Installment of the Apostolic Visitor in Medjugorje: “Sign of a Great Respect and Recognition … The Act Through Which the Church Officially Recognized the Good Fruits of Medjugorje”

Each year the small, formerly communist village of Medjugorje, which has reported daily apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary for over 37 years, hosts a Youth Festival that draws tens of thousands, hundreds of priests and… for the first time in it’s history, two representatives of the Holy See! As both the Apostolic Visitor, Archbishop Henryk Hoser, and the Papal Nuncio to Bosnia Herzegovina, Archbishop Luigi Pezzuto, took part in the celebrations this year. 


What does it mean to have two Papal Representatives in Medjugorje at this time? And why did the Holy Father appoint an Apostolic Visitor to this faraway town of reported apparitions? 

Archbishop Henryk Hoser, Apostolic Visitor to Medjugorje, at the 2018 Medjugorje Youth Festival.
Photo obtained from Medjugorje’s official parish website 


I have been writing a series of articles that discuss these very questions, which you can access here: 

What is the Holy Father’s Mission In Medjugorje? 
and here: 
Do the Papal Envoy’s Words Mean Vatican Approval for Medjugorje is Near? and here. 

Though highlighted in a previous article, I would like to reiterate this incredible message sent by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the Archbishop of Vienna, to the youth who have traveled to worship at the 29th Annual Youth Festival. 

Because in it, he expresses that the:

installment of an Apostolic Visitor in Medjugorje is a “sign of great respect and recognition” 

that is 

“the act through which the Church officially recognized the good fruits of Medjugorje”


Here is his message in full:

“Dear young friends in the Lord! Again, you gathered in such a great number for the Youth Festival in Medjugorje. Again, as in the previous years, I wish to send you my warmest greetings, but this year we have a special opportunity to be especially grateful! Each of us has reasons to thank Holy Father for his kind care for Medjugorje! 
The instalment of the Apostolic Visitor is the sign of a great respect and recognition. This is the act through which the Church officially recognised the good fruits of Medjugorje. Archbishop Hoser is now the official representative of the Holy Father for this parish and pilgrims of Medjugorje.  
For you, dear friends, who have despite the heat came to Our Lady to pray, confess and celebrate here, this sign of the Holy Father is the great encouragement, for us to gaze into Mary and to follow her words: “Do as Jesus tells you to do!” With my great gratitude, I am sending you my greetings and I ask you to pray in a special way for our Holy Father Francis! Please pray for me too, as I pray for you all that you my have specially blessed days with Our Lady!

Yours, P. Christoph Cardinal, Schönborn”

I pray you take the time to read my previous article about Medjugorje’s Youth Festival, for this gathering of young people on fire for our faith needs to recognized! It is an uplifting, vibrant example of how the Catholic Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, is still alive and well on earth today!


It is a LIVING sign of tremendous faith and hope in Christ and His Church that should be especially celebrated today, as the gates of hell relentlessly strive to tear down the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. 


You can also access many more articles, videos and more regarding Medjugorje at the Facebook page: Our Lady Queen of Peace in Wichita, such 
as these examples of videos here, highlighting the 2018 Youth Festival: 


© Janet Moore 2018. All Rights Reserved.






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