Neum 1998
NEW SPIRITAL COMMUNITIES AND MOVEMENTS-AN INQUIRY INTO THE CALLING AND MISSION OF THE CHURCH TODAY - Marianne Tigges
IS MEDJUGORJE A SPIRITUAL MOVEMENT IN THE CHURCH? - Dirk Grothues
MEDJUGORJE AND THE NEW EVANGELIZATION - fra Ivan Dugandžić
Dr. Marianne Tigges, born February 15, 1942 in Haagen, Westphalia, Germany. In 1957 she was promoted to the Philosophical Faculty of the Westphalia Wilhelm University in Munster (pedagogy-theology - philosophy ). Till 1979 she served in East Africa; from 1979 - 1983 she worked in the office of the Papal mission MISSIO in Aachen; from 1983 - 1987 in the office of the Pastoral Center of the German Bishops' Conference in the department of "Spiritual Life, Spiritual vocations, church ministries". She was the contact person for the German Bishops' Conference for spiritual communities and movements from 1987 to 1991. She was appointed secretary to the Bishops' Conference for spiritual vocations and church ministries in 1991.
Dirk Grotheus, born 1928, ordained priest 1955 in Munster, Germany. He is chaplain to a community of workers, instructor of religion in a gymnasiums, pastoral caregiver in a clinic for psychosomatic medicine, counselor in the service for marriage and family affairs, and spiritual director of spiritual communities. From 1968 to 1995 he is theological collaborator for the diocesan newspaper Kirche und Leben, rector of the provincial house of sisters in Munster. Since 1987 he is spiritual advisor at the Center Mary Queen of Peace, Medjugorje. He collaborates on theological symposia and in publications that refer to the Medjugorje apparitions and messages.
Dr. Fr. Ivan Dugandzic - Franciscan priest, member of the Hercegovina Franciscan province. Born 1943 in Krehin Gradac, country Citluk, Hercegovina. After graduating in Dubrovnik in 1962, he entered the Franciscan Order. He completed theological studies in Sarajevo and Koenigstein, Germany. Ordained priest in 1969. Postgraduate study and doctorate in biblical science in Wuerzburg, Germany. Since 1990 he lives and works in Zagreb. He is professor of New Testament exegesis and biblical theology at the Catholic Theological Faculty and its institutes. He has published works in technical theological reviews. He publishes in religious newspapers in a contemporary style on various biblical themes. He has lived and worked in Medjugorje on two occasions: 1970 - 1972 and 1985 - 1988.
The Prayer-Educational Seminar for leaders of prayer groups, pilgrim groups, and Centers of Peace throughout the world was held from March 9- 13 in Neum. About 150 leaders from seventeen countries took part in the work of the seminar on the theme "The Medjugorje Spiritual Movement". The aim of these seminars, which have already been held for five years in a row, is better acquaintance and the exchange of experiences of those who work with pilgrims in Medjugorje and in their own centers.
At the end of the seminar a common Declaration was drafted.
DECLARATION
In community of prayer and fellowship the 150 leaders of prayer groups from seventeen countries listened to lectures on spiritual movements in general (Marianne Tigges from Bonn), on the Medjugorje spiritual movement in the Church today (Dirk Grothues from Munich) and on the contribution of Medjugorje to the new evangelization (Ivan Dugandzic from Zagreb).
In group discussion according to languages and in conversation with the lecturers we drew up the following conclusions:
- We are grateful to God that in our time he is giving the Church new impulses of the Holy Spirit which sometimes mature into genuine spiritual movements. We are happy that Medjugorje can be characterized as a spiritual movement in today's Church.
- We consider it our duty to preserve the originality of the Medjugorje spiritual movement and to offer testimony of authentic Christian life based on Our Lady's messages which express the marrow of the Gospel, so we might make our contribution to the renewal of the Church.
- In order that the spiritual movement, which has originated from Our Lady's messages, obtain a still greater significance, the need was proclaimed for extending a path of peace in the world and in the local Church to which the parish of Medjugorje belongs.
NEW SPIRITAL COMMUNITIES AND MOVEMENTS-AN INQUIRY INTO THE CALLING AND MISSION OF THE CHURCH TODAY
1. Introduction: New Forms of Evangelical Life as a Gift of the Holy Spirit and a "Sign of the Times"
2. An Attempt to Position the Spiritual Movements
3. Spiritual Renewals as an Expression of "Ecclesia semper reformanda"
4. Common Leading Elements of New Spiritual Movements
4.1 Spirituality and Experiences in Faith
4.2 Evangelization and Catechesis
4.3 Fellowship and Fraternity
4.4 Tasks in the World and Mission
4.5 New Relations of Laity and Office Holders
4.6 A New Form of Ecclesiasticism
5. Possible Dangers and Difficultie in the New Spiritual Movements
6. Encouragement and Coordination of the Lay Apostolate Through the Papal Council for the Laity
7. Final Comment: Spiritual Renewal as a Lasting Mission of all Christians
1. Introduction: New Forms of Evangelical Life as a Gift of the Holy Spirit and as a "Sign of the Times"
If one inquires about particularly conspicuous signs of hope in today's Church, the new spiritual communities or movements are very often being mentioned. This is certainly justified since, as a whole, they represent an authentic Christian answer to the challenge of the cultural situation of the faith (cp. Medard Kehl SJ, "Communio" - a Paling Vision? In Voices of the Times, Journal no. 7/1997,453).
The Council documents have always stressed the community of the entire People of God in the mission and calling of the Church in the midst of the world. Also the bishops' synods of the last decades have acknowledged the community of the Church as a gift of the Spirit in the multitude of charisms and forms of life: The Calling and Mission of the Laity (1987), Priestly Formation in Relation to the Present Times (1990) and The Consecrated Life (1994).
In the following presentation, I will try to evaluate the new spiritual communities and movements; particular emphasis will be given to important features and common key elements, but also to possible dangers and difficulties. The considerations should also illustrate a central canonical statement of the Church, which, so to speak, could be used as a preamble to all forms of lay apostolates. In the 1983 new Code of Canon Law, it says in Canon 215: "The faithful are permitted to freely found and conduct associations for purpose of charity or piety or for the promotion of the Christian calling in the world and to hold meetings in order to pursue these interests in common." This right to found associations and coalitions was already laid down in the decree of the Second Vatican Council on the lay apostolate Apostolicam Actuositatem (cf. AA, 19). It represents the legal basis for all associations of persons within the Church, from incidental meetings up to the highest forms of communal life, such as orders and secular institutes.
2. An Attempt to Assign Their Proper Place
In recent years the interest in the so-called "renewal movements" or "spiritual renewals" within the Christian churches has increased visibly. The new spiritual communities and movements also receive stronger official attention, because they have multiplied in numbers and are gradually "carrying great weight" (cp. Bishop P.J.Cordes, In the Midst of Our World, Freiburg 1987, 13 ff.).On a world-wide Church level the new spiritual communities and movements have received acknowledgment and encouragement from the Bishops' Synod of 1987, which dealt with the calling and mission of the laity in the Church and in the world. The post-synod Apostolic Letter Christifideles Laici by Pope John Paul II, published December 30, 1988, is undoubtedly at present the main source of information for all questions, concerning the calling and dignity of the laity, their communities and participation in the mission of the Church (cp. Laity Today, Information Service of the Papal Council for the Laity, 18 (1996), page 2).
The new spiritual movements are groupings, in which for the most part lay persons, but also clerics and religious, strive for an intense religious life in the community and a renewal of the faith in the Church. They are mostly organized on a translocal level and have a varying regional distribution.
The term 'movements' indicates that these groups already in their structures differ considerably from the conventional forms of communities of the church. The distinction from other groups is not always easy. They differ from the classical religious orders and modern forms of religious orders, since they are not founded on so radical a life decision, which - as in religious orders - is sealed with life long vows and because hence they have less institutional and constitutional elements. They show some similarity to secular institutes, which after World War II were established officially in the Catholic Church, but they do not have any so strongly contoured form of life as these do. The term 'movements' is appropriate because it implies well the flexible form of the communities: they are more structured and more committed than groups, formed spontaneously, but not as binding as associations, unions or societies. It goes without saying, that the appearances of these movements are extremely diverse and manifold so that the common denominator with regard to their makeup is not easy to find.
Looking at the origins of the new spiritual movements makes it clear that, for the most part, these spiritual renewals originated in Europe: Communione e Liberatione 1954 in Milano; the first Cursillo took place on the island of Mallorca, Spain, in 1949; the groups for couples Equipes Notre Dame originated in Paris in 1938; the Focolari-Movement has its origin in Trient in 1943; the international movement of Christian women - Grail - originated in a lay community for women, which was founded in the Netherlands in 1921; marriage seminars of Marriage Encounter were developed in Barcelona in 1953; the Neo-Catechumenate way had its origins in Madrid in 1965; the Schönstatt-Movement started with a consecration to the Mother of God in Vallendar, Germany in 1914.
This European context also applies to the spiritual communities that are based on a spirituality of a religious order: the Franciscan Community, which feels called upon to live a life in Imitation of Christ in the spirit of Francis of Assisi; the Community of Christian Life, which wants to renew the heritage of Ignatius of Loyola of Spain; the Dominican Community, which lives in the spirit of the Spanish religious founder Dominic; and the Theresian Carmelites, who in our present times live the heritage of the Spanish founders Theresa of Avila and John of the Cross.
For the new spiritual movements in the German-speaking areas, the acceptance of spiritual impulses from other European countries has always required a great measure of sensitivity and tolerance and not only because of the language barriers. However, the numerous contacts and initiatives on international levels give Christians in Germany also the opportunity to live their faith in a more worldwide way, and thereby in a more "catholic" way.
In a Europe, which is growing together more and more, the East-European world represents a special challenge to discover and take on new ways of evangelization. For this mission, the new spiritual movements should make an important contribution.
3. Spiritual Renewals as an Expression of "Ecclesia semper reformanda"
Throughout the centuries, the constant need for renewal of the Church has decisively influenced the history of the Church. Again and again, there have been renewals within the Church that sought to live the gospel in a radical way (for example, the founding of orders by Benedict of Nursia, Bernard of Clairvaux, Francis of Assisi and Ignatius of Loyola).
