Unity Publishing - More Dangerous Than Any False
Apparition
Rick Salbato's writing is in black
font, mine is in red
font.
THE SEERS
First of all, we are not dealing here with children
but young adults. At the start of the apparitions the
children were between 16 and 18 years of age. Mirjana
liked to look at the boys, and she dressed very modern
for a small Yugoslavian town. The young boy was very
typical of boys his age and would rather play than go
to church. These things did not change after the apparitions.
Regarding the fact that they went up to smoke is in
the records. Ivanka told Bishop Zanic. Vicka admits
that Mirjana and Ivanka told the Bishop about going
to smoke. There is nothing really wrong here, since
it took place before the apparitions. But later the
children lied to the Bishop and said that they had gone
up the hill to pick flowers. This characteristic of
lying seems to be unrestrained in the children and in
the promoters.
Are we starting to see what Rick
is really like? Here we have some really quite disturbing
stuff from Rick. Assuming any of the allegations of
lying are true and not twisted or not themselves outright
lies (see
here for a notorious example of outright lying by
the media), the accounts of alleged "lying"
that I have come across in my readings can be counted
on one hand and yet Rick feels, despite the thousands
of truths that have been told by the visionaries in
25 years, that this constitutes enough evidence to make
such a bold sweeping condemnation of the visionaries
as "This characteristic of lying seems
UNRESTRAINED". As well as this being grossly
unfair to the visionaries, it doesn't take account of
personal weakness, which God can forgive and possibly
has already done. And it most certainly isn't sufficient
evidence to invalidate the Medjugorje apparitions or
pre-empt the Church's decision in any way whatsoever.
St Peter told 3 lies in one evening
and yet Jesus made him the first Pope. Most of Jesus'
disciples ran away and disowned Him, but at the resurrection,
Jesus appeared to them and simply said "Peace be
with you". Jesus shows us how to overlook weakness
and forgive. Rick doesn't want to listen to that. He
just loves picking up those stones, aiming them and
letting loose.
Vicka was recorded as saying that the apparitions
would end after three more visits. When the apparitions
did not end, she denied saying it. When presented with
the proof, she stated,
"I don't remember, but if it is recorded then we
must have said such a crazy thing."
This has already been refuted.
First, Vicka did not quote Mary. She based her personal
assumption on other apparitions that pilgrims were talking
to them about, Fatima, La Salette etc. She made an assumption
that the apparitions would only last a similar length
of time and was proven incorrect.
September 20, 1981, Vicka states that the Virgin hugged
her. On the 29th she stated,
"I never succeed in touching her, her body is impalpable
and seems to be of smoke."
A year later she would say that ,
"Yes, I have touched her dress, it is resistant
like metal."
I think Rick is trying to say
that Mary should feel realistic to the touch as if she
were an actual person because demons can only project
an appearance of Mary, but not the substance.
First of all, I have no idea where he got his information
that demons cannot appear as Mary in a substantially
real form as opposed to a smoky hologram or something
of that nature. I wish he would show us. Secondly, Rick
does not say that Mary has NEVER felt realistic to the
touch. Perhaps she can take on different "textures"
if you like.
August 25, 1981. Some of
the people present asked to touch the Virgin. "It
is not necessary to touch me. Many are those, who
do not feel anything, when they touch me. On the matter
of the sign, you do not have to become impatient for
the day will come."
And again, we need to see the
interview transcripts for anything Rick quotes and do
a full research of all visionary comments regarding
Mary's "texture". Here we have probably pretty
much all the Rick can dig up after over 25 years of
apparitions and it is quite possible that he has conveniently
passed over other statements by visionaries stating
that they have indeed experienced Mary as feeling genuine
to the touch. By the way, it is well-known that the
virgin can be touched, as a number of those present
at some of Vicka's apparitions have had the opportunity
of experiencing. In one case while being touched by
pilgrims, dark spots began appearing on Mary's dress
and when asked what the stains were, Mary replied that
these are the result of sins of people touching her
dress.
Doctor Darinka Glamuzina, working
for the Government, requested Vicka to ask a question
for her: "May I touch Our Lady?" Our Lady
replied "There have always been Judases, who don't
believe, but she can approach." Vicka shows Doctor
Glamuzina, where to extend her hand and Doctor Glamuzina
touches the Gospa.
