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== Mirjana Dragičević Soldo= ==
No mention persistent allegations.
Mirjana Dragičević Soldo was born on 18 March 1965, in Sarajevo. She was 15 at the time of the alleged apparitions. She lived in Sarajevo for a long time, where she has also finished her education. She claims to have had regular apparitions between 24 June 1981, and 25 December 1982. She claims that she became depressed and prayed for the apparition to see her again. According to her claims, ''Gospa'' left her "a gift" that she could see her on her birthday. As Međugorje became more and more popular, Soldo later said that as of 2 August 1987, the apparition would appear every 2nd day of every month. As of 2 January 1997, Soldo knew the exact hour of the apparition (10 to 11 AM).{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=23}}
http://books.google.ca/books?id=t6Y3D4sZ8gQC&pg=PA239#v=onepage&q&f=false


She claims that the apparition told her ten secrets, which are intended "for humanity in general, for the world, then for Međugorje, Yugoslavia, and some other areas". Soldo also said that every seer has a special mission. She was given those who do not know the love of God, Vicka Ivanković and Jakov Čolo for the sick, Ivan Dragičević for the young and the priests, Marija Pavlović for the souls in purgatory, and Ivanka Ivanković for families.{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=25}}
it [alleged sexual misconduct] has torn apart... the New York Zen Center.


Soldo is married to Marko Soldo since 1989 and they have two children. They live in Međugorje,{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=26}} where they own a hotel.{{sfn|Rašeta|Mahmutović|2019}} They also own a mansion at the [[Croatia|Croatian]] island of [[Hvar]] in [[Sućuraj]], which they rent for 25,000 [[Croatian kuna|Croatian kunas]] (equivalent to 3,300 Euros or 3,850 United States dollars) a week.{{sfn|Jutarnji list (a)|2019}} One of her daughters, Veronika, studied at the [[University of Mostar]], and is remembered by her colleagues for arriving at classes in a luxury [[Range Rover]].{{sfn|Rašeta|Mahmutović|2019}}
Later the relationship between them soured and Eido into trouble amid allegations of sexual misconduct and financial mismanagement.
[http:books.google.ca/books?id=NDvYAAAAMAAJ&q=%22into+trouble+amid+allegations+of+sexual%22&dq=%22into+trouble+amid+allegations+of+sexual%22&hl=en&ei=vus0TKfqG4T58Aax_vXwAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA]
how Bob Aitken knew what kind of person he had been," apparently alluding to his time in Hawaii in 1964 as a young unmarried monk when his dalliances with women had caused a rift with Aitken.


Soldo wrote several books, including an autobiography titled ''Moje srce će pobijediti'' (My heart will win).{{sfn|Rašeta|Mahmutović|2019}}
In 1975 and 1979, as well as later in 1982, the Zen Studies Society had been rocked by rumors of Eido Roshi's alleged sexual liaisons with female students .... these allegations resulted in an exodus of students, including six monks.


=== Marija Pavlović ===
But in 1979 there was another eruption of allegations that Eido Roshi had abused his responsibility and authority by sexually exploiting female students. This was accompanied by another exodus, which included a young couple who sought refuge at Sparks Street before it was legally open.
[[File:Marija_Pavlović_at_PalaDesio.jpg|thumb|221x221px|Marija Pavlović]]
Marija Pavlović was born on April 1, 1965, in [[Bijakovići]] near Međugorje. She was 15 at the time of the alleged apparitions. She finished secondary school in Mostar.{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=28}}


She was once asked why she didn't become a nun, to which she replied: "Through all those years I thought I'm gonna be a nun. I started visiting a monastery; my desire to go there was very strong. But the abbess told me: "Marija, if you tend to join, you can, but if Bishop decides that you cannot talk about Međugorje, you must listen to him." In that moment, I started to think that my calling is perhaps that I witness to what I saw and felt, and that I will seek my sainthood outside the monastery."{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=28}} She also claims to have daily apparitions and that she keeps nine secrets from ''Gospa''. She claims that ''Gospa'' sends her monthly messages for the world. These messages were at first made public by fra Tomislav Vlašić, then after him by fra [[Slavko Barbarić]].{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=30–31}}
In the fall of 1982 another round of accusations, allegations, denials, and subsequent departures was documented in a series of letters sent by individual students to the membership of the Zen Studies Society and in letters that were exchanged between Eido Roshi and some of his senior students. Eido Roshi denied the accusations.


Later, in February 1988, she joined fra [[Tomislav Vlašić]],{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=29}} a [[New Age]] promoter,{{sfn|Niles|2017}} and his group of 15 young men and women in the community "Queen of Peace, - totally yours – Through Mary to Jesus" in [[Parma]], Italy. Together they participated in spiritual exercises for five months. Vlašić was an ex-friar since 1987 who with his German assistant Agnes Heupel founded a mystic community. Heupel also claimed to receive messages from ''Gospa''. Vlašić claimed that through Pavlović's testimony the community was a work of ''Gospa'' herself, and that Pavloviće had delivered him an answer in March 1987 to his question to Gospa about the community, which, among other things, stated: "This is God's plan" and that "''Gospa'' leads the group through father Tomislav and Agnes, through which she sends her messages for the community".{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=28–29}} She left the group in July 1988 denied any messages from ''Gospa'' regarding the community.{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=29–30}}
Nor were the allegations limited to sexual misconduct. They spread to financial mismanagement and incorrect behavior towards Soen Roshi.

