Time to Tell the Truth about Medjugorje
by Mark Waterinckx
Open Letter to Fr René Laurentin
Dear Fr. Laurentin,
Why don’t you tell now the entire
truth about Medjugorje, now that Fr. Tomislav Vlasic has been so severely
condemned by the
http://www.cbismo.com/index.php?mod=vijest&vijest=228
Why do you keep defending the fraud
and manipulations in Medjugorje?
Why do you contradict yourself so
many times?
Here are some of the many examples:
1° a. In an interview with the Italian website ‘ Petrus’ in September 2008 (www.papanews.it/dettaglio_interviste.asp?IdNews=9399
) you said : “ I have NEVER expressed
judgments on the authenticity, at least of the apparitions in Medjugorje.”
And also: “I NEVER allow myself to give
an opinion on the apparitions which I study.”
1° b.
However, in your first book about Medjugorje in 1984 “ Is the Virgin Mary
Appearing at Medjugorje?” at p.138 you wrote : “ While reserving judgment to the Episcopal authority responsible in this
matter, and simply in my capacity as an expert, well aware of my limits, I
would say that my analysis leads me to a
POSITIVE evaluation of the apparitions.”
2° a. In an interview with ‘ Avvenire’ on May 26 2004 (www.db.avvenire.it/avvenire/edizione2004_05_26/articolo_445483.html)
you said : “ I have NEVER said that Our
Lady really appears in Medjugorje.”
2° b. However, in your first book “
Is the Virgin Mary Appearing at Medjugorje?” at p.96 you wrote: “Ivan
(the ‘seer’) approached me. Tomislav (Vlasic) translated for me.” Our Lady is
praying for this work (first book of R.Laurentin on Medjugorje)…”
“Why did I have the sense that OUR LADY, invisible to me, but PRESENT TO
EVERYONE, had come simply to recall to these simple people simple and valid
things that the world forgets?”
2° c. In “Dernières
Nouvelles des Apparitions de Medjugorje” n° 3, March
1985 at p. 27, you wrote : “ La Sainte Vierge a dit : “Faites lire aux prêtres le livre de l’abbé Laurentin et divulguez-le.” (on video-tape).
Translated: “Our Lady said: “Let the priests read the book of Fr. Laurentin and
spread it.” (!)
2° d.
A Dutch priest L. vdK.
wrote to me: “In 1989 I have concelebrated with R. Laurentin. He confirmed the authenticity of the
Medjugorje apparitions during the liturgical prayers against all rules of
liturgy and ecclesiastical deservedness. I have my doubts about his love of truth and
his sincerity, or did he forget what he has said before?”
3° a. In “Le
Figaro” of June 24, 1998 you wrote : “ Why did I stop
publishing about Medjugorje? Because the bishop of Mostar had asked me so!” And in your letter to me of
June 3, 2004 you said : “It is forbidden for me to
write anymore about Medjugorje…”
3° b.
Mgr. Gemma,
retired bishop of
Fr Laurentin protested immediately in an
interview with the same website ‘ Petrus’,
claiming “ I don’t like to speak about
Medjugorje(!). I prefer the silence which the church asks(!). Prudence is an obligation. But… I am convinced
that Medjugorje is the fruit of good and not of evil. The fact that two
bishops, Mgr. Zanic and Mgr.Peric, are against the
apparitions, is a relative fact…”
4° a. In the
Austrian bulletin “Medjugorje” n° 62 3° Quarter 2001 p.14 you say : “ I have
only given the facts, totally impartial…”
4° b. On the contrary, you have always defended the ‘seers’
and the Franciscans of Medjugorje.
In your 15 private letters to me (between
1989 and 2005) you said to be impressed, perplexed and troubled by my negative
information about Medjugorje, but you refuse to correct your own numerous
examples of disinformation and manipulation.
In your so-called “Testament” of
June 1998 (“Dernières Nouvelles”
n° 17) at p. 51-52 you defend Fr. Jozo Zovko, although he had already been sanctioned two times
then. (1989 by Mgr.Zanic ; 1994 by Mgr. Peric ; and again in 2004 by Mgr. Peric).
In the same booklet at p. 52, 68-69
and 163 you defend Fr. Tomislav Vlasic.
Fr Vlasic has since been condemned by
In the same booklet at p. 46-48 you
defend the ‘seer’ Vicka when she writes in her diary that the Gospa defends the
two rebel Franciscans who agitated
against the decree ‘Romanis Pontificibus’
by pope Paul VI on June 6 1975. One of them is now married and has 5 children.
And at p. 64-68 you again defend the
‘seer’ Vicka when she rewrites and signs a falsified
‘message’ from the Gospa, asking money from a Dutch abbot for a commercial
project.
5° a.
During the Fatima-congress on October 12 1997, you said that, concerning
apparitions, one must humbly avoid all conflicts with the ecclesiastical
authority. (!) And in your ‘ Testament’ (p.19) of 1998
you wrote that the authority of the church must be respected and obeyed…
5° b.
