Paul KeenanHopes of an imminent decision on the status of Medjugorje by Pope Francis have been dashed after a recent statement attributed to the Pontiff on the subject was denied.
Pilgrims to the site of alleged Marian apparitions had been elated by news in June of a meeting between Pope Francis and Fr Miljenko Steko, the Provincial of the Franciscan Order in Bosnia Herzegovina. News of the meeting was conveyed to pilgrims in Medjugorje by Fr Kevin Devine, organiser of the English Mass there, who asserted that, in the course of the meeting, Pope Francis had said to Fr Steko: “Pray that I have made the right decision.”
The wording immediately led to fevered speculation that a final decision on Medjugorje would soon be communicated, settling the issue of the alleged apparitions and the visionaries once and for all.
However, Fr Steko has now spoken to counter Fr Devine’s version of events and to deny that the Pope had said anything of a final decision.
“I am genuinely surprised by Fr Kevin’s statements,” he said. “I do not know where he got that interpretation for I have personally never made such statements.”
In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI established a special commission of investigation to look into ongoing reports of daily apparitions at the parish church in Medjugorje. Claims of Marian visitation have been made by six seers since 1981. That investigation concluded earlier this year and offered its report to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.