She married an Italian, Paolo Lunetti, in [[Milan]] in 1993. They live in a six-story mansion in [[Monza]],{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=31}} but spent most of the time in Milan.{{sfn|Garrison (b)|2012}}

=== Vicka Ivanković ===
Vicka Ivanković is the oldest of the alleged seers, born on September 3, 1964, in [[Bijakovići]], a village near Međugorje. She was 16 at the time of the alleged apparitions. She claims to have had daily apparitions, and on occasions two, three, four or five times a day. According to her claims, the apparition told her her biography from January 1983 to April 1985.{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=21}}

One of the major controversies of the Međugorje phenomenon was her diary about the apparitions, which went public with or without her consent. She claimed that the copying of her diaries occurred without her knowledge or consent.{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=21}} She married Marijo Mijatović in 2002.{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=23}}

She claims to have prayed and talked with Our Lady and to have been given nine "secrets". Her "prayer mission", given by the Blessed Virgin Mary, is to pray for the sick. Vicka says that her daily apparitions have not yet stopped. Vicka claims to have received a biography of Mary's life, contained in two handwritten notebooks, which Vicka has said will be published when the Blessed Virgin Mary tells her to do so.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Regarding her alleged visions, Vicka Ivanković once stated:<blockquote>Before, I prayed from pure habit. Now I've turned completely to prayer. I commit my life completely to God. I feel sorry for those who do not believe in God, because Our Lady wants no one to be lost. We can help each other find the right way to God. It's up to the people to obey the messages and be converted. Great things are happening here – Our Lady is among us. She wishes to attract everyone to Her Son. That's the reason She has been coming so long and so often. Here everyone feels the nearness and the love of God. As role model and example, Gospa (Mary) began, in January 1983, to tell me Her life story, which took over two years.<ref>{{cite web|title=Medjugorje website|url=http://www.medjugorje.org/avip.htm|access-date=2013-04-01|publisher=Medjugorje.org}}</ref></blockquote>Ivanković lives in a mansion in [[Krehin Gradac]] near Medjugorje.{{sfn|Rašeta|Mahmutović|2019}} On March 18, 2020 Mirjana Dragićević announced that the Blessed Mother would no longer appear to her at that time, the second of each month.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-03-18|title=Medjugorje 'visionary' says monthly apparitions have come to an end|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/medjugorje-visionary-says-monthly-apparitions-have-come-to-an-end-63003|access-date=2020-11-30|website=Catholic News Agency|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-03-18|title=Medjugorje 'visionary' says monthly apparitions have come to an end|url=https://angelusnews.com/faith/medjugorje-visionary-says-monthly-apparitions-have-come-to-an-end/|access-date=2020-10-05|website=Angelus News|language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Ivan Dragičević ===
Ivan Dragičević was born in Mostar on May 25, 1965. He was 15 at the time of the alleged apparitions. After graduating from elementary school, he enrolled at a secondary school in [[Čitluk]], but failed to pass the first class. In August 1981 he applied to the seminary of the Herzegovinian [[Franciscan]] Province, where he was already known for the alleged apparitions. He was sent to a seminary in [[Visoko]]. In the seminary, he also claimed to have daily apparitions. Again he failed to pass the first class and was sent to the [[Gymnasium (school)|gymnasium]] in [[Dubrovnik]], where it was thought he would pass the class more easily. Thus, in autumn 1982, he was transferred from the Franciscan seminary to the humanist gymnasium in Dubrovnik. He was unsuccessful there as well and left the school altogether in January 1983.{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=33}}

He himself also appeared to the rest of the seers on 12 November 1981 sending them his regards.{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=113}}

While in the Franciscan seminary, he claimed that ''Gospa'' came to an image of Jesus and said: "Angel, this is your Father", which was never taught by any Christian denomination. He also claimed, like Vicka Dragičević, that ''Gospa'' told him her biography from December 1982 to May 1983.{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=34}}

Dragičević married [[Miss USA 1990#Delegates|Laureen Murphy]], a former Miss [[Massachusetts]], in 1994. They have four children and live in [[Boston]] and then resides in the other half the year in the parish of Medjugorje.<ref name="Med">{{cite web|title=The Visionaries of Medjugorje|url=https://www.medjugorje.org/avip.htm|access-date=2020-11-04}}</ref>{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=34}} His wife owns a tourist agency for pilgrims to Medjugorje. Dragičević owns a hotel in Medjugorje and a mansion worth a million of the United States dollars.{{sfn|Rašeta|Mahmutović|2019}}

