Conflict Between Franciscans & Priests
Source: http://www.medjugorje.org/conflict.htm
By: Father Rene Laurentin
"An Unfortunate Interference which obscures the
message of Medjugorje".
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This section deals with the words attributed to the
Blessed Virgin on the famous "Hercegovina Question:"
a painful and inextricable question which is centered
in the diocese of Mostar. It is the difficult re distribution
of parishes between: The Franciscans, the only priests
of this country for centuries, and the secular clergy
established after the end of the Turkish occupation
in 1881.
There has been a prolonged disagreement over this re
distribution. This matter has nothing to do with the
apparitions themselves, though some forces have worked
desperately hard to imply that it does. It does not
involve the issue of whether the Virgin appears here,
or whether she doesn't.
Some newspapers, usually better informed, said that
the priests at Medjugorje were "suspended, and
in conflict with the bishop." (Derneieres Nouvelles"
#2, Pg. 19). That is false. The parish of Medjugorje
is a normal, fervent, exemplary parish. The bishop himself
recognizes the marvelous fruits which the Lord accomplishes
there. He successively transferred several priests from
this parish, whose influence served the apparitions
which he fought, (including Tomislav Vlasic). They obeyed,
and he replaced them regularly with the agreement of
the Franciscan Provincial, named by Rome, to be its
right arm in this matter.
Two Friars, who were suspended and the object of so
many questions to the Gospa, do not belong to the parish
of Medjugorje. They live in the episcopal city, in the
provincial house of the Franciscans. And the provincial,
a declared ally of the Bishop, did not expel them according
to directives from Rome.
The words attributed to the Blessed Virgin with respect
to the conflict of Hercegovina must be situated within
this context.
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1. It is an inveterate and passionate conflict in spite
of virtuous efforts to peacefully defuse this tension.
Anyone who speaks about it successively, to the bishop,
then to the Franciscans, as I have done several times,
has the feeling of attending Pirandello's drama, "Each
In His Own Way." The two points of view hardly
tally in their respective coherence:
The Franciscans see and live their secular ties with
a people. They continue the heroic and fervent tradition
of the faith spread, then maintained by them, during
the four centuries of Muslim persecution not without
apostacies. There were some religious and laity martyrs.
From that, there results a filial attachment of the
people to the Franciscans. Even when the latter accepted
to yield parishes to the secular clergy, their parishioner
often did not follow. They are like children to whom
one would say: "Change parents." And, according
to the radical and impetuous temperament of this country,
they are ready to abandon the Church if it cuts this
umbilical cord so vital for them.
At Grude, the parishoners blocked the doors of the
church when the bishop named a secular priest to it.
The problem then is inextricable, agonizing, insurmountable
on the surface.
The bishop himself, sees the importance of regulating
boldly and quickly, the matter of distribution of the
contested parishes, according to plans from Rome, in
spite of the irresistible obstacles and dialogues which
have been without solution for 40 years. To wit: He
has engaged all his power intrepidly, and has acquired
very high support to force those who resist him; and
through his means of authority, and procedures of urgency,
he sometimes short-circuited canonical rules and good
uses of the Church. He can do it much better through
local awareness, as if the measures of authority were
taken in Rome itself, and not by virtue of his diocesan
powers
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2. At the time when the apparitions began, two young
Franciscan Friars, Ivan Prusina and Ivica Vego, were
excluded from the Franciscan Order, and suspended-(they
were forbidden from administering the sacraments). They
were accused of having administered the sacraments in
the Franciscan chapels in Mostar, to people who did
not want to attend the new parish under the secular
clergy at the Cathedral.
This new parish was created by Bishop Zanic, September
14, 1980, the same day he became Bishop of Mostar, after
having been coadjutor. Through this legitimate act of
authority, he took away from the Franciscans, 80 percent
of their principal parish.
Many other Franciscans also administered the sacraments
to other recalcitrant parishioners in the same Franciscan
chapels, but without being punished. Ivan and Ivica
served as scapegoats to set an example. They received
orders to leave Mostar, with threats of sanctions, in
April of 1981, two months before the apparitions began.
After the apparitions began, some of their parishioners,
who had supported the two, spoke about it to the seers
and asked them to consult the Blessed Virgin with regard
to this matter. It seemed to them that the Friars were
suffering an injustice. The two Friars themselves, had
visited the place of the apparitions since the end of
June, 1981. They also questioned the seers when the
canonical sanctions fell on them, progressively from
December 29th, 1981 to April 29th, 1982.
First of all, from July 22, 1981, a decree from the
vicar and procurator general of the Franciscans, Father
Honorious Pontoglio, special delegate from the Holy
See, threatened them with suspension and exclusion from
the Franciscan order if they did not cease their ministry,
and if they refused to leave Mostar.
They ceased to administer the sacraments, but stayed
in Mostar. Other Franciscans continued to administer
the sacraments in the same chapels, something that they
do even to this day, without having any worries with
the tacit agreement of the provincial and the bishop.
On December 29, 1981, a "final admonition"
was communicated to the two Friars by the provincial
delegate, Nikola Radic.
On February 18, and April 22, the Friars submitted
their protests and justifications, which were not taken
into consideration. The decree of July 22, 1981, excluded
all possibility of recourse.
Considering that their vows, which had been made before
God and duly recorded in the Church, could not be annulled
in such a summary fashion, the two Friars appealed this
decision as invalid, with respect to "fundamental
rights," and under canon law of the Church. They
remained in Mostar, ready to leave, they said, should
a normal, canonical judgment be pronounced. Thus, the
vicar general of the Franciscan Order (H. Pontaglio)
informed them on april 29, 1982, of their suspension
from the Order, of which they had been previously threatened.
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It is in these complex conditions, and in this conflicting,
painful and passionate climate, that the Gospa was consulted
by the seers after successive requests of the parishoners
regarding the two Friars; then by the two Friars themselves,
and finally, by Father Tomislav Vlasic, spiritual director
of Medjugorje, concerned with clarifying these inextricable
"oracles."
What is the value of purpose of it?:
"it is the Virgin! It is then absolutely true,"
said some. "This support given against the authority
of the Church, proves that it is not the Virgin,"
said the bishop.
These two radical conclusions had the error of simplifying
a very complex problem. In order to judge it beyond
the slogans, producing the file is necessary, though
it be painful. It shows the complexity of the problem,
and the marginal character and limits of this file,
and which the Bishop of Mostar has used well to prepare
for a negative judgment, which he thought he had to
rapidly disseminate.
The file should not have to be included throughout
these pages speaking of Medjugorje since it is certainly
not part of the messages of Medjugorje. However, in
attempting to list the dialogue of Our Lady during these
last years, it becomes necessary to offer a full explanation
regarding those passages which we list in the messages,
that pertain to the Hercegovina question. Here we present
the documents of the file, which will permit one to
judge this matter in a less summary and less passionate
manner.
...... To Be Continued.
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