December 3, 1981, Vicka writes in her diary that during
her conversation with the Virgin that,
"The Franciscan kept his eyes on us; he was observing
our behavior."
When questioned later as to how she could have known
this, since during an ecstasy she would not have been
able to see anything except the Virgin, she stated that,
"I was told later."
Rick thinks Vicka's perfectly
plausible answer is a lie. Remember, this is Vicka's
diary. She never thought it would become public through
being read and disseminated by the Bishop of Mostar.
Thus, if she were really a liar and a fraud, there would
be a lot more juicy detail that this. Remember at this
time that Vicka was forced to hand over her diary at
a time when Bishop Zanic was on a mission to discredit
the apparitions and had instructed his 4-man team to
hunt for materials that would cause discredit. There
are a handful of things dredged from the pages that
presented possibilities, but they weren't much. This
is an example of something that really isn't much and
the other "promising" tidbits weren't much
either. And as everybody should clearly understand by
now, the Vatican completely rejected Bishops Zanic's
report, on the basis that the allegations and conclusions
were unfounded. Bishop Zanic appears from all reports
to have dug dirt anywhere he could.
In fact, during the early months there were no ecstasies,
for they carried on conversations with the people and
the "Virgin" at the same time.
Indeed, this is how it was possible
for the pilgrims to touch Mary's dress.
On April 3, 1981, Vicka and Jakov talked to the Bishop
and it was all recorded on tape. The tape still exists.
At that time the problem with the priests was at its
peak. The Franciscan superiors were insisting the priests
leave the parish, but they would not. It is known as
the "Herzegovina case". This is the conversation
that is recorded on tape:
"The Virgin has reprimanded us because last time
we did not say everything. She spoke about this ‘Herzegovina
Case’, and she [The Virgin] burst out laughing,
and she added that she could have put everything in
order herself. I had not the least idea of what it was
all about. [Note: Everyone in town knew about it.]
"Then I began to laugh. Then Jakov and I exploded
with laughter. People asked us, 'Why are you laughing?'
We answer that we are laughing because she had told
us to laugh. [Laugh about the case?]
"She gave us instructions for THOSE FRIARS TO
WORK AS THEY PLEASE IN THE CHURCH, like all the others,
and to celebrate Mass. THOSE PRIESTS ARE NOT AT ALL
GUILTY. She repeated it twice. Jakov heard it. Maria
was also present."
Later, over and over, they would deny ever having
said these things to the Bishop. In fact, the diary
of that day disappeared. Since it was all recorded,
we can conclude they were both liars. CAN A LIAR BE
A MESSENGER OF GOD?
Yes, a "liar" can
be a Messenger of God. Not only a liar (see St Peter),
but a coward (see Jonah) and a prostitute (see Mary
Magdelene). Rick is like the Pharisees that couldn't
tolerate Jesus associating with tax collectors and prostitutes.
And how many "bad" popes have been in the
Vatican? Yet no-one is saying the Catholic Church should
be abolished. God lets people say and do what they want,
but God's truth persists. It is up to the individual
to fall into complete line with God's will.
The story of the Herzegovina
Affair is a long one and can be read in full here.
An extract from this source will give people some idea
just what sort of a tumultuous time it has been.
...on 12 May 1968, the
Franciscans departed from their parishes their faithful
said their goodbyes with pain in their hearts. In
three parishes, (Crna, Grude and Mostarski Gradac)
the people did not allow the secular priests to take
over the presbytery or church.
This was the birth of the
painful "Herzegovinian Affair". For the
past twenty-eight years, this affair has from time
to time smouldered and other times erupted. There
were occasions when the church entrance was bricked
up, the secular priests driven out and the nomination
of unfavourable new parish priests to take their place.
There were massive public protests held by the faithful.
Often enough the Communist police were called in to
protect the Bishop from the masses. In 1995, a protest
organised in Mostar turned into a firebomb, so to
speak. Violent incidents were even recorded committed
by individuals against the Bishop. Anyone who has
any feeling for their Church must feel regret for
what has happened. Violence against anyone, and most
especially against the highest representative of one's
Church, must be condemned even though the bitterness
felt by the faithful can be comprehended.
