The Vatican has given the official green light on the spiritual experience at Medjugorje—but is urging caution.
Medjugorje, located in present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, is where the Virgin Mary has allegedly revealed herself on a regular basis to six local children since the 1980s. The site has become a major pilgrimage destination, as an estimated over 50 million people have visited since the alleged apparitions began.
Under the Prefect, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, this decision from the Vatican doctrinal office comes in the form of a “Nihil obstat,” which is Latin for “nothing hinders.” In this case, it means the faithful are “authorized to give it their adherence in a prudent manner” but they are not obligated to believe it.
Following a new process instated by the doctrinal office in May, the Vatican will not declare whether an alleged apparition is of “supernatural origin,” but will simply point out if there are serious doctrinal flaws.
While this new document on Medjugorje recognizes that many of the alleged messages from the Virgin Mary are both positive and fruitful, it also urges the faithful to be cautious about them. It says:
…some people believe that certain messages contain contradictions or are connected with the desires or interests of the alleged visionaries or others. It cannot be ruled out that this may have happened in the case of a few messages.
The document also emphasizes that its conclusion does not “imply a judgement on the moral life of the alleged visionaries.”
As the alleged apparitions at Medjugorje have been ongoing for 43 years, this is far from the first time the Vatican has spoken out about it. In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI established a commission to investigate the phenomena but the official report was never released.