Medjugorje rumblings?

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Dec 14, 2009

Back in October, Cardinal Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo was quoted as saying that the Vatican was likely to release an important pastoral statement on “the Medjugorje phenomenon” by the end of this calendar year. With the days of 2009 winding down, on Saturday Cardinal Puljic was in Rome for a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI.

Could the timing be coincidental? Yes. It’s not big news when a cardinal meets with the Pope; that happens fairly routinely. And in November, Cardinal Puljic told reporters that there was no reason to expect a major Vatican statement on Medjugorje. 

Clearly there is some confusion here. Perhaps the cardinal’s messages are not being translated accurately; perhaps reporters are reading too much into them; perhaps he is making some subtle distinctions that aren’t coming through in the media reports.

If you take a special interest in Medjugorje, watch the news carefully over the next week or so. This could be nothing, or it could be a major story.