News Item: On November 10, 1998 the Most Rev. Ratko Peric, Ordinary of the diocese of Mostar, and Father Giacomo Bini, General of the Franciscans, met in Rome with the prefect for the Congregation of the Evangelization of the Peoples and decided that on February 21, 1999 the Franciscan fathers would be withdrawn from Medjugorje and all other parishes of the Diocese of Mostar and replaced by diocesan priests.

Background: Rome's decision followed the demands of the bishop of Mostar, who had complained about the long-standing disobedience of the Franciscans in numerous letters to Rome. In addition to that, reports from respected laymen appeared around the same time, including the books of Prof. Waterinckx, E. Michael Jones and Mart Bax, which raised serious charges against the Franciscans. As a result of these charges, authorities in Rome pressured Bini to make the decision. When the negotiations bogged down, both sides were called to Rome. The decision of November 10 makes clear that all of the Franciscans with any spiritual assignments in the diocese of Mostar are to be removed, and they are then to give over their parishes to the bishop. As a result, Medjugorje will become a place of prayer for the diocese. In Rome it was made clear that Bishop Peric had chosen priests for Medjugorje who had been active in Rome up to this time.

Bishop Peric and Father Bini informed the priests and faithful of the Diocese of the decision in Rome in a letter dated November 16 and signed by both men. In this letter, the Franciscans are given credit for their long years of spiritual service. Both men hope that that work can be continued in the future but just where and how is not specified but only under the direction of the local bishop. The faithful are urgently reminded that they are all children of their heavenly father and, therefore, called to unity in the Church. Each individual is called to support this fraternal unity. God, the Father, to whom the last year before the great Jubilee of the year 2,000 is dedicated, "calls all of us to unity with each other," according to the [Peric-Bini] letter. The repeated appeal to unity is an expression of the concern in Rome that the Medjugorje Movement could distance itself still further from the Church. In actual fact, many Medjugorje groups have been leading a life far removed from the Church.

On the same day, the Franciscan General also made it known that the priests, Bonifacius Barbaric and Bozo Rados had been expelled from the order. The congregation informed the bishop of their expulsion in a letter. Both priests had taken an active part in the occupation of both the rectory and the church in

Capljina. The bishop of Mostar had ordered them on May 12, 1996 to hand over the parish to the diocese and to leave the rectory. They refused to leave the parish and the parishioners there as a result of their refusal cinderblocked the doors of the church shut. In addition to blocking the front door of the church, they also hung protest banners on the church facade. Fathers Barbaric and Rados continued to celebrate Mass at the Church, often with priests from abroad. Capljina is on the road to Medjugorje and was often seen as Medjugorje's branch office by the Franciscans.

Medjugorje was not mentioned in the Peric-Bini letter. Since the withdrawal affects all of the Franciscans in the diocese, both men avoided raising the pilgrimage site as an issue. The expulsion of the two Capljina priests from the Franciscan order was taken as a sign of what might befall the other Franciscans should they refuse to obey the November 10 decision from Rome. In Medjugorje the issue is not just the alleged apparitions of the Blessed Virgin which have never been approved by the Church. The issue is also money. The former state of Yugoslavia took in $100 million dollars by 1988, which is to say, seven years after the Pilgrimages began. This sum represented 5 percent of all the tourist income for the entire country and 45 percent of the total income of the republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina. According to a KNA (Katholische Nachrichten Agentur) report filed on July 25, 1989, the income from the pilgrims in 1989 was estimated $150 million and at $200 million for 1990. In 1988 alone, more than a million pilgrims, mostly from Western Europe and the United States, visited the pilgrimage site.

Next to the state, the main beneficiaries of the stream of pilgrims which increased every year were the Franciscans. Now this income will go to the diocese. Sensing that the coming dissolution was near, the Franciscans along with leading businessmen in the area founded a bank. One of its directors is Father Ivan Sevo, two other founding members are Father Tomislav Pervan and Father Jozo Zovko, two of the main figures in the Medjugorje Movement. It remains to be seen just who has legal title to the financial contributions which have been made by the pilgrims which are now sitting in this bank. The state in this regard changed its attitude toward Medjugorje when it recognized the amount of money that it was bringing into the country. During a broadcast on state television on May 7, 1987m the moderator spoke about the "hard-currency Madonna."

