False Apparitions and the Great Apostasy

In 1882, Christ revealed to the stigmatist, Marie Julie Jahenny of La Fraudais, France that:

"In the last days, a seemingly unlimited amount of FALSE REVELATIONS will arise from hell like a swarm of flies; a last attempt of Satan to choke and to destroy the efficacy of the TRUE REVELATIONS by false ones." (Can you name even ONE false apparition ??)

Click Here for

'The Truth about Medjugorje' by Bishop Pavao Zanic, 1990

Comprehensive Evaluations of the Medjugorje Apparitions
 


The Great Marian-Catholic Apostasy
by David Hughes

'Even in the devotion to, or in the reception of the Eucharist: the faithful are only truly united to Christ and to his Mystical Body, the Church, through the Bishops. Cut off from the Bishops not even devotion to the Eucharist itself can unite the faithful to the Mystical Body of Christ.' [Pope John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia 2003, Chap 4, part 39] Today through false apparitions, the devil has succeeded in catastrophically damaging the Church by creating a very real spiritual schism joined by countless numbers of Marian Catholics. He has effectively blocked the spiritual power of the Church in the world, by destroying the perfect union of the faithful with the Mystical Body of Christ. He has accomplished this by luring Catholics to willfully disregard, and to intentionally disobey to the explicit decrees of the Bishops, the successors of the Apostles. Only through the Bishops does the power of divine grace come into the world. This has enabled the "error of Russia", which is in fact the 'Spirit of the World', i.e. man's rejection of the dominion of God, to spread throughout the whole world, even conquering Christian Civilization itself.

The Apostle, St. John tells us exactly how to recognize the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood. He says "as for them, they are of the world - and the world listens to them because they speak the language of the world. But we are children of God and those who know God: LISTEN TO US. Those who are not of God REFUSE TO LISTEN TO US. That is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood." (1 John 4:6) [The "us" to whom St. John refers are the Apostles, and their successors the Bishops.]

The Church is built on the rock: Peter. Submission to the Holy Father and to the teaching voice of the living Church is the fundamental principle of Catholicism. Every Catholic knows this to be true. Jesus Christ himself laid this corner stone. Christ did not found his Church on the sacrificial outpouring of his precious blood on Calvary. Christ did not found his Church on the Bible. He did not found his Church on "faith" in his Holy Name, or on the "belief" that he is the savior of all mankind. He most certainly did not found his Church on the private, subjective impressions of independent individuals who imagine that they have been entrusted with the knowledge or authority to discern how to bring Christian Salvation to the rest of the world!

Christ founded his Church on the individual man, Peter, as the visible head of a living earthly society. Christ's Church is literally the very embodiment of his spiritual kingdom on earth. He dispenses the gifts of salvation, and all of his sanctifying divine graces only through his Church - and in absolutely no other way! All grace comes through Christ and his Church: for they are one and the same body. The spiritual Body of Christ exists, licitly, only through explicit union with the Holy Father, and then through the Bishops. This is to say that Christ's Spiritual Kingdom on earth exists only through the Apostles, with Peter as their Head. Every grace that is granted to the Church comes from God, through Christ, through the Holy Father - and from the Holy Father through the Bishops. It is impossible to receive grace in any other way! Whether they know it or not, the 'natural order' of grace comes to the faithful ONLY through the Bishops. Every grace that they receive from the Blessed Sacrament, every grace that they receive through Holy Mass, every grace that they receive directly from the Altar of Sacrifice, every grace that they receive from the good they do, or the evils they endure for the love of God - is transmitted to the faithful of the Catholic Church only through the Bishops. The Bishops now are not only the visible, but also the viable extensions of Christ's own spiritual body! The rest of the Church participates in the spiritual body of Christ only through them.

Mary is indeed the 'supernatural' mediatrix of all graces. However, she mediates these graces only through the Church, and only for the Church. This means that the grace of God through Mary comes only from Christ, through the Holy Father and then through Bishops. Souls who disregard or disdain this spiritual truth are no different from those who despise Mary herself, or who despise the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. To despise the Bishop is equivalent to despising either Christ, or Mary - for they are all integral parts of the same body. They are the edifice of the fountain from which flow the waters of divine grace and salvation.

Make no mistake! Grace and salvation are available to all men of good will, especially to all Christians. [Veritatis splendor Part 3 & Note 123, & Vatican Council II: Gaudium etSpes, 22] Others, however, may receive "a lesser portion",  if their redemption is not granted in accord with the perfect will of God. Salvation is only available to mankind through the merits of Christ, and only through the fullness of his grace which actually, fully and exclusively resides within his Church. Those who seem to be separated from the Church though no fault of their own may be saved, but they are saved only by God's mercy - but still, they are saved only through his Church. Jesus Christ established a very special, a very specific, eternal, and irrevocable covenant with mankind through his living Church which  insures salvation! True, licit, members of his Church are the "first fruits". These are the predestinate who are adopted through sacramental baptism, and who are imbued with the true spirit of the salvation: which is the Catholic faith. Only these embrace the perfect salvation which Christ has promised through his Church. The true Church on earth is perfectly united with the entire Mystical Body of Christ. Eternal salvation is absolutely promised to those who come to God faultlessly through his Church. No other way is certain.