Throughout the centuries, the Imitation of Christ was for the most part linked with the spirituality of the orders. A separate "spirituality of the laity" evolved again more intensively only in the 20th century. The view of God's people as the "chosen race" and "a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2,9) was discovered anew. The majority of the spiritual movements was founded prior to the Second Vatican Council; however, the Council has decisively influenced the movements themselves and their vitality. Briefly, here are some of the key themes, which may serve as starting points: the teaching on the historically Pilgrim People of God, of the Body of Christ in the unity and diversity of its members, on the dignity of individual charisms and gifts of the Church, on the exceeding importance of the common priesthood of all faithful, on the collaboration of the laity and hierarchy of the church. The following text exemplifies this connection. This is what Lumen Gentium, The Constitution on the Church in the Modern World of Vatican II says about charisms: "The same Holy Spirit sanctifies ... not only God's people through the sacraments and services, He not only leads it and enrichens it with virtues, but 'distributes His gifts individually, as He wishes' (1 Cor. 12,11) and distributes also special graces among the faithful of any standing. Through them, He equips and prepares them to take on various tasks and services for the renewal and the complete edification of the Church, according to the text: 'To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit' (1 Cor. 12,7). Such gifts of grace, whether they are particularly outstanding or more simple and widespread, must all be accepted with gratefulness and the consolation since they are specifically adapted and useful for the needs of the Church" (LG 12). With this text of the Council, which surely is one of the most impressive witnesses of the renewal through the Second Vatican Council, it also becomes clear what is meant with the term spiritual in the concept of spiritual renewal: a reality, a Spirit wrought, charism determined reality as one becoming alive in the sphere of faith, hope and charity.
Official statements and documents of the Church repeatedly point out that the new spiritual movements are most closely connected with the great basic forces of the post-Council renewal and with many other movements of present-day ecclesiastical life. The statement of the Bishops' Conference regarding the Guidelines for the Bishops' Synod of 1987 mentions the classic Catholic federations, the spiritual movements and base communities as important basic forms of communities in the apostolate of the laity (cf. Statement 2.5, published by the Secretariat of the German Bishops' Conference as a Work Aid 45, May 2, 1986, 18 ff.). The post-synod apostolic publication Christifideles Laici (CL) emphasizes also for the alliances of laity the richness and the diversity of the gifts, which the Spirit keeps alive in the Church (cf. CL, 29). The new spiritual communities thus play a central role in the life of the Church, they partake in her many facets of self-realization and are the Church in an authentic sense. Of course, depending on their sructure, also legal questions result from this, as to how they relate to the constitutional organs of ecclesiastical life and to the spiritual office in particular. For this, the new Canon Law has provided a broad space for various ways of realization, which have not yet by far been sufficiently utilized (cf. CIC 1983, Can. 113-123, 215, 223, 298-329).
The Bishops' Synod of 1994 conferred on The Consecrated Life and Its Mission in the Church and in the World. Already in the preparatory documents "new communities and renewed forms of life according to the Gospel" had been defined. In its definition of the new communities, the post-synod apostolic publicaton Vita Consecrata, which was presented on March 25, 1996, points out that the new associations are not alternatives to the earlier institutions but rather are a gift of the Spirit, which manifests itself through the signs of the times and is the origin of the community and of perpetual renewal of life (cf. VC, 62).
4. Common Leading Elements of New Spiritual Movements
From the complex appearance of the new spiritual renewals and movements, it is possible - in somewhat abstract terms - to pick out some common and continuous aspects. The importance of these key elements varies in the individual movements (For the following, cf. F. Valentin (editor), New Ways of Succession, Salzburg 1981, p.207 ff; M. Tigges, New Spiritual Movements - an Inquiry into the Calling and Mission of the Church Today, in Ordenskorrespondenz 3/1987, p. 291 ff.).
4.1 Spirituality and Experiences in Faith
The various groups and movements are held together by their interest in spirituality. The primary concern is not actions and programs, efficiency and strategy, but rather a renewal of human thinking and willing according to the spirit of the gospel. This spirituality is often based on great ideals and masters of spiritual life and uses often traditional but also new techniques and practices of meditation and prayer. The spiritual movements also seem to have in common an impetus toward experiences in faith. They are not content with getting to know phrases and concepts externally, but - to say it in the classical tradition - they want to experience God from within.
The experiences of faith in the community also bring about the mutual discussion about it, which, in itself, is a basic prerequisite for the testimony of faith to the outside world. In almost all the groups, the reading of the Sacred Scriptures and Bible discussions play an important role. The renewal of Divine Service in small groups but also in larger communities, and a new consciousness of the Sacraments are part of this spirituality, which is conscious of its belonging to the Church.
Some groups strive particularly for a deeper understanding of baptism; the renewal of baptism is for some a decisive point (Charismatic Renewal, Cursillo-Movement, Neo-catechumenate).
For various marriage groups, the renewed experience of the sacrament of marriage is of special concern (Equipes Notre Dame, Marriage Encounter).
Also the sacrament of reconciliation is being newly discovered in these communities. The development from the short schematic confession to a dialogue confession and spiritual counsel and direction has practically become the norm for the members.
The sacrament of confirmation and the celebration of the ointment of the sick has taken on new importance particularly in the charismatic renewal groups.
Finally, in such intense Christian groups, a feeling grows for the necessity and for the gift of spiritual vocations. From the various movements already numerous young people have decided for official service in the Church (cf. the post-synod Apostilic Letter Pastores Dabo Vobis of March 25, 1992, 68).
Besides reflection and spiritual direction, times of silence and Divine Service, spiritual experience also needs the element of further development if it is not to remain a subjective inner experience. Thus, the movements see to it that individuals are given appropriate help in regular meetings and/or in written communications (workbooks and monthly periodicals).
4.2 Evangelization and Catechesis
The words "evangelization" or "evangelizing" are relatively young terms in the German language; however, during the past years they have been used more and more frequently in theological articles, catechetical papers and sermons (cf. the fundamental apostolic writings, the encyclicals of Pope Paul VI on evangelization in the world of today Evangelii nuntiandi of December 8, 1975; the Apostolic Letter Christifideles laici of Pope John Paul II, particularly Church, nos. 34 and 44; cf. also the article "Evangelization" in the Encyclopedia For Theology and Church, Vol. 3, column 1033 - 1036, Freiburg, 1995).
The new spiritual movements attach importance to the realization of the mission of preaching the gospel, especially in areas where the Church can become "the salt of the earth" only through the apostolic testimonies of the laity (cf. also the pronouncements of Vatican II on the lay apostolate, LG, 33).
For example, the Neo-catechumenate and the Cursillo, which are especially open to committed Christians as well as to the so-called less committed, came into being because of the lack of a true catechesis. There are often unusual, new ways in which the gospel is being spread. However, the effects show that such ventures are a real assistance in fulfilling the mission of Christ in our times. Among other things, this is noticeable in the commitment of individual members or groups who courageously live the faith and so make the Christian message accessible especially to the young. In the wake of the charismatic renewal, more "Spiritual Bible Schools" are reinforced and "Life- and Faith Schools" are being made available. In order to credibly put the evangelization into effect, the spiritual movements - according to their particular charism - emphasize and promote interior unity between pracitcal life and the faith of their members.
4.3 Fellowship and Fraternity
Characteristic of the spiritual movements is also the conviction of being believers on the way together. For some communities, the passage in the Sacred Scriptures, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Mt 18,20) has become their primary text; only through Christ and in Him is true community and mutual fraternal like-mindedness possible. The experience of community life in the name of Jesus, however, is not an end in itself. It is from the beginning open to others. So the group, that is, the concrete spiritual community, can also be understood as a "chuch in miniature" (cf. LG, 11; GS, 48; AA, 11; Apostolic Letter Familiaris Consortio, 49 among others). This way, the designation for the Church as "Communio" can be translated into an experiential and visible proximity.
Such a life in spiritual community is, therefore, stamped with a different sense of brother-sister fraternalism. This, by necessity, has a broad spectrum. It has the security and closeness of a small group, it also has the solidarity of larger communities; particularly in the Church this means all embracing Catholicism and internationality. That is why many spiritual movements also go out "onto the streets and to the edges", the fringes and marginal areas of our lives. Brother-sister fraternalism becomes ministry to others. The way to God leads through the brother and the sister.
Above all, it is always again a matter of realizing Christ-likeness in everyday life. With that purpose in mind, the various group meetings are intended to be an aid and encouragement. The personal discussions, corrections and encouragements, but especially the experience of not being alone in this endeavour, of being connected to others and of being supported by them, give the individuals new strength for their different duties. For today's materialistically-minded and consumer-oriented society, the tendency towards poverty, as it is being lived by the members of the spiritual communities, should be a particularly up-to-date testimony.
As open communities, many spiritual movements also have an ecumenical orientation. So, for example, the "Ottmaring Life Center" near Augsburg has developed an ecumenical meeting center through the involvement of Focolarini.
4.4 Tasks in the World and Mission
As has already been pointed out, this brother-sister fraternalism is not only within the group, but extends itself to all men. However, the Church's mission in the world first turns to persons, who need help, and only secondarily do social and political structures become the center of interest. This is particularly obvious in the tasks of ministry. It is a characteristic of the new spiritual movements that their openess towards the world cannot be separated from their spirituality. Roger Schutz of Taize says, that contemplation and combat belong together. Ministry in the world and ministry of salvation are indeed different, but need each other and supplement one another. Of course, a critical trait is noticeable in this form of world mission: the engagement in the world is coupled with a simultaneous distance. Vis a vis the open society with its needs and interests, there exists a final reserve. Even if the world is the place of spirituality stamped with faith, hope and charity, it still remains next to the last. So the mission to the world of the new spiritual communities and movements also somehow always remains a sort of counter-project, an alternative, which certainly links them with some tendencies in certain groups of today's subcultures. This, for example, is true of the search for alternate forms of life. But these are also being influenced by the spiritual impulse, which, for example, can be recognized by the often practiced exercise of "days in the desert". The sincere involvement in the world goes along with an eschatologically oriented renunciation. Here there are points of contact with the classic orders and with the secular institutes (for this also see cf. VC, 62).
4.5 New Relations of Laity and Office Holders
The new spiritual movements are largely maintained by the laity, even though many priests do hold or have held pioneer functions within them. The function of those in responsibility is to exercise guidance of the charism rather than to perform an office. Frequently we find coordination in the movements by a leadership team. Undoubtedly, in the spiritual movements a certain renewal of the lay apostolate is taking place. However, beyond this fact, the spiritual movements are making a new relationship possible between the laity and the hierarchy. They do not stand in opposition to each other as different "classes". They meet each other first of all on the basis of the commonly lived Christian faith. The common priesthood of all believers creates a basic community of brothers and sisters, which self-evidently allow for different duties and functions, and indeed downright demands and acknowledges them. The often fruitless opposition of institution and charisms, of hierarchy and laity, becomes more relaxed because, in the lived Christian life there is a presumption which comprises all opposites and tensions and thus, at least, alleviates them. So the new spiritual renewals make possible the translation of the main principles of the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council into the lived everyday life in the world.
4.6 A New Form of Ecclesiasticism
If one looks back at the mentioned five structural elements which seem to be common to the various new spiritual communities, one can observe from all aspects how there becomes discernible a new form of ecclesiasticism, which is no longer only institutionally bound or even assumes ideological characteristics: primarily and fundamentally based on spirituality and religious experience, with the goal of spreading the Gospel to the whole world, all embracing community on many levels and practiced brotherhood, turning towards the needs of the world and a new togetherness of laity and office holders. Especially in these perspectives a new and much sought after form of ecclesiasticism reveals itself, leaves room for the manifold charisms and ministries and makes possible a mutual enrichment. Thus the spiritual movements and intense communities make no absoslutist claims; common to them is the consciousness of being a spark in the fire of the Holy Spirit that is a gift to the church of our times. The spiritual movements have always sought contact with the official Church. Being faithful to the local church is an important element for them. It is certainly also a sign of the Catholicity and breadth of the Church that the new spiritual communities and lay movements consciously continue within the Church and are recognized by it (cf. especially AA, 21 and CL, 30, where the criteria for the ecclesiasticism of lay associations are mentioned).
