Apostolic Visitor: ‘Come to Medjugorje, a place of grace’
Vatican news
Vatican News spoke with Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, sent by Pope Francis as apostolic visitor to Medjugorje. He is responsible for reading the messages attributed to the “Queen of Peace” and authorizing their publication.
By Andrea Tornielli
“Medjugorje is a normal place, there is nothing special. It has become, by grace, a spiritual place where people come from all over the world. They come and start to pray.”
This was stated by Archbishop Aldo Cavalli in an interview with Vatican News. He is a longtime papal diplomat who, in November 2021, was sent by Pope Francis as an apostolic visitor to Medjugorje, a small town in Bosnia and Herzegovina that over the past forty years has become one of the most important Marian centers most visited in the world.
The year 2024 was important for Medjugorje: last May, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published new norms on so-called supernatural phenomena that make it easier to give the green light to devotions without committing the Holy See to a declaration of the supernatural. And in September a note entitled “The Queen of Peace” was published, dedicated to the spiritual experience of Medjugorje, granting the Marian phenomenon the “nulla osta”, the highest recognition among those included in the new norms. Since then, the “so-called messages” that visionaries receive have been published “with ecclesiastical approval.”
Vatican News: For several years you have lived in the parish of Medjugorje and met pilgrims. What was your experience?
Mgr Aldo Cavalli: I had never been to Medjugorje. But I am Italian and, like many people from my country, I had contact with those who had been there. I always noticed, upon their return from Medjugorje, that these people were more engaged on a spiritual and human level: in the church, in catechesis, in doing good. They were much more engaged than before. I have been there for three years now: it is a normal place, without anything special, and it has become, by grace, a spiritual place where people come from all over the world. They come and start praying there. They enter into communion with the Lord Jesus and the Virgin Mary accompanies them. It’s a simple prayer: they want to change their life, live better than before, they want to resolve or manage the problems they have. This change is called conversion, and it is carried out in a particular way in the sacrament of penance. This normally happens in Medjugorje.
What strikes you when you look at the many pilgrims?
Young and old come to Medjugorje. They come without any sponsorship. They all come for one purpose: to meet the Lord and the Virgin Mary. They find nothing to see or visit: as a religious tourism site, we have nothing to offer. But here, young people and adults begin to pray. I had just arrived, in February, three years ago, and I was standing among the outside pews behind the church. A Latino family arrived, with a 15 year old boy who was a rebel, a real rebel! After only five minutes, he came to confess… and the parents looked at him surprised. It is a place of grace that the Lord has chosen to meet people. The Pope’s authorization means: go, go, go! Go there because it is a place of grace, where you meet the Lord and where the Lord meets you.
Thanks to the new standards implemented by Pope Francis, the procedure for examining and adjudicating these cases now focuses more on spiritual fruits.
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has examined two points which can be documented. The first concerns fruits. Thousands and thousands of people come from all over the world to Medjugorje. This year, two million adults and young people came. Nearly 50,000 priests came to pray and convert. Then other very important fruits are the many vocations. So many people are praying. The second element examined was messages. Each message was compared to the principles of the faith and it was found that the messages corresponded to them. Very positive fruits and positive messages for the faith: this allowed us to say that Medjugorje is a place of grace.
You are personally involved in publishing messages broadcast once a month. Concretely, what is this process?
It’s very simple: when there is a message, whoever receives it writes it and sends it to me in the language in which he writes, which is Croatian. It was immediately translated into Italian for me. This process is very interesting: there are at least two very important human mediations: this is why we always talk about “supposed messages”, even if we are in favor of it, to the point that at the end of the message we writes: “with ecclesiastical messages”. approval’. But be careful, the messages are called “presumed” because they pass through two human mediations: The Madonna does not write, the one who receives writes. The second mediation is the translation from Croatian to Italian: these are two completely different languages. We say that the message is good, that it corresponds to faith, and we invite you to read it and meditate on it because it is positive. This adds nothing to the Apocalypse, but it enriches it. This helps us live the faith better today.
