There was a very good article on the Medugorje Commision in the new magazine 'Tribune Medugoje which I copy in part: A year later, the new Commission for Međugorje has not yet been founded! By Žarko Ivković A high source, clo-sely related to the Bishops Conference of Bosnia and Hercegovina, has told the Medugorje Tribune that the new Commission for Međugorje has not yet been founded - and that it is still not known when this will be done. The news will come as a surprise to those familiar with the Međugorje events, since the foundation of this ecclesiastical institution has been expected for a whole year: Announced unexpectedly in June last year by the President of the Bishops Conference of BiH, Cardinal Vinko Puljić, after the Bishops Council meeting in Banja Luka, he said that the Church would once again examine the events that have been reported ongoing in Međugorje for the last quarter of a century. No one had expected that the bishops would undertake such action at that very moment. The surprise was even greater knowing that the Bishop of the Mostar Diocese, Ratko Perić, the diocese to which Međugorje belongs, considers that there is nothing there to be examined. His attitude towards the reported apparitions of Our Lady of Međugorje (The Queen of Peace) has been known for a long time: that he believes it to be a fraud directed by several Hercegovinian Franciscans. Mighty Opponents of Međugorje It turned out that the request for the Commission foundation originated from the Vatican, so the Bishops of BiH - willingly or not - had to include the issue into the schedule. About ten days later, on June 24th 2006, the Agency of Catholic News Service reported the Cardinal’s explanation that Members of the Commission would be appointed in the autumn. “I am waiting for the suggestion of The Religious Education Congregation, but the Commission shall act under the auspices of the BiH Bishops Conference” Cardinal Puljić stated on that occasion. However bleak and barren the information, it could be concluded that an international team of theologians and experts of various realms will deal with the issue of the Međugorje apparitions, and will present an objective finding to the Vatican, on which basis the Catholic Church could reach a verdict on Međugorje. But autumn came and passed, then winter, spring and summer and the new Commission has not been appointed. Why has this not yet been done? Is it postponed for some better time or was it, perhaps, prevented by the lobbying of mighty opponents of Međugorje? “The bishops of BiH turned the embers back to the Vatican” was a picturesque description of the situation by a theologian who is very familiar with the Međugorje events. Namely, that the foundation of this Commission was entrusted to Msgr Perić, which was a logical thing to do since he is the local bishop and responsible for events in the area of his bishopric. If he had been shunned in the matter, it would have been a very unpleasant precedent which the Catholic Church would not afford. But everything came to a halt when the bishops faced several questions. The first thing that was not clear was the proposed composition of the Commission – namely how to appoint someone into the Commission if he is not under the jurisdiction of the BiH Bishops Conference. Secondly, what should such a Commission do when there is a well known attitude of the Catholic Church, ie that no verdict shall be made before the apparitions cease. The bishops therefore addressed the Vatican for additional instructions, explained the well informed theologian, regarding the causes which have put Međugorje into stalemate once again.
