Pope John Paul II On Medjugorje
While these statements are not verified by the Pope's seal and signature, they are brought to us by persons in whom we may trust.
The Archbishop Kwangju said to the Pope: "In Korea, in the town of Nadju, Our Lady cries..." The Pope answered "THERE ARE BISHOPS, LIKE IN YUGOSLAVIA FOR EXAMPLE WHO ARE AGAINST THIS...., BUT IT'S IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT THE GREAT NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE ANSWERING HER INVITATIONS, THE AMOUNT OF CONVERSIONS... ALL THIS IS UNDERLINED IN THE GOSPEL, ALL THESE FACTS HAVE TO BE SERIOUSLY INVESTIGATED."(L`Homme Nouveau, 3. February 1991.)
Mons. Maurillo Kreiger, former bishop of Florianopolis (Brazil), visited Medjugorje four times. His first visit was in 1986. He writes as follows: "In 1988, I was with eight other bishops and thirty three priests on spiritual retreat in the Vatican. The Holy Father knew that many of us were going to Medjugorje afterwards. After a private mass with the Pope, before leaving Rome, he said, without having been asked anything, "PRAY FOR ME IN MEDJUGORJE". On another occasion, I told the Pope "I am going to Medjugorje for the fourth time". He concentrated his thoughts and said, "MEDJUGORJE, MEDJUGORJE, IT'S THE SPIRITUAL HEART OF THE WORLD". On the same day I spoke with other Brazilian bishops and the Pope at lunch time and I asked him: "Your holiness, can I tell the visionaries that you send your blessing?" He answered: "YES YES", and embraced me.
Italian priest Fr. Gianni Sgreva - "The young people, who came together in the prayer groups that I followed, in the course of time felt the need for founding a community that would be based on the Medjugorje messages and would indeed thereby be a direct fruit of Medjugorje. I, on the contrary, avoided the very thought of some new community because I already had my way, my vocation, and my work as a professor. Meanwhile, the desire and insistence of the young people for the realization of their needs and goals, grew stronger every day. I made it all known to my spiritual director and my own provincial. They asked me to follow the development of events and I did that. The following question bothered me: how to establish and lead a community that is connected with a reality such as is Medjugorje where yet 'unapproved apparitions' are taking place? Before founding the community I spoke with Cardinal Ratzinger. He listened to everything attentively and instructed me what to do. For Medjugorje he told me, "Don't you worry about the tree, you worry about the fruits, the vocations, and Medjugorje is our concern." I spoke also with the Holy Father. I talked to him about the community and the vocations connected with the experience of Medjugorje. The Holy Father listened to me, drew close to me and right in my ear said to me, reminding me not to forget: "DON'T YOU BE CONCERNED ABOUT MEDJUGORJE, BECAUSE I'M THINKING ABOUT MEDJUGORJE AND I PRAY FOR ITS SUCCESS EVERY DAY. YOU BE CONCERNED WITH THE VOCATIONS AND PRAY FOR ME EVERY DAY"
August 1, 1989 address by the Pope to a group of Italian physicians dedicated to defending unborn life and to making scientific and medical studies on the apparition, as reported by Bishop Paul Hnilica, SJ, Auxiliary Bishop of Rome: "TODAY'S WORLD HAS LOST ITS SENSE OF THE SUPERNATURAL, BUT MANY ARE SEARCHING FOR IT - AND FIND IT IN MEDJUGORJE, THROUGH PRAYER, PENANCE AND FASTING."
June 1986 response to a group of twelve Italian bishops seeking pastoral advice on people making pilgrimages to Medjugorje. "LET THE PEOPLE GO TO MEDJUGORJE IF THEY CONVERT, PRAY, CONFESS, DO PENANCE AND FAST."