From the very beginning the Medjugorje controversy was dominated by two forces. The one was the decades long conflict between the bishop and the Franciscans in Croatia. The second was the numerous contradictions and lies on the part of the major players in this drama. Pavao Zanic, the previous bishop of Mostar, explained in his documentation of the case that he had "at least 20 reasons" not to believe in the authenticity of Medjugorje. A priest from Panama who wanted to hear at least one of the reasons, received this reply form Bishop Zanic: "I told him as a result of his question the story of the ex-priest and ex-Franciscan Ivica Vego, who because of his disobedience, had been expelled from the order, released from his vows, and suspended by ad divinis from the pope, and yet in spite of this censure, continued to celebrate Mass and dispense the sacraments and ended up moving in with his girlfriend. It's not pleasant to talk about these things, but it's unavoidable in order to know just who "Our dear Lady" is speaking to. Because according to Vicka's diary and the statements of the "seer," "Our dear Lady" stated at least 13 times that Vego was innocent and that the bishop was guilty of being unjust. Then when his Sister Leopolda got pregnant, Vego left the order. Both now live in the vicinity of Medjugorje and have two children. Thousands of copies of his prayer book continue to be sold in Medjugorje.

A second example also cited by the bishop concerns the credibility of the seers. "One month after the beginning of the apparitions I went to Medjugorje to question the seers. I ordered each seer to swear on the cross that what they were about to say was the truth. The first to testify was Mirjana Dragicevic, who said, `We went there to look for goats when all of a sudden' The Parish vicar interrupted her at that point and told me that they had gone up the hill to have a smoke behind the backs of their parents. `Just a minute. Mirjana,' I interrupted, `you are testifying under oath. Did you go up the hill to look for goats?' `Excuse me', she said clapping her hand over her mouth. `We went out to have a smoke.' In the introduction to his report, Bishop Zanic wrote that he could have written over 300 pages of similar examples. At this point the commission he had appointed had not yet come to any definitive conclusion. Later this commission like the commission of the Yugoslavian Bishops Conference of 1991 determined that there was nothing supernatural about the occurrences at Medjugorje. And nothing has changed in this regard since then.

Because the huge influx of pilgrims continued, Rome had to face two issues, the incompatibility of the messages with the teaching of the Church on the one hand and the concern for the souls of the millions of pilgrims on the other. It was a delicate operation. The heretical statements of the apparition were in some cases so clear that Ecclesial recognition was an impossibility. The apparition declared according to Father Bubalo's book: "Tell the priests and everyone else that you have created division on earth. The Muslims and the Orthodox and the Catholics are all the same to me and my son. You are all my children." "There are other statements on ecumenism which contradict both Scripture and the Magisterium. The seers numerous lies also caused similar problems.

Since most of the pilgrims were clueless when it came to the true character of the events at Medjugorje, the Vatican had to find a solution that would allow for the correct spiritual direction of the pilgrims under the supervision of the local bishop. On June 19, 1996, Vatican Press Secretary, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, stated that what needed to be promoted was "a healthy Marian devotion in line with the teaching of the Church." He stressed that according to the investigations which had already taken place, it could not be affirmed that there was anything supernatural about the apparitions or revelations of Medjugorje. It was the task of the bishop to guarantee that the pilgrims who continued to go to Medjugorje were given the spiritual guidance that they deserved. Rome repeatedly referred to the local bishop as the competent authority in this matter, but the Franciscans continued their course of Disobedience.

On October 15, 1996, Professor Mark Waterinckx of Brugge, Belgium received the following response from the chancery in Mostar: "1) The parish in Capljina was bricked up after the Franciscans and their followers refused to accept the papal decree handing that parish over to the diocesan clergy. Everyone knows that the Franciscans continue to celebrate Mass not only in the church itself but also in front of its bricked-up doors. 2) The bishop of Mostar has full jurisdiction over Medjugorje. He makes his canonical visitation there on a regular basis and does confirmations there as well. Another issue is that some Franciscans continue to work against the bishop there, even though they have no canonical mission. 3) It has also been made public that Father Jozo Zovko (the bank trustee) and Leonard Orec have been stripped of their faculties since 1989. 4) The pope has never said anything about the apparitions. He respects the 1991 declaration of the bishop's conference."