In October 2013, Archbishop Gerhard Müller of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith wished the U.S. bishops to be aware that Dragicevic was scheduled to give presentations at parishes across the country and was anticipated to have more apparitions during these talks. The [[Apostolic Nunciature to the United States]] advised the bishops that the 1991 Zadar declaration that Catholics, whether clergy or laypeople, "are not permitted to participate in meetings, conferences or public celebrations during which the credibility of such 'apparitions' would be taken for granted".<ref name="NCR">[http://medjugorjedocuments.blogspot.com/2013/11/2013-cdf-twice-to-us-bishops-on.html "Vatican Advises U.S. Bishops About Medjugorje Apparitions", ''National Catholic Register/ Catholic News Agency'', 6 November 2013]</ref> The letter was sent to every diocese in the U.S. as the CDF determined that the judgment of the Yugoslavian bishops which precluded such gatherings remained in force.<ref>[https://catholicstand.com/medjugorje-clarification-disobedience/ Symonds, Kevin. "Medjugorje: A Clarification and Disobedience", ''Catholic Stand'', February 18, 2015]</ref>

=== Jakov Čolo ===
[[File:Jakov_Čolo.jpg|thumb|241x241px|Jakov Čolo]]
Jakov Čolo was born in [[Bijakovići]] on March 6, 1971. He was 10 at the time of the alleged apparitions. He claimed to have had daily apparitions from June 25, 1981, to September 12, 1998. As of then, he claims that he has one apparition a year on Christmas Day. He claims that ''Gospa'' told him the tenth secret.{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=37}}

He married Anna-Lisa Barozzi, an Italian, in 1993. They have three children and live in Međugorje.{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=37}}

== History of apparitions ==
According to the seers, on 24 June 1981 around 4pm, fourteen-year-old Ivanka Ivanković, whose mother had died the previous May, and her friend Mirjana Dragičević were returning to the village, having gone for a walk. Ivanka noticed the silhouette of a woman on nearby Mount Podbrdo which she immediately took to be the Madonna. She drew this to Marija's attention, but her friend scoffed at the idea as being unlikely and they continued on their way. They then met Milka Pavlovic, who asked them to help bring in the sheep, so the three returned to the nearby hill, where all three saw the apparition.<ref>Kraljević, Svetozar. ''The Apparitions of Our Lady at Međugorje'', Franciscan Herald Press, Chicago, 1984</ref> They were then joined by their friends Vicka Ivanković, Ivan Dragičević and Ivan Ivankovic. Ivan Dragicevic was frightened and left; the others followed. All of them later said they saw the same apparition.

The next day Ivanka Ivankovic, Mirjana Dragicevic, Vicka Ivankovic, and Ivan Dragicevic returned to the site. Ivan Ivankovic did not accompany them. As Milka Pavlovic's mother kept the twelve-year-old to help her in the garden, Vicka Ivankovic brought along Milka's sister, Marija Pavlovic, and ten-year-old Jakov Colo. (Milka experienced no further apparitions.) The six seers told Franciscan friar Father [[Jozo Zovko]] that they had seen the Virgin Mary at Medjugorje.<ref name="Caldwell">{{cite news|last=Caldwell|first=Simon|title=Sex, lies and apparitions|publisher=[[The Spectator]]|url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/sex-lies-and-apparitions|access-date=24 October 2020}}</ref> Zovko was the parish priest at St. James Church in Medjugorje.

Mirjana gave a different account to Bishop [[Pavao Žanić]], saying that they went to smoke cigarettes in hiding. There, they claimed they saw an apparition, for which they thought was [[Mary, mother of Jesus]]. (In a latter conversation with Žanić, Mirjana tried to convince the bishop they were looking for the missing sheep, a claim the seers continued to advocate.<ref>{{harvnb|Kutleša|2001|pp=41-42}}: "'We went looking for sheep and suddenly ...' (the chaplain in the parish warned me that they were going to smoke, they hid it from their parents).{{-}}'Wait, Mirjana, you are under oath. Did you go looking Sheep?'{{-}}She put her hand over her mouth, ‘sorry, we went to smoke’. [...] On the tapes she later recorded I saw that and she kept saying that a miracle happened on the clock and she kept talking about how they went looking for the sheep.")</ref>

== Later events ==
Ivanka Ivankovic,Ivan Dragičević and Vicka Dragičević, claimed that ''Gospa'' told her biography between January and May 1983. She claims to have had regular apparitions until May 7, 1985, and that since then the apparitions occur only once a year. She claims the tenth secret was given to her by ''Gospa.''{{sfn|Kutleša|2001|p=36}} here are several apparitions and messages from the alleged Madonna, that caused controversy. These visions and messages were recorded by Vicka's diaries.