Immediately following the
occurrence of the "Herzegovinian Affair"
in 1968, commissions were appointed to conduct negotiations,
which consisted of Franciscans and diocesan priests.
However, an agreement was not forthcoming even after
several years of negotiation because the two sides
stood firmly on opposite sides with uncompromising
attitudes. The Franciscans continued to support the
idea that it was necessary first to come to a general
agreement about the parishes, which would be acceptable
to them. In this way the Franciscans would be given
an opportunity to prepare their faithful for the imminent
transition to secular priests, which meant giving
enough time for the people to be calmed down and peacefully
accept the change. The diocesan side placed a pre-condition
to any further negotiations demanding that the Franciscans
immediately enable the said three parishes to be taken
over, that is, the three parishes which the Franciscans
placed at the disposal of the Bishops and which they
vacated on 12 May 1968, but where the people did not
allow the secular priests to enter. As far as the
remaining parishes, mentioned in the Decree by the
Holy See of 1965, which were to be redistributed the
diocesan side firmly stood by their idea that they
were automatically handed over to the Bishop at his
disposal by the very fact that the Decree was issued
and now the only question was how to technically arrange
for the hand over of these parishes. At the same time
the diocesan side was very "generous" in
considering to leave one or two parishes to the Franciscans.
The Franciscans foresaw that this was a perfidious
way of eventually doing away with the Province and
were not prepared psychologically to engage themselves
with the people and to depart these parishes leaving
them to secular priests....
The Mostar Affair
...The Franciscans at one
time proposed that the Bishop take over the greater
part of their parish under the condition that they
be left the majority of their existing parishes. The
diocesan side did not accept this proposal. Bishop
Zanic nevertheless took over four-fifths of their
parish with the explanation that they agreed to this
but he never once mentioned the pre-condition they
proposed but rather continued to seek those parishes
they demanded as a pre-condition to the agreement
to be left to them permanently. He in fact considered
these parishes as his own!
The people of Mostar and
the Franciscans did not accept this division of the
Franciscan parish in Mostar and Bishop Zanic did not
succeed in implementing this division not even until
the end of his mandate as bishop. This was the beginning
of the Mostar Affair, which is continuing even now.
This unresolved state in
Mostar awaited the new Bishop, Dr. Ratko Peric, who
took over the diocese in 1993. During the trying and
bloody battle for the survival of Croats in Mostar,
he established four secular parishes within the intended
cathedral parish. During the fiercest battles and
destruction of the Franciscan monastery and when it
was almost impossible to reach, several Franciscans
took refuge in an outer suburb Cim, so that they could
serve their people. Bishop Peric however, prohibited
them from living there because it was located within
the area of a secular parish. After being threatened
with the harshest of sanctions via Rome and when in
1995 the situation had calmed down somewhat in Mostar,
the Franciscans moved back to the demolished monastery
and the people of Mostar reacted harshly against the
Bishop and on occasion exuded violence against him.
A great deal of Mostar was left without any regular
pastoral care. This situation was reflected in the
recent elections held in Mostar when in the most Croatian
section of the Mostar suburbs of Ilii and Cim, as
a sign of protest, the people only participated in
the elections at a rate of less than 40%.
On May 10, 1981, Ivan wrote and SIGNED the words of
the "Virgin": "There will be a big shrine
at Medjugorje in honor of my apparitions and this shrine
will be in my image. The sign will be fulfilled in the
sixth month." [The promised miracle.]
Three years later, Ivan insists,
"That was not the sign, nor is it the date."
The signed statement is still in existence. Nine years
later, there is still no sign. Three years later, Ivan
said that the Virgin reprimanded him for writing the
lie. [Three years later?]
If the Virgin reprimanded him
for telling the lie, it clearly demonstrates that not
even the Virgin Mary is compelled to stop somebody lying
if they want to. And, we can apparently see signs that
Mary herself is having troubles with the one or two
of the visionaries. Mary and the visions themselves
are untouchable with this report though. If it is true,
it is clearly a personal matter. It is hardly enough
to condemn an entire apparition and so the Church most
certainly hasn't. I don't see Rick following up every
lie told within the walls of the Vatican in an attempt
to invalidate the Catholic Church. Perhaps Ivan simply
had enough of the questions and said something just
to get an annoying reporter off his back. This is personal
weakness, nothing more.