On April 19, 1998, the publisher of the Schwarzer Brief sent documentation on Medjugorje to Cardinal Ratzinger, including 14 quotes from various Medjugorje books by people like René Laurentin and Bishop Paulo Hnilica, in which the impression was given that the pope and Cardinal Ratzinger had repeatedly recognized the authenticity of the apparitions. In response Cardinal Ratzinger wrote on July 22, 1998: "Thank you for sending the Claus Peter Clausen's memo. He is well known to me as the publisher of the Schwatzer Brief. I can only say in response that the quotes endorsing Medjugorje which have been attributed to me and the Holy Father have been made up out of thin air." [frei erfunden sind] Ratzinger's testimony makes it clear that he discussed the issue with the pope. On August 10, Clausen sent this documentation to the bishop of Mostar. Even before this time many authorities on the matter had warned Rome against recognizing Medjugorje. Most of them had been previous supporters of Medjugorje, who had come to recognize the behind the scenes manipulations of the Franciscans over the years. One critic had been to Medjugorje 21 times.

A German photographer claimed to have observed and photographed the Franciscans in the act of fabrication the messages. When he was observed peeking into the sacristy, he was threatened by both a seer and a priest. Later a taxi-driver told him that anyone who opposed Medjugorje would be murdered. In March of 1998 this photographer wrote to SB: "After the bishop intervened with the Franciscans as a result of my testimony, the hard core of the manipulators Tomislav Vlasic, Slavko Barbaric, and Tomislav Pervan announced that I was no longer welcome there." Ivan, the seer, came up to the German photographer afterward "and made a gesture which indicated that his throat would be slit" if he continued. The same photographer, who was on familiar terms with all of the principals in Medjugorje, also wrote about the Manda-Vlasic affair, which he found interesting as a case of hypnosis. Father Vlasic had a son by Manda Kozul who now lives in Germany. "It looks as if Medjugorje will collapse soon. I'd like to confront Marija [Pavlovic Lunetti] with the evidence I have accumulated in front of witnesses. But as you know, that's a bit risky now."

Before he visited Croatia for the second time in October 1998, the Holy Father studied information on Medjugorje. The pope celebrated Mass at both traditional shrines of Marian devotion in Croatia, Maria Bistrica and the Madonna of the Island, near Split. The Madonna of the Island is venerated under the name of QUEEN OF PEACE. In his sermons and addresses, the Pope emphasized the meaning of the great national Marian shrines and mentioned them once again upon his return to Rome.

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December 28, 1998

by James Drake

Edited by Sandra Dallas

AFTER THE WAR, MIRACLES AND MUTINY

Ask Tomislav Pervan how he enjoys his job, and he refers to his work manual, the Bible: "Christ said, `Blessed are the peacemakers.' I hope He still thinks that when I eventually meet Him, because no one else around here seems to agree."

As the head of the Franciscan order of monks in western Herzegovina, a part of Bosnia that saw some of the worst ethnic cleansing of the Yugoslav conflict, Pervan knows more about the horrors of war than most. But these days, a different kind of civil strife worries him: a dispute between the Franciscans and the papacy --- with undertones of greed and petty politics -- that threaten the order's presence in the region. It may even undermine Bosnia's future stability.

The Vatican says western Herzegovina is now almost exclusively Catholic, mainly because of wartime ethnic cleansing. In Capljina, 64 kilometers south of Sarajevo, where homes of returning Muslims have been routinely fire-bombed, none of the town's prewar 15% Muslim population remains in residence. So the Vatican feels that proselytizing Franciscans are no longer required. But the brown-robed friars refuse to give up control of their parishes. "All we want is to preserve our traditional role in this country," says Pervan, whose order arrived 700 years ago, when Bosnia was ruled by Ottoman Turks. "Until the war, we were the priests. We heard confession, buried the dead."

"They should remember that they are instruments of the Lord," counters Zeljko Majic, an attendant of the Bishop of Mostar, whose diocese encompasses Herzegovina. "Their task here is ended. They are preaching to the converted."