=== Chronicle of Apparitions and Vicka's diaries ===
Fr. [[Tomislav Vlašić]] became a spiritual guide of the seers and was conducting the Chronicle of Apparitions (''Kronika ukazanja'').{{sfn|Bulat|2006|p=20}} The Chronicle covers the period from 11 August 1981 to 15 October 1983. The chronicle is written to give the impression of immediacy, using terms such as “same scene as yesterday” or “tonight” and “tonight”. However, Nikola Bulat, member of the commission that examined the apparitions, concluded that the Chronicle wasn't written daily as it seems.{{sfn|Bulat|2006|p=23}} Under the number dates, events that occurred later were recorded.<ref>{{harvnb|Bulat|2006|pp=24-25}}: "A similar record was made on January 20: 'Five children had a vision of the Mother of God this evening as well.' The visionaries also asked the question: 'What will Fr. Ivica Vego and Fr. Ivan Prusina do now that they have been expelled?' These are two disobedient chaplains who were suspended, ie they were forbidden to perform priestly duties and were dismissed from the Order of the OFM. Our Lady replied: 'They are not guilty. The bishop was hasty in his decision. Let them stay.' This fact interests us here only because the two mentioned chaplains were dismissed from the Order only on 29 January 1982. The act of dismissal from the OFM Order of the two mentioned chaplains was recorded in the Chronicle 9 days before they were dismissed. This clearly tells us that the wording: 'Five children and this evening ...', ie 20 January is not correct, because it did not happen that evening nor could it have been written that evening when the chaplains were fired 9 days later."</ref> The intro of the Chronicle was written only on 25 February 1982, so Bulat concludes that it is possible that Vlašić started writing the Chronicle only then, eight months after the apparitions or during the October 1981 at its best.{{sfn|Bulat|2006|p=26}}

The commission also received Vicka's three out of four diaries. The first diary was written by Vicka's sister Ana and it encompasses the period from 24 June 1981 to 6 September 1981.{{sfn|Bulat|2006|pp=34-35}} Some of the problematic aspects the commission found with the diary is that Vicka never saw it nor wrote it, and it contained the information Vicka claimed to have never told to her sister.<ref>{{harvnb|Bulat|2006|p=35}}: "It is interesting what Vicka said in a conversation with Fr. Janko Bubalo when he asked her about the "sign":{{-}}Janko: - In a notebook (which they call yours) it says that Our Lady had a smile on 26 October 1981, she said she was somehow surprised that you didn't ask her for a sign anymore, but that she will surely leave it to you, that you are not afraid of anything...{{-}}Vicka: - That's good. But I don't think it was her first promise that she would really leave a sign to us.{{-}}Janko: - This is true because, in a small notebook, which was recorded by your sister Ana (it is the manuscript of the First Diary), it was recorded three times that Our Lady told you at the end of August that she would leave her sign 'soon', and here, it dragged on...{{-}}Vicka: - I don't know that. I never read that notebook, and I never told Ana that. Someone else must have said that{{-}}Janko: - I think Jakov and Ivanka told her that..."</ref>

The second diary was largely copied from Vlašić's Chronicle, and it encompasses the period from 12 October 1981 to 14 December 1981. The 18 October 1981 was written twice, with different content. It contains two handwritings, non of which is Vicka's. Vicka told the commission that this diary was also written by her sister.{{sfn|Bulat|2006|pp=40-48}}

Vicka's third diary is the only one written by Vicka. It includes the period between 6 February 1982 to 25 March 1982. It isn't reliable as the dates in it do not correspond to the days of the week, while only the first eight days are correctly written. For example, on the day of [[Ash Wednesday]], it says it was [[Good Friday]]. It also contains songs and quotes unrelated to the apparitions. It has poor grammar and content.{{sfn|Bulat|2006|pp=48-50}}

The question of the Vicka's fourth diary remains unresolved. Vicka claimed in a letter to Bishop Pavao that she has been writing it since the beginning of the apparition, and the second time she claimed that she never had it.<ref>{{harvnb|Bulat|2006|pp=61-62}}: "In the first place comes the recognition of Vicka herself. In the diaries we spoken of above (First, Second and Third) there is not a single excerpt brought by Fr. Grafenauer to Msgr. Žanić. When Bishop Žanić reproduced Fr. Grafenauer's excerpts and distributed them to some bishops, he received a letter from the seer Vicka Ivanković, dated 7 May 1983, in which she wrote:{{-}}'These days, I learned that they are multiplying excerpts from my diary, which I write exclusively for myself from the very beginning of the apparition of Bl. Virgin Mary on Crnica in the parish of Medjugorje. [...]] I hereby inform my Father Bishop that the public is aware that anything that spreads and multiplies in any way as the text of my diary is a severe indiscretion and violation of my basic rights to a private diary.' [...]{{-}}That such a diary existed, Vicka confirmed in an interview with three members of the Commission (Dogan, Samac and the undersigned) on 11 October 1984 in Mostar. Then I showed Vicka a copy of her letter to the bishop dated 7 May 1983, read it aloud, and finally asked her,{{-}}"It says here that you have been writing a diary since the beginning of the apparition."{{-}}Vicka: "I am!"{{-}}Bulat: "And that Diary exists?{{-}}Vicka: "It exists!" (Let's not forget that this is a Diary containing "Our Lady's messages" to the chaplains) (...){{-}}Bulat: "Do you really own that Diary as a whole?"{{-}}Vicka: "Yes!" [...]{{-}}Dogan: "Did Father Vlašić see that Diary?"{{-}}Vicka: "Which one? He saw everything. The same Diary, he saw everything, only he did not see the biography (Our Lady's biography). I give all the diaries to everyone. Whoever wants can look at them. But I don't have any hidden Diary!"</ref> Similarly, Fr. Vlašić claimed that the fourth diary exists, and then later swore on the Cross that he never held it in his hands.<ref>{{harvnb|Bulat|2006|p=64-65}}: Msgr. Žanić, convinced that the excerpts brought to him by Fr. Grafenauer from Vicka's Diary, asked Fr. Tomislav Vlašić on 9 February 1983 why they hid the Diary from the bishop and why they did not publish the messages that "Our Lady" said about the chaplains.{{-}}Vlašić replied: "Well, you publish it!" "He did not say that the excerpts brought by Fr. Grafenauer were not from the Diary or that the Diary did not exist," Bishop Žanić notes.{{-}}However, when the bishop, after several unsuccessful written requests, went to Medjugorje in person on 16 November 1983 to request the Chronicle and the diary, Father Vlašić claimed that the diary did not exist "and that he could swear on the cross that he had never had it in his hands". On 14 December 1983, Fr. Tomislav Vlašić spoke again with the bishop in Mostar about the "hidden" diary: on that occasion, he swore on the cross that he did not have in his hand the diary spoken of by the bishop."</ref>

