and have many opportunities in spite of not being seers, Medjugorje visionary Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo says in a so far un-translated August 2012 interview with the Italian online magazine Io Acqua e Sapone. “You do not need...

“True, it is a difficult time because of the crisis, but do not ask the Lord what He can do for you, but what you can do for this world. You have to react” Medjugorje visionary Jakov Colo told a packed cathedral in Malo, Italy, on January 11. He also emphasized the importance of the family. Medjugorje visionary Jakov Colo was paraphrasing former US President John F. Kennedy during his talk to 2,000 people in the cathedral of Malo, Italy, on Friday. Yet where Kennedy said, “Do not ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”, Jakov included the entire world in what he said. “True, it is a...

Complete with a white Cross on top, a replica of Cross Mountain in Medjugorje will come into being on a mount in Danli, Honduras. To reach 20 meters above the ground, the Cross will be more than twice as tall as the Cross in Medjugorje, and possible to see from all corners of the city. February 7-9 will see the installation of an exact replica of the Cross from Cross Mountain, Medjugorje – in Danli, Honduras, 92 kilometers from the capital, Tegucigalpa. Indeed, a whole mountain in Danli will be modeled after Cross Mountain, including the prayer devotion The Stations of the Cross that follows Jesus on the way to Calvary, the Honduran...

It is not for the Vatican Commission on Medjugorje itself to decide if its conlusions should be publicly known, says Cardinal Camillo Ruini, chairman of the Commission. No statement may even be released, says Cardinal Ruini. An Italian expert says the Pope may not get involved. Exactly what the current Vatican Commission has found and concluded in what will soon be three years of work on Medjugorje may never get known by the general public. And if its conclusions should be made known is not up to the Commission itself. “It will take just a bit longer, Not much, I hope. But, it is not an immediate thing. We are a consulting commission, we...

Elena Artioli’s type of brain disease never vanishes or decreases in size. But hers did after she went to Medjugorje. Her Italian specialist knows of no other cases in the world when this has happened. To Elena herself, her spiritual renewal is the greatest miracle and gift that she received. Cerebral arteriovenous malformation is just about as bad as it sounds. It is a blood vessel disease inside the brain whose size does not decrease, but only remains the same or increases. The one exception from this in the world is Elena Artioli from Bologna, Italy. She became this exception after she went to Medjugorje. The Italian girl was 16...