But in the same ‘Testament’ (p.42-55) of 1998 you oppose, contradict, blame and attack Mgr. Peric,
bishop of Mostar, as you had done before with his
predecessor Mgr. Zanic, who already in 1990 had said that you hide the truth
and defend falsehoods.
5° c.
You even criticize the
6° You
collaborate with dubious persons like Vassula, Milingo,
Hnilica (conference Betlehem 2000), and you dare
reproach the
7° In ‘Le Figaro’ of June 24 1998 you said
that the apparitions elevate the prestige of the Franciscans in Medjugorje. In
your typed letter of 2001 you deplore the falling down of your own prestige. To
save your face seems to be very important to you. More important than
the truth? Are you not afraid of the judgment of God?
D.B. from Ireland wrote this to me
on October 17 2008 after you said that you never should have said that Our Lady has
appeared at Medjugorje (!): “ It seems that the rats
are deserting the ship after all these
years. Laurentin has done untold damage over many years with all his books and
endorsements of Medjugorje. And now at
last he seems to be having second thoughts. However does he have the humility to admit that he has been
wrong?”
An Australian friend wrote today : “ It is remarkable how a theologian of some repute
can be dragged into something as obviously false as Medjugorje. It certainly
detracts from anything else he has written.”
8° And indeed, Fr. Laurentin, this could
be your real problem. I read in Wikipedia about your
impressive career : studies philosophy in the Sorbonne
You, as an expert in Mariology, have
been the great defender and promoter of the never recognized ‘apparitions’ in
Medjugorje. Before the publication of
your first book in 1984, almost nobody knew about Medjugorje. Your responsibility is tremendous. Many innocent pilgrims are caught up in a lie because
of the influence of your Medjugorje-propaganda.
9° Like myself, you were fooled in
the beginning by the ‘seers’ and Franciscans in Medjugorje.
But in your ‘Testament’ of 1998 you
wrote at p.7 ‘that I now burn what I had adored before’. Indeed Fr. Laurentin < Errare
humanum est,
perseverare diabolicum>.
(To err is human, but to persevere in error is diabolical.)
At p.57 you say that I have ‘ a concern for honesty what honors me’. Thank you, I wish I
could say the same about you. Instead of altering the truth, manipulating
the absurd ‘messages’ to defend the pseudo-apparitions of Medjugorje, you
should have been concerned for the millions of misled pilgrims.
10° Satan’s masterplan : Satan always
wants to deceive people, to estrange them from God. He distorts the truth so that they say :
“ In
Medjugorje is the real faith, not in our own parish. The bishop of Mostar has no faith, because he doesn’t believe the
Medjugorje apparitions. The ‘seers’ and Franciscans of Medjugorje are real
saints, not those in the
So Medjugorje becomes the real
church. And when they realize that Medjugorje is a fraud, they abandon
everything. This is the real goal of Satan with Medjugorje. To alienate the ‘small
remnant of faithful Catholic believers’
from their church leaders.
CONCLUSION : Through the Sacraments which are received in
Medjugorje, Our Lord gives grace to the pilgrims. But this has nothing to do with the false
apparitions, which are a construction of the ‘seers’ and the Franciscans. For them Medjugorje is a goldmine. They should give back all the money they have
robbed from the betrayed pilgrims. And
then be put in jail. If not in this
world, God will judge them the moment of their death. Medjugorje is the biggest
scandal in our Church for many years.
You, Fr. Laurentin, still have a little time to repent
for all your manipulation of the facts about Medjugorje and your defamation of
those who have jurisdiction over Medjugorje.
On October 21 2008 I wrote you a
private letter, wherein I suggested and beseeched you once more to tell the
whole truth about Medjugorje, and I included the first page of this open
letter. Since I received no reaction, I
fear that you are still entangled in the typical sectarian fanaticism of
most Medjugorje-believers.
So I pray that St. Michael the
Your brother in Jesus Christ
Mark Waterinckx 11-11-2008
P.S. Good
and reliable books about Medjugorje have been written by :
-Fr. Ivo Sivric-Louis Bélanger
-E. Michael Jones
-Joachim Bouflet
-Fr. Rudo
Franken
-Donal Foley GB :
“Understanding Med.”(2006)
-Yves Chiron
-Michael Davies GB
: “Med.after 21 years”(2004)www.mdaviesonmedj.com/fulltext.rtf
-Mart Bax Holland : ”Med. : Religion, Politics and Violence in Rural
-Kevin Orlon
Johnson USA : “20 Questions about Med.-What
“20
Fragen zu Med.-Was Rom wirklich gesagt hat(2001)
-Thierry Boutet
-Raffaele Ascheri
-Rick Salbato
-Brian Hughes
-Marco Corvaglia
-Ratko Peric bis.
Mostar :
“Ogledalo Pravde”-“The
Mirror of Justice”(2001)