In the Korean Catholic weekly "Catholic News" from the 11th November 1990 an interview with Mons. Angelo Kim Nam Soo President of BK Korea was published. He had been at a luncheon audience with Pope John Paul II together with six other bishops on Oct 15th that year. Mons. Kim recalls that, "words of praise were addressed to the Pope regarding the change brought about in Eastern Europe. The Pope replied with a smile that he hadn't done much, rather, it was a work of providence from above, and it was carried out in accordance with the promise of Our Lady of Fatima. The Pope continued that the account of Our Lady of Fatima is private revelation and said that it differed fundamentally from public revelation. He also used the example of Our Lady's apparitions in Medjugorje, and commented on how wonderful it is that despite some Bishops opposition, many people visit there, are converted and favored with God's grace. He then smiled"
The Pope said to Fr. Jozo Zovko on the 20th July 1992: "BUSY YOURSELF WITH MEDJUGORJE, LOOK AFTER MEDJUGORJE, DON'T TIRE. PERSEVERE, BE STRONG, I AM WITH YOU. WATCH OVER, FOLLOW MEDJUGPORJE."
In a private conversation with the visionary Mirjana Soldo the Pope said: "IF I WERE NOT POPE I WOULD ALREADY BE IN MEDJUGORJE CONFESSING."(1987)
On March 22nd, 1995 Vicka accompanied 350 wounded and crippled Croatian soldiers to Rome where the Pope gave them a private audience. She was the translator (Italian-Croatian) and the Pope immediately recognized her: "ARE YOU NOT VICKA FROM MEDJUGORJE?" he asked her. Vicka then offered him a rosary saying: "I guess you have many rosaries already, but this one is special as it was blessed by the Gospa during an apparition." The Pope said to her: "PRAY TO THE MADONNA FOR ME, I PRAY FOR YOU." He prayed over her a long time & blessed her.
The Archbishop of Paraguay, Mons. Felipe Santiago Bentez, in November of 1994 asked of the Holy Father, the Pope if he was right to give approval to the faithful gathering in the spirit of Medjugorje, especially with the priests of Medjugorje. The Holy Father answered: "APPROVE ALL THAT IS RELATED TO MEDJUGORJE".
Pope John Paul II, in response to a question asked by the Archbishop of Asuncion, La Paz, Bolivia. - Feb. 1995 "AUTHORIZE EVERYTHING THAT REGARDS MEDJUGORJE"
On April 6th, l995 a Croatian Delegation made an official visit to the Holy Father. The Delegation included the President Tudjman, the Vice President Radic and Cardinal Kuharic from Zagreb. The Pope read his official statement and afterwards, as he often does, he spontaneously added a few words of his own. "I WANT TO GO TO SPLIT, TO MARIA BISTRICA AND TO MEDJUGORJE!"
On April 2, 1986 reported by Fr. Ivan Dugandzic, OFM, during a meeting with the Holy Father. The Holy Father told him that he follows the events continuously. "YOU CAN TELL EVERYONE THAT EACH DAY I PRAY FOR A HAPPY CONCLUSION TO THESE EVENTS."
From Bishop Michael D. Pfeifer, OMI, Bishop of San Angelo, Texas, National Catholic Register, April 15,1990: "During my Ad Lumina visit to Rome with the Bishops of Texas in April 1988, I asked our Holy Father his opinion about Medjugorje during the private conversation I had with him. He spoke very favorably about the happenings there, pointing out the good which had been done for people. During the lunch which the Texan bishops later had with the Holy Father, Medjugorje came up for further discussion. Again His Holiness spoke of how it has changed the lives of people who visit it, and said that so far the messages are not contrary to the gospel."
"MEDJUGORJE IS A GREAT CENTRE OF SPIRITUALITY!" - The Holy Father's comment during a February 1990 conversation, as reported by Bishop Murilo Krieger, Auxiliary Bishop of Florianopolis, Brazil, made prior to His Grace's fourth Medjugorje pilgrimage. The Holy Father assented to Bishop Krieger's request and gave his papal blessing to the visionaries (National Catholic Register, April 29,1990)
"IF I WASN'T THE POPE, I'D BE IN MEDJUGORJE ALREADY!" - Reported April 21, 1989 by Bishop Paul Hnilica, SJ, Auxiliary Bishop of Rome, after having been admonished by the Holy Father for not stopping in Medjugorje on his return trip to Rome from a meeting in Moscow on behalf of the Pope.
The Holy Father credits our Blessed Mother for interceding to save his life after being shot.
