the results of the heelers enquiry into apparitions of the virgin mary at medjugorje
Since 1981, six individuals have been claiming to receive visions of the mother of God at Medjugorje, a Croatian town in Bosnia.
Reasons to give credance to the visions:
1. The testimony of Heather Parsons, a former magazine editor in Ireland. She states explicitly that she saw the risen Lord in the sun at Medjugorje.
2. The testimony of Randall Sullivan, a writer working for Rolling Stone magazine. He claims also to have experienced certain supernatural phenomena at Medjugorje.
3. I am unable to conclude at the moment that the visionaries are lying.
4. The writings of Sister Emmanuel on Medjugorje have a genuine quality.
5. Vicka's physical appearance. I find her appearance suggestive of one who has been touched by the light. I have had a similar feeling looking at Mirjana.
6. There are significant reports of healings taking place at Medjugorje.
7. The testimony of my Uncle Jim Berney who says he has seen supernatural phenomena at Medjugorje.
8. The testimony of Doctor Marco Margnelli who claims he went to Medjugorje as an atheist in the 1980's. He says that the factor which made the largest impression on him, was the gathering of birds in trees at dusk in the town square. At the moment the supposed visions began, the birds would fall silent. Doctor Margnelli, like Heather Parsons, has been received into the Catholic church.
9. The message of the visions seems generally positive.
10. Pray, pray, pray.
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Reasons to doubt the claims of visions at Medjugorje:
There have been some inconsistencies in statements by the visionaries. If the visions are false, we must ask ourselves how the whole charade was constructed and maintained. Remember this would then be a charade that enables drug addicts to give up their addiction overnight. The only postulation I can come up with for a conspiracy at Medjugorje is the following...
I have been unwilling to conclude that the children themselves are lying. There have been psychological tests carried out on them, and the children have been observed closely for 28 years right up to and including their years of adulthood. They do not act like liars. If the visions are faked, I believe someone or some group, has manipulated the children. If the visions are faked, a way has been found to fake them, in such a manner that the visionaries themselves believe they are having visions. Somebody must have hypnotised the children (as they were in 1981) into accepting that they would see the Virgin Mary in visions at a particular time each evening. This would have been done through some form of autosuggestion, the implanting of mental triggers in their minds. The content of the visions could have been programmed into them in a similar way. Disparities between the children's accounts of their visions might then be explained by the action of their own disparate imaginations in providing subjective and individualistic outcomes for their imagined vision experiences. The only candidates for the hypnotising of these six children, would be found among local clergy, who are members of the Franciscan order. One of these Franciscans, Tomas Vlasic, has been regarded by critics as the chink in Medjugorje's armour. I know nothing ill of Tomas Vlasic. If I did, I would state it. Nor can I exonerate him. He has recently relinquished his priesthood. In his youth he fathered a child with a nun. Neither of these facts discredit him in my view. I would honour him and the nun for bringing the child to the world. Erasmus was born of such a union and raised by nuns. The child will save the world every time. But Tomas Vlasic remains the number one suspect for those who doubt the visions are genuine. A local Bishop has asserted that Vlasic was "a magician." If we look for a conspiracy involving hypnosis we probably must start with him. It gets more difficult with the other Franciscans. Some of them must have been involved if such a group hypnotism took place and if repeated hypnotisms were necessary. Father Jozo Zovko might be a candidate. Father Jozo, according to one piece of testimony written by a priest claiming the visions are genuine, had been holding meditation sessions for women and children in the church at Medjugorje during the months prior to the commencement of the supposed apparitions. The meditation sessions would take place after mass with Father Jozo telling the men they could now leave. This would certainly by the circumstantial evidence we're looking for that might suggest an opportunity for the selection and programming of vulnerable individuals and/or the inducement of fake visions. But at the moment I shouldn't call it evidence. It's merely my best guess. Another figure we would have to look at among the Franciscans is the now deceased Father Slavko who appears to be held in high regard by many who have met him. I am postulating that if a conspiracy has taken place to fake visions at Medjugorje, it seems necessary that some one or all of these three, Vlasic, Jozo and Slavko, must each have been involved.
In the New Year I will be travelling to Medjugorje. I will report what I discover there, on these pages.
Reasons to give credance to the visions:
1. The testimony of Heather Parsons, a former magazine editor in Ireland. She states explicitly that she saw the risen Lord in the sun at Medjugorje.
2. The testimony of Randall Sullivan, a writer working for Rolling Stone magazine. He claims also to have experienced certain supernatural phenomena at Medjugorje.
3. I am unable to conclude at the moment that the visionaries are lying.
4. The writings of Sister Emmanuel on Medjugorje have a genuine quality.
5. Vicka's physical appearance. I find her appearance suggestive of one who has been touched by the light. I have had a similar feeling looking at Mirjana.
6. There are significant reports of healings taking place at Medjugorje.
7. The testimony of my Uncle Jim Berney who says he has seen supernatural phenomena at Medjugorje.
8. The testimony of Doctor Marco Margnelli who claims he went to Medjugorje as an atheist in the 1980's. He says that the factor which made the largest impression on him, was the gathering of birds in trees at dusk in the town square. At the moment the supposed visions began, the birds would fall silent. Doctor Margnelli, like Heather Parsons, has been received into the Catholic church.
9. The message of the visions seems generally positive.
10. Pray, pray, pray.
****************************
Reasons to doubt the claims of visions at Medjugorje:
There have been some inconsistencies in statements by the visionaries. If the visions are false, we must ask ourselves how the whole charade was constructed and maintained. Remember this would then be a charade that enables drug addicts to give up their addiction overnight. The only postulation I can come up with for a conspiracy at Medjugorje is the following...