5. Possible Dangers and Difficulties in the New Spiritual Movements
The new spiritual renewals are not perfected entities but are constantly being adjusted. That is why it is necessary to speak, at least briefly, of their dangers (cf. supplementary M. Tigges mentioned above p. 295 ff).
5.1 Spiritual One-sidedness
Whoever has strictly and decidedly formed his daily life and activities according to the life style of new spiritual movements, must do this decisively or otherwise he will not succeed in a radical renewal of life. But any specific orientation can over a long period of time blind one for other experiences. Therefore, I think it is important that the new spiritual renewals be conscious of this danger of overemphasis and one-sidedness. Erroneous developments and aberrations must be taken into account unemotionally. Protection from that is afforded by openness towards other experiences, a world-wide exchange of experience and supplementation through contact with other spiritual movements. The knowledge from this complementariness serves as protection from elitist exaggeration, which can be a very high, but ongoing hidden danger especially of spiritual people.
5.2 Claim of Exclusivity of Specific Tendencies
It has already been pointed out that the new spiritual movements make the Church real. In this sense, they can be a "mini-church". But that is exactly why they must not isolate themselves in self-sufficiency and withdraw from the great duties of the Church. They must not consider themselves as "the" Church. Otherwise they will become a sort of sect, that is in danger of devaluating everything outside the movement and of claiming exclusivity, which can lead to arrogance and intolerance. Such communities also soon lose their affinity to the Church in a concrete sense: to the local parish, to the diocese and to the universal Church. Such a concrete standing in the entire Church is an important criteria.
5.3 Flight into the Intimacy of a Small Group
One of the dangers is also that the new spiritual renewals become a refuge, in which mainly those people gather, who with right look for security but, at the same time, flee into such an intimacy of the small group. They are shy of the frequent conflicts with the problems and challenges of modern everyday life. It is surely legitimate if some individuals, up against the excessive demands and the stress of this process of conflict, find protection in these communities for a time or even for always; however, this must not have a deep imprint upon the community as such. Spiritual communities must not become loop-holes for people, who cannot cope with these confrontations. These people deserve safe protection and encouraging closeness, but they also need support and encouragement. Otherwise, the spiritual movements and communities will turn into problematic refuges for "drop-outs", who will in the end fail to live a Christian life.
5.4 A Mixture of Human Desires for Reformation and the Impulses of the Spirit
Someone who ventures with such sensitivity and intensity into the "spirit of the times", as many of the new spiritual movements do, must especially be solidly grounded in order to be able to carry out the necessary discernment of spirits. The strong openness to the outside and the call to put into effect the message of Jesus in everyday life can also lead to activism. A still greater danger might be to mix one's own desire for reform with the impulses of the spirit. Here becomes apparent the necessity of making the doctrine and practice of a "discernment of spirits" to be again at the focal point of ecclesiastical proclamation and of ecclesiastical life. This is particularly true in view of the mission entrusted to the laity in a world, increasingly complex and ambivalent to belief (cf. Statement of the German Bishops' Conference concerning the Lineamenta for the Bishops' Synod of 1987, 3.3; cf. also the opening lecture of Bishop Karl Lehmann at the general assembly in the fall of 1997 in Fulda "Wachtman, how much longer the night?", concerning the mission of the Church in view of offenses against order in society and state, chapter I).
In order to be able to positively contend with these and other dangers and difficulties, the new spiritual movements and communities remain dependent upon a climate of goodwill and encouragement within the Church, especially on the part of those who hold office.
6. Encouragement and Coordination of the Lay Apostolate Through the Papal Council for the Laity
The Papal Council for the Laity is part of the Roman Curia. With the Apostolic Constitution Regimini Ecclesiae Universae of August 15, 1967, Pope Paul VI has effectuated the reform of the Curia, desired by the Council, and complemented them with more subsequent reform processes. Despite the title "Council" and, as far as its task and objective are concerned, the Pontificium Consilium Pro Laicis could more easily be compared with a congregation.
Article 131 of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus concerning the Roman Curia states, "The Council is competent in those questions, which affect it from the Apostolic See for the furtherance and coordination of the lay apostolate and, in general, in those questions, which concern the Christian life of the laity" (AAS 880 (1988), 894). This description seems to go beyond the real possibilities of this dicastery; for the lay council, it certainly represents a lasting challenge and an incentive for new initiatives.
In the course of this lecture, we can only outline and deal with some of the focal tasks and initiatives of the Council of Laity; in doing so, we are mainly dealing with the period since 1990 (cp.with the following also "Laity Today", Information Service of the Papal Council for the Laity, 18 (1996).
The main task of the Papal Council for the Laity is to support the Pope in carrying out his pastoral service (cf. Pastor Bonus, Art. 1). During the past years, the Council for the Laity has been guided in this task particularly by the post-synod Apostolic Letter Christifideles Laici and the catecheses and addresses regarding the laity, which Pope John Paul II has held in Rome or on one of his apostolic journeys.
A further focal point are the relations of the Council for the Laity with the various dioceses of the Church and the Bishops' Conferences. For numerous bishops, the post-synod Apostolic Letter Christifedeles Laici was an aid and a directive in dealing with new questions and situations in accompanying the laity. During the past years, the Council for the Laity has recorded an increase in the delegations of bishops, who visited the dicastery for their ad-limina-visits. Also the bishops' personal visits to the Papal Council for the Laity have increased. The most frequent topics of conversation during these meetings were: the education of the laity; the relations of the church movements with the bishops and their inclusion into the life of the local church; the services and functions, which are not bound to ordination and can be transferred to the laity; the service of the laity in the world; the participation of women in the pastoral care of youth. The connection to the Bishops' Conferences is mainly being sustained by their commissions for the lay apostolate.
Another focal point of their duties is the accompaniment of the national Councils for the Laity. The Papal Council for the Laity has collected and evaluated very diverse experiences and has compiled a document in 1995 concerning the criteria of discernment and the constitution of the national Councils for the Laity. It was published under the title National Councils for the Laity: Criteria and Models in no. 38 of the publication "Laity Today". The dicastery thus wanted to encourage the formation of such councils on a national or regional level as a place of genuine community, of participation and collaboration among the different institutions of the laity.
In a new era of consolidation of the laity (cf. CL, 29), the task of the Papal Council for the Laity concentrated increasingly on examining the new forms of communities and the responsibility for their canonical recognition and their foundation (cf. For this Pastor Bonus, Art 135, AAS 80 (1988), 895). These recognitions are always preceded by a positive report of the Ordinaries of the dioceses in which the respective movements have their branch, and by consultations with Bishops and experts in canon law. The numerous applications of the new associations for canonical recognition or their foundation caused the Council for the Laity to define a "method of procedure" for applications and review; the Council for the Laity was particularly careful in examining the statutes and formulating the decrees necessary for the recognition of an association as a juridic person. In the field of canon law the primary concern was for the criteria of distinction for associations of public and private right, about membership of Christians of other confessions in Catholic lay associations, or about the canonical structure of lay associations whose members live radically according to the evangelical counsels.
As there is an increasing plurality of unions, the Papal Council for the Laity is frequently being asked for advice in the formation of lay organizations, that are connected with the spirituality, life and work of religious orders. Beside the renewal of some so-called third orders, numerous movements, brotherhoods and lay organizations have come into being that have been affiliated in various forms to a religious order and the charism of its respective founder. In the course of meetings and gatherings, the Council for the Laity has always emphasized the primary importance of the testimony of the religious order and the required lay identity of the organization it is connected with. Religious orders and lay assocations should not mingle their lifestyles, but maintain a heartfelt community and work together in their mission. For the clarification and promotion of mutual relations, the Papal Council for the Laity, in joint activity with the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the societies of apostolic life, organized a meeting of the Generals,the Mother Generals,and heads of lay associations already during the preparatory phase of the Bishops' Synod on Consecrated Life. The acts were published under the title: Branches of the One Vine in Documentation Service, no. 28 (1994).
The Papal Council for the Laity is in contact with more than 120 international lay associations. The fostering of mutual recognition, collaboration and community between the various associations remains a special challenge for the Church throughout the world in the coordination of the lay apostolate. In this respect the collaboration with the Catholic youth organizations, youth movements and youth groups also plays an important role. In recent years, a large amount of the work of the Council for the Laity has concentrated on the preparation, organization and realization of the international youth forums and the World Youth Days, affiliated with them: Tschenstochau (August 1991), Denver (August 11993) and Manila (January 1995). After that came the important European youth meeting in Loreto (September 1995) and the realization of the World Youth Days in Paris (August 1997). These events have contributed decisively to the revival of the pastoral care of the youth on a local and world-wide level. In addition, the fact that members of movements and associations meet with a multitude of youths from various parts of the Churchhas created an increasing missionary solidarity. At the same time, one has to critically inquire to what extent these mass meetings can be carried over into the everyday communal life of the Church. (cp. also K Nientiedt, "A New Generation. The 12th World Youth Days in Paris, in Herderkorrespondenz 10/1997, 500-505).
At present, the Papal Council for the Laity is preparing a world meeting of the movements in the Church to take place in Rome from May 26th to 29th, 1998. This meeting is to be a place of encounter, of friendship and prayer; it is meant to serve an intensive theological deepening of the reality of the movements and it is to be a Church event that stimulates the collaboration of the movements in their work of the new evangelization (cf. "Laity Today", Information Service of the Papal Council for the Laity 20 (1997), pp. 5 - 6).
7. Final Comment: Spiritual Renewal as a Lasting Mission of all Christians
The different spiritual awakenings and renewal movements are also today largely a wholesome disturbance of the traditional order. However, in practice it is difficult for the institutional authorities to completely absorb and integrate the spiritual impulses. Therefore, it is legitimate and necessary that these different aspects of intensive Christian life be able develop within the Church but, by all means, not in already existing structures.
The Holy Spirit, who guarantees the unique solidarity of the Church with her Lord, grants unity and multiplicity at the same time. He guarantees much more freedom of spiritual effects, of ways of life and also of knowledge than we would allow ourselves. But, in the end, this multiplicity serves a new form of unity. This does not consist in the abolition of plurality, but rather in its free collaboration toward a whole, as St. Paul expressed in his First Letter to the Corinthians. For this collaboration, it is decisive that spiritual renewal is consciously done and credibly practiced as an enduring mission of all Christians (on this cp. CL, 18 ff., especially No. 24, the remarks concerning charisms).