Revision as of 00:47, 23 January 2021

Mirjana Dragičević Soldo=

Mirjana Dragičević Soldo was born on 18 March 1965, in Sarajevo. She was 15 at the time of the alleged apparitions. She lived in Sarajevo for a long time, where she has also finished her education. She claims to have had regular apparitions between 24 June 1981, and 25 December 1982. She claims that she became depressed and prayed for the apparition to see her again. According to her claims, Gospa left her "a gift" that she could see her on her birthday. As Međugorje became more and more popular, Soldo later said that as of 2 August 1987, the apparition would appear every 2nd day of every month. As of 2 January 1997, Soldo knew the exact hour of the apparition (10 to 11 AM).[1]

She claims that the apparition told her ten secrets, which are intended "for humanity in general, for the world, then for Međugorje, Yugoslavia, and some other areas". Soldo also said that every seer has a special mission. She was given those who do not know the love of God, Vicka Ivanković and Jakov Čolo for the sick, Ivan Dragičević for the young and the priests, Marija Pavlović for the souls in purgatory, and Ivanka Ivanković for families.[2]

Soldo is married to Marko Soldo since 1989 and they have two children. They live in Međugorje,[3] where they own a hotel.[4] They also own a mansion at the Croatian island of Hvar in Sućuraj, which they rent for 25,000 Croatian kunas (equivalent to 3,300 Euros or 3,850 United States dollars) a week.[5] One of her daughters, Veronika, studied at the University of Mostar, and is remembered by her colleagues for arriving at classes in a luxury Range Rover.[4]

Soldo wrote several books, including an autobiography titled Moje srce će pobijediti (My heart will win).[4]

Marija Pavlović

Marija Pavlović

Marija Pavlović was born on April 1, 1965, in Bijakovići near Međugorje. She was 15 at the time of the alleged apparitions. She finished secondary school in Mostar.[6]

She was once asked why she didn't become a nun, to which she replied: "Through all those years I thought I'm gonna be a nun. I started visiting a monastery; my desire to go there was very strong. But the abbess told me: "Marija, if you tend to join, you can, but if Bishop decides that you cannot talk about Međugorje, you must listen to him." In that moment, I started to think that my calling is perhaps that I witness to what I saw and felt, and that I will seek my sainthood outside the monastery."[6] She also claims to have daily apparitions and that she keeps nine secrets from Gospa. She claims that Gospa sends her monthly messages for the world. These messages were at first made public by fra Tomislav Vlašić, then after him by fra Slavko Barbarić.[7]

Later, in February 1988, she joined fra Tomislav Vlašić,[8] a New Age promoter,[9] and his group of 15 young men and women in the community "Queen of Peace, - totally yours – Through Mary to Jesus" in Parma, Italy. Together they participated in spiritual exercises for five months. Vlašić was an ex-friar since 1987 who with his German assistant Agnes Heupel founded a mystic community. Heupel also claimed to receive messages from Gospa. Vlašić claimed that through Pavlović's testimony the community was a work of Gospa herself, and that Pavloviće had delivered him an answer in March 1987 to his question to Gospa about the community, which, among other things, stated: "This is God's plan" and that "Gospa leads the group through father Tomislav and Agnes, through which she sends her messages for the community".[10] She left the group in July 1988 denied any messages from Gospa regarding the community.[11]

She married an Italian, Paolo Lunetti, in Milan in 1993. They live in a six-story mansion in Monza,[12] but spent most of the time in Milan.[13]

Vicka Ivanković

Vicka Ivanković is the oldest of the alleged seers, born on September 3, 1964, in Bijakovići, a village near Međugorje. She was 16 at the time of the alleged apparitions. She claims to have had daily apparitions, and on occasions two, three, four or five times a day. According to her claims, the apparition told her her biography from January 1983 to April 1985.[14]