The Church can only survive if the living members are consciously submissive to the living pastors. The Church is destroyed if the faithful are not submissive to the Pope or to the Bishops. The Bishops share equally, with the Holy Father, in the apostolic appointment of the first Bishops, who were the Apostles. When a Bishop, who is in full union with Rome, officially teaches from his apostolic seat: his pronouncements about matters concerning his jurisdiction carry the weight of Holy Magisterium. Right or wrong about temporal decisions, the faithful are required to acquiesce in humble obedience to the will of a Bishop concerning matters that fall specifically under his ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Today, submission to the official teaching voice of the Church is universally rejected by even the most pious Catholics. In case after case, obedience to the Church is rationalized away by Catholics of every persuasion - including those who claim to be most faithful to her. This pandemic rejection of the "rock" is nothing less than a worldwide apostasy from the true Catholic religion.

Loyalty to Peter and to the Magisterium ("Teaching of the Church") is the binding force that holds the Church together. Only from a position of unity does the Church have the strength to bring salvation to the world. It imparts salvation by proclaiming God’s infinite love for men, the remission of sins through faith in the redemptive value of the sacrificial death of Jesus, spiritual adoption by God through Baptism, the necessity of obedience to the moral laws God and to His Church, and through the administration of the sacraments. Above all other things, the devil knows that loyalty to the Church is his primary obstacle to its destruction.

The devil has greatly succeeded in his effort to destroy the unity of the Church. Today, more than ever before, he has succeeded in wreaking havoc in the unity of the Church - even among her very elect. He has succeeded in such great measure that the whole world is now at the very final stage of the consummation of the Great Apostasy (II Thes. 2:3). This universal apostasy from the true Church is manifested in the modern age by the total disintegration of Christian civilization. This Apostasy may be followed, before the final return of Christ by a cataclysmic tribulation, a period of peace, and finally by the reign of the antichrist. (II Thes. 2:4)

The rock of the Church appears to be cleft on two sides. In reality the Church is divided by only one line of fissure. This line of fissure is disobedience to the Magisterium. The rock of the Church is cleft asunder by faithful who reject of the teaching authority of the Church, or who despise the legitimate apostolic decrees of her Bishops. The Protestant Revolt consisted precisely in the formal rejection of the divine teaching authority of the Church! Martin Luther believed in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Martin Luther believed in the great dignity of Most Holy Mary as mother of God. But, he rejected the teaching authority of the Church! What Martin Luther and all of the Protestant heretics used to gain followers, was the wonderful 'Gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ' ... just as the Apostles had done! They triumphantly heralded the salvation truly available to men through the remission of sins, which Christ had accomplished by his sacrificial death on Calvary. But, while they accepted the salvation that comes through faith in Jesus Christ, they tore the Body of Christ on earth asunder by their absolute rejection of licit membership in his Church - which is his spiritual kingdom on earth. They refused to remain perfect members of the true Body of Christ! This was the beginning of the Great Apostasy.

The Apostle, St. John tells us exactly how to recognize the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood. He says "as for them, they are of the world - and the world listens to them because they speak the language of the world. But we are children of God and those who know God: LISTEN TO US. Those who are not of God REFUSE TO LISTEN TO US. That is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood."  (1 John 4:6)  John is referring to the Apostles, and to their successors, the Bishops! The "us" to whom St. John refers are the Bishops!  The "children of God" listen to the Bishops!  They listen to the teaching voice of the legitimate successors of the Apostles! "Those who are not of God REFUSE TO LISTEN TO US. That is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood."

In the modern world, in the midst of the most devout believers, the devil has separated countless millions of today's Catholics by using the very same strategy that he first used to separate the Protestants from the Church. The Protestants were deceived into justifying their disobedient apostasy from the Church as teacher, by over emphasizing one essential doctrine. That doctrine was 'salvation through faith in Jesus Christ'. Christ himself had emphasized faith as a critical element for salvation. The early Protestants knew that the doctrine of faith in Jesus was essential. But, by focusing on the importance of this single doctrine, they justified blatant disobedience to the Church itself. Their rejection of the spiritual authority of the living Church was the root of the Great Apostasy!