May 7, 1981, Vicka gave the Bishop her diary with
the missing pages regarding the priests and states that
there is no other diary. On June 16 she insists that
there is no diary at all.
September 16, 1981, Vicka answers, "I have no
secret notebook other than the one in which I have noted
what Our Lady told me of her life. If you wish, I can
confirm this on an oath."
What she did not know was that the Bishop had already
seen one of the missing diaries, [the three days of
notes on which the so-called "Virgin" had
spoken against the Bishop and in favor of the two Franciscans].
And yet, Vicka claimed that she had written everything
down from the beginning.
Who, if able to write, would not write down the words
of the Mother of God? Five years later she admitted
to all the diaries including the missing ones. However,
the Bishop was never able to see them.
More irrelevancies. In the same
way that God told Joseph to take Mary as his wife to
save a potentially embarrasing situation, so the visionary
felt it necessary to hide her valuables from the Bishop
of Mostar. For possible reasons for Vicka wanting to
do this, see the
Bishops of Mostar.
On January 14, 1985, while in "ecstasy",
a Frenchman quickly pointed two fingers at Vicka's eyes.
Vicka gave a start and threw her head back. All was
filmed on camera. She was not in ecstasy. Vicka left
the room with the Franciscan priest and came back a
few minutes later. The camera continued to film. She
announced without being asked:
"I did not see Jean-Louis [the Frenchman] nor
his hand. I saw the Virgin. She had the child, Jesus,
in her arms. At a certain moment, the Child slipped,
(sic) and I simply made a movement to stop him from
falling."
God slipped? The Child, Jesus slipped? How stupid
do these Franciscan priests think we are? Two weeks
later, the priests closed the apparitions to the outside
public. They have been protected from anyone getting
too close ever since.
This is the single reported "anomaly"
during 25+ years of apparitions. I put "anomaly"
in quotes because actually nothing happened. A man called
Jean Louis got excited about a coincidence. Rick has
exaggerated the situation to bolster his argument. What
people readily believed was Vicka's "reaction"
to a quick two-finger stabbing motion by Jean Louis
consisted of a 14mm deflection of the head and the batting
of an eyelid. Because the finger-stab and the "reaction"
appeared to be sequential, the assumption was that Vicka
reacted directly to Jean Louis's finger-stab. Rick Salbato
(or whoever his source is) then dressed it up to paint
a picture of a violent throwing of the head backwards,
with a grimace. There was ZERO change in expression
on Vicka's face over all relevant frames of the film
studied by scientists, which is completely inconsistent
with a supposed reaction to a sharp movement towards
the eyes. Combine that with a tiny 14mm deflection and
you can see the truth of the matter. The conclusion
of the scientists who studied the film was that the
reaction of Vicka was NOT AS A RESULT OF THREAT TO HER
EYES. The timing was slightly out between the finger
poke and the alleged reaction to the finger poke.
Subsequently, Vicka gave a clear
and straightforward explanation. Note that this explanation
was provided during a question and answer session immediately
after the apparition and the question asked of Vicka
was whether there was anything that happened during
the apparition that had disturbed her. This puts paid
to any speculation that Vicka got together with the
priests to talk her way out of being "sprung".
Vicka did the natural thing in responding to this question.
She searched her mind and offered the only plausible
reason she could recall for possibly having experienced
disturbance. The only thing she could think of that
disturbed her was that it crossed her mind that baby
Jesus might fall from the hands of the Gospa. Remember
that after apparitions these types of questions from
reporters are routine. They are asked such things as
"We noticed that you smiled so brightly at one
point. What was the Gospa saying to you then?"
(Click
here for further information about the Jean Louis incident
.)
The pertinent fact is that Medjugorje
is the first apparition to be studied in depth by the
scientific community and the astounding results of tests
on the visionaries, including electric shocks, 1000
watt bulbs in front of their eyes, etc, etc, are well-documented.
Please see Medjugorje
Scientific Investigation. This simply cannot be
argued with. No-one in the scientific community has
any requirement to lie about the visions at Medjugorje.