One of the major controversies of the Međugorje phenomenon was her diary about the apparitions, which went public with or without her consent. She claimed that the copying of her diaries occurred without her knowledge or consent.[14] She married Marijo Mijatović in 2002.[1]

She claims to have prayed and talked with Our Lady and to have been given nine "secrets". Her "prayer mission", given by the Blessed Virgin Mary, is to pray for the sick. Vicka says that her daily apparitions have not yet stopped. Vicka claims to have received a biography of Mary's life, contained in two handwritten notebooks, which Vicka has said will be published when the Blessed Virgin Mary tells her to do so.[citation needed]

Regarding her alleged visions, Vicka Ivanković once stated:

Before, I prayed from pure habit. Now I've turned completely to prayer. I commit my life completely to God. I feel sorry for those who do not believe in God, because Our Lady wants no one to be lost. We can help each other find the right way to God. It's up to the people to obey the messages and be converted. Great things are happening here – Our Lady is among us. She wishes to attract everyone to Her Son. That's the reason She has been coming so long and so often. Here everyone feels the nearness and the love of God. As role model and example, Gospa (Mary) began, in January 1983, to tell me Her life story, which took over two years.[15]

Ivanković lives in a mansion in Krehin Gradac near Medjugorje.[4] On March 18, 2020 Mirjana Dragićević announced that the Blessed Mother would no longer appear to her at that time, the second of each month.[16][17]

Ivan Dragičević

Ivan Dragičević was born in Mostar on May 25, 1965. He was 15 at the time of the alleged apparitions. After graduating from elementary school, he enrolled at a secondary school in Čitluk, but failed to pass the first class. In August 1981 he applied to the seminary of the Herzegovinian Franciscan Province, where he was already known for the alleged apparitions. He was sent to a seminary in Visoko. In the seminary, he also claimed to have daily apparitions. Again he failed to pass the first class and was sent to the gymnasium in Dubrovnik, where it was thought he would pass the class more easily. Thus, in autumn 1982, he was transferred from the Franciscan seminary to the humanist gymnasium in Dubrovnik. He was unsuccessful there as well and left the school altogether in January 1983.[18]

He himself also appeared to the rest of the seers on 12 November 1981 sending them his regards.[19]

While in the Franciscan seminary, he claimed that Gospa came to an image of Jesus and said: "Angel, this is your Father", which was never taught by any Christian denomination. He also claimed, like Vicka Dragičević, that Gospa told him her biography from December 1982 to May 1983.[20]

Dragičević married Laureen Murphy, a former Miss Massachusetts, in 1994. They have four children and live in Boston and then resides in the other half the year in the parish of Medjugorje.[21][20] His wife owns a tourist agency for pilgrims to Medjugorje. Dragičević owns a hotel in Medjugorje and a mansion worth a million of the United States dollars.[4]

In October 2013, Archbishop Gerhard Müller of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith wished the U.S. bishops to be aware that Dragicevic was scheduled to give presentations at parishes across the country and was anticipated to have more apparitions during these talks. The Apostolic Nunciature to the United States advised the bishops that the 1991 Zadar declaration that Catholics, whether clergy or laypeople, "are not permitted to participate in meetings, conferences or public celebrations during which the credibility of such 'apparitions' would be taken for granted".[22] The letter was sent to every diocese in the U.S. as the CDF determined that the judgment of the Yugoslavian bishops which precluded such gatherings remained in force.[23]

Jakov Čolo

Jakov Čolo

Jakov Čolo was born in Bijakovići on March 6, 1971. He was 10 at the time of the alleged apparitions. He claimed to have had daily apparitions from June 25, 1981, to September 12, 1998. As of then, he claims that he has one apparition a year on Christmas Day. He claims that Gospa told him the tenth secret.[24]

He married Anna-Lisa Barozzi, an Italian, in 1993. They have three children and live in Međugorje.[24]

History of apparitions

According to the seers, on 24 June 1981 around 4pm, fourteen-year-old Ivanka Ivanković, whose mother had died the previous May, and her friend Mirjana Dragičević were returning to the village, having gone for a walk. Ivanka noticed the silhouette of a woman on nearby Mount Podbrdo which she immediately took to be the Madonna. She drew this to Marija's attention, but her friend scoffed at the idea as being unlikely and they continued on their way. They then met Milka Pavlovic, who asked them to help bring in the sheep, so the three returned to the nearby hill, where all three saw the apparition.[25] They were then joined by their friends Vicka Ivanković, Ivan Dragičević and Ivan Ivankovic. Ivan Dragicevic was frightened and left; the others followed. All of them later said they saw the same apparition.

The next day Ivanka Ivankovic, Mirjana Dragicevic, Vicka Ivankovic, and Ivan Dragicevic returned to the site. Ivan Ivankovic did not accompany them. As Milka Pavlovic's mother kept the twelve-year-old to help her in the garden, Vicka Ivankovic brought along Milka's sister, Marija Pavlovic, and ten-year-old Jakov Colo. (Milka experienced no further apparitions.) The six seers told Franciscan friar Father Jozo Zovko that they had seen the Virgin Mary at Medjugorje.[26] Zovko was the parish priest at St. James Church in Medjugorje.