The struggle came to a head 18 months ago, when authorities in the Vatican ordered Franciscans in Capljina to surrender their Church of St. Francis to local diocesan priests. In response, supporters of the Franciscans blocked the doorway. Parishioners entered via a guarded side door to attend weddings and masses and to make confessions.

Eventually, Pervan persuaded the congregation to drop its protest and remove the barricades. Still, local parishioners refuse to allow a Vatican takeover. "During the war, the fathers stayed and helped us," says Daniela Rebac, 18, who studies at the Franciscan run high school next door to St. Francis. "Even if they agreed to go, we wouldn't let them."

QUESTIONABLE MOTIVES

But many say the quarrel is really about money and the power the money brings. Caplijina is only about 20 kilometers from Medjugorje, where in 1981, local children reported seeing the Virgin Mary. Since then, 20 million free-spending pilgrims have transformed the tiny cluster of rough stone cottages into a long neon strip of souvenir shops, restaurants, and guest houses. "This is a profitable place," concedes Slavko Barbaric, a Franciscan who has ministered in Medjugorje for 15 years. "And of course, we, too, sell our souvenirs and our rosaries and so on. But it hasn't made us millionaires, and it hasn't distracted us from our real mission the care of people's souls."

Nevertheless, Rome has commanded the Franciscans to stop promoting Medjugorje as a pilgrimage site. By tradition, miracles aren't recognized by the Church until they have ceased and an official investigation has been conducted. But two of the six visionaries claim they still regularly receive visits from the Virgin at 10 a.m. on the first Sunday of every month, to be precise, after which each fresh message is typed up and posted around town for the faithful.

Locals say that even if the apparitions ceased, the Church would still refuse to accept their validity. "When the children first began seeing the Madonna, they were taken to Mostar and interrogated for days and nights without sleep," says Barbaric. "They were treated like criminals instead of recipients of divine grace. Even today, the bishop does not accept their story."

Bishopric officials don't accept a second Medjugorje-type vision either. Last January, two young shepherds fooling around in an abandoned house in the neighboring hamlet of Grab reported a vision of Christ, himself. "We heard some noise, and a little cloud of fog appeared," says Ivan Grbavac, a tow-headed 9 year old. "On the shutter on the window, we saw a head." When they began screaming, Ivan's mother, Desanka, came out to see what was going on. "It was His face on the window, Jesus Christ, and I crossed myself," she says. So even more pilgrims come, some claiming visitations of their own, threatening to make this barren portion of Bosnia the apparition center of Europe.

Rome has tread carefully because of the Franciscans' strong ties with the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), which controls the region. HDZ politicians regularly come to pray in Medjugorje, where their pictures hang alongside images of the Virgin Mary in shops and homes. Mainstream Bosnian priests and Western peacekeeping officials suspect some of the money made in Medjugorje has been funneled into HDZ coffers. "There's no doubt that in a sense, the HDZ views the Franciscans as its religious arm," says Christopher Bennett, a Bosnian analyst with European Union think tank International Crisis Group. "Many Franciscans deplore this, but it's difficult for them to do much about it without alienating a lot of their congregation."

HDZ efforts to politicize Medjugorje are exacerbating growing ethnic problems in western Herzegovina, where local Muslims returning to their prewar homes have been denied entry or forcibly evicted by Croat nationalists. Many locals, who fought a 10 month war against Muslims in 1993-94, chose not to travel to Sarajevo at Easter, 1997, to hear Pope John Paul II urge reconciliation with their foes. And when the Pope preached in the nearby Croatian port of Split this summer, Barbaric and his colleagues stayed home after the pontiff declined an invitation to see Medjugorje for himself.

Now, it seems John Paul's patience has run out. Rome has threatened the Franciscans with excommunication if they don't bow to Vatican demands. Faced with this threat, Pervan says, "What can we do? He is God's deputy. To oppose him is to oppose God."

But in Capljina, rebel parishioners are determined to stand firm. "The Holy Father is old, He is sick." Says Rebac. Someday soon, she believes, a new Pope may see things differently. In the meantime, she reckons, a few more illicit Hail Marys are neither here nor there.

By JAMES DRAKE

James Drake reports for BUSINESS WEEK from Prague.