False Apparitions

'Even in the devotion to, or in the reception of the Eucharist: the faithful are only truly united to Christ and to his Mystical Body, the Church, through the Bishops. Cut off from the Bishops not even devotion to the Eucharist itself can unite the faithful to the Mystical Body of Christ.' [Pope John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia 2003, Chap 4, part 39] Today through false apparitions, the devil has succeeded in severely damaging the Church by creating a very real spiritual schism joined by countless numbers of Marian Catholics. He has effectively blocked the spiritual power of the Church in the world, by destroying the perfect union of the faithful with the Mystical Body of Christ. He has accomplished this by luring Catholics to willfully disregard, and to intentionally disobey to the explicit decrees of the Bishops, the successors of the Apostles. Only through the Bishops does the power of divine grace come into the world! By injecting other important Gospels which the faithful believe to be essential, Satan obtains exactly what he wants! He destroys the intimate sacramental union of the faithful with the Mystical Body of Christ through their intentional disobedience to the teaching Church! Schismatic Churches enjoy legitimate sacraments! Nonetheless, they are by no means in perfect union with the living Church, nor are they perfect members of the Body of Christ. They are like dis-embodied limbs, separated from the Church solely because they refuse to submit to the legitimate Apostolic Primacy of the Holy Father, the Pope of Rome, who alone is the Vicar of Christ on earth. Rejection of the teaching authority of the Bishop's effects a very similar spiritual apostasy, which has seemingly rendered the Church powerless!

Through false apparitions the devil uses devotions like Eucharistic Reparation, or devotion to praying the Rosary to accomplish his divisive, schismatic and apostate purpose. The devil does not counterfeit tin or iron! He counterfeits only gold! These beautiful devotions are no more important than the doctrine of faith in Jesus Christ. The validity of the sacraments of the schismatics, nor do their long and pius prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary entitle Schismatics to enjoy the perfect unity shared within Mystical Body of Christ! In a similar way, through modern false apparitions, the devil has injected his versions of certain doctrines, with the specific intention to incite the faithful not to listen to "US". Through these calculated deceptions, many faithful Marian-Catholics have willfully chosen to live in a state of conscious disobedience to the Bishops. Millions of the Church's most devout children have been deceived into implicitly renouncing their loyalty to the successors of the Apostles! Really, they are rejecting the rock! They reject the rock because they reject the teaching authority of a Bishop who is in legitimate union with Rome. ("That is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood.") The divisions which have now separated the most faithful of Marian-Catholics from true unity with the Church has seemingly rendered the cross void of it's power! This is the fruit of the Great Apostasy.


The Bishops of Lourdes in France, the Bishop of Fatima in Portugal, the Bishops of Saint Faustina in Poland, and the Bishops of Akita in Japan have blessed and approved these special messages from heaven. In a very short time, these devotions have permeated, saturated, and edified the entire Church. The Pope's themselves, by manifest devotion, and by the Canonization or Beatification of the saintly messengers, have ratified the acceptance originally granted to these messages by the jurisdiction of the local Bishop. Devotion to the messages of Our Lady of Fatima, (whose main seer is still alive), and to the Divine Mercy have already become integral devotions for Catholics all over the world. Faith in these messages, and the practice of the devotions that they introduced have become integral parts of the fabric of modern Catholicism.

The Magisterium of the Church is very clear about how private apparitions may be embraced, or propagated by the faithful. This is the very crux of the matter! According to Cannon Law, according to tradition, and according to all of the official pronouncements by the Vatican: only the Bishop who has jurisdiction over a particular area may make official pronouncements for the Church concerning the validity of any purported heavenly apparition or message that may occur within his diocese. If the local Bishop suspends, or forbids, the propagation of private apparition within his diocese, then the propagation of that apparition is suspended, or forbidden for the entire Church. There are absolutely no exceptions to this. Every single authentic apparition has been temporarily obstructed by the local Church. Whether the message is true or false: it makes no difference! While the local Bishop obstructs the message, that is the will of Christ and of the Church - for that time. Defiance of the decisions of the Bishop of jurisdiction's prohibition to propagate an "apparition" within his diocese constitutes a direct violation of the Magisterium itself. The Church does not stand or fall on whether or not the Divine Mercy Devotion is approved, or if the Fatima Message is approved. The Church stands or falls on whether or not the faithful remain obedient to the Church herself! The Magisterium is the voice of the Christ through the voice of his Church. "He who hears you, hears me. He who rejects you - rejects me - and the one who sent me."

The messages given through modern true apparitions, such as Fatima and Akita, are very clear. The local Bishops, who according to Cannon Law, have the primary duty and the sole authority to evaluate these messages, have investigated and approved them. The faithful have no reason to doubt that they are true. Approved messages do not divide the Church, nor do they cause continuous arguments. Because the appropriate local Bishop has actually judged these heavenly messages to be authentic, their good fruits are already obvious throughout the whole world. They draw the Church into unity. The proper Church authorities have evaluated and approved these heavenly messages so they have quickly edified the entire Church.

It can not be over stated that the obedience of a visionary to the local Bishop is more than a mark of authenticity: it is the most critical element for the actual credibility of the visionary himself! Christ told Saint Faustina that her message would be suppressed, for a time, within the Church! She accepted Christ's will, and submitted her own will to the Church:  even though the will of Faustina's authority directly contradicted the expressed wish of Christ himself! Faustina's obedience to her superior pleased Christ greatly! Still, her superior had in fact seemingly obstructed the explicit request of Christ himself through her. This devotion was first officially approved to be promulgated only within communist Poland by the Church. The Divine Mercy message itself, however was, restricted for universal promulgation throughout the Catholic Church: just as Christ predicted it would be,  - and just as God intended. Poland then not only gave the Church a great Pope, who approved the universal promulgation of this devotion. Poland also was singularly responsible for the total destruction of atheistic political Communism throughout all Christian nations. Do not imagine that God did not know what he was doing through his Church! But his power only bore fruit because the Church as a whole was obedient to the seemingly errant judgment's of Church officials. "Not by might, not by power - but my spirit - say's the Lord."

