When Evil Attacks the Church… Look Carefully
The recent vandalism at Medjugorje saddened many people. A statue of Our Lady was spray-painted with the words "Devil in a Skirt." Reports also indicated that banners condemned the Medjugorje visionaries as frauds and suggested that the apparitions themselves were deceptive. The Church's Careful Approach Whether one believes the apparitions are authentic or remains unconvinced, the Catholic Church has taken a careful middle path. In 2024, the Vatican granted a nihil obstat ("nothing stands in the way") for devotion connected with Medjugorje, recognizing the many spiritual fruits experienced there and permitting public acts of devotion. At the same time, it deliberately stopped short of declaring the alleged apparitions to be supernatural. Catholics are free to visit Medjugorje and benefit from its spiritual life, but they are not required to believe that the reported apparitions are genuinely supernatural. The Church's response itself is an example of pat...