Today's treatise was able to present only briefly and in extracts the new spiritual communities and their importance for the work of the Church of today. I hope that this presentation was able to clarify that, inspite of their different histories of origin, outward appearances and spheres of activities, the objectives of the new spiritual movements are to a large extent coming to a profound convergence: the responsible participation in the mission of the Church, to proclaim the gospel of Christ as the source of hope for mankind and renewal for society (cf. CL, 29).
With the Apostolic Letter Tertio Millenio Adveniente, Pope John Paul II has invited all Christians to prepare themselves for the Great Jubilee Year 2000. The year 1998, the second year of the preparatory phase, is dedicated in a special way to the Holy Spirit. For Pope John Paul the Holy Spirit is also the principle force of the new evangelization for our times. Therefore, the rediscovery of the presence and effectiveness of the Holy Spirit is one of the most important aspects in preparing for the Great Jubilee Year 2000 (cf. TM, 45).
For this mission, which concerns all of God's people, I would like to conclude with a word by Karl Rahner, which I like to consider as his "spiritual legacy". In his essay The Church as the Place of the Sending of the Spirit", Rahner says:
Only the one, who is religious and independent,
humble and daring,
obedient and aware of his obligation,
prays and is a doer,
who is linked to the past and future of the Church,
only that person creates the room
so that God's descending Spirit of Pentecost
- the eternally old and eternally young - can act within him,
renew the face of his own soul,
and use Him in order to also change the earth."
(Essays on Theology, Volume VII, 187, Einsiedeln/Zürich/Köln, 2nd Edition 1971; First published in Spirit and Life, 29 (1956), 97).
IS MEDJUGORJE A SPIRITUAL MOVEMENT IN THE CHURCH?
'Medjugorje' means more than just the town in Hercegovina, that carries this name. It stands for the movement that this name has triggered ever since several youths testified that on the 24th of June 1981 the Gospa, the Mother of God, the Mother of Jesus, appeared to them and is still appearing to them today. The most important aspects of this movement can be described as follows: First, it is a MOVEMENT OF PILGRIMAGE. To this day, many millions have come to this place of pilgrimage from all parts of the world. Further, Medjugorje represents a MOVEMENT OF PEACE, that emanates from within. There, people experience the gift of peace in their hearts and are ready to pass it on to others, where they live: in their marriage and family, in their neighborhood and their community, their working place and in politics. They are being motivated not only by their own experience of reconciliation and peace but also by the name, with which the Gospa introduced Herself to the visionaries: I am the Queen of Peace. Third, one can call Medjugorje a MOVEMENT OF RENEWAL, which permanently renews the spiritual life of individuals, groups and communities. A great number of people have had deep spiritual experiences: physical and spiritual healing, conversions, renewal of prayer and faith, impulses for fasting, liberation from addictions. The most obvious sign of these renewals are the prayer groups, which have been founded by the pilgrims in their communities upon their return from Medjugorje. There they meet regularly, usually once a week, for prayer and adoration, to pray the rosary, to read the Sacred Scripture and to discuss the gospel and Christian life. And finally, Medjugorje has become the symbol for a MOVEMENT OF HUMANITARIAN AID, which in itself is unique. This was particularly evident when the Balkan war began and extended into Bosnia-Hercegovina. Millions of pilgrims, who had received spiritual gifts in Medjugorje, were now showing their gratitude by helping materially: with food, clothing, medicines and other goods, with money and by sponsoring orphans and war victims. This short outline shows what is meant when one talks about Medjugorje as being a movement. It should also be mentioned that this movement is being fed with the messages, which the Gospa has given to Marija Pavlović from March 1, 1984 to January 8, 1987, on a weekly basis, and since then on the 25th of each month. These messages consist generally only of several sentences and are impulses to make the five original basic messages more concrete: faith and conversion, prayer and fasting, as well as peace.
There are two questions, with which we are going to be dealing with and they are: Is this movement, which comes from Medjugorje, a spiritual movement? Is it within the Church? In order to understand these questions, it is necessary to further point out several things.
Looking at the above-mentioned outline of the Medjugorje movement one could say: it is obvious that this is a spiritual movement- since to go on pilgrimage, to fast, to serve peace and to help the needy - all this speaks for itself. Still, this is not enough to be able to decide if a movement deserves to be called 'spiritual'. Because 'spiritual' in the exact sense of the word means that God's holy Spirit is the main motivating power of a movement. But one cannot assume this beyond question. Some people go on pilgrimage to places, where there is more superstition than faith. One can also pray and fast like the pharisees, without being moved by the spirit of God. Peace initiatives also exist among people, who are just plainly fed up with war. And one also finds charity among philanthropists, who do not always believe in God. The second question - is Medjugorje a movement within the Church? - is similar. At first glance, also here everything speaks for it: the liturgy is being celebrated, according to the guidelines of the church renewal, the sacraments are being given, according to regulations, the homilies are inspired by the Sacred Scriptures and the faith of the Church. During the past years more than 20 million faithful Catholics, thousands of priests and more than 200 bishops have visited Medjugorje and commented on it approvingly. Some have come with the express blessing of the Pope. Although now and then the suspicion is brought up that Medjugorje could be sectarian. The Bishop of Mostar accuses the Franciscans, who are connected with Medjugorje, of manipulation and disobedience. Up to the present, there has been no approval by the Church of the authenticity of the apparitions and the messages. The official declarations almost seem to maintain the contrary. So Cardinal Kuharić said in an interview on September 14, 1996, "The Bishops' Conference still adheres to the verdict it has made about Medjugorje before the war. Based on the three-year investigations, one came to the conclusion that no supernatural apparitions are taking place in Medjugorje."
These few remarks should suffice to underscore the seriousness and importance of our two questions, regarding the spirituality of Medjugorje and whether or not it is a movement within the Church.
I. IS MEDJUGORJE A SPIRITUAL MOVEMENT?
In order to find a well-founded answer, we have to go back to the beginning. Without any doubt, the Medjugorje Movement began on June 24, 1981, when several youngsters had the first apparition of Our Lady on Podbrdo, a hill next to Crnica, which was followed by more apparitions the following days at the same place. During the second apparition, on June 25th, the first speaking contact was made between the apparition and the group of six visionaries: Vicka Ivanković (16), Mirjana Dragicević (16), Marija Pavlović (16), Ivanka Ivanković (15), Ivan Dragicević (16) and Jakov Colo (10). The news about the apparitions spread like a fire, causing the coming of masses of people and thus brought the local church authorities and the then still communist authorities into the picture.
In order to prove if this origin of the Medjugorje Movement is spiritual - that is, brought about by the Spirit of God - one must investigate if there are any natural explanations for this phenomenon. Should this not be the case, one must investigate if the positive aspects that the Church considers decisive in the teaching on discernment of spirits can be proven.
Natural explanations for the phenomenon of apparitions and messages of this type include mainly: mental illnesses, imagination through suggestion, hallucination through drugs and, finally, manipulation. All these possibilities have been taken into consideration and have been thoroughly discussed. I recall Father Jozo Zovko, who had only returned on June 27th from a retreat, and Father Zrinko Cuvalo first thought that drug consumption could be involved. Immediately upon his return, Father Jozo began to question the youths individually. There are tape recordings of this. The suspicion, that the youths had taken drugs, proved untenable. Instead, Father Jozo thought it could be a communist manipulation in order to harm and ridicule him. On the same day, the visionaries were taken to Citluk by officials of the MUP (Ministry of Internal Affairs) and were interrogated and examined medically. The result: the youngsters are healthy and no traces of drugs are to be found. I also recall the examination made by a team of French doctors from Montpellier during an apparition. Here too there were no indications of physical or mental illnesses. Instead, the doctors found signs of true ecstasies, during which the visionaries are unaffected by sense-impressions and are completely engrossed "in another world". Finally, I would like to recall the thorough medical examination made by various specialists, which had been requested by the Commission of Inquiry of the Church. Also here no indications suggesting any illnesses were found. All these examinations were documented and published. Also manipulation - that is fraud and lies - can be excluded as the source for the Medjugorje Movement. The youngsters had not played a trick. Also neither did the Communists manipulate the youngsters in order to ridicule Father Jozo nor did the Franciscans manipulate, in order, let us say, to "pull heaven on their side" in their conflict with the Bishop of Mostar. Regarding the continuation of the apparitions and messages, we will, of course, have to deal with this subject specifically because it had been raised by a prominent person, Bishop Pavao Zanić, and has so far not been taken back by his successor, Bishop Ratko Perić. I will come back to this point in Part II, when we talk about Medjugorje's position in the Church. First, let us ask ourselves if the positive aspects, which the Church requires in its teaching on discernment of spirits and authentic prophetic apparitions can be proven.
According to the word of Jesus in Mt 7,20, true and false prophets can be recognized by their fruits. The same criterion plays an important role in the judgement of apparitions and messages. Regarding this, I myself, vividly recall a statement by Cardinal Kuharić from 1983. At that time, I had the opportunity to ask him in a private audience about his opinion on Medjugorje. Without hesitation, he answered, "If I use the biblical criterion of the fruits, then Medjugorje is authentic". The Archbishop of Split, Dr. Frane Franić, also once said similarly, "The spiritual renewal that is coming from Medjugorje has done more in three years than what we have been able to accomplish within the last 40 years in our pastoral service". These opinions have been confirmed and strengthened by developments in the ensuing years. Medjugorje carries fruits into the entire world. There are numerous spiritual vocations because of Medjugorje, 14 of which have been published in the book, Thank You Mary, by Jörg Müller. New religious communities, like the "Oasis of Peace" and "Kraljica Mira", have been founded in Medjugorje. Other communities have received and are receiving spiritual impulses in Medjugorje for their life and their work. One of them is the therapeutic community "Cenacolo" of Sister Elvira, where former drug and alcohol addicts are being healed. Another community is the "Beatitudes". Many other religious communities, older as well as younger ones, have inquired at the parish office in Medjugorje if they could acquire a piece of land there to start a branch of their community. This is very interesting and important for our question at hand, because religious communities are particularly sensitive in matters concerning spirituality. Aside from innumerable conversions, there exist hundreds of testimonies regarding inexplicable healings. Charisms have blossomed in the parish of Medjugorje. Prayer groups have been formed there, which meet regularly. The number of worshipers, taking part in holy mass on Sundays and weekdays, is far above the average of other Catholic communities. The pilgrims always praise the hospitality of the local people. Many parishioners unobtrusively give testimony of their faith. This is particularly true of the life and testimony of the visionaries. Already during my visit in 1983 I asked myself how they can cope with the steady stream of pilgrims, who often intrude into their private sphere. Since then they have been at the center of public attention for more than 16 years, they are being invited to faraway countries, giving account - and have still remained simple and natural. They are not interested in using their prominence and service for material gains. Rather, they consider themselves witnesses of the Gospa, according to whose messages they are trying to live.