It is well known that no private revelation, therefore none of the Marian apparitions, adds anything to divine revelation. What attitude should we adopt in the face of revelations and what risks should we avoid? We sometimes risk letting ourselves be drawn into an excess of curiosity about “secrets”, a somewhat apocalyptic curiosity.
Last May, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published fundamental standards for understanding the decision on Medjugorje. He recalls that above all the Apocalypse, the Word of God, is composed of the Bible alone, and that this Revelation ends with the Apocalypse of John. This does not take away from the fact that the Holy Spirit can use the messages and private revelations entrusted to people and which serve to better implement the one true Revelation. None of this adds anything to Revelation, but it may be helpful. This is the importance of messages. They can be useful in implementing today the Revelation that the Lord has already made, once and for all.
Have you met the visionaries of Medjugorje?
Yes. And I can say that they are simple people, they have their own family, they have the problems that every family has.
Sorry to interrupt: at one point someone objected because none of them had become priests or nuns…
But to each his own vocation! They are simple people, good people. I have nothing to say. We see each other often, we have coffee together. These are people who grow in faith, each in their own way, and become wise, wiser and wiser. I keep in touch with them: they have not become priests or nuns and each has their own mission, their own family life.
What have you learned during these three years in the parish of Medjugorje?
That there is grace there. I learned that the Lord, with his grace, always follows us. I learned that the Lord has a plan for our lives and that He goes with us. He loves us.
In Medjugorje, Our Lady called herself “Queen of Peace”. A message that is still as relevant in our time.
One of the earliest alleged messages, from 1981, is very profound in this regard. He said: peace, let peace reign. But be careful: not peace between us, but first between God and us, and then between us, humans. It’s fundamental. When the Jews came out of Egypt, God said through the prophet Moses: if you want to live free, there are certain rules to follow, the Commandments. God is fundamental to peace. In the commandments, we are told a few things to respect: respect life and not kill, family is fundamental, respect each other. If we live like this, we live in peace. If, on the contrary, we do not live like this, we will have wars.
Another element that makes Medjugorje’s message particularly relevant is the fact that the alleged apparition took place in a country where different religions coexist and which has been marked by terrible violence in recent times. There are messages that touch on this theme. What can you say about this?
The word we use is dialogue. Dialoguesdialogue between us, but logos means: I present to you my identity, I present to you my way of living, of thinking, of believing, of acting. You present your identity to me. In dialogue, we get to know each other, each retaining their own identity. If we lose our identity, we no longer dialogue. Then comes tragedy. There are different religions, different ways of living. We need to dialogue. And in Medjugorje we have a clear identity: the Lord Jesus Christ is our only Lord.
The new norms published last May by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith are an expression of the pastoral spirit of Pope Francis and demonstrate his great attention to the faith of ordinary people and to popular devotion. How important is this aspect?
We must highlight very strong religious references. Popular faith is enriched by placing the Mother of God as the point of reference and the Lord Jesus Christ as the absolute point of reference. When simple people come with all their problems, they meet the Mother of God who suffered like them. The image of Our Lady of Sorrows is in almost all parishes: she who suffered like you and who accompanies you towards the Lord Jesus, who gives you the strength to live well. With the help of the Lord, you can face problems. This is the faith of ordinary people. It is the Rosary, the Eucharist and Eucharistic adoration. Last summer, I had in front of me 30 to 40,000 young people standing in adoration in absolute silence. There, in this transformed bread, is the real and substantial presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. He looks at me, I look at him, he talks to me, I talk to him. How many people have told me: I heard the Lord speaking to me in the Eucharist.
Based on what you have said, and based on what was said in the note from the Dicastery on Medjugorje, can we conclude by inviting everyone to make a pilgrimage there?
The document says very clearly: go to Medjugorje, because it is a place of grace.
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