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Vatican-sponsored commission investigating the alleged visions at
Medjugorje has reportedly found no evidence that the phenomenon is a
hoax or as a result of tricks.The Pope’s spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi has confirmed that a commission appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to investigate the phenomenon has now completed four years of work and will shortly present a report to the Vatican.
Respected Vatican-watchers Giacomo Galeazzi and Andrea Tornielli have claimed that a judgement by the Church of Medjugorje may come soon. However, while claiming that the commission found no evidence that the alleged visions were a fraud, they point out that it is “proving difficult for the Church to form a definitive verdict”.
More than 30,000 Irish people visit the shrine in Bosnia and Herzegovina each year where a number of children claimed to have received visions from the Virgin Mary starting in 1981. A number of the alleged seers claims that they are still receiving visions.
It is understood that the large volume of alleged messages poses a problem for the Commission. As does the forecasting of supernatural signs and secrets which the alleged seers have reportedly refused to share, even with Church authorities.
There has been mounting speculation about a Vatican move on the issue given that the Pope’s chief doctrinal adviser Archbishop Gerhard Muller warned in November that the Church has not recognised the alleged visions.
Pope Francis also warned the same month that purported visions of Mary, if taken in the wrong spirit, can sow confusion and distance people from the Gospel.
“Curiosity pushes us to want to hear that the Lord is here or over there, or it makes us say, ‘Well, I know a visionary who receives letters from Our Lady, messages from Our Lady,’” the Pope said. But Mary is “not a postmaster of the post office sending out messages every day.”