Pope Benedict XVI has set up a special commission to weigh the authenticity of the reported apparitions by the Virgin Mary at Medjugorje, according to Italian media reports. The commission will reportedly be chaired by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the retired vicar of Rome, who has been a trusted ally of the Pope.
The investigation would be carried out under the auspices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Bishop Ratko Peric of the Mostar diocese in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where Medjugorje is located, has strongly discouraged pilgrimages and warned the faithful against accepting the reality of the reported apparitions.
Bishop Peric was openly dismayed when Vienna's Cardinal Christoph Schoënborn made a "private" New Year's visit to Medjugorje and made statements that were widely interpreted as encouraging belief in the apparitions.
The conflict between the two prelates revived calls for a definitive Vatican pronouncement on "the Medjugorje phenomenon."
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