Vatican gives green light to devotion at a site in Bosnia where the Madonna reportedly appeared

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican on Thursday gave the green light for Catholics to continue flocking to a southern Bosnian village where children reported seeing visions of the Virgin Mary, offering its approval for devotion at one of the most contested sites of Roman Catholic practice in recent years.

In a detailed analysis after nearly 15 years of study, the Vatican’s doctrine office didn’t declare that the reported apparitions in Medjugorje were authentic or of supernatural origin. And it flagged concerns about contradictions in some of the “messages” the alleged visionaries say they have received over the years.

But in line with new Vatican criteria in place this year, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith ruled that the positive “spiritual fruits” stemming from the Medjugorje experience more than justified allowing the faithful to organize pilgrimages there and permit public acts of devotion.

The decision overrules years of doubts about the veracity of the alleged apparitions by the region’s past diocesan bishops and Vatican experts. And it ignores current concerns about the economic interests that have turned Medjugorje into a thriving destination for religious tourists.

Last year alone, 1.7 million Eucharistic wafers were distributed during Masses there, according to statistics published on the site’s website, a rough estimate of the numbers of Catholics who visited.

But with Pope Francis’ blessing, the doctrine office decided that “the abundant and widespread fruits, which are so beautiful and positive,” justified its decision. It said doing so “highlights that the Holy Spirit is acting fruitfully for the good of the faithful in the midst of this spiritual phenomenon.”

In 1981, six children and teenagers reported seeing visions of the Madonna on a hill in the village of Medjugorje, located in the wine-making region of southern Bosnia. Some of those original “seers” have claimed the visions have occurred regularly since then, even daily, and that Mary sends them messages.

By some counts, the Virgin Mary has appeared to the “seers” more than 40,000 times since 1981.

“It’s my third time here and each time I come I feel like I really want to come back,” said Mia Hash, a pilgrim from Lebanon who was visiting Medjugorje on a rainy Thursday as the Vatican made its announcement. “It’s the most peaceful place on earth, I really love it here.”

However, unlike at the more well-known and established Catholic sanctuaries in Fatima, Portugal or Lourdes, France, the alleged apparitions at Medjugorje were never declared authentic by the Vatican.

And over the years, the area’s local diocesan bishops and some Vatican officials had cast doubt on the reliability and motivations of the “seers.” Two experts tapped by Pope Benedict XVI to study the Medjugorje concluded the Medjugorje phenomenon was “demonic” in origin.

Even Francis in 2017 expressed doubts about the messages, saying “I prefer Our Lady to be a mother, our mother, and not a telegraph operator who sends out a message every day at a certain time,” he said.

Religious tourism has become an important part of the local economy, with an entire industry catering to pilgrims: hotels, private accommodations, family-run farm businesses, even sports complexes and camping sites. Their growth has contributed to the surrounding municipality’s financial well-being after the Bosnian war in the 1990s devastated the economy.

Yet the Vatican expressed no concern about the economic interests behind Medjugorje, and the Holy See's editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, cited by name one Milan-based religious travel agency, Rusconi Travel, that takes pilgrims there by bus.

Robert Fastiggi, a consultant at the Vatican's Marian apparitions observatory, praised the time the Vatican took to come to a decision and said he believed the Holy See was likely impressed by “the many signs of authentic Catholic spirituality connected to Medjugorje.”

"I believe the DDF (Vatican dicastery) made its decision in light of the Gospel criterion: ‘By their fruits you will know them,'’' said Fastiggi, a professor of dogmatic theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.

In its assessment, the Vatican doctrine office recalled that in May of this year it announced it was no longer in the business of authenticating alleged apparitions and other supposedly supernatural phenomena that have attracted Catholics for centuries, including statues that allegedly weep blood or stigmatas that are said to erupt spontaneously on hands or feet.

The new criteria envisage six main outcomes, with the most favorable being that the church issues a noncommittal doctrinal green light, a so-called “nihil obstat,” which means there is nothing about the event that is contrary to the faith, and therefore Catholics can express devotion to it.

The Vatican on Thursday gave that “nihil obstat” to Medjugorje. The local bishop issued the decree authorizing devotion there, and it is now possible that a sanctuary could be built, said the head of the doctrine office, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández.

At a nearly two-hour news conference at which those present were invited to recite the “Hail Mary” prayer at the end, Fernández revealed that St. John Paul II was a firm believer in Medjugorje and had wanted to visit but was waved off by the local bishop.

The decision doesn't require the faithful to believe in the Medjugorje phenomenon, but allows them to.