Father Vlasic and his female friend (I
detest Rick's innuendo), Agnes Heupel, asked
Marija Pavlovic to have the Virgin Mary bless their
idea to have an illegal New Order of Priests and Nuns,
who would live together in the same house. This blessing
was given in Marija's texts, "An appeal in the
Marian Year" and in "My Declaration."
When things in this new house got out of line, and
the public opinion was about to explode against her
and her Virgin, she wrote on July 11, 1988, a retraction:
"From the texts ... which bears my signature
[approving the new house] ... That the answer would
be 'That is the plan of God.' ... Now I declare that
I have never asked the Madonna for any approval for
this undertaking begun by Father Tomislav Vlasic and
Agnes Heupel ... Anything in my statement which might
be construed as the Madonna's approval of the undertaking
of Father Tomislav Vlasic and Agnes Heupel is absolutely
not in conformity with the truth."
What shall we say? That she lied the first time and
is not lying now? That she told the truth the first
time and is lying now that things are not going well?
What?
More irrelevancies and personal
issues that do not prove the apparitions as false, and
stated so by Rick himself. Lies were told. Lies were
apologised for.
What we can say for sure is that they are liars (so
was Peter and a dozen Popes after him). Does
that prove the apparitions false? No!
Rick admits that personal lies
and indiscretions do not invalidate Medjugorje, yet
fails to take the next step, i.e. to shut his mouth
and wait, as the Vatican is doing. No, he continues
to try to smear anything not already smeared and to
build up a case. But any case will always fail because
all the individual pieces fail on their own. There is
nothing that stands up. The Vatican knows this, Rick
doesn't care. He's on a mission. He's the Maverick Crime
Buster.
But when we couple it with the complete lack of grace
in the children, we have a good case.
Instead of attacking the apparitions
or the messages (which he knows he simply cannot do),
Rick uses the harshest words he can find to assassinate
the messengers in a very sweeping and unjust condemnation
"COMPLETE LACK OF GRACE".
He doesn't say "a little lack of grace here and
there". His is a total assassination. Yet, anybody
who has had anything to do with the apparitions knows
that it is precisely GRACE that is NOT
lacking with the visionaries. Rick points out a few
lies. I'm pointing out Rick's far worse behaviour. Who
has the lack of grace around here?
For instance, five years after seeing the Mother of
God almost everyday and a thousand so-called ecstasies,
Jakov still did not have enough grace to stay in Mass
until the end. He then married a pageant queen, even
though the Gospa had asked him to become a priest. He
now wears elevator shoes because his wife is quite tall.
Our pastor was not impressed, to say the least, when
he saw the seers, five minutes after having talked to
the "Virgin", go across the street to have
a beer and sandwich.
Is Rick saying that Jakov NEVER
has the grace to stay at Mass until the very end? Or
is it an isolated incident. If so, does Rick know the
reasons for leaving Mass early?
Rick also notes that the Virgin
asked Jakov to become a priest, but instead Jakov marries
a pageant queen. This tells us two things: Jakov did
not lie about the Gospa's preference for him becoming
a priest. He could simply have never mentioned this
request from the Gospa, or even lied (true to the accusations
of Rick) and said that the Gospa had selected someone
for him. Secondly, Rick is quite content casting aspersions
on Jakov's wife for being a beauty queen and, by inference,
staining the reputation of Jakov, as if there were something
seedy and illicit in marrying a beautiful girl.
There is also a tacit admission
here by Rick that he cannot make anything stick against
the Gospa or the messages because it does seem that
Mary herself may actually prefer the visionaries to
take some other pathway.
This is gutter tabloid stuff.
Rick is really stooping.
SUMMARY TO DATE
Messages from Our Lady, in 1982,
to the visionaries:
"Pray my angels, persevere!
Do not let the enemy take possession of you in anything.
Be courageous. Go in the peace of God, my angels.
Good-bye."
"Satan only says what
he wants. He interferes in everything. You, my angels,
be ready to endure everything. Here, many things will
take place. Do not allow yourselves to be surprised
by him."
The enemy has apparently been
influencing a good number of people in the secular,
and even Christian, media. Undoubtedly, Rick himself
has been reading a lot of gutter tabloid materials,
of which most people know the vast majority is either
false, taken out of context or hammed up. Here
is an example of outright lies told by the media having
the sole intention of damaging Medjugorje's credibility.
