‘Nulla Osta’ grants for messages and spiritual fruits

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a statement today after a lengthy investigation into the alleged apparitions, which began in the Bosnia-Herzegovina town in 1981. Nothing is said about their supernatural nature, but the Vatican recognizes the good they have done in the lives of so many people. “We do not now welcome these messages as private revelations,” Cardinal Fernandez said, “but only as edifying texts that can inspire a true and beautiful spiritual experience.”

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – The Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, and the Secretary of the Dicastery, Mgr. Armando Matteo, held a long press conference in the Vatican today and presented “The Queen of Peace“, a document about the “spiritual experience linked to Medjugorje”.

In it, the Church recognizes the “abundant and widespread” fruits that have grown around the veneration of the Virgin Mary, venerated as the Queen of Peace, in Medjugorje. Medjugorje is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina where Marian apparitions were said to have first occurred in 1981 and which has been the destination of numerous pilgrimages since then.

The Church officially declares its “nulla osta” for this spiritual experience and calls on the faithful to “appreciate and share the pastoral value of this spiritual offering.” This “does not mean, however, that the alleged supernatural events are declared authentic. Instead, it only highlights that the Holy Spirit works fruitfully for the good of the faithful ‘in the midst’ of this spiritual phenomenon of Medjugorje.”

The note begins: “It is time to conclude a long and complex story surrounding the spiritual phenomena of Medjugorje. It is a story in which bishops, theologians, commissions and analysts have expressed a number of different opinions.”

In line with the direction of the new Standards for the assessment of alleged supernatural phenomenaThe document on Medjugorje, promulgated last May and approved by Pope Francis on August 28, does not comment on the supernatural nature of the apparitions.

“I specifically asked the Pope if this was necessary and his answer was that the Nulla Osta was sufficient,” Fernandez said. For this reason, the note focuses on the spiritual life that has blossomed around the devotion to the Queen of Peace and the messages spread in recent years. It concludes that “many positive fruits have been noted in the midst of a spiritual experience, while negative and dangerous effects have not spread among the people of God.”

However, it is “necessary to clarify some points that may cause confusion, as these may cause some small groups to distort the valuable content of this spiritual experience, especially if the messages are only partially read.”

The note stresses that the “nulla osta” does not mean “a judgment on the moral life of the alleged visionaries.” For Cardinal Fernandez, the investigation into Medjugorje is not a “test of their heroic virtues,” as some objections raised during the long investigation into the alleged apparitions seemed to suggest.

Among the spiritual fruits that have grown out of this experience, the document mentions “the promotion of a healthy practice of the life of faith” in accordance with the Church’s tradition; the “numerous conversions” of people who have discovered or rediscovered the faith; the return to confession and sacramental communion, the numerous vocations, the “numerous reconciliations between spouses and the renewal of marriage and family life”.

Regarding the messages attributed to Our Lady and examined by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Fernandez said: “Most of them have a beautiful content that can inspire the faithful to conversion, make them grow in the encounter with Christ and encourage them to be builders of peace in the world. That is, they reproduce the encouragements and exhortations of the Gospel in other words that are closer to the simple language of our people.”

Some messages, he added, “may contain phrases that are not precise from an academic point of view, phrases that do not come exactly from Thomas Aquinas. On the other hand, recognizing the action of the Holy Spirit in the midst of a spiritual experience does not mean that everything that belongs to that experience is free from inaccuracies, imperfections or possible confusions.”

“We do not welcome these messages now as private revelations, since we have no certainty that they are messages from Our Lady,” said Cardinal Fernandez, “but only as edifying texts that can inspire a true and beautiful spiritual experience.”

These messages “must be accepted and evaluated in their entirety”, starting from their core: the invitation to forgiveness as a path to peace, the call to conversion and not to underestimate the gravity of evil and sin.

According to the reports of the alleged visionaries, it is Our Lady herself who recommends: “Do not look for extraordinary things. Instead, take the Gospel, read it, and everything will become clear to you.”

The “clarifications” that the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith considers necessary also go in this direction. They are requests to relativize those passages in which the Virgin Mary appears to “give orders about specific dates, places and practical aspects and when she makes decisions about everyday matters.”

“Some messages can only be explained by considering the personal wishes of the alleged seers,” explained Cardinal Fernandez. “But it is understandable that the faithful, using their prudence and common sense, do not take these details seriously or do not listen to them.”

Regarding the special apostolic visitor of the parish of Medjugorje, a task that Archbishop Aldo Cavalli has been carrying out since December 2021 on behalf of Pope Francis, the statement says that he “will continue to carry out the functions entrusted to him”.

Furthermore, “he will then evaluate, in the light of the above explanations, all future messages – or those from the past that have not yet been published – and will authorize them before any publication. Likewise, he will take the measures he considers necessary and guide pastoral discernment in response to new situations that may arise.”

The Vatican document is addressed to the bishops of the dioceses in which the Queen of Peace of Medjugorje is venerated, calling on them to “appreciate the pastoral value of this spiritual proposal and even to promote its dissemination”.

Each diocesan bishop still has the authority to “carefully assess the events within his own area of ​​responsibility and to decide on the matter himself.”

Finally, with regard to those who travel to Medjugorje, it should be made clear that “the purpose of a pilgrimage is not to meet alleged visionaries, but to meet Mary, Queen of Peace”.