#147: The Medjugorje Deception—Dr. E. Michael Jones
In June 1981, six Croatian teens (well, one was 10) went up Podbrdo Hill near the village of Medjugorje in then rural Yugoslavia. When they came down, they said they had seen “the Gospa” (Croatian for Lady). The local bishop, Pavao Žanić, was initially open to their claims but…after he interviewed them, and learned the full story, he knew it was a complete hoax.
If you do an internet search for “Medjugorje” you will find that the pro-apparition websites, books, DVDs, and prayer groups, positively swamp any critical sources. Yet the official judgment of the Catholic Church is clear: Medjugorje is rejected (officially, non constat de supernaturalitate). And yet Church leadership all the way up to Pope Francis treats the decades-sprawling phenomenon with a combination of kid gloves playing hot potato, to mix a metaphor.
The six seers have parlayed their so-called apparitions into consistently high sources of income, and the pilgrimage industry still rakes in millions each year off of naive, usually low information Catholics seeking solace or answers at the place.
Dr. E. Michael Jones, editor of Culture Wars magazine, wrote the first full length treatment of Medjugorje in 1988, and a book length account in 2010, which is why I invited him to give us an overview of the sprawling saga from the beginning. I do so with the intention of alerting my fellow Catholics who may be unaware (most are) of the truth about the Church’s discernment of this oddly toxic phenomenon.
In this episode you will learn
- The strange contents of the first week interviews with the seers
- The high percentage of spiritual directors of the seers’ and other Medjugorje promoters whose priesthoods were destroyed by sexual and occultic sins
- How Medjugorje differs from approved apparitions
- The danger of putting subjective emotions before objective teaching
- Why the Medjugorje movement constantly tells half truths and outright lies
- The historical framework of the conflict between the OFM Franciscans and the local bishops of Mostar-Duvno and why it explains a lot of what has happened since
Resources mentioned in this episode
- The Medjugorje Deception: Queen of Peace, Ethnic Cleansing, Ruined Lives by E. Michael Jones
- Medjugorje Revisited: 30 Years of Visions or Religious Fraud? By Donal Foley, Preface by Patrick Coffin
- The Hidden Side of Medjugorje by Ivo Sivric, OFM, trans. by Louis Belanger
- Footage showing seer Vicka Ivankovic-Mijatovic clearly avoiding the jabbing finger gesture of Jean-Louis Martin
- Except from 1985 CBC show The Fifth Estate contrasting Bishop Pavao Žanić and a Franciscan promoter of the seers
- Website for the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno and Trebinje-Mrkan (see the ONLY official documents on Medjugorje)
Our Sponsors
- MyPillow.com: MyPillow’s patented interlocking fill adjusts to your individual sleep needs regardless of sleeping position. Allowing your pillow to hold that position all night, helping you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. Use code “Patrick” at checkout and save more. 10 year warranty/guaranteed not to go flat. 60 day money back guarantee. Or call: 800-794-9652 and mention coupon Patrick to get a deal.
- Covenant Eyes: Is an accountability software designed to help you and those you live life free from pornography. Use code Patrick and try it out for Free for 30 days. Click here.
Join the Conversation
Why do so many people—Catholics included—think that feelings triumph over facts?
Connect with me on social media:
Tweet to Patrick HERE
Follow Patrick on Facebook HERE
Subscribe to the Podcast and the YouTube Channel
(Click on the images and then click on the Subscribe icon)
Apple/Mac Users podcast:
Android Users podcast:
Listen in Spotify:
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel:
While you are there, please leave an honest review.
8 Responses
I normally like your interviews. And i do believe this Medjugorje apparition to be a hoax. Yet, you got me confused when you started to speak about Maria Valtorta’s books and laughed about it.
I hope that at least, you have read them!?
I want to say that i did read them, and i am currently re-reading it, and I cannot understand why do you laugh about it. I have the italian version, the portuguese one, and the English one (which presents some translation errors btw). The fact that they were in the list of the Index of forbidden books (abolished in 1966!!) means absolutely nothing. So did the Diary of Divine Mercy, by Saint Faustina Kowalska, and other works of other saints.
What i have read in Maria Valtorta’s books served not only to edify me but most importantly brought me back to the faith after i had abandoned it.
In a certain passage, Maria describes Jesus passing in this village were there was an aqueduct.
A week later, when i was reading the newspaper, i come across an article that in Israel, in this village where they were digging to build a shopping mall, they suddenly discover an aqueduct, as described by Maria.
Now, I cannot see how a woman that was bedridden for decades was able to know there was an aqueduct in this village lost in the middle of Israel, that even the people from the place didn’t even know about, and that was able to describe things in such detail.
I had only asked God to show me a sign, so that i would come back to Him.
What better sign than an impossible human knowledge display?
I have to confess you lost me here. I lost a little of confidence in you. That shows a little pride on your side, laughing as if one knows everything. Remember that the “Spirit blows where He wants”, and that we are mere mud.
If any doubts exist concerning the legitimacy of her works, one only has to read the first part, where the creation of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is described. It’s so beautifully clear and inspired, that i have never read nor understood, even in Vatican documents, this dogma in a remotely similar way as was explained there.
I advise you to read it. After all, her cause for beatification has been accepted for study in 2013.
All the best.
