Phenomena at Ezkioga, Spain in 1931 is another example of "visions" that attracted huge crowds but were firmly suppressed by the Church. (The apparitions at Garabandal, which I personally think false, are almost a re-run of that event's apocalyptic "revelations.") See William Christian's book Visionaries.
Phenomena at Ezkioga, Spain in 1931 is another example of "visions" that attracted huge crowds but were firmly suppressed by the Church. (The apparitions at Garabandal, which I personally think false, are almost a re-run of that event's apocalyptic "revelations.") See William Christian's book Visionaries.
There are a number of initial silly claims associated with Medjugorje, like worshippers' hands soiling the Virgin's dress, that ought to figure in the official judgment as well as the repetitive banality of the daily "messages." Something else I think is a serious blot on supernatural claims is the way Medjugorje served as a conduit for the dissemination of Maria Valtorta's vile work of "revelations," The Poem of the Man-God. Not only did one of the seers praise it, she said the Gospa authorized its reading by the faithful. (The Poem of the Man-God was the second to last work put on the old Index of Forbidden Books.) Perhaps when all the seers are dead and no "secrets" have come true, enthusiasm will fade. But I doubt it.
But as for the "good fruit" argument, demonstrably false relics supposedly worked miracles in the Middle Ages and the same was claimed for modern apparitions that the Church later found "not supernatural" or even fraudulent. I developed an intense distaste for apparitionism in the '90s. It looked like an attempt to find alternate ways to contact God, sought because of failures and corruption in the institutional Church.
Phenomena at Ezkioga, Spain in 1931 is another example of "visions" that attracted huge crowds but were firmly suppressed by the Church. (The apparitions at Garabandal, which I personally think false, are almost a re-run of that event's apocalyptic "revelations.") See William Christian's book Visionaries.
There are a number of initial silly claims associated with Medjugorje, like worshippers' hands soiling the Virgin's dress, that ought to figure in the official judgment as well as the repetitive banality of the daily "messages." Something else I think is a serious blot on supernatural claims is the way Medjugorje served as a conduit for the dissemination of Maria Valtorta's vile work of "revelations," The Poem of the Man-God. Not only did one of the seers praise it, she said the Gospa authorized its reading by the faithful. (The Poem of the Man-God was the second to last work put on the old Index of Forbidden Books.) Perhaps when all the seers are dead and no "secrets" have come true, enthusiasm will fade. But I doubt it.
But as for the "good fruit" argument, demonstrably false relics supposedly worked miracles in the Middle Ages and the same was claimed for modern apparitions that the Church later found "not supernatural" or even fraudulent. I developed an intense distaste for apparitionism in the '90s. It looked like an attempt to find alternate ways to contact God, sought because of failures and corruption in the institutional Church.