We cannot put it down to anything rational. It appears
purely the work of Satan. You see, the devil always
appears when something important is going down.
Mary herself warned the children
of this on June 23, 1982
Be very attentive these
days. Some dishonest people will come to you, in numbers,
in order to tempt you. Be careful of your statements.
These days I am expecting of you a very special discipline.
Do not move around anywhere, or often, and do not
separate from one another.
Rick also uses plenty of quotes
from the Bishops of Mostar - Zanic and Peric - his main
allies in condemning Medjugorje, but having the Bishops
of Mostar as his main allies does not do his cause any
service. Read
here for a summary of information about the Bishops
of Mostar.
Rick simply amazes me. He professes
to be a Catholic Christian. The 9th commandment addresses
bearing false witness against our neighbours. Yet, his
article is a litany of false witness, slander and innuendo
against visionaries and Franciscans. Let's give him
the benefit of the doubt and call him 'seriously misled'
instead of evil. But at the moment, I simply cannot
call him my Catholic brother while he persists along
this track. And why do I get the feeling he wouldn't
consider it too great a loss to fall out with Catholic
brothers. He might even consider it a righteous cross
he has to bear. But, in that delusion, he would be completing
discounting the fact that he deserves every angry reaction
it invites. His website is called "UNITY publishing",
but his articles foment division because of the sheer
disdain he shows for the vast multitude of Medjugorje
pilgrims, priests and clergy and believers around the
world. He passes this "division" buck everywhere
excepts where it rightly belongs, in his pocket. His
articles resort to slander, calumny, innuendo, things
taken out of contect and outright lies to DESTROY Medjugorje.
This can only come from one quarter - that of the enemy.
Even if Rick's articles were
researched properly, which they clearly are not, it
is not his place to pass judgement on individuals.
More to the point of the goal
of Rick's article, there is nothing that sticks directly
against the Virgin Mary or the Medjugorje apparitions.
It almost seems to me that Mary herself has grimaced
on occasion at decisions and actions taken by some of
her charges. January 14, 1982, two of the seers admitted
being reprimanded by the Virgin. The other visionaries
could not hear this correction for their behavior but
Our Lady's expression gave them an indication what it
was about. Those reprimanded later said that Our Lady
was kind and respectful to them. August
11, 1982, the visionaries were scolded by Our Lady for
their conduct during the evening Mass.
I have counted 3 occasions so
far where Rick himself has brought up the reprimands
by the Virgin for "bad behaviour". THIS SPEAKS
VOLUMES! It says that Rick can, at best, attack the
visionaries for personal weakness, but he has nothing
with which to attack the Virgin Mary or the messages
or the apparitions. Certainly, this apparition has had
its share of drama, but after 25+ years, I would have
thought we could expect far more.
Medjugorje is a story about real
people, humble simple people, who found themselves at
the edge of Heaven. Rick Salbato and every other detractor
simply will have to admit that all of their arguments
against Medjugorje relate solely to personal issues
on both sides of the fence. There is NOTHING that stands
up against the apparitions at Medjugorje. We have parallels
all through the bible and in the world today - from
the weaknesses of Christ's disciples to the scandals
today involving Catholic priests. It is an inevitable
part of anything good and attests to the present of
the enemy - the great spoiler - the ultimate detractor.
How many souls, even Catholic souls, even the visionaries
and clergy directly involved, has the evil one caused
to pollute and distort a true work of God.
If Rick's personal slandering
of individuals wasn't enough, the downstream effect
of his writings is far worse. It doesn't do any good
because Rick is not revealing truth, but propagating
untruths and unfounded innuendo, brought initially by
the Bishop of Mostar and long-since refuted or refutable.
It weighs on the hearts of Catholics and affects their
peace and their spirituality. It prevents people from
visiting Medjugorje who might otherwise experience great
conversional graces. I gives atheists all the ammunition
they need to ridicule the Catholic Church and use the
excuse that there is so much confusion in religion,
it would be better to stay away. These are the
fruits of Rick and sound like the wish list of Satan
himself. Rick needs to be made aware of these things.
To Be Painfully Continued...
Go directly to Rick's points of detraction:
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