Cardinal Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo says Pope Francis will rule on Medjugorje this year



By Deacon Nick Donnelly, on January 21st, 2014



Cardinal Vinko Puljic, Archbishop of Vrhbosna and a leading member of the International Commission on Medjugorje, has told a news outlet that Pope Francis will rule on Medjugorje this year.



Catholic Fire reports:



‘Pope Francis’ ruling on Medjugorje can be expected this year, says Cardinal Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo, a member of the investigative Commission. The Commission has shared its opinion on whether to give Medjugorje shrine status or not, and people are still free to visit.



Granting Medjugorje shrine status or not is a part of the recommendations that the Vatican Commmission on Medjugorje handed over to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) on January 17, Cardinal Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo tells the Croatian news portal Dnevnik.



Cardinal Puljic, a member of the international investigative Commission since it was formed in 2010, further tells that a verdict from Pope Francis on the case of Medjugorje can be expected later this year.



“The Commission has submitted the results of our work to CDF, what we worked on for four years as an international Commission. These results the Congregation will consider and make a proposal to the Pope, and then the Pope will decide how to handle it. This year we can expect the final word from the Holy Father” says Cardinal Vinko Puljic.



The Cardinal further informs that pilgrims are still free to visit Medjugorje. This upholds what has been status quo since the bishops of then-Yugoslavia decided so in April 1991.



“The Commission is not opposed to Medjugorje as a place of faith where faithful pilgrims gather” Cardinal Puljic confirms.



Protect the Pope comment: The sooner Pope Francis pronounces on the authenticity of the Marian apparitions at Medjugorje the better for the Church, because as Cardinal Vinko Puljic put it in 2004 the reported apparitions of Medjugorje have become a source of division in the Church.


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