Which brings us to the messages! In addition to the approximately 150 messages of each Thursday, there are now for more than 11 years also the monthly messages - that is almost the same in numbers. These nearly 300 messages are being spread all over the world in many different languages. In judging the messages, it is important for the Church if they concur with the Sacred Scriptures and with the teachings of the Church. Furthermore, the way the faithful live these messages and their spiritual experiences with them are the determining instance for the spiritual character of the messages. A dissertation at the University of Vienna came up with a very interesting result. According to the pastoral theologian, Paul Zulehner, the messages are completely in line with biblical tradition. I am convinced that the testimonies of the faithful, as well as a thorough theological examination, will come to the same conclusion - that is, that the messages are an authentic prophesy. In other words: they are of spiritual origin and of the Church. With this, I mean that adherence to the messages does not lead away from the Church but rather leads more deeply into it.
It would go beyond the scope of this talk to state all the reasons for this conviction. Instead, I would like to point out an observation, which you can verify yourselves: the messages of the Gospa do not make any comments on anything that is happening within the realm of politics or the Church. There are no messages, concerning the Gulf War or the war in the Balkans, which said that one side or the other was right or wrong. There exists no message, in which movements or groups within the Church are being judged, condemned or favored. The Gospa does not favor any position regarding Holy Communion on the tongue or in the hand. Also in the official messages, we find no comment on the conflict between the Franciscans of Hercegovina and the Bishops of Mostar, which has been going on for centuries. I will come back to the few private messages in regard to this subject in Part II. Many faithful, who believe in the messages of Our Lady in Medjugorje, have wondered about this lack of reference to current events in the messages. And some believe that Our Lady should make a clear statement at least once on such a topic. I, myself, believe this abstinence to be a clear sign of authenticity! I believe that this shows the Gospa's respect for secular and Church authorities, appointed by God. For example, would She comment on and take sides between competing Church groups, one could easily suspect that the messages were being influenced by an interested party. But Our Lady has introduced Herself as the Queen of Peace and Her concern is reconciliation. This is why the central biblical themes of prayer, faith, conversation and fasting suffice. In contrast to taking sides and making accusations, they serve rather as a way to peace and reconciliation with God and mankind. But most of all, I consider this reservedness of the Gospa to be respect for the dignity and freedom of men, which, for example, is expressed in the message of November 25, 1987: " ... Dear children, you know that I love you immeasurably and that I desire each of you for myself, but God has given to all a freedom, which I lovingly respect and humbly submit to.... " I have not yet found a psychologist, who could explain to me how such a word can be said by a young woman, who was brought up in the traditional conception of Marian devotion: Our Lady bows humbly before our freedom and respects it in love, even if it closes itself to Her invitations. For me, it is clear: these words only She, Herself, can say! I summarize from what we have said so far: The Medjugorje movement is, in its origin and development up to the present, a spiritual movement. It is more than a creation of man. It comes from heaven. Its decisive impulse is the spiritual work of God, who lets the Mother of Jesus appear and speak to the world as the Queen of Peace.
II. IS MEDJUGORJE A MOVEMENT WITHIN THE CHURCH?
We have ascertained that the Medjugorje Movement is of spiritual origin. From this one can deduce that it then must also be ecclesiastical in its origin. It is indeed the Holy Spirit, through whom our human actions become spiritual, who is the soul, the innermost principle of the life of the Church. The central manifestation of life of the Church is the celebration of the sacraments. This is particularly true of Medjugorje. There the celebration of the Holy Eucharist is the absolute center of life for the community, as well as for the pilgrims. As far as confession is concerned, Medjugorje is rightly called the greatest confessional of the world. The parishioners, the visionaries, the Franciscans are baptized and faithful Catholics, they belong to the Church, they are the Church. That is why also the movement, which they have started, is a movement within the Church. Prof. Zulehner, the Viennese pastoral theologian I mentioned previously, visited Medjugorje 10 years ago, together with 40 students of theology. He summarized his impressions as follows, "For me, Medjugorje is something like a novitiate for the Church. It is a place, where basic church observances are being practiced." - But the Church has two aspects. She is the hierarchically-arranged official Church, and She is the 'laos', God's people, the laity. These have their special charisms, they are animated by the Holy Spirit, "...the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes" (1 Cor 12,11). The apostle Paul says the same, "...you are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (Eph 2,20). The hierarchy of the Church is absolutely necessary (that is, the deacons, priests, bishops and the Pope, as Bishop of Rome), but also the prophets (that is, men, women but also children, who are filled with the Holy Spirit). In the Acts of the Apostles, we read, "...your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men will see visions" (2,17b). It should be the rule that persons, holding an office, and the charismatics, priests and prophets, the official Church and the Church of the people should work together peacefully. But, unfortunately, this is not always the case. Often, there is tension and conflict among them. And so one side or the other can go wrong. The history of the Church gives us enough examples of this. If she is not speaking infallibly at the highest level of authority, the official Church can err and close itself to true prophets and prophesies. So the official Church has, for example, burned Joan of Arc as a heretic, before she realized that she was a saint and acting on behalf of God. The history of many orders and spiritual communities in the Church shows that their spiritually motivated founders were often confronted with stern opposition and resistance from the official Church before they were finally recognized. In the interaction between the official and the charismatic Church, between persons holding an office and prophets, God has given both sides special gifts and duties. The prophets, who feel themselves called upon and motivated directly by the spirit of God, must stand to their mission and, if necessary, obey God more than the officials of the Church, when the latter forbid them to talk. This can actually be compared with the apostles before the Sanhedrin (see Acts 4, 18-20). For example, how many difficulties and hostilities did Bernadette Soubirous have to endure from representatives of the Church before her mission was finally recognized after many years of accusations. How much lack of understanding and mistrust did the children of Fatima have to endure, before the Church decided to recognize their apparitions and messages as being authentic. On the other hand, it is the duty of the official Church to examine prophets and prophesies as to whether they come from God; since there also exist false prophets and false prophesies.
As far as the Medjugorje Movement is concerned, we are dealing precisely with this classical conflict within the Church. The visionaries know that they are in the service of God and bear witness of their spiritual experiences, their meetings with the Gospa. The official clergy of Medjugorje has examined them and have come to the conclusion: We are dealing with authentic apparitions and messages, which are brought about by the Spirit of God. So, in Medjugore, itself, the apostolic office (the priests and clergy of the community and the prophetic charism (the visionaries) are unanimous. The opposition takes place on a higher official level: between the community of Medjugorje and the by now world-wide Medjugorje Movement, on the one hand, and the Bishop of Mostar and most of his colleagues in the Bishops' Conference, on the other hand. The conflict becomes very clear in the interview of Franjo Cardinal Kuharić, already mentioned earlier, in which he states: "The Bishops' Conference still adheres to the verdict it has made about Medjugorje before the war. Based on the three-year investigations, one came to the conclusion that no supernatural apparitions are taking place in Medjugorje."
Let us take a closer look at this remarkable statement. In the year 1996 the Bishops' Conference adheres to the decision, it had made in the statement in Zadar on April 10, 1991. At that time, this decision was based on the examinations that the Commission, which had been appointed in 1986, made during three years - that is, roughly from 1987 to 1990. So one indirectly admits that the first six years, as well as the last six years since 1991, when no examinations were made due to the war, were not taken into account. But during these twelve years the phenomenon of Medjugore was very much alive! During the years of the war, there was an almost unbelievable resonance of active help from all over the world for the plight in Bosnia-Hercegovina from pilgrims and groups, who had been motivated by Medjugorje. Inspite of the war, which spread to the outskirts of Medjugorje, the town of the apparitions was not damaged and remained an oasis of peace. Can one disregard all this? In this atmosphere of war, whichwas highly emotionalized with hate and animosity, words were coming out of Medjugorje like those uttered by Vicka, "We must also love the Serbs, our enemies!" Is there a purely natural explanation for all this? Those, who know a little about the numerous efforts to get to the bottom of the Medjugorje phenomenon, are - to put it mildly - surprised at how carelessly the Bishops' Conference reached its decision that no supernatural apparitions are taking place in Medjugorje. What about the fact that, according to all medical findings, the visionaries are psychically healthy and normal? What about the fact that, according scientific examinations by Prof. Joyeux, the young visionaries were in true ecstasy during their visions, which cannot be simulated or induced artificially? What about the many hundreds of healings, which - according to medical experts - cannot be explained from a medical point of view? We won't even mention the inumerable conversions and spiritual experiences, which have made faithful Christians out of unbelievers and people, who had been far away from the church.
But one does not want to accuse the Bishops' Conference of acting irresponsibly. But how can one understand the lack of thoroughness in their examinations? I, myself, only have the following explanation for this: Obviously, the Bishop of Mostar knew how to convey his personal interpretation of the Medjugorje phenomenon to most of his colleagues in such a manner that they subscribed to his assessment or refrained from making their own judgment. This could have been all the easier for them when he mixed the Medjugorje phenomenon with the "Case of Hercegovina", in which the Bishops are taking sides against the Franciscans. But, if the Medjugorje phenomenon is clear, as Bishop Zanić said in his statement about the events of Medjugorje on October 30, 1984, and once more later in a statement from February 9, 1990 (inspite of an injunction from Rome to restrain himself!) - what is then left to examine? Then one also does not need to consider the millions of pilgrims, who come to Medjugorje. Then one can dismiss their experiences, conversions and healings, saying that all this also happens elsewhere. Then one can disregard the faith of the believers, which Pope Pius XII. valued so highly that he put into effect the definition of the dogma of the bodily Assumption of Our Lady into heaven only after he had consulted all the bishops of the entire Church to find out what the faithful of their respective dioceses thought about it. When the Medjugorje phenomenon will have been sufficiently explained, there will really be no need for further investigations. Then a bishop can answer a question of a journalist - as, in fact, it has happened, as follows: "I am not interested in what 12 million pilgrims believe. For me it is decisive what 20 Croatian bishops say."
