Medjugorje 1994

From June 22- 24, 1994 the first Prayer-Educational Seminar for leaders of prayer groups, charitable groups, and centers of peace begun by impetus of the Medjugorje apparitions was held in Medjugorje on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of Our Lady's apparitions. Representatives from Australia, New Zealand, South America, United States, and Europe participated.

Through the lectures an attempt was made theologically and ecclesiastically to define the phenomenon of the Medjugorje apparitions and their meaning in modern times. After the lectures the participants in their individual language groups discussed the hardships and successes which they have experienced in their work with pilgrims and friends of Medjugorje. The meeting ended with a common Declaration based on the discussions and conclusions of the individual language groups.

Unfortunately, we are not able to present to you the contents of the individual lectures. We present in entirety the common Declaration of the participants.

Lectures

  1. "The Time of Mary in Light of Papal Encyclicals" (Fr. Tomislav Pervan);
  2. "The Place of Medjugorje in the Church Today" (Fr. Jozo Zovko) and
  3. "Mission of Laymen in the Church" (Fr. Slavko Barbaric).

Biography of the lecturers

Dr. Fr. Tomislav Pervan - born November 8, 1946 in Citluk. Ordained priest 1969. Doctorate 1976 in Theology of the New Testament. Worked as assistant novice master in the Hercegovina Franciscan Province. Served as pastor in the parish of Medjugorje from 1982 - 1988. Named Vicar Provincial in 1990 and in 1994 was elected as Provincial of the Hercegovina Franciscan Province.

Dr. Fr. Slavko Barbaric - born March 11, 1941 in Dragicini. Member of the Hercegovina Franciscan Province. Studied theology in Visoko, Sarajevo and Switzerland. Ordained priest December 19, 1971. Doctorate in the field of religious education in 1982. Located in Medjugorje since 1982. Writes books and articles on spiritual subjects. Works in the Shrine. Leader of numerous spiritual retreats and presentations. In many parts of the world has conducted meetings on the theme of the Medjugorje events.

Fr. Jozo Zovko - born March 19, 1941 in Uzarici. Member of the Hercegovina Franciscan Province, Studied theology in Sarajevo and Ljubljana. Ordained priest 1967. For many years worked in the Catechetical Center in Zagreb and then in Posusje. When Our Lady's apparitions began in Medjugorje 1981 Fr. Jozo was pastor of this parish. The communist authorities sentenced him to prison for three years for his belief in Our Lady's apparitions. After doing 18 months in prison he was released and since then has worked in the parishes of Gorica, Bukovica, Tihaljina and Siroki Brijeg. Beside pastoral work in parishes, he has been much occupied with pilgrims.

DECLARATION

Inspired by the messages of Our Lady in Medjugorje the directors of the prayer groups and the Centers for Peace have gathered in Medjugorje from the 21 to the 24 of June for the 13th Anniversary of the apparitions. We thank God for His gift. We thank also all the friends in the world that accept, deepen, live and spread the messages of Our Lady. After having participated in the conferences: "Marian Times in the Light of the Papal Encyclicals", "Medjugorje in Today's Church" and "The Role of the Laity in the Medjugorje Movement"; we have become even more conscious of our own responsibility for the new evangelization. We have reflected on the diffusion of the messages of Our Lady in our own surroundings and we have paid attention to the difficulties we are facing. We wish to transmit the conclusions of our reflections to all our friends, our pilgrims and to the parish of Medjugorje.

The messages of Our Lady do not bring any new revelation. All are based on that which is written in the Gospel: "Do whatever He tells you." (John 2:5). We wish to emphasize the need to transmit the messages in an authentic manner, looking for the translations to be in conformity to the original in the Croatian language while at the same time respecting the spirit of each language.

There is no need to confuse the original spirituality of Medjugorje with any other phenomena or messages. We have made a collective decision to create in Medjugorje an information center that, being tied with all the centers of Medjugorje in the world, would send to them a monthly bulletin of the events related to Medjugorje.

We also wish that all responsible for the Medjugorje shrine or any other place in the world watch over the spiritual well being whether it be that of the pilgrims, or that of the parishioners of the parish of Medjugorje.

In the common interest of all venerators of the Queen of Peace, let all those who speak publicly on an official level on behalf of Medjugorje -- be it the Priests, the visionaires, or the laity -- do it in accordance with the shrine.

We advise the groups and all those on their own to join as much as possible their own ecclesiastic community with full respect toward the local ecclesiastic authority.

We also wish to remind everyone that the messages of Medjugorje do not contain in them the fear of the apocalyptic times. Instead, it is a message of peace between man and God and peace between all people.

The shrine of the Queen of Peace in Medjugorje is a Marian shrine. According to Mary's example the village wishes to remain humble, obedient and simple.

We wish to continue with encounters of this kind and we wish to cherish them so that the bonds between us may remain as alive as possible.

fra Ivan Landeka, OFM