Where to start? First, the hold-up of St Faustina’s writings had to do with translation, as Pope John Paul II explained. Valtorta’s material was placed on the Index for reasons of content. I found the sections I read to be bizarre when not banal. I regard the “Poem of the Man God” to be essentially worthless. Look at the oddball title. The traditional term for Jesus Christ is the God Man. Ever keen to innovate, fake mystics can’t help themselves, so it’s “Man God.” You are wrong to say books placed on the Index mean nothing just because Paul VI abolished the Index in 1966, which “still retains its moral force: https://catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2016/06/14/how-paul-vi-abolished-the-index-of-prohibited-books-50-years-ago-today/
I don’t have time to go back to the part where I “laughed,” but I reserve the right to laugh at whatever I find annoying. You can interpret it however you like. Here’s an example of crazy Valtorta fanatics: http://valtorta.org/pope_rejects_catechism_defaultpage.html
As you should know, Maria Valtorta is not a legitimate candidate for canonization. Here’s another desperate website trying to prop up her books: http://www.mariavaltortawebring.com/Pages/011_Testimonials.htm
Anything recommended by the Entity of Medjugorje is a sufficient reason to give it wide berth.
Thanks!
Where to start indeed?
“A good many of the books that appeared on the Index are now considered foundational scholarly works, and are taught in Catholic school”!
Yes, it is morally binding, ” in so far as it admonishes the conscience of Christians to be on guard for those writings that can endanger faith and morals.”
In this particular case, having read her writings (which, in the case she was not a true mystic, must have been a genius to engineer such detailed writings!), I stand with one of the Bishops that gave the imprimatur and nihil obstat to her writings; I find nothing that opposes Church teaching.
http://www.valtorta-maria.com/Pages/001_Bishop_Roman_Danylak-Imprimatur.ht
As for your observation about the tittle, i do not know where it comes from, since the original tittle is: “The Gospel as it was revealed to me”.
Why do you say she’s “not a legitimate candidate for cannonization”?
As for you laugh at what you want. Sure. We all do. The difference is how we laugh about it. I always pay very attention to that, since a little too much can turn not christian at all:
“Pride tells us that we know better. However, when we add mockery on top, it is doubling down. Thus, we show pride about our pride. When we
look at pride as a form of blindness to our failings, then mockery builds another wall that has to fall for us to improve”.
God bless!
“The Gospel as it was revealed to me”.” That’s what I mean — it’s weirdly pompous. Reminds of that other fake mystic, Luisa Piccarreta. Total overreach. We already had the Gospel revealed to us. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John plus 2000 years of sacred Tradition. I know you love MV’s books. And good for you. Kindly reconsider whether I “mocked” the books or its author. Thanks for the lesson about pride. Maybe stop selling what people aren’t buying and don’t have to buy. Over and out.
Funny enough Luisa Piccarreta is also being considered for the process of canonization. You do seem to have a problem with mystics… Yet God has revealed so many things through them, over and over, which today hold great importance: “Sacred Heart of Jesus”, “Immaculate Heart of Mary”, The feast of Divine Mercy, and so on and so on…
If one would take all the mystics from the list of the saints, the Church would lose half her saints.Saint John being the first!
We all need a lesson on pride, constantly, since it is our biggest problem.
I am not selling anything. I just do not understand why you “mocked” (laughing, saying it’s worthless, sorry, but it is mocking, even if in a subtle way) the writings without actually having read the full thing!
What will you do when, at some point in our lifetime, both Luisa Piccarreta and Maria Valtorta actually make it to the altars?
I used to follow you, but i confess this has been a disappointment. And the cause is not that we have different opinions on this matter, but in the way you handled this situation. No hard feelings though. I wish you all the best. God bless you and your family. Goodbye
My master’s degree in theology focused on ascetico-mystical theology, and the work of true mystics (acknowledged spiritual masters and doctors of the Church like St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Catherine of Siena, et al). It doesn’t matter what her flock of fans want: many people stay forever on the Servant of God roster. And no one “needs to read the whole thing.” You obviously don’t recognize how obnoxious this all is. Sorry to disappoint you by strongly preferring Church-approved teachers, movements, and apparitions. Uncomfortable facts about the Divine Will movement and its foundress: https://timstaples.com/2019/luisa-piccaretta-and-the-divine-will/
I am so tired of Catholics who believe they are holier than the Church as though God has come down upon them and revealed all truth. Embrace a little humility. The Church has not made an official statement on these apparitions but has allowed pilgrimages to take place. It seems as though you only want to use the authority of the Church when it suits your agenda. It doesn’t work that way. Wait and see rather than constantly pointing your finger in condemnation.
No need to be grumpy toward me, Father. You are factually incorrect about official statements, which have been published widely—all negative, or in Latin “non constat de supernaturalitate”—and ignored widely by Medj enthusiasts who know better. If you bothered to listen to the interview at least, you would know all this. God doesn’t need to dramatically “come down” on Medj. The legitimate authority set up by His Church has already pronounced the truth about Medjugorje. You are either unaware of this or you dissent. By far, disobedience is the biggest fruit of Medj. I am certainly not particularly holy, and I have zero agenda, except to defend the rights of the Church in the person of the Ordinary of Mostar-Duvno and on behalf of every Commission ever set up to investigate. No Catholic, ever, has to accept Medjugorje.