When we deal here with the question as to whether Medjugorje is a movement within the Church, we have no choice but to take a closer look and further analyse the opinion of bishop Pavao Zanić; all the more as this opinion has evidently been adopted by his successor, Ratko Perić and is also being shared or nevertheless tolerated by other Croatian bishops. The bishop of Mostar is convinced that Medjugorje is not an ecclesiastical movement but a movement against the Church. Therefore, he pretends that, with his statements, he is trying to protect the Church from being harmed. In the conclusion of his statement of October 30, 1984, he writes that within him had ripened "the moral certainty that the events in Medjugorje are a case of collective hallucination"; that this matter was then being exploited cleverly by a group of Franciscans. Regarding the question of the transfer of parishes ("The Hercegovina Case") - it was their goal to prove that truth and justice were on their side and that the bishop was wrong. The main culprit he sees in Fr. Tomislav Vlasić. In his last statement of February 9, 1990, he says, "Vicka Ivanković is the 'main visionary' of the first years and through her the creator of Medjugorje, Fr. Tomislav Vlasić, started the major part of the lie about Medjugorje." Also Marija Pavlović is for him "only a toy in the hands of Vlasić" and finally the bishop claims, "So Fr. Vlasić has manipulated all the visionaries". But at the beginning Bishop Zanić had also believed in the apparitions. He had stated publicly, "the children are not lying". In his statement in 1984 he admits that he, for his part, had thought, "If the scandalous "Hercegovina-Case" .... could not have been solved with human means then maybe God wanted to send us Our Lady to bring the disobedient back to obey and love the Church". But what then brought about this change of mind in him? Here the case of the two Franciscans Ivica Vego and Ivan Prusina plays an important role. Both chaplains were suspended by Bishop Zanić because of disobedience and, as a result of his pressure, they were expelled from the Order. In this matter, the Gospa supposedly said that the bishop had acted too hastily, that both were innocent. From there on, it seems, the bishop turned into a radical opponent of Medjugorje. In the statement of 1984, he writes, "The attacks of Our Lady against the bishop and the defence of the ex-Franciscans of Mostar were the strongest proofs against the authenticity of the apparitions". Thus, in short, his train of thought is: A mother of God, who criticizes a bishop, cannot be the Mother of God! To this, I want to make two comments. From the history of the Church we know enough examples when prophets criticized high and the highest officials of the Church. For example, what the saintly prophetic women, Birgitta of Sweden and Catherine of Siena, told Pope Gregory XI. on behalf of God in order to induce him to leave Avignon and return to Rome, by far surpasses any criticism and admonition that Bishop Zanić got to hear. But one should note that these messages were handled very discretely, as personal messages by the Franciscans and the visionaries and were never published. Bishop Zanić did this himself. Probably because he thought that this was the strongest proof against the authenticity of the apparitions. Everyone can judge for himself how effective this argument is. The second comment: In the case of the two Franciscans Vega and Prusina, Rome's judgement is quite interesting: They were treated unjustly and were expelled without the necessary procedure. Doesn't this almost sound like what the Gospa supposedly had said, that the bishop had acted too hurriedly?
By condemning the Medjugorje Movement, the Bishop of Mostar believes to be protecting the Church. As far as he is concerned, the movement is an anti-Church movement. He writes, "The greatest danger is in the fact that this entire emotional excitement around Medjugorje will disintegrate sooner or later like a balloon or a soap-bubble". And this would lead to great disillusionment and the authority of the Church would be discredited. - However, until now the Medjugorje-balloon has not burst. It is getting larger and larger, the Medjugorje Movement brings spiritual fruits to the entire world and is not harming the Church, but is a blessing for it.
The question we posed at the beginning of this analysis - is Medjugorje a spiritual movement within the Church? - we can now, based on sound arguments, answer with an exclamation mark: MEDJUGORJE IS A SPIRITUAL MOVEMENT WITHIN THE CHURCH!
III. WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE URGENTLY!
A classical principle of Catholic social doctrine is the principle of subsidiarity. It implies that tasks and conflicts should first be solved at the lower level. As soon as it is obvious that the lower level is unable to solve the problem, the next higher level must come to its assistance. This happened in the case of Medjugorje. When it became obvious that the episcopal investigating commission of Mostar was not able to do its job, Rome ordered the Yugoslavian Bishops' Conference to take on this case. In the meantime it became more than obvious that also the Bishops' Conference is not able to handle the case. One only needs to look at the revealing comment Cardinal Kuharić made in the interview in 1996 mentioned above, "the Bishops' Conference still adheres to the judgment it had made about Medjugorje before the war". This sounds as if one possibly wanted to revise this verdict. But how? How, if the investigating commission does not do serious work. Whether the commission is not able to work or whether it does not want to: in this urgent case, which concerns the entire Church, according to the principle of subsidiarity, the next and highest instance must now become active. Now the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Pope are in demand. A neutral, independent commission, consisting of theologians and experts, must be formed and everything needs to be openly dealt with and examined. The commission should work according to the principle of audiatur et altera pars! Both sides must be heard and both sides must be taken seriously. The representatives and supporters of Medjugorje, as well as its opponents.
An interesting event, which already took place in 1983, shows how important the summoning of the last and highest instance of the Church is. The Slovenian Jesuit, R. Grafenauer, wanted to form his own opinion about Medjugorje. He went to visit Bishop Zanić in Mostar, remained there for three days, talked to him and listened to 20 tapes, which the Bishop had taped, among them interviews he had had with the visionaries. Thereafter, for him, the Medjugorje-case was settled. The material seemed to prove to him that the events of Medjugorje could not be authentic. But, the bishop urged him to go to Medjugorje. And, after having done so and after having met and talked with the visionaries, the community and also Father Tomislav Vlasić, the priest changed his mind completely and became convinced that the apparitions were authentic. This example shows very clearly that both sides have very strong arguments. I, myself, must admit that I would never have been interested in Medjugorje had I only known the documents of Bishop Zanić. There, statements of the Gospa are being cited, which are very questionable. There are contradictions and absurdities in the statements of the visionaries, which are not easily solved. There is, for example, the question as to whether or not Vicka Ivanković had written a diary. Despite this and other problems, I concur with the opinion of theologians, such as Rene Laurentin and Hans Urs von Balthasar, that they are not important when being compared with the signs of authenticity. Very helpful and clarifying in this regard is the book The Truth about Medjugorje, by Fr. Ljudevit Rupèić. It is an answer to the bishop's statement from 1990. As far as specific words of the Gospa and as they were relayed by the visionaries are concerned, one should read what the responsible priests of Medjugorje have written about this; this was published in 1986 and shows high theological competence. It points out possible sources of error and cautions from bringing leading questions into the process of the apparitions. Finally, in judging the apparitions and messages, one should also consider what Karl Rahner described in his book Visions and Prophesies (Tyrolia, Innsbruck 1952). Particularly interesting are the distinctions he makes between mystical visions, which are meant for individuals, and prophetic visions, which are important for the Church and the world; for the latter, he questions the term "private revelations". Also interesting is what he says about the involvement of the psyche when the visions and auditions are being reproduced in pictures and words.
The case of Grafenauer shows that there is little chance for success when opponents and supporters of Medjugorje sit down together at a table, in order to solve the case. Every side has its arguments and has made its options. Each side is convinced to have the truth on its side. That is one more reason why the higher ecclesiastical instance should get involved in the case of Medjugorje.
In the language of Roman theology, there are three classical formulations for judging apparitions and messages: 1. Constat den non supernaturalitate 2. Constat de supernaturalitate and 3. Non constat de supernaturalitate. Admittedly, it is difficult for lay men to correctly interpret the third formula. As a matter of fact, the verdict "non constat de supernaturalitate" was reproduced in the headlines of the press, as follows: Nothing supernatural in Medjugorje! Whereby this verdict of Zadar actually leaves the case of Medjugorje open: It is not certain if the events of Medjugorje have a supernatural character. One can understand that the journalists can err like this in their hectic daily work; especially, when the press releases of the Bishop of Mostar misinterpret the statements of Zadar in such a way. However, it is surprising, that even a Cardinal can make such a mistake, as it is documented in the Viennese newspaper MEDJUGORJE in an interview from September 14, 1996. Does this possibly show a negative prejudice?
Coming back once more to the topic we are dealing with. Bishop Pavao Zanić believes that the Franciscans have mingled the "Hercegovina-case" with the Medjugorje phenomena. Father Tomislav Vlasić, on the other hand, declares that he has always tried not to burden the apparitions of Medjugorje with the "Hercegovina-case". I ask myself if it were not possible that, with Her call for conversion and reconciliation, the Queen of Peace also has the "Hercegovina-case" in mind? After Marija Pavlović had seen the Gospa 26th of June 1981, standing beneath the cross crying and saying, "Peace, peace, you must search for peace!" - many asked themselves: What does She mean? We have peace! Yes, there was no war. But there was no peace in the Church of Hercegovina. There was and still exists today the "Hercegovina-case". And this is a heavy burden for the Church and hinders its peace efforts throughout the world more than one would believe at first glance. The Gospa did not mention this specifically. She said to Marija Pavlović at that time, "There must be peace again in the world". But in this the Church plays an important role! She is, according to a statement of the Second Vaticanum, "So to speak the Sacrament, the sign and instrument for the most intimate union with God, as well as the unity of all mankind". But the Church cannot be this instrument for reconciliation and peace in the hand of God when she is torn within herself and she, herself, has no unity and peace within. That is why, according to the words of Pope John Paul II in his apostolic letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente for the year 2000, the highest priority is that all Christians be reunited. Only a united Christendom can evangelize the world so that it can believe in Christ (John 17,21: ... so that they may all be one .....that the world may believe that you sent me ...). With the same urgency the Pope asks for a collaboration of the main religions of the world, which have so often fought among each other and have been a counterwitness to peace for the world. But the question is: how can the Church do all this, if she is not united within herself? From this point of view, we understand when the Gospa said later in a private message, which Vicka relayed to us, that the conflict in Hercegovina is a great shame. There surely also exist other conflicts in the Church, which also have to be resolved, as they obscure the credibility of its efforts for peace and reconciliation. But the "Hercegovina-case", right on the border to with Orthodoxy and Islam, is surely particularly serious. Therefore, should the Queen of Peace also and finally not want this conflict resolved? Then Her intitiative would be exactly on line with the Pope: from a Church united in itself and the reunion of all Christians to a new evangelization, from an understanding of the great religions of the world to peace among all nations, to peace on earth. Once more the Gospa, "There must be peace again on earth". If the peace movement of Medjugorje synchronizes in such a way with the orientation of the pontificate of John Paul II, it is a further proof that this movement is spiritual and within the Church. And it is a further reason for the Church to deal with it on its highest level.
What needs to be done? Until now, we have mainly talked about what Rome should do. A final word as to what we and all others, who are committed to the Medjugorje movement, can do. One thing we can do is that each one of us tries as best as he can to live the messages, which the Queen of Peace gives us so patiently and tirelessly. Another thing we can do is to take care that the original message is not being falsified or obscured in the Medjugorje centers and prayer groups. Medjugorje is not just any pious prayer movement. The program of Medjugorje is not simply that of any popular mission, as it is from time to time presented to our communities. It is good to pray, to fast, to go to holy mass, to go to confession regularly, to read Sacred Scriptures. But, if we do not understand that, despite all personal piety, we are dealing here with total peace and conversion, then we have not yet correctly understood the essence of the Medjugorje message. Certainly, it always also has to do with "saving your soul". However, the essence of Medjugorje is the biblical message: God wants the unity of his people, peace on earth and the salvation of the world.