Regarding false apparitions, in 1882, Christ revealed to the stigmatist, Marie Julie Jahenny: "In the last days, false visionaries will arise like a swarm of flies from hell to try to obscure the true apparitions with false ones." This prediction has been completely fulfilled. Many dozens of disapproved Catholic apparitions and locutionists have arisen and clouded the whole Church with darkness and division. In recent decades, three of these have had a significant impact on the landscape of modern Catholicism. These supposed apparitions occurred at Garabandal, Spain; Bayside, New York; and Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia.

Those who believed in these messages, continued to follow many other disapproved apparitions, and mystical locutionists as well. They have in fact resulted in networks of Catholics who oppose both the Bishop's of the condemned visionaries, and all other Catholics - who, like Faustina, submit themselves to the authority of the decrees of the Bishops! These interconnected groups and cliques are united by only one thing! This is their disobedient public promotion of a purported heavenly message in complete defiance to the official decrees of the local Bishop who alone has jurisdiction to permit, or forbid, the promulgation of these messages! Devotion to Our Lady, and love for the Eucharist is shared universally not only by all devout Catholic's, but by all Schismatic Christians as well! A Catholic who advances disobedience to the Church for any reason, can be no more truly devout than any Buddhist or Moslem. God may prefer the devotion of a pious, God-fearing Jew, over the presumptuous devotions of a disobedient Catholic. Obviously, the culture of Christian nations as a whole, has not been sanctified in any significant way during the past thirty-five years! On the contrary, Christian culture has decayed into total decadence: in perfect conjunction with the disobedient apostasy of Marian Catholics. Faithful Catholics disobediently following false apparitions caused the salt to loose it's flavor, and for the Cross of Christ to loose it's power- over Christianity itself! This is the true fruit of the Great Marian Catholic Apostasy.

The content of these forbidden messages are usually no different than are the messages of Our Lady at Fatima, or Akita, or Our Lord to Saint Faustina. What makes the people different is not their devotion to Our Lady!  What makes the devotees to these disapproved messages different, is that they accept or promote a forbidden apparition. Everyone who is obedient, knows that these other so-called Catholics reject or oppose the legitimate teaching authority of a particular Bishop. If they take interior gratification from the fact that they are promoting a forbidden apparition, they should search their own souls to discover if they are not living in spiritual grandiosity, rather than in humble, trusting, pious religious obedience.

These vision-chasers are not "Catholic" in the true sense of the word: no matter what think or profess! Surely, they may know that the Catholic Church is the true Church! But, they themselves are not Catholic: because they refuse to submit themselves to the decrees of the Bishops. They are arms, cut off from the mystical body - that hold rosaries in their hands! They are no more "Catholic" than other sincere "Catholics" who promote abortion or homosexuality! True Catholics are manifestly spiritually united with each other through their submission to the decrees of the Bishops who are in union with the Holy Father. (Those who are not of God refuse to listen to us.) To be "Catholic" means that all share universal spiritual union with one another. There is no: "I follow Faustina! I follow Lucia! I follow Conchita! I follow Veronica Leuken! I follow Ivan and Vicka! This is hogwash! Only someone infected by apostasy would publicly disobey a legitimate Bishop's explicit directives concerning the promotion of a condemned apparition! "Is Christ divided?" This is especially true when the purported message has no substantially different content than other messages that are already fully approved. The issue becomes one of unity or apostasy - not of edification. The division caused by the promotion of a condemned apparition is the issue - not the crux of the message.


Six different local Bishops in succession have categorically condemned the messages of Garabandal. Over a 35-year period, six different bishops in succession have forbidden all pilgrimages of veneration to that site. They have forbidden that the messages from this site be published or disseminated. Today several of the "seers" can not even remember the events that supposedly happened to them. Conchita herself, in obedience to the Bishop, will not even speak about these messages. The hysteria which resulted from these controversial messages has confused and disrupted the Church for over 35 years. The culmination of the "Great Apostasy" began at the time of Garabandal. It was at that time when the liturgy began to be woefully abused. Both liberals and conservatives alike began to reject the teaching authority of the Church. The liberal's rejected 'Humanae Vitae', the Papal encyclical on artificial birth control, while simultaneously they began a world-wide experiment of liturgical abuses of every kind. In many places, admissions directors became partial to homosexuals in the seminaries. The conservative's meanwhile, rejected the Bishop's decree on the apparitions at Garabandal. These spear-headed the worldwide Marian Catholic acceptance of the condemned messages of Garabandal - even at the elementary school level! Thus, the devil insured that apostasy would consume the Church from both sides. These things began the final culmination of  the Great Catholic Apostasy: "the great falling away." (II Thes. 2:3)

The Garabandal phenomenon caused countless conservative Marian-Catholics to place their faith in the frightening messages of a condemned apparition and to reject the teaching authority of the Bishop. The very son's and daughters of this generation became the fallen away Catholics of today. Garabandal began the insidious disease of Marian Catholics rejecting of the authority of the Church, absolutely rejecting the explicit decree of the responsible bishop! So began the Marian Catholic path of intentional disobedience to the teaching Church. They placed their faith in the frightening message of the seers of Garabandal, while they summarily dismissed the official judgment of the responsible Bishop.

