According to the Vatican, Pope Francis has given his approval to a Catholic spiritual practice focused on Medjugorje, a hamlet in Bosnia that has generated controversy about reports of the Virgin Mary appearing to locals, reports RTE.
The Pope was not announcing the veracity of the messages provided by the purported apparition, according to the Vatican’s doctrinal office.
Conversely, it stated that the pope was acknowledging that Catholics may derive “positive fruits” from the town’s spiritual significance, reports RTE.
The declaration seems to wrap up decades of Vatican enquiries into the purported visits, which six youngsters initially reported in 1981.
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The situation is eerily similar to well-known apparitions in the 19th-century French village of Lourdes and in the Portuguese town of Fatima more than a century ago, reports RTE.
Many claim to have had a revitalised sense of spirituality after visiting the Bosnian settlement, which has grown to be a popular pilgrimage destination that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each.
Pope Francis had already shown scepticism on the purported occurrence. In 2017, citing purported communications from the Virgin Mary to the locals, he told reporters he didn’t believe Mary was “the head of a telegraph office,” reports RTE.
“Does not imply that the alleged supernatural events are declared authentic,” the Vatican stated in their latest statement.
“Instead, it only highlights that the Holy Spirit is acting fruitfully for the good of the faithful ‘in the midst’ of this spiritual phenomenon of Medjugorje,” the passage stated, reports RTE.
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