In its analysis, the Vatican listed what it called the many spiritual benefits that have been associated with pilgrimages to the site, including people deciding that they want to become priests or nuns, couples reconciling after troubles in marriage, healings after prayer and new works of charity caring for orphans and drug addicts.

It listed no example of any negative experiences associated with Medjugorje. Nor did it mention that the priest most closely associated with Medjugorje and the six “visionaries” was defrocked by the Vatican in 2009 for, among other things, spreading false doctrine.

The Vatican did seem to want to distance the place from the people who received the alleged apparitions, stressing that these benefits haven’t occurred as a result of meetings with them but rather “in the context of pilgrimages to the places associated with the original events.”

Fernández said there was no prohibition on contact with the “seers,” but that it wasn't advisable. And in an indication that the jury is still out on them and the entire phenomenon, he reaffirmed that Francis' personal envoy to Medjugorje would keep watch over the site and evaluate any future messages purportedly received by the “visionaries” before they are published.

“The nihil obstat doesn’t resolve everything for the future,” he said.

In its 17-page document, it used nearly four pages to list concerns about problems in some of the thousands of individual messages the alleged visionaries have received, including cases where the message contradicted aspects of Catholic doctrine.

The decision will surely impact Medjugorje, which lies in the municipality of Citluk, one of the smallest in Bosnia with some 18,000 residents but economically well-off.

“Medjugorje means a lot, all economic sectors lean on Medjugorje,” said Ante Kozina, the tourism association chief. “It is a growth generator for the entire municipality.”

On Thursday, pilgrims in raincoats and umbrellas said they were pleased with the Vatican's decision.

“I think that is OK so they don’t make hasty decisions,” said Darko Dumic, a pilgrim from the Croatian coastal town of Split. But he expressed hope that there will be an even more positive decision in the future, “an official one for Medjugorje to become a holy place.”

Emric contributed from Medjugorje, Bosnia. Gec contributed from Belgrade, Serbia.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Pilgrims recite their prayers next to the statue of the Virgin Mary inside the St. James Church in Medjugorje, Bosnia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

Pilgrims say their prayers next to the statue of the Virgin Mary inside the St. James Church in Medjugorje, Bosnia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

A pilgrim says their prayer next to the statue of the Virgin Mary in Medjugorje, Bosnia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

A pilgrim takes a self portrait in front of the statue of the Virgin Mary inside the St. James Church in Medjugorje, Bosnia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

A pilgrim recites her prayers inside the St. James Church in Medjugorje, Bosnia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

A pilgrim recites his prayers inside the St. James Church in Medjugorje, Bosnia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

Pilgrims recited their prayers next to the statue of the Virgin Mary inside the St. James Church in Medjugorje, Bosnia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

Pilgrims say their prayers inside the St. James Church in Medjugorje, Bosnia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

Pilgrims say their prayers inside the St. James Church in Medjugorje, Bosnia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

Pilgrims say their prayers inside the St. James Church in Medjugorje, Bosnia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

Pilgrims say their prayers inside the St. James Church in Medjugorje, Bosnia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

Pilgrims say their prayers next to the statue of the Virgin Mary in Medjugorje, Bosnia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

Pilgrims say their prayers inside the St. James Church in Medjugorje, Bosnia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

Pilgrims say their prayers inside the St. James Church in Medjugorje, Bosnia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

Pilgrims say their prayers inside the St. James Church in Medjugorje, Bosnia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

FILE - Pilgrims walk on a rocky terrain to say their prayers on the Hill Of Appearance in Medjugorje, 100 kilometers south of Sarajevo, June 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Amel Emric, File)

FILE - Pilgrims prays at the "Hill of Apparitions" in the southern-Bosnian town of Medjugorje, 100 kilometers south of Sarajevo, June 25, 2010. (AP Photo/Amel Emric, File)

FILE - Bosnian Roman Catholic women pray on the occasion of the feast of the Assumption in Medjugorje, some 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, on Aug. 15, 2000. (AP Photo/Hidajet Delic, File)

Florida residents began repairing damage from Hurricane Milton, which smashed through coastal communities and tore homes to pieces, flooded streets and spawned a deadly tornadoes.

At least nine people are dead, but many expressed relief that Milton wasn’t worse.

Follow AP’s coverage of tropical weather at https://apnews.com/hub/hurricanes.

Here’s the latest:

An apartment complex in Clearwater was evacuated early Thursday when water from a canal started rising.

Residents were gathered in a shopping center parking lot as crews worked to clear the property Friday.

Jared Lynch, 32, said he was at home on his first floor apartment when the water started to rise Wednesday night.

“It wasn’t that bad at 10 o’clock, but that’s when it started rising,” he said, adding that by 2 a.m., the water was up to his doorknobs. That’s when he left.