MEDJUGORJE AND THE NEW EVANGELIZATION
1. The context of Medjugorje in the Church and in time
Medjugorje, in other words, that which is understood when the name of that small parish in Hercegovina is mentioned today, has already for seventeen-years a long and stormy, but above all, an unpredictable history. Because who seventeen years ago could have anticipated that the claim of the children to have seen Our Lady would reach to the furthermost parts of the world, and that the parish of Medjugorje would grow into one of the most distinctive shrines and develop such a dynamic spiritual movement before which no one can any longer remain indifferent. The experience of the group of children on Podbrdo hill in Bijakovici, accompanied by numerous messages and their tireless witnessing, has long ago outgrown both them and the parish, as well as the local Church and has become a spiritual phenomenon of world wide proportions. The children have long ago grown up. Most of them today are family people. And the small parish has become the meeting place of millions of pilgrims from the whole world. Among them are many who witness to having again found in Medjugorje a lost faith or to have quickened an already dormant faith. So many have again discovered the value of the sacrament of reconciliation, the depth and beauty of a live celebration of the Eucharist, and hearing of the word of God. Others again testify to physical healings for which medicine has no explanation. Inspired and animated by the Medjugorje events, numerous prayer groups as well as even completely new religious communities have originated in the parish itself and elsewhere. Meanwhile, many young men, who claim to have received the seed of their vocation precisely in Medjugorje, have found their way into the priesthood.
If we take all of this as the good fruits of Medjugorje, then the word of the wise Gamaliel that a work of God cannot be destroyed (cf. Acts 5:39) has already been fulfilled here. The fact is that both the visionaries and their parents, as well as the parish with its priests, have from the very beginning been exposed to pressures and threats by the authorities who wanted to extinguish everything, but they, even at the price of persecution, did not yield. In the beginning the bishop was well disposed to the events only later on incomprehensibly to turn against them. Pressured by public opinion rather than by the real will to authenticate which spirit is operating in Medjugorje, the Bishops' Conference attempted to be even-handed by accepting Medjugorje as a shrine, while at the same time emphasizing that it is necessary to continue studying the phenomenon still further. Such a position of the bishops is logical only on the presupposition that at the current stage of events and investigations they are still not able to render either a positive judgment or much less so a negative judgment because if they had real reasons, they would have at least had to render a negative judgment immediately. Confusion was later on introduced by statements of individual members of the Bishops' Conference which might have been understood in the sense that there is nothing at all supernatural in Medjugorje. That had as a consequence that Christian lay people in great numbers have been attracted to Medjugorje, but not also the hierarchy. And so the question of recognition by the official Church has been continuously brought up by the media. It should be said that this question is most often asked by those who know nothing at all about the nature of such phenomena, nor how the Church should relate to them. For the present time this is the ecclesiastical context in which the Medjugorje events are unfolding.
In order to comprehend the significance and far reaching quality of these events, the context of the time in which these events are unfolding is equally important. When the apparitions started, the end of an almost century long dictatorship of atheistic communism was on the horizon and it did soon happen. That presented one of the greatest spiritual challenges to mankind today, not only because of the collapse of the illusion of a happy classless society and the equality of all people, but still more so due to the condition of mind and spirit of hundreds of millions of people who were for generations brought up without God and without true spiritual values. On the other hand, the part of mankind that was beyond the range of communism had in the second half of this century been overtaken by a never before seen wave of hedonism which in a flood of drugs and pan-sexualism, free of taboos and boundaries, brings deadly fruits for the whole of mankind, even endangering its further survival. That is the context in time in which the Medjugorje apparitions are unfolding. These are warning signs. And Jesus already warned his contemporaries how important it is to recognize the signs of the time (cf Mt 16:3). That, to be sure, the Church of our times is also on principle doing at the highest level, in the Second Vatican Council (Gaudium et Spes, no. 4), but it seems that there are not enough people in the Church to take these warnings seriously. But people keen of spirit have in Medjugorje recognized God's response to the needs and anxieties of our times. That is valid also for the numerous theologians, priests and bishops who, having recognized here the work of God, were not afraid also to openly give witness to that, some even with very solid studies and books.
Consequently, we must not look at Medjugorje as some isolated island to which we will retreat escaping from the world in which one can no longer hold out, looking for a substitute for the Church which is failing to orientate itself to a world the way it today is at the end of the twentieth century. On the contrary, Medjugorje is happening in the midst of a modern world which needs God in order to have any future at all. It is happening in the Church in order to startle it from being confused in face of the great modern challenges and to animate within it the spirit of its beginnings. It seems that the profound meaning of the Medjugorje events is not in just one more spiritual movement originating in the Church in addition to many others, but to set the Church as such into motion and that it recognizes its mission in the world of today, to comprehend its responsibility for the future of the world, which for various reasons has been brought into question. Naturally, that will be the reaction only of the one who understands that something good can come even from insignificant Nazareth (cf John 1:46) and that God always acts through the little and insignificant ones.
2.Medjugorje and spiritual movements in the Church
The Church of Jesus has from the beginning been aware that it owes its existence to the working of the Holy Spirit which He had promised and sent in His time (cf Lk 24:49; Acts 1:4 ff; 2:1 ff; John 14:16 ff, 26; 16:7-14). That holds not only for the original community in Jerusalem which had Jesus' promise, but also for any other. Thus Paul reminds the Galatians that they "began in the Spirit" (Gal 3:3), but he invites the Thessalonians "not to extinguish the Spirit" (1 Thess 5:19). When he invites the Christians in Rome "not to conform to this world" but "to be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may judge what is God's will" (Rom 12:2), Paul again proposes the Holy Spirit as the renewing force which through baptism is already present in Christians (cf Rom 8:9 ff). That, it is true, is not a definitive, completed salvation, but only the first fruits of the Spirit, but sufficient for a Christian, together with all creation, to endure the birth pangs through which one must yet pass (Rom 8:23-27).
Based on that, throughout the centuries the Church has formed an awareness about itself as "the Church that must always be renewed" (Ecclesia semper reformanda). The Holy Spirit has in different times always found new ways for that internal fervor and life to come to expression in ever new forms. "The word on the Church that it must be constantly renewed throughout the centuries has essentially characterized the history of the Church. Again and again within the Church have emerged movements which endeavored radically to live the gospel, such as the religious communities founded by Benedict of Nursia, Bernard of Clairvaux, Francis of Assisi and Ignatius of Loyola".1 It must be admitted that all the above mentioned orders, and also many others, have in their times meant a profound renewal of the Church. Their charism has shed light throughout the centuries, strongly characterizing the spiritual life of the Church and the world in general. For that reason the very term "imitation of Christ" in spiritual doctrine and theology was limited only to the religious state, something certainly not in the spirit of the New Testament. Because the New Testament does not admit a double moral standard, for some only the way of the commandments and for others a very high set of demands to be followed. There is only one, and it is a common ideal of the Christian life, and that is the imitation of Jesus Christ. It pertains to the whole Church and that everywhere and at every time. That this ideal is able to be realized in different ways is another issue.
The Second Vatican Council made an effort to correct that, emphasizing the dignity, importance, and mission of Christian laymen in today's world. In the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church we read: "Therefore the laity, since they are consecrated to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are wonderfully invited and instructed for all the more abundant gifts of the Holy Spirit to be brought forth in them" (LG, no. 34). Thereby the Council then confirmed what was already happening in the Church, and at the same time gave a still greater impetus to new movements. Besides the already existing lay movements such as Focolarini, Cursillo, Opus Dei, Communione e Liberatione, Marriage Encounter, other different forms of renewal in the Spirit also appeared after the Council. Some were about individual renewal, or the various states of life through the renewal and the enlivening of the grace of the respective sacrament, or about renewal of parish communities. What is common to all these movements is the endeavor to create a style of spirituality suitable to our time, "spirituality as an impetus for the renewal of human ways of thinking and willing in the spirit of the Gospel, connected with an aspiration for experiencing faith in communion which opens up new approaches to prayer, the word of God, and the sacraments."2
Thereby, we may say, coordinates are given within which we are easily able to place Medjugorje as a special spiritual phenomenon of our time. In Medjugorje from the very beginning an explicitly lay spirituality has been created, since the visionaries are lay people, and their messages have to the greatest measure found a responsive chord in Christian lay people, inspiring them to an ever greater renewal out of the spirit of the gospel and to be open to prayer, the word of God, and the sacraments. From the very beginning in the church of Medjugorje it is the Eucharist, the proclamation of the word of God, the sacrament of reconciliation, and prayer that hold the central place, but all that experienced in a new and powerful way. In that sense Medjugorje cannot be placed within any already known spiritual movement, but it is a movement that, to a great extent, is contributing to the renewal of the Church throughout the world. In fact, Medjugorje's spirituality is not some spiritual movement in the Church, but is rather the Church in movement, since it is equally interesting and attractive to everyone, from the most ordinary lay believer to the highly educated theologian, many priests, bishops, and cardinals. When the above mentioned essential elements of the Medjugorje spirituality are put together, then it seems the best way to describe and define them is by what is understood today as the so frequently used term "The New Evangelization".
3. The New Evangelization and Medjugorje
The first Christian communities had a strong awareness of being sent out with a mission. Toward the end of the oldest gospel, the one of Mark, is this word of the Risen Lord to the disciples: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to all creation" (Mk 16:15). After he very briefly reports on Jesus's ascension into heaven, the evangelist concludes: "They went forth and preached everywhere. The Lord continued to work with them throughout and confirm the message through the signs which accompanied them" (Mk 16:20). This is certainly not only a confirmation that the disciples fulfilled Jesus's command, but a still ever greater new impetus to the readers of the gospel to continue to do the same. Nor did Matthew omit finishing his gospel with the same command, although he somewhat modified it in keeping with the spirit of the theological concept of his work: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. . ." (Mt 28:19). An additional promise shows that this is an unlimited mission for all times, which the disciples need not be afraid of: "I am with you always even to the end of the world" (Mt 28:20). In light of his view of salvation history, Luke interprets that proclamation as the fulfillment of Scripture which has to take place beginning from Jerusalem. And since according to his theology the Holy Spirit is the principal agent of everything happening, the disciples must remain in Jerusalem until He comes and then they will be His witnesses (cf Lk 24:45-49). Acts of Apostles begins by recalling that promise (Acts 1:4 ff) and by recounting its fulfillment on the day of Pentecost when the Good News resounded, not only in Jerusalem, but also among representatives of some fifteen nations that happened to be in Jerusalem (Acts 2:1-13).
His great work, which we may call the history of the early Church, Luke finishes with a glorious affirmation about the triumph of the gospel in Rome, in spite of Paul's imprisonment: "For two full years Paul stayed on in his rented lodging. . .where without any hindrance whatever, he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 28:30). That ending was consciously left open that way to be the ongoing perspective of the gospel. But one should also say that such a quick and successful advent of the gospel throughout the huge Roman empire and the arrival at its center in Rome, has by no means been without resistance and great difficulties. Judeo-Christians had difficulty being reconciled with the evangelization of Samaria (cf Acts 8; Jn 4) and with Paul's persistence in proclaiming the gospel to the gentiles without imposing the prescriptions of the Mosaic law (cf Gal 1 - 2). Under such conditions, as if the activity of the promised Holy Spirit was insufficient, God also made use of extraordinary interventions, such as Peter's vision in Cornelius' house (Acts 10), and also of a completely human effort like Paul's conflict with Peter in Antioch when they were dealing with the very important question of the relationship of the gospel to the law of Moses, which for the Church had far reaching significance (Gal 2:11-14), or through the assembling of the apostles at the Council of Jerusalem and its conclusions (Acts 15).
