Cardinal Müller: do not expect Vatican ruling on Medjugorje soon
April 10, 2017
The prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has said that it may “take a long time” for the Vatican to issue a decision on the authenticity of the reported Marian apparitions at Medjugorje.
Cardinal Gerhard Müller told the KAI news service that “there’s no specified deadline for completing research on the supernatural character of events there—and our Congregation won’t submit to pressure.”
In 2014, a special Vatican investigative commission concluded a four-year study of the alleged apparitions and passed on its findings to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Vatican has issued no formal statement since that time.
Last week Archbishop Henryk Hoser concluded a week-long visit to Medjugorje, on a special mission for Pope Francis. The Vatican stressed, however, that the archbishop’s mission was to appraise the pastoral needs of the community there, not to judge the reports of apparitions.
Cardinal Müller, in his conversation with KAI, remarked that the two questions are closely related. “A pastoral phenomenon can’t be built on false foundations,” he said; “and we can’t separate pastoral concerns from questions around the authenticity of these visions.”
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