The Errors of Russia Spread through the Whole World!

At that point very point in history, a spiritual tourniquet was applied to the very heart of Catholicism itself! Disobedient Catholics of every kind effectively obstructed the Holy Spirit from sanctifying the Church and the culture through them. Then, the errors of Russia were finally permitted to "spread throughout the whole world". Russia's primary error was man's rejection of the dominion of God.  - this is the "spirit of the world". This is the 7-Headed Beast - "which caused the whole world to worship the dragon."  The moral depravity which followed the triumph of "error of Russia" was enabled to conquer all of Christendom. It would not matter in the slightest if Garabandal really was an authentic message! The willingness of Catholic faithful, all over the world, to oppose the legitimate authority of the Bishop, went hand-in-hand with the final stage of the Great Apostasy. If someone had willfully chosen to disobediently promote the message of Saint Faustina while it was still under interdict from Rome – he would be subject to excommunication - perhaps even to eternal damnation – for his willful disobedience to the teaching Church. The truth of the message is NOT the critical element. Obedience to the Church is the critical element! "Those who are not of God REFUSE TO LISTEN TO US." (1 John 4:6)


Four different local Bishops in succession over a 30-year period have publicly and absolutely condemned the seer and the messages at Bayside as spurious. The messages of Bayside consisted in such doctrines as "the pope posing as Paul VI is an impostor" and "test tube babies do not have human souls – but they are in reality, incarnate demons", and "communion received in the hand is invalid and shall not be counted as a communion." It is no co-incidence that this fanatical message was promulgated simultaneously with the beginning of the Church Approved messages of Akita. Bayside's message of a cataclysmic heavenly chastisement was very similar to Our Lady's warning at Akita: but the Bayside occurrences clouded the Church in hysteria. Bayside was characterized by blatant rejection of the decrees of the Bishop. The rejection of the authority of the Bishop of Bayside follower's was absolute.

The very content of the "Marian" messages of Bayside themselves explicitly and absolutely rejected the teaching authority of the local Bishop. "Our Lady" herself  demanded that the faithful reject and oppose the voice of the legitimate teaching Church, just as she would later do, at Medjugorje. The local Bishop immediately forbade that these messages be published or disseminated. All the Bishops of that diocese since have repeatedly forbidden that these messages be disseminated or promulgated by the faithful. They explicitly forbade pilgrimages of homage to this apparition site. Nonetheless, for over a decade, countless millions of devout Marian Catholics put their faith in the visionary at Bayside, and chose to despise the formal authority of the Christ's Church. Throughout most of popularity of the Bayside phenomenon, Our Lady wept tears of blood at Akita.

While Marian Catholics were blatantly disobeying the authority of the Bishops by promoting the messages of Bayside or Garabandal, dissenting liberals began butchering the liturgy in every way conceivable. When the seer of Bayside, Veronica Leuken, died - she died excommunicated from the Church! (Her predecessor, mentor, and friend, the false visionary Mary Anne Van Hoof of Necedah Wisconsin, also died excommunicated from the Church.) This is how the devil was enabled to draw Marian Catholics out of unity with the Church and into apostasy. Millions of Marian Catholics gave their loyalty to these fanatical messages,  whose seers were clearly acting in absolute disobedience to their ecclesiastical superiors. Satan seduced them into rejecting the clear authentic teaching authority of the Church. This was also done by many orders of nuns at that time, who decided that they would discard their religious habits in direct disobedience to the decrees of Rome. Simultaneously, scores of separate liturgical commissions introduced wide-spread illicit liturgical abuses, which corrupted the sanctity, and efficacy, of the liturgy. The errors of Russia spread throughout the whole world, and the the "spirit of the world" conquered Christian civilization.


Two different local Bishops in succession over a 22-year period, and a unanimous vote by a special Yugoslavian Bishops Conference have explicitly condemned the seers, and the messages of Medjugorje. The first official condemnation came from the local Bishop, Zanic, in 1985. At that time, Bishop Zanic began to work tirelessly to discourage the promotion of those messages. In 1987 he issued an internationally published paper explaining his reasons for condemning these messages. Bishop Zanic's prohibition was universally ignored by promoters everywhere. The issue then took on the character of a daily war between the Bishop and the promoters, and the seers. The Bishop then explicitly canonically suspended the sacramental faculties of any priest who might attempt to exercise his priestly faculty within the Diocese of Mostar in association with the Medjugorje occurrences. It can not be made more clear than that! Still, hundreds of priests, and millions of pilgrims continued to come forward to publicly disobey him. While the Gospa conquered Christianity from the east, Madonna conquered Christianity from the west. And around Madonna's neck?? The Cross of Christ - which had not only lost it's power - but was made into a tool of seduction by the evil one!

