Support For Medjugorje
Along with the French theologian René Laurentin and Pope John Paul II, Balthasar was one of the most influential supporters of the reported Marian apparitions in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, which are currently being studied by an international Vatican Commission. In an interview with the Jesuit author Fr. Robert Faricy, Balthasar stated: "Medjugorje's theology rings true. I am convinced of its truth. And everything about Medjugorje is authentic in a Catholic sense. What is happening there is so evident, so convincing." Balthasar was highly critical of Bishop Pavao Zanic's opposition to the apparitions and visionaries of Medjugorje, linking the former bishop of Mostar's actions to the atheist government of Yugoslavia. In a personal letter in 1985, Balthasar wrote discouragingly of steps that Zanic was taking against Medjugorje: "Priests removed, the children forbidden to come to the church, the ban on preaching etc., etc. Zanic is out to destroy (annihiler) the whole thing. He gives the impression of one working with the atheistic government. People should be informed about all this...The work of the commission set up by Zanic is scandalous." Shortly before Balthasar's death, Bishop Zanic's commission was dissolved and the jurisdiction over Medjugorje was taken away from him by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, then the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and a longtime friend and former student of Balthasar's. In Germany, Balthasar personally met with one of the Medjugorje visionaries, Marija Pavlovic.
Read more about this topic: Hans Urs Von Balthasar
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