How does Mary lead the Church?

I am convinced that Medjugorje is a gift for the Church. Personally, it was the source of my vocation to serve God. In trying to discern my vocation, I closely listened to my spiritual director and my bishop. Today I am a Catholic priest and I see precisely how Mary taught me this obedience to the Church. I also see the same attitude in young people I have guided.

Do all pilgrims to Medjugorje have the same experience?

What I have seen and what I can personally attest to, is that there are some people who go there and experience beautiful things and receive special graces, but who do not end up bearing fruit in the Church, because of the lack of support or the limited support they receive when they go back home. Some groups mainly take young people to Medjugorje to give them a charismatic experience, or they highlight only certain messages.

My desire as a priest is to see groups with a solid spiritual framework during and after the pilgrimage, led by people who are anchored in the Church and in communion with her and who help others to do the same. In important places of apparitions like Medjugorje, we can be tempted to focus more only on the spiritual side and forget the incarnated side of the message. Being a member of the Church is something fully incarnate, which costs us time, talent and our gifts. Medjugorje is for the Church.

What could bishops do to promote the fruits of Medjugorje?

Simply encourage laypeople to make pilgrimages to Medjugorje and afterwards, provide solid structures for the returning pilgrims to enable them to persevere in the grace they have received. 

Our Lady of Peace, Pray for us!

Father Alexis Wiehe

Priest, pastor of the Cathedral of Toulon (France) since 2014

Interview with the Medjugorje newspaper "Glas Mira" (December 2004)