I have been unwilling to conclude that the children themselves are lying. There have been psychological tests carried out on them, and the children have been observed closely for 28 years right up to and including their years of adulthood. They do not act like liars. If the visions are faked, I believe someone or some group, has manipulated the children. If the visions are faked, a way has been found to fake them, in such a manner that the visionaries themselves believe they are having visions. Somebody must have hypnotised the children (as they were in 1981) into accepting that they would see the Virgin Mary in visions at a particular time each evening. This would have been done through some form of autosuggestion, the implanting of mental triggers in their minds. The content of the visions could have been programmed into them in a similar way. Disparities between the children's accounts of their visions might then be explained by the action of their own disparate imaginations in providing subjective and individualistic outcomes for their imagined vision experiences. The only candidates for the hypnotising of these six children, would be found among local clergy, who are members of the Franciscan order. One of these Franciscans, Tomas Vlasic, has been regarded by critics as the chink in Medjugorje's armour. I know nothing ill of Tomas Vlasic. If I did, I would state it. Nor can I exonerate him. He has recently relinquished his priesthood. In his youth he fathered a child with a nun. Neither of these facts discredit him in my view. I would honour him and the nun for bringing the child to the world. Erasmus was born of such a union and raised by nuns. The child will save the world every time. But Tomas Vlasic remains the number one suspect for those who doubt the visions are genuine. A local Bishop has asserted that Vlasic was "a magician." If we look for a conspiracy involving hypnosis we probably must start with him. It gets more difficult with the other Franciscans. Some of them must have been involved if such a group hypnotism took place and if repeated hypnotisms were necessary. Father Jozo Zovko might be a candidate. Father Jozo, according to one piece of testimony written by a priest claiming the visions are genuine, had been holding meditation sessions for women and children in the church at Medjugorje during the months prior to the commencement of the supposed apparitions. The meditation sessions would take place after mass with Father Jozo telling the men they could now leave. This would certainly by the circumstantial evidence we're looking for that might suggest an opportunity for the selection and programming of vulnerable individuals and/or the inducement of fake visions. But at the moment I shouldn't call it evidence. It's merely my best guess. Another figure we would have to look at among the Franciscans is the now deceased Father Slavko who appears to be held in high regard by many who have met him. I am postulating that if a conspiracy has taken place to fake visions at Medjugorje, it seems necessary that some one or all of these three, Vlasic, Jozo and Slavko, must each have been involved.
In the New Year I will be travelling to Medjugorje. I will report what I discover there, on these pages.
posted by heelers | 3:24 AM
1 Comments:
Heeler, the statement about Fr Vlasic fathering a child is yet another of the smears against Medjugorje. The woman named in this matter has denied that Fr Vlasic is the father of her child. Yet the local bishop and those who speak out against Medjugorje perpetuate the myth.
There was and is another Fr Tomislav (Pervan) who has been on the scene at Medjugorje almost from day one of the apparitions. he once told me two things:
(1) That if all that happened in Medjugorje during the first week of theapparitions is a lie, then it follows that what has followed is a lie. When he speaks of the events at Medjugorje, he always focuses on the early days. He keeps them alive. I suppose this is similar to how the Church focuses on the three years of Jesus’ ministry. All that has followed since has its basis on this period.
(2) Fr Tomislav Pervan is a theologian. But he once told me that what convinced of the truth of the apparitions was watching six young people, the youngest 10 at the time, staring at a spot on the wall for 20 minutes, without taking their eyes away from it. Hard enough for most of it, but for six youngsters, especially for the fidgety 10-year-old, a difficult accomplishment.
28 years have passed since the first apparition. The visionaries still give witness.It never changes. They are never tempted to embellish the facts or exaggerate to hold the attention of the people. They deliver their witness in a very simple, matter-of-fact manner.
And like us all, they never claim to be saints or perfect. They are not excluded from the struggles in life. They also have a wonderful sense of humour.
I first went to Medjugorje in 2000, kicking and screaming. It changed my life dramatically and I am ever grateful for discovering the love of God and his Blessed Mother in my heart.
It never ceases to amaze me how so many people are restored at Medjugorje, not because of their prayers or lack of prayers, but because of God’s unconditional love. Medjugorje is a perpetual Pentecost.
I especially like this quote about Medjugorje from Fr Jozo Zovko, the parish priest when the apparitions first began in June 1981.
“Man can never be sure or objective, because his thinking, his opinion, never leaves him. If one doesn’t allow oneself to be convinced, if one clings to one’s naturally limited judgement, events will continue to occur without us. This is what happened at Medjugorje. Whether one is convinced or skeptical, for or against, the years pass by at Medjugorje; the signs remain, the fruits remain. And Our Lady’s invitation to peace is still valid
“I do everything I can for people to hear this message, so that they may begin to renew their spiritual lives, their family lives.
“The position of the Church or the position of individuals is not the point. The point is that this is a mystery in whcih signs are given. Jesus had forseen our weakness. He told us: ‘Either make the tree goood, and its fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit.‘
“The devil never ceases to seek out colllaborators to harm Medjugorje. When these persons describe a witness, such as myself, for example, they try to show me in the worst possible light so as to provoke a scandal so that the public will say. ‘Medjugorje is bad.’ But I am not Medjugorje! Thank God, I never for one instance thought I was Medjugorje! Slander, lies provocations, I can easily overcome all that. Medjugorje cannot suffer on my account, because God is in it Himself who has wanted it and who protects it from human egoism, pride and disobedience...”
Fr Tomislav Pervan has written about Medjugorje.
http://crownofstars.blogspot.com/2006/09/fr-tomislav-pervan-speaks-on.html
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