In 1989, an extraordinary conference of the Yugoslavian Bishop's was called which voted to ratify and support Bishop Zanic's official condemnation of the purported apparitions at Medjugorje. That decision too was ignored by the promoters of the Medjugorje messages. Shortly after that, the entire country of Yugoslavia was entirely dissolved. The very country itself, which was the origin of the messages of "Our Lady Queen of Peace" - was literally wiped off the face of the map. Yugoslavia as a nation was annihilated by war. Finally, in 1998, the succeeding Bishop, Peric, issued an absolute and unequivocal condemnation of the messages. In that condemnation, Bishop Peric stated that "I am changing the form of the words of this condemnation from: 'The supernaturality has not been proven TO: the non-supernaturality of these events has been proven." That also proved fruitless to stem the tide of the Marian-Catholic apostasy.

Medjugorje promoters, like Rev. Johann G. Roten, SM, Director Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute, denies that the Bishop Peric's decree has any binding status on the faithful. Father Roten has also made such statements as: "the whole Trinity would have to appear before the bishops - to rescind the catholic faith." The darkness of Father Roten's mind and spirit are astounding! Though he absolutely rejects the validity of all the official Church pronouncements condemning the Medjugorje phenomenon, he implies 'that if the entire Trinity appeared to Bishops - they might renounce the Catholic Religion entirely! This is the sort of man who supports Medjugorje. He is the Director of Marian Library / International Marian Research Institute at the University of Dayton, and yet he teaches that the bishops 'could renounce the Catholic faith entirely - if the Trinity appeared before them!" This is the belief of a "Catholic Theologian" - who defends Medjugorje. Just as the nation of Yugoslavia was completely dissolved, so the famed Medjugorje promoter, Fr. Johann Roten supposes that the 'Bishops could theoretically dissolve the Catholic faith entirely!' Oh, the fruit of Medjugorje!


In the language of the Church, if an event is deemed not to be "supernatural" in origin, what is meant that no matter where the phenomenon do originate: they do not come from God. The faithful often confuse the term "supernatural" with "spiritual" or "preter-natural". Events that might clearly originate from a spiritual demonic source are termed "not to be supernatural" in origin. Many people have been confused by what the Church means by the term: "supernatural". When used by a Bishop, making a pronouncement, the term supernatural refers only to divine, or truly miraculous phenomena. Spiritual, diabolic phenomenon ARE NOT called: "supernatural." The Church considers supernatural events only to be events that are miraculous, or divine. It does not consider diabolic, preter-natural, spiritual manifestations to be "supernatural."  The Church would not call the manifestations at a seance to be "supernatural" in origin, though indeed they are often "spiritual" in origin. Thus, the term "spiritualism" is used to refer to those who believe in contacting the "spirits" through seances.

If an event is determined not to be of supernatural, (divine), origin - it simply means that has been determined that the events do not come from God. It could either be demonic, or human in origin, or a combination of the two. In the case of the events at Medjugorje, Bishop Peric stated categorically in 1998 that the NON-SUPERNATURALITY OF THE EVENTS HAS BEEN PROVEN. This means that the events absolutely could not have a divine, or heavenly origin. This does not by any means imply that the occurrences could not have a preternatural, that is a demonic or spiritual origin. In the case of Medjugorje, however, it is widely believed that the "messages" themselves were entirely the result of a crafted hoax of men, who influenced the minds of children.

Medjugorje was, in fact first promoted by Franciscans who had at that very time, been recalled to Rome for numerous reasons, primarily insubordination. Then, these very men were suddenly "forced by heaven - to disobey their Franciscan Superiors in order to advance these new messages of Medjugorje. From the first instant of it's conception, the occurrences of Medjugorje were fueled entirely by disobedience. Next, Our Lady, through the seers, began to threaten the Bishop with divine punishment for not doing her will.

Numerous occult, or spiritual, and perhaps even authentic supernatural events have been reported at Medjugorje. One of the first, if not the only "miracle of Medjugorje" was that the hands of one the seers watches was seen to seemingly go haywire. This is the height of the official "miracles" produced by seers of Medjugorje! What time is it? It's cuckoo time! Even so, St. Claude LaColumbierre teaches that divine miracles do indeed occur through the profound divine faith of an individual, who may be righteously deceived through a false prophet or a charlatan. God may respond to the faith, hope, and trust of his children - even if Satan himself has deceived them. Thus, it would be unwise to state that there could never have been any supernatural healings, or conversions, through the instrumentality of Medjugorje. It is the Holy Spirit, however, that worked these conversions through the inherent goodness of the hearts of those deceived.

