Apostolic Visitor: ‘Come to Medjugorje, a place of grace'

By Andrea Tornielli

"Medjugorje is a normal place - there's nothing special to it. It has become, by grace, a spiritual site, where people come from all over the world. They come, and they begin to pray."

That's according to the Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, in an interview with Vatican News. He's lifelong papal diplomat who, in November 2021, was sent by Pope Francis as apostolic visitor to Medjugorje, a small town in Bosnia and Herzegovina which over the last forty years has become one of the most visited Marian centres in the world.

The year 2024 was an important one for Medjugorje: last May, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published new norms on alleged supernatural phenomena that make it easier to give the green light to devotions without committing the Holy See to a declaration of supernaturalness. And in September, a note entitled ‘The Queen of Peace’, dedicated to the spiritual experience of Medjugorje, was published, granting the Marian phenomenon the ‘nulla osta’ - the highest recognition among those included in the new norms. Since then the ‘alleged messages’ that the visionaries receive are published ‘with ecclesiastical approval’.

Vatican News: For some years now, you have been living in the parish of Medjugorje and meeting pilgrims. What has your experience been?

Archbishop Aldo Cavalli: I had never been to Medjugorje. But I am Italian, and like many from my country, I had had contact with those who had gone there. I always noticed, when they came back from Medjugorje, that these people were more committed on a spiritual and human level: in church, in catechesis, in doing good. They were much more committed than before. Now I’ve been there for three years: it’s a normal place, without anything special, and it has become, by grace, a spiritual place where people come from all over the world. They come and begin to pray there. They enter into communion with the Lord Jesus and the Virgin Mary accompanies them. It is a simple prayer: they want to change their lives, to live better than before, they want to solve or deal well with the problems they have. This change is called conversion, and it takes place in a special way in the sacrament of penance. This normally happens in Medjugorje.

What strikes you when you look at the many pilgrims?

Young and old alike come to Medjugorje. They come without any sponsorship. They all come with one purpose: to meet the Lord and the Virgin Mary. They find nothing to see or visit: as a site for religious tourism we have nothing to offer. But here young people and adults begin to pray. I had just arrived, in February three years ago, and was standing among the outdoor benches behind the church. A Latino family came in, with a 15-year-old boy who was a rebel, a real rebel! After just five minutes he came to confess... and the parents looked at him surprised. It is a place of grace that the Lord has chosen to meet people in. The Pope's authorisation means: go, go, go! Go there because it is a place of grace, where you meet the Lord and the Lord meets you.

The interview at Vatican News' Rome offices

Thanks to the new norms implemented by Pope Francis, the procedure for examining and pronouncing on these cases now focuses more on spiritual fruits.

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has examined two points that can be documented. The first concerns the fruits. Thousands and thousands come to Medjugorje from all over the world. This year, two million adults and young people came. Almost 50,000 priests came to pray, to convert. Then other very important fruits are the many vocations. So many people praying. The second element that was examined was the messages. Each message was compared against the tenets of the faith and it was found that the messages corresponded to it. Very positive fruits, and positive messages for the faith: this has allowed us to say that Medjugorje is a place of grace.

You are personally involved in the publication of messages that are released once a month. What is that process, concretely?

It's very simple: when there is a message, the person who received it writes it down and sends it to me in the language they write in, which is Croatian. It’s immediately translated for me into Italian. This process is very interesting: there are at least two very important human mediations: that's why we always speak of ‘supposed messages’, even if we are in favour, to the point that at the end of the message we write: ‘with ecclesiastical approval’. But beware, the messages are called ‘alleged’ because they go through two human mediations: Our Lady does not write, the person receiving writes. The second mediation is the translation from Croatian to Italian: they are two totally different languages. We say that the message is good, that it corresponds to faith, and we invite people to read and meditate on it because it is positive. It adds nothing to Revelation, but it enriches. It helps us to better live the faith today.

It's well known that no private revelation, hence none of the Marian apparitions, adds anything to divine revelation. What attitude should we take towards the revelations and what risks should we avoid? Sometimes there is a risk of allowing oneself to be caught up in an excess of curiosity about ‘secrets’, a somewhat apocalyptic curiosity.

Last May, the dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published norms that are fundamental for understanding the decision on Medjugorje. It recalled that first of all Revelation, the Word of God, is composed of the Bible alone, and that this Revelation ended with the Apocalypse of John. This does not take away from the fact that the Holy Spirit can make use of messages and private revelations entrusted to people and which serve to better implement the one true Revelation. None of this adds anything to Revelation, but it can be useful. That is the importance of the messages. They can be useful to implement today the Revelation that the Lord has already made, once and for all.

Have you met the visionaries of Medjugorje? 

Yes. And I can say that they are simple people, they have their own families, they have the problems that every family has.

Sorry to interrupt: at some point somebody made an objection because none of them had become priests or nuns...

But everyone has their own vocation! They are simple people, good people. I have nothing to say. We see each other often, we have coffee together. They are people who grow in faith, each in their own way, and become wise, more and more wise. I keep in touch with them: they have not become priests or nuns and each one has his own mission, his own family life.

What have you learned in these three years in the parish of Medjugorje?

That there is grace there. I have learnt that the Lord, with his grace, always follows us. I learnt that the Lord has a plan for our lives and accompanies us. He loves us.

In Medjugorje, Our Lady called herself ‘Queen of Peace’. A message as relevant as ever in our time.

One of the first alleged messages, from 1981, is very profound in this regard. It says: peace, peace may peace reign. But be careful: not peace between us, but first of all between God and us, and then afterwards between us humans. This is fundamental. When the Jews came out of Egypt, God said through the prophet Moses: if you want to live free, there are certain rules to follow, the Commandments. God is fundamental for peace. In the commandments we are told a few things to live by: respect life and do not kill, the family is fundamental, respect each other. If we live like this we live in peace. If, on the other hand, we do not live like this, we have wars.

Another feature that makes the message of Medjugorje particularly relevant is the fact that the alleged apparition took place in a land where different religions coexist and which has been marked by terrible violence in recent times. There are messages that touch on this theme. What can you say about this?

The word we use is dialogue. Dia logos, dialogue between us, but logos means: I present to you my identity, I present to you my way of living, of thinking, of believing, of acting. You present your identity to me. In dialogue, we get to know each other, each maintaining their own identity. If we lose our identity, we no longer dialogue. Then comes tragedy. There are different religions, different ways of living. We must dialogue. And in Medjugorje we have a clear identity: the Lord Jesus Christ is the only Lord for us.

The new norms published last May by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith are an expression of Pope Francis' pastoral spirit, and demonstrate his great attention to the faith of ordinary people, and popular devotion. How important is this aspect?

We must put up some very strong religious points of reference. Popular faith is enriched by placing the Mother of God as a reference point, and the Lord Jesus Christ as an absolute reference point. When simple people come with all their problems, they meet the Mother of God who has suffered like them. The image of Our Lady of Sorrows is in almost every parish: she who has suffered like you, and accompanies you to the Lord Jesus, who gives you the strength to live well. With the Lord’s help you can face problems. That’s the faith of ordinary people. That’s the Rosary, the Eucharist and Eucharistic adoration. Last summer I had 30-40,000 young people in front of me standing in adoration in absolute silence. There, in that transformed bread, is the real, substantial presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. He looks at me, I look at Him, He speaks to me, I speak to Him. How many people have told me: I heard the Lord speak to me in the Eucharist.

From what you said, and from what was said in the Dicastery’s note on Medjugorje, can we conclude by inviting everyone to make a pilgrimage there?

The document says very clearly: go to Medjugorje, because it is a place of grace.