Medjugorje, where the presumed on 24 June 1981 would begin Marian apparitionsis now one of the most famous Catholic places of worship in the world, capable of attracting more than two million pilgrims every year. A phenomenon that has not always been viewed well from Rome and that only last year obtained the green light for public worship, with some stakes. As happened in the last two papal elections, this time too there is curiosity from the faithful fond of Medjugorje to find out the position of the new pontiff on the Marian apparitions of the last four decades and in general on the phenomenon that has been created. Although there are no official statements, some news circulated on Leo XIV they made the many optimistic with a spiritual experience linked to the Madonna who is called “Queen of Peace”.
The testimony
Speaking on a radio, a Peruvian priest told his experience with the then Bishop Robert Francis Prevost. Don Hugo Gabriel SanchezThis is the name of the priest, he explained that in 2021 he asked the current Leone XIV for permission to go on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje. The priest revealed that Prevost not only gave him permission, but encouraged him to make other pilgrimages. Subsequently, the current pontiff appointed Don Sanchez parish priest. The story suggests that Leo XIV is not hostile to public worship.
The alleged visits
Based on what is reported by TV2000 Shortly after the Habemus Papam, Prevost would have gone to the locality of Bosnia-Herzegovina. In the communities linked to Medjugorje the news has spread that the Augustinian Pope would have visited the village of alleged apparitions in 2011 and 2012 for a concelebration with some confreres. Leone XIV is a deep man Marian faith And he showed him in his first exit from the Vatican dressed in white, going to the Sanctuary of Genazzano to pay homage to the mother of the good advice, very dear to the Augustinian order. In general, a characteristic of the Augustinians is precisely devotion to Mary and perhaps it is in this area that theinterest that Prevost would show for Medjugorje.
The position of the Holy See
From the dicastery for the doctrine of faith last year a go -ahead arrived to public worship. In the note presented by the Cardinal Prefect Víctor Manuel Fernández It was written that “Through the Nihil Obstat about a spiritual event the faithful are authorized to give it in prudent form their adhesion. Although this does not imply a declaration of the supernatural character of the phenomenon in question “. In addition, the Holy See specified that “People who go to Medjugorje are strongly oriented to accept that i pilgrimages They are not done to meet with the alleged seer, but to have a meeting with Mary, Queen of Peace “.
The predecessor
The decision arrived during the pontificate of Francesco who has not always shown sympathy For the phenomenon.
In 2017, answering a question about the apparitions in Bosnia-Herzegovina and premising to speak “On a personal level”, Bergoglio said he believed “To the Madonna our good mother, not to that head of a telegraphic office“. But then it was the Pope who officially authorized the pilgrimages to Medjugorje.