“There were literally people walking through the water with baskets on their heads. It was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” Lynch said.

But Deanne Criswell says FEMA will need additional funding at some point.

Criswell says the agency is keeping account every day of how much they’re drawing from the disaster assistance fund. That’s a pot of money allocated specifically to help the agency respond to emergencies across the country.

The fund gets replenished every year by Congress and is used to pay for recovery from hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and other disasters.

Congress recently replenished the fund with $20 billion — the same amount FEMA got last year. About $8 billion of that is set aside for recovery from previous storms and mitigation projects.

Criswell says the fund won’t have enough money to last through the entire fiscal year, which stretches to September of next year. She says at some point, they’ll have to go back to Congress to ask for a boost to the disaster relief fund.

“We will need one. It’s just a matter of when,” she said.

Mayor Lynne Matthews spoke at a news conference Friday with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and the city’s manager, Gregory B. Murray.

Matthews says 121 people had to be rescued after Hurricane Helene made landfall Sept. 26 but rescuers only had to save three people after Milton came through.

“So people listened to the evacuation order,” Matthews said.

“I know we had teams out with the megaphones going through all of our mobile home communities and other places to let people know that they needed to evacuate,” she said.

Bruce Kinsler, 68, was part of a Polk County “push crew” that began clearing roads before 6 a.m. on Thursday. A truck struck Kinsler as he and a coworker were trying to clear a tree that had fallen across the road as the storm passed through the area. The driver of the truck was a county employee who was arriving to join Kinsler for post-storm recovery work.

“The tragedy of this incident is compounded by the fact that Bruce Kinsler was killed serving the residents of this county,” said Bill Braswell, chairman of the Polk County Commission. “We ask a lot of the employees as public servants, and they respond to the call. For this to happen is just a tragedy.”

The White House announced Biden’s visit but did not detail exactly where the president will travel.

Biden was scheduled to be briefed by aides Friday afternoon on the federal response and recovery in the aftermath of Hurricanes Milton and Helene. He’ll then deliver remarks from the White House to update the public about those efforts.

One of those Friday was a large pig stuck in high water at a strip mall in Lithia, FLorida, which is east of Tampa. Cindy Evers led the rescue of the pig and she’s also saved a donkey and several goats.

The animals are being taken to Evers’ farm for the time being.

“I’m high and dry where I’m at and I have a barn and nine acres,” she said. “So we have plenty of room for these animals to be safe.” Evers said she’ll figure out next steps later, such as finding the animals' owners.

Gov. DeSantis noted interactions with downed power lines and water.

“We are seeing hazards that are still there,” he said. He said people should take care around standing water and should use generators properly.

“You have to make the proper decisions and know that there are hazards out there,” he said.

Human-caused climate change intensified deadly Hurricane Milton ’s rainfall by 20 to 30% and strengthened its winds by about 10%, scientists said in a new flash study. The analysis comes just two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated the southeastern United States, a storm also fueled by climate change.

World Weather Attribution researchers said Friday that without climate change, a hurricane like Milton would make landfall as a weaker Category 2, not considered a “major” storm, instead of a Category 3.

WWA’s rapid studies aren’t peer-reviewed but use peer-reviewed methods. The WWA compares a weather event with what might have been expected in a world that hasn’t warmed about 1.3 degree Celsius since pre-industrial times.

▶ Read more about how climate change affected Milton.

Only authorized personnel are allowed on the bases. There was damage and flooding at MacDill, which is home to U.S. Central Command and Special Operations Command.

There's no significant damage at Patrick and teams are working to restore critical infrastructure, according to the Air Force.

The river is 25 miles (40 kilometers) long and runs from eastern Hillsborough County, east of Tampa, into Tampa Bay.

The sheriff’s office asked people to call 911 if they need help getting out of their homes.

A pair of unwelcome and destructive guests named Helene and Milton have stormed their way into this year’s presidential election.

The back-to-back hurricanes have jumbled the schedules of Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump, both of whom devoted part of their Thursdays to tackling questions about the storm recovery effort.

The two hurricanes are forcing basic questions about who as president would best respond to deadly natural disasters, a once-overlooked issue that has become an increasingly routine part of the job. And just weeks before the Nov. 5 election, the storms have disrupted the mechanics of voting in several key counties.

A pick up drives past a guard gate on a flooded street in Siesta Key, Fla., following the passage Hurricane Milton, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

FILE - People are rescued from an apartment complex after flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, Oct. 10, 2024, in Clearwater, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

FILE - A house sits toppled off its stilts after the passage of Hurricane Milton, alongside an empty lot where a home was swept away by Hurricane Helene, in Bradenton Beach on Anna Maria Island, Fla., Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)