People who imagine that Medjugorje has not been condemned seem to be unaware that the condemnations by the official Church have been going on - not occasionally - but almost daily for decades! Pope John Paul II knew very well that Bishop Peric, whom he appointed to be the successor of Bishop Zanic, was absolutely opposed to the messages of Medjugorje. Bishop Peric had been the direct representative of of Bishop Zanic to the Vatican for years. Bishop Zanic's original condemnation of Medjugorje and it's messages was absolute and unequivocal! Our Lady at Medjugorje teaches that "all religions are equal", while the seers have alleged that U.F.O.'s are real! Most scandalous of all is the continuous allegations made by 'Our Lady of Medjugorje' that the Bishop is "bad", that he will be punished, and that it is "her will" that his decrees regarding the expulsions of certain de-frocked clerics should be ignored. In reality, the entire nation which was once home to the condemned and forbidden messages of "Our Lady Queen of Peace" - was itself wiped off the face of the map by war!

In June of 2003, the Holy Father completed his third papal pilgrimage to the area of Catholic Croatia, in which Medjugorje is located. On all three trips, the Holy Father intentionally refused to visit even the Diocese of Mostar, in which the Parish of Medjugorje exists. Most notable of all, perhaps, is that in his 2003 pilgrimage to Croatia, not only did he fail to visit Mostar or Medjugorje, but he refused to even speak of this even of so called "message of world wide" importance. In stark contrast, in every single homily that he DID give in his 2003 visit to Croatia, he went out of his way on every single occasion to STRESS that obedience to the local Bishop's must be afforded by the faithful! In his three different papal pilgrimages to Croatia - three times the Holy Father refused to visit, or even mention Medjugorje! To the contrary, his message was voiced over and and over again: the faithful must respect the decisions of the local Bishops! Even if Medjugorje was authentic, the Holy Father would never afford even the appearance of disobedience to the explicit decree of his fellow Bishop who presides over that jurisdiction!" To him who has ears - let him hear!"

In their formal condemnations of Medjugorje, the Bishops have cited countless examples of unrelenting disobedience by the the now adult seers. They cite continual failure to produce promised signs – even 20 years later, (just like Garabandal). They cite innumerable lies, inconsistencies, and absolutely heretical teachings. They are appalled by the "Virgin" condemning the legitimate successor of the Apostles, the local Bishop, and "her" attempt to influence his ecclesiastical decisions about the placement of clerics under his jurisdiction. They cite the scandalous traffic of the promotion of seers, some of whom now live abroad and travel the world making public appearances for substantial fees where the Blessed Virgin supposedly appears to them where ever they go! Not even a single one of the supposed Medjugorje "visionaries" chose a religious vocation! Not even one out of the six chose to be a model of choosing the consecrated religious life! Messages of world wide wide importance?? Hogwash! This is NOT the Catholicism of antiquity. It has developed into a charismatic hybrid of a traveling salvation show - which now may include special appearances by the Blessed Virgin to the seers of Medjugorje on tour. It's real fruits have been dozens upon dozens of "knock-off" supporters - who themselves received the gifts of locution - or prophecy. For only $4.95 per message, one can READ the messages of Our Lady at Dennis Nolan's Children of Medjugorje web site.

Unlike Fatima, which was untouched by both world wars, the area of Bosnia-Herzegovina has been ravaged not by one, but by TWO horrific local genocidal wars. After the United Nations was called in to set up "peace keeping" forces in the war ravaged area of Bosnia-Herzegovina, NATO later waged a terrifying air and ground war against the Serbs who controlled Bosnia-Herzegovina. The condemnations of the Bishops of Medjugorje which went unheeded by most Catholics, was followed by unending genocidal war in the region. Nearly all of the seers then moved to other countries. Promoters, who may claim that Medjugorje was "un-touched" by the wars conveniently overlook the fact that Medjugorje was bringing in hundreds of millions a year at that time. That money was used, in part, by the controlling government. There was tremendous financial incentive to leave Medjugorje "un-touched".

Genocide, rape, and sexual slavery, decades of unending war in that Croatian area, and wide-spread disobedience by priests exercising sacramental faculties in direct defiance to the local Bishop, are hardly good fruits. It is hardly a "good fruit" to have countless priests functioning within a sovereign diocese acting in direct disobedience to the local Bishop! In April of 2001, the Franciscan banks which were created to hold they money from Medjugorje pilgrims were raided by United Nations troops - and their documents were seized.  This was because the area of Medjugorje had become associated on the local level as a stronghold for underground Serbian guns and munitions. It has also become widely known as a red-light district of organized crime, prostitution and pornography. The "fruits" of Medjugorje have been unending civil war on a local and national level, and endless religious rancor and infighting between devout Catholics on an international level. The fruits of the visitations blue-eyed Queen of Peace of Medjugorje, are a stark contrast from the fruits of the brown-eyed Queen of the World who came to Fatima.