Mirjana gave a different account to Bishop Pavao Žanić, saying that they went to smoke cigarettes in hiding. There, they claimed they saw an apparition, for which they thought was Mary, mother of Jesus. (In a latter conversation with Žanić, Mirjana tried to convince the bishop they were looking for the missing sheep, a claim the seers continued to advocate.[27]

Later events

Ivanka Ivankovic,Ivan Dragičević and Vicka Dragičević, claimed that Gospa told her biography between January and May 1983. She claims to have had regular apparitions until May 7, 1985, and that since then the apparitions occur only once a year. She claims the tenth secret was given to her by Gospa.[28] here are several apparitions and messages from the alleged Madonna, that caused controversy. These visions and messages were recorded by Vicka's diaries.

Chronicle of Apparitions and Vicka's diaries

Fr. Tomislav Vlašić became a spiritual guide of the seers and was conducting the Chronicle of Apparitions (Kronika ukazanja).[29] The Chronicle covers the period from 11 August 1981 to 15 October 1983. The chronicle is written to give the impression of immediacy, using terms such as “same scene as yesterday” or “tonight” and “tonight”. However, Nikola Bulat, member of the commission that examined the apparitions, concluded that the Chronicle wasn't written daily as it seems.[30] Under the number dates, events that occurred later were recorded.[31] The intro of the Chronicle was written only on 25 February 1982, so Bulat concludes that it is possible that Vlašić started writing the Chronicle only then, eight months after the apparitions or during the October 1981 at its best.[32]

The commission also received Vicka's three out of four diaries. The first diary was written by Vicka's sister Ana and it encompasses the period from 24 June 1981 to 6 September 1981.[33] Some of the problematic aspects the commission found with the diary is that Vicka never saw it nor wrote it, and it contained the information Vicka claimed to have never told to her sister.[34]

The second diary was largely copied from Vlašić's Chronicle, and it encompasses the period from 12 October 1981 to 14 December 1981. The 18 October 1981 was written twice, with different content. It contains two handwritings, non of which is Vicka's. Vicka told the commission that this diary was also written by her sister.[35]

Vicka's third diary is the only one written by Vicka. It includes the period between 6 February 1982 to 25 March 1982. It isn't reliable as the dates in it do not correspond to the days of the week, while only the first eight days are correctly written. For example, on the day of Ash Wednesday, it says it was Good Friday. It also contains songs and quotes unrelated to the apparitions. It has poor grammar and content.[36]

The question of the Vicka's fourth diary remains unresolved. Vicka claimed in a letter to Bishop Pavao that she has been writing it since the beginning of the apparition, and the second time she claimed that she never had it.[37] Similarly, Fr. Vlašić claimed that the fourth diary exists, and then later swore on the Cross that he never held it in his hands.[38]