Throughout the long history of the Church God always acted in a similar way. Whenever the Church got weaker or faced problems difficult to solve, God sent special people or made use of unordinary interventions, most usually through the apparitions of Our Lady in those of Medjugorje should also be included. The intention of Pope John XXIII in convoking the Second Vatican Council was to find an adequate way of proclaiming the gospel to modern man. The council fathers in the greatest detail analyzed the state of the modern world, its needs and hopes, and also its anxieties and fears in the face of the future, emphasizing that the great progress in every field has not resolved the most important human questions regarding man's true happiness and future. Thus our time has an equally both good and bad prospect. The council sees the principal causes for this in the division of the human heart and in its unquenchable need for God which the Church wishes to satisfy (cf GS no. 4 - 10). One cannot say that after the Council the Church throughout the world has not undertaken with great diligence the implementation of its conclusions, but there have been no true fruits. And while some say that we should not lose patience, pointing out that some other councils also needed a lot of time for their fruits to appear, there are, it seems, critical spirits that are pointing the finger at the right place. They emphasize that the Church in all that huge conciliar renewal did not reckon with the Holy Spirit and, not having gathered in prayer with Mary like the community of Jesus's disciples in the beginning, it did not give Him the chance to renew the Church and give hope to the world. Pope Paul VI summed it up the best in one of his speeches: "After the Christology and especially after the ecclesiology of the Council, a new phase must arrive and a new cult of the Holy Spirit as the inescapable supplement to the teaching of the Council" (General Audience July 6, 1973). And Yves Congar, one of the most outstanding theologians of this century, resented that the Council in developing its doctrine, forgot pneumatology, that is, doctrine of the Holy Spirit, and he immediately explains that it is possible only when and where the Spirit is already active: "Pneumatology as theology and a dimension of ecclesiology can be developed completely only thanks to what the Church is already actualizing and living. And it is precisely in that area that theology depends strongly on practice."3 Thus it has been since the beginning of the Church. Liturgy with the celebration of Eucharist and the proclamation of the word of God was the locus theologicus, the place where New Testament theology was created. I dare say that Medjugorje has already thus far given a lot of impetus to modern pastoral theology to be able to overcome fruitless rationalism and give more space to the activity of the Holy Spirit.
The New Evangelization, announced and being prepared already for fifteen years in numerous papal documents, has been actualized in Medjugorje throughout that time. There the gospel is proclaimed with all the seriousness that it demands from the proclaimer and it is precisely because of this that millions of listeners have experienced it as the good news about God who loves and forgives. In it they have found the treasure hidden in the field and the pearl of great price that is worthy of sacrificing everything to obtain (cf Mt 13:44-46). If the main points emphasized in the program of New Evangelization are considered, then they are in strong agreement with the Medjugorje messages. We shall only compare some of the most important ones.
The Apostolic Letter of Pope Paul VI Evangelii Nuntiandi (December 8, 1975) emphasizes as the chief and decisive way of the New Evangelization is witnessing to authentic Christian life, which presuppose the new man, who is possible only by conversation and internal transformation in the spirit of the gospel. In that line is also the Apostolic Letter of Pope John Paul II, Catechesi Tradendae (October 16, 1979) as well as the extraordinary Bishops' Synod of 1985. The same is also expressed in the final document of the extraordinary synod for Europe (1991) under the significant title: To Be Witnesses of Christ Who Has Set Us Free. Today it is no longer enough merely to proclaim the gospel. Authentic witnesses are demanded because in the eyes of modern man the Church to a large degree has lost its credibility. One of the bishops, having at heart the future of Christianity in his own country and the destiny of the New Evangelization, warns: "What the Church has to say can indeed be correct, but it does not necessarily make man joyful and free."4 In other words the gospel lost the strength of conviction because the proclaimers are not sufficiently joyful and free, they are not witness. The above mentioned Apostolic Letter says the testimony of Christian life should be characterized by "surrender to God in a communion that must not be destroyed by anything and at the same time by surrender to one's neighbor in unlimited availability. . ." (Evangelii Nuntiandi, no 41). It is nothing else than remembering the realization of Christ's twofold commandment of love in the conditions of the modern world, which is obviously at work in Medjugorje. Medjugorje's spirituality from the very beginning has an emphatic quality of charity. It makes people sensitive to the needs of their fellow man, something that has been demonstrated in so many wonderful examples of unselfish generosity during the recent war in Croatia and in Bosnia-Hercegovina.
4. Returning God to human life
All the above mentioned Church documents are profoundly aware of the real condition in the world and especially in Europe. With the collapse of the Marxist atheistic ideology, practical materialism did not disappear. It characterizes the way of life of a huge number of our contemporaries. Bygone bitter discussions whether God exists or not were replaced by an indifferent way of life in which people think and act "as though there were no God". Still it seems that people have not turned their backs on the true God, but on the one that the Church is proclaiming in an unconvincing way. Therefore, despite the sea of practical materialism, a silent longing for God is alive in many people. It is evident also in the increasing number of various sects and esotericism in the most possible variety of forms. The gospel, in spite of everything, always has a chance if it is a genuine answer to the longing of the human heart, that is, if it is proclaimed to it as the Good News which sets free and only people of the gospel can do that.
The previously mentioned bishop laments that the proclamation of many priests is ineffective because when a living God is not abiding in our hearts, our word also does not give any evidence of passion for God. Apologizing for the sharpness of his words, he asks himself: "Is it not because many live "off" the Church and not really "in" the Church, in its real mystery?"5 And indeed, it is not only individual truths or particular areas of concrete Church life that are in question, but God Himself, and that, among those who are supposed to show others the way to God. This is why the above mentioned extraordinary synod for Europe says without any hesitation: "Indeed, all of Europe today is facing the challenge of a new decision for God."6
If the Medjugorje messages are considered from this point of view then it is not difficult to discover a great agreement. In spite of having the concrete messages of peace, faith, conversion, prayer, fasting in the first plan at the beginning, in time to an ever greater degree it was God as such who was becoming central to these messages, as well as man's relationship toward him, and this in very different variations. There are here repeated calls for man to decide for God who is offering Himself to man; to give God the first place in man's life because that place belongs to Him, but in the same way also to abandon everything to Him, especially the burdens of life. Man is called to thank God for His gifts and to glorify Him in his life. Numerous messages warn that it is possible to get to know God only in prayer and that, only in prayer which comes from the heart. There are various messages that speak in this way about God revealing Himself to man so one should understand it in the sense that actually God's revelation to man is the main purpose of these events: "Dear children!
Today I call you to the way of holiness. Pray that you may comprehend the beauty and the greatness of this way on which God reveals Himself to you in a special manner" (January 25, 1989). On another occasion: ". . .therefore, my dear children, open your hearts to me so that I may guide you more and more to that splendid love of God, the Creator, who is revealing Himself to you day by day. I am with you and I want to reveal and show to you the God wholoves you" (August 25, 1992). Therefore, we could say that Medjugorje is much more than a place of prayer and conversion. It is first of all, a place where God wants to give a sign that man's longing for Him is not in vain and a way to God is possible also today because He comes half way to meet men.
5. Role of the Local Church
Considering what the New Evangelization ought to look like concretely in order to be successful, a well known German bishop and theologian, Karl Lehmann, says: "In the future we need places, groups, movements, and communities in which people with a determined will for life come together, learn together, and mutually help each other. That strengthening of faith, hope and charity is becoming ever more necessary today when Christianity is finding itself in the condition of diaspora. Only that way is faith able to become recognizable again and obtain a clear profile."7 Medjugorje for almost two decades already has been such a place where people gather from all over the world to pray together and to deepen their faith, creating communion in numerous prayer groups, movements, and new forms of community life. All that would, of course, be far stronger and more convincing if the condition in the local Church in Hercegovina were different, if it were not divided in itself. This condition affects many people, at least by confusing them. Therefore, they are ready also to call Medjugorje in question.
May I be permitted to express my own opinion about that. It has grown out of the experience of these seventeen years of Medjugorje, theological reflection, and prayer. During this time the words of Jesus about the sword have often crossed my mind: "I did not come to bring peace, but the sword" (Mt 10:34). The way to real peace leads through a decision for Jesus. That decision does not tolerate any compromise. He is more important even than the closest family members and especially more so than any personal interests. On the way to real peace with oneself, one's neighbor, and with God one must go through numerous trials which Jesus metaphorically characterizes as a sword. Does not this word of Jesus refer also to Medjugorje and its position in the local Church?
The fact is that Medjugorje is taking place in a Church in which the so-called Hercegovina Case, which put unity and charity in that Church to a great test, happened a long time before. Because of that case it is not only unity and charity that suffer in the relationship between the bishop and his priests on one hand, and the Franciscans on the other hand, but also within the Franciscan community itself. Therefore, before the beginning of the apparitions the Church in Hercegovina was disunited on various levels. Medjugorje was only a new occasion for this disunion to be exposed even more painfully. Some Franciscans have never even visited Medjugorje, not because they might be convinced on the basis of serious observation and studies that there is nothing supernatural there, but only because some of their brothers with whom they disagree on other matters and especially on the Hercegovina case, happen to be there. When Bishop Zanic turned against Medjugorje, those same Franciscans imposed themselves on him as being of the same mind, but only for the condemnation and rejection of Medjugorje. The Hercegovina Case, however, they did not move forward from its dead end. On the contrary, it is at this time reaching the peak of its absurdity in Capljina.
Is this perhaps at the same time a sign that the Church in Hercegovina has had enough of the sword and that the time has come for peace to reign? The Franciscans who are in Capljina, contrary to the will of their superiors, and those who support them, ordinarily base themselves on reasons of righteousness: 'with the help of the law the Bishop is doing injustice!' This is how the main argument sounds. But obviously it is not working, and unity and charity in the Church are being put to an even greater test. The very essence of the Church itself is called into question. What then to do? For the man who takes the gospel seriously to the end, even when it seems that all possibilities have been exhausted, there still remains one more possibility, indeed the most difficult, but the one on which Christianity itself is based and that is, the sacrifice of total self-surrender. Sacrifice is always hard, especially if no kind of dignity is seen in it. The sacrifice of Jesus was like that, but it bore the fruit of the greatest victory, the resurrection. A great number of Franciscans, the ones who for all these years as believers have lived with Medjugorje, are ready for this sacrifice so the administration of the Province accepted it. Still, due to the complexity of circumstances, as already said, a great amount of wisdom is necessary on the part of all responsible agents in the Church, so that everything may serve to increase the unity and charity in the Church of Hercegovina, which will then be a powerful testimony for Medjugorje in the world, and then also a great contribution to the so necessary New Evangelization of the world.