Contrary to the contention of Medjugorje supporters, it has never been the province of the Roman Pontiff to pass judgment on any supposedly miraculous occurrences that occur within a sovereign diocese. Bishops are so profoundly aware of their sovereign jurisdiction, that they broke from the Roman Pontiff en masse when their wishes were not met. This is precisely what caused the Great Schism of 1054. This caused the millennial rift between eastern and western Christianity. Supporters of Medjugorje never tire of saying that they await Rome's final decision - and yet they seem unaware that NEVER in history has the Roman Pontiff infringed on the judgment of the sovereign Bishop concerning the legitimacy of the 'visions" of the millions of schizophrenics - or frauds - who claim to have visions within any local province. Rome never will either. Rome does not have immediate jurisdiction over such issues. Rather, the Vatican has tirelessly re-issued statements which clearly define that "only the local Bishop of any province has the authority to pass judgment on such matters. "The fact that the Holy Father appointed to Bishop Peric in 1994 (who was a staunch and vocal enemy of the messages) to hold the office of Bishop over the area of Medjugorje, should be enough to quiet any claims of private Papal support. If the Pope felt that Medjugorje was a miraculous phenomenon - he has visited Croatia three times since the apparitions began - but never once did he set foot in Medjugorje.

Medjugorje was very similar to Bayside. The seers, like the Bayside seer, purported that Our Lady was displeased with the legitimate Bishop. (At Medjugorje, the seers even threatened the Bishop with divine punishment!) When the Bishop's in authority strictly forbade that the messages be published or disseminated - "Our Lady" through the "seers" castigates him as a disobedient, even wicked Bishop. Still, just like at Bayside and at Garabandal, millions upon millions of devout Marian-Catholics pilgrimage Medjugorje, to publicly participate in forbidden sacraments and liturgies. Like Bayside, medals honoring the site have been struck. Like Bayside supporters, Medjugorje believers introduced those supposed messages of 'Our Lady' everywhere they went. Like Bayside believers, Medjugorje believers found their whole identity as Catholics tied up in a loyalty to the messages of Medjugorje. In reality, their identity is tied up to publicly promoting the severance of the faithful from the only licit and natural conduit of divine grace to the faithful - which comes to the Church from Christ, through the Holy Father, and through him to the Bishops, and through the Bishops to the faithful. This is the natural order of Christ's means of grace to His Church - and this is what the promoters of Medjugorje effectively damage.

The Great Apostasy itself has been culminated by the falling away of good Marian-Catholic who cleave to the messages of Garabandal, Bayside, and Medjugorje. These well intentioned Catholic people are doing exactly the same thing that the original disobedient Protestants did. They keep the message of the Church, but they disregard the Church! In Luther's day it was the Gospel of the Jesus, today, it is various messages of Our Lady. Both choose to disobey the Bishops who are the appointed successors of the Apostles! "They refuse to listen to 'US'. This is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood."


While they list the fruits of the apparitions as proof of their divine origin, they encamp en masse in the tens of thousands, at apparition sites explicitly forbidden by the presiding Bishop. Whatever the "fruits" are, they are no more significant than any conversion or cures the Protestants obtain through the Holy Name of Jesus. Protestant Christianity has changed millions of lives for the better! Even Scientology, and Witchcraft have wonderful "fruits"! Ask anyone who believes! The perceived fruit of an apparition is no measure of its orthodox validity. How could anyone be deceived if there seemed to be no fruit?

Mostly, they are blinded by a false assumption that they themselves are not deceived, because like many schismatic's, they feel so especially devout. Because holy name of the Blessed Virgin Mary is being used with such apparent efficacy, they do not grasp that they have fallen prey to the spirit of the Great Apostasy. Truly, they are taking satisfaction in the narcotic poison of the heresy of Gnosticism. These heretics believed that they possessed hidden knowledge. They believed that they knew something that the official Church did not!

If we hope to advance the true Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we must take courage from the words of St. Louis DeMontfort: "though the children of Our Lady may be deceived by some error, or mistake a false spirit for a true one, they will quickly realize their fault, and they will not pridefully remain bound by the deception." In many cases, it would seem that believers in Medjugorje are the cream of the Catholic crop! They will return as true warriors into the bosom of the Church. Then, the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary will proceed with full haste! As it is, these deep divisions have resulted in a modern Church in total disarray. Satan has ravaged it both from the left (the modernists), and from the right (the disobedient conservatives). Both sow dissension. Both sow apostasy. Both cleft the rock of the Church. Sadly, the Marian Apostasy, and the total disintegration of Christian civilization which has accompanied it, is the consummation of the "Great Apostasy" which was predicted by Saint Paul to come immediately before the Time of the End. (II Thes. 2:3).

"As for them, they are of the world - and the world listens to them because they speak the language of the world. But we are children of God and those who know God: LISTEN TO US. Those who are not of God REFUSE TO LISTEN TO US. That is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood."  (1 John 4:6)

"Truth enters the mind quietly ... by the strength of it's own truth."


Bishop Zanic's Official Pronouncement on Medjugorje: 1987

'The Truth about Medjugorje' by Bishop Pavao Zanic, 1990

Bishop Peric's Pronouncement Concerning Discerning Medjugorje: 1995

Synopsis of Links on Medjugorje: History, Scandal and Logic

Strange but True: Authentic Mystical Discernment