The Vatican sent a frisson through the Catholic world Monday, when it announced a press conference “on the spiritual experience of Medjugorje,” a thriving shrine in Bosnia and Herzegovina associated with alleged Marian apparitions.
In a brief note, the Holy See press office said the press conference would be held Thursday, Sept. 19, and feature Vatican doctrine chief Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, doctrine dicastery secretary Msgr. Armando Matteo, and communication dicastery editorial director Andrea Tornielli. It will be live-streamed on YouTube at 11:30 a.m. local time (5:30 a.m. ET).
Apparitions have been reported at Medjugorje since 1981, so why is the Vatican holding a press conference now? And do we know what Cardinal Fernández is likely to say?
Why now?
In May, the Vatican’s doctrine office unveiled a new streamlined process for evaluating alleged apparitions, approved by Pope Francis.
According to the new norms, the discernment process following an alleged supernatural event does not end with a declaration of either constat de supernaturalitate (“confirmed to be of supernatural origin”) or non constat de supernaturalitate (“not confirmed to be of supernatural origin”).
Instead, the “doctrinal-pastoral evaluation” may conclude with a “nihil obstat” — a declaration that “nothing hinders” the local bishop from seeking to “draw pastoral benefit from the spiritual phenomenon.”
The declaration of “nihil obstat” can be reached “after assessing the various spiritual and pastoral fruits of the event and finding no substantial negative elements in it.”
What does a “nihil obstat” declaration mean exactly?
The norms say: “Without expressing any certainty about the supernatural authenticity of the phenomenon itself, many signs of the action of the Holy Spirit are acknowledged ‘in the midst’ of a given spiritual experience, and no aspects that are particularly critical or risky have been detected, at least so far. For this reason, the diocesan bishop is encouraged to appreciate the pastoral value of this spiritual proposal, and even to promote its spread, including possibly through pilgrimages to a sacred site.”
Cardinal Fernández said the new rules were necessary because previously decisions had taken “an excessively long time, sometimes spanning several decades,” with local bishops and the dicastery struggling to apply the old norms.
Read more: