Medjugorje visit not planned during papal trip to Sarajevo
February 04, 2015
Pope Francis is not likely to visit Medjugorje during his June trip to Sarajevo, the National Catholic Register reports.
Medjugorje-- the site of a series of alleged Marian apparitions that have caused heated disputed over their authenticity—is a short distance from Sarajevo, and could be reached by a short helicopter ride. But the Pope’s busy schedule for the one-day trip does not appear to allow for a side visit.
Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, said that the discussion of Medjugorje “has no connection” with the Pope’s purpose in visiting Sarajevo. Cardinal Vinko Puljic remarked that the Pontiff will be addressing the “grave position” of Catholics in Bosnia. “One day is not much,” he observed.
A special Vatican commission created to study the alleged apparitions at Medjugorje has completed its investigation, and its report is now in the hands of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. There has been no indication of when the Vatican might make a public statement on the dispute.
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