  1. ^ a b Kutleša 2001, p. 23.
  2. ^ Kutleša 2001, p. 25.
  3. ^ Kutleša 2001, p. 26.
  4. ^ a b c d e Rašeta & Mahmutović 2019.
  5. ^ Jutarnji list (a) 2019.
  6. ^ a b Kutleša 2001, p. 28.
  7. ^ Kutleša 2001, p. 30–31.
  8. ^ Kutleša 2001, p. 29.
  9. ^ Niles 2017.
  10. ^ Kutleša 2001, p. 28–29.
  11. ^ Kutleša 2001, p. 29–30.
  12. ^ Kutleša 2001, p. 31.
  13. ^ Garrison (b) 2012.
  14. ^ a b Kutleša 2001, p. 21.
  15. ^ "Medjugorje website". Medjugorje.org. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  16. ^ "Medjugorje 'visionary' says monthly apparitions have come to an end". Catholic News Agency. 2020-03-18. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  17. ^ "Medjugorje 'visionary' says monthly apparitions have come to an end". Angelus News. 2020-03-18. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
  18. ^ Kutleša 2001, p. 33.
  19. ^ Kutleša 2001, p. 113.
  20. ^ a b Kutleša 2001, p. 34.
  21. ^ "The Visionaries of Medjugorje". Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  22. ^ "Vatican Advises U.S. Bishops About Medjugorje Apparitions", National Catholic Register/ Catholic News Agency, 6 November 2013
  23. ^ Symonds, Kevin. "Medjugorje: A Clarification and Disobedience", Catholic Stand, February 18, 2015
  24. ^ a b Kutleša 2001, p. 37.
  25. ^ Kraljević, Svetozar. The Apparitions of Our Lady at Međugorje, Franciscan Herald Press, Chicago, 1984
  26. ^ Caldwell, Simon. "Sex, lies and apparitions". The Spectator. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  27. ^ Kutleša 2001, pp. 41–42: "'We went looking for sheep and suddenly ...' (the chaplain in the parish warned me that they were going to smoke, they hid it from their parents).
    'Wait, Mirjana, you are under oath. Did you go looking Sheep?'
    She put her hand over her mouth, ‘sorry, we went to smoke’. [...] On the tapes she later recorded I saw that and she kept saying that a miracle happened on the clock and she kept talking about how they went looking for the sheep.")
  28. ^ Kutleša 2001, p. 36.
  29. ^ Bulat 2006, p. 20.
  30. ^ Bulat 2006, p. 23.
  31. ^ Bulat 2006, pp. 24–25: "A similar record was made on January 20: 'Five children had a vision of the Mother of God this evening as well.' The visionaries also asked the question: 'What will Fr. Ivica Vego and Fr. Ivan Prusina do now that they have been expelled?' These are two disobedient chaplains who were suspended, ie they were forbidden to perform priestly duties and were dismissed from the Order of the OFM. Our Lady replied: 'They are not guilty. The bishop was hasty in his decision. Let them stay.' This fact interests us here only because the two mentioned chaplains were dismissed from the Order only on 29 January 1982. The act of dismissal from the OFM Order of the two mentioned chaplains was recorded in the Chronicle 9 days before they were dismissed. This clearly tells us that the wording: 'Five children and this evening ...', ie 20 January is not correct, because it did not happen that evening nor could it have been written that evening when the chaplains were fired 9 days later."
  32. ^ Bulat 2006, p. 26.
  33. ^ Bulat 2006, pp. 34–35.
  34. ^ Bulat 2006, p. 35: "It is interesting what Vicka said in a conversation with Fr. Janko Bubalo when he asked her about the "sign":
    Janko: - In a notebook (which they call yours) it says that Our Lady had a smile on 26 October 1981, she said she was somehow surprised that you didn't ask her for a sign anymore, but that she will surely leave it to you, that you are not afraid of anything...
    Vicka: - That's good. But I don't think it was her first promise that she would really leave a sign to us.
    Janko: - This is true because, in a small notebook, which was recorded by your sister Ana (it is the manuscript of the First Diary), it was recorded three times that Our Lady told you at the end of August that she would leave her sign 'soon', and here, it dragged on...
    Vicka: - I don't know that. I never read that notebook, and I never told Ana that. Someone else must have said that
    Janko: - I think Jakov and Ivanka told her that..."
  35. ^ Bulat 2006, pp. 40–48.
  36. ^ Bulat 2006, pp. 48–50.
  37. ^ Bulat 2006, pp. 61–62: "In the first place comes the recognition of Vicka herself. In the diaries we spoken of above (First, Second and Third) there is not a single excerpt brought by Fr. Grafenauer to Msgr. Žanić. When Bishop Žanić reproduced Fr. Grafenauer's excerpts and distributed them to some bishops, he received a letter from the seer Vicka Ivanković, dated 7 May 1983, in which she wrote:
    'These days, I learned that they are multiplying excerpts from my diary, which I write exclusively for myself from the very beginning of the apparition of Bl. Virgin Mary on Crnica in the parish of Medjugorje. [...]] I hereby inform my Father Bishop that the public is aware that anything that spreads and multiplies in any way as the text of my diary is a severe indiscretion and violation of my basic rights to a private diary.' [...]
    That such a diary existed, Vicka confirmed in an interview with three members of the Commission (Dogan, Samac and the undersigned) on 11 October 1984 in Mostar. Then I showed Vicka a copy of her letter to the bishop dated 7 May 1983, read it aloud, and finally asked her,
    "It says here that you have been writing a diary since the beginning of the apparition."
    Vicka: "I am!"
    Bulat: "And that Diary exists?
    Vicka: "It exists!" (Let's not forget that this is a Diary containing "Our Lady's messages" to the chaplains) (...)
    Bulat: "Do you really own that Diary as a whole?"
    Vicka: "Yes!" [...]
    Dogan: "Did Father Vlašić see that Diary?"
    Vicka: "Which one? He saw everything. The same Diary, he saw everything, only he did not see the biography (Our Lady's biography). I give all the diaries to everyone. Whoever wants can look at them. But I don't have any hidden Diary!"
  38. ^ Bulat 2006, p. 64-65: Msgr. Žanić, convinced that the excerpts brought to him by Fr. Grafenauer from Vicka's Diary, asked Fr. Tomislav Vlašić on 9 February 1983 why they hid the Diary from the bishop and why they did not publish the messages that "Our Lady" said about the chaplains.
    Vlašić replied: "Well, you publish it!" "He did not say that the excerpts brought by Fr. Grafenauer were not from the Diary or that the Diary did not exist," Bishop Žanić notes.
    However, when the bishop, after several unsuccessful written requests, went to Medjugorje in person on 16 November 1983 to request the Chronicle and the diary, Father Vlašić claimed that the diary did not exist "and that he could swear on the cross that he had never had it in his hands". On 14 December 1983, Fr. Tomislav Vlašić spoke again with the bishop in Mostar about the "hidden" diary: on that occasion, he swore on the cross that he did not have in his hand the diary spoken of by the bishop."
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