News

Catholic News Agency - A woman who claims to be a visionary of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Bosnian town of Medjugorje has said that Mary will no longer appear to her on the second of every month, as she has reportedly done monthly since 1987… Alleged Marian apparitions in Medjugorje have long been a subject of controversy in the Church, which have been investigated by the Church but not yet authenticated or rejected… The alleged apparitions began June 24, 1981, when six children in Medjugorje, a town in what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina, began to experience phenomena which they have claimed to be apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

By Jules Gomes, Church Militant - The Church is in "full retreat" by suspending Masses, "a fact that had never occurred, not even during the two world wars, even in the most terrible hours in the history of this country, on the occasion of disasters, floods or earthquakes."… That's the view of illustrious Italian epidemiologist Dr. Paolo Gulisano, a professor of History of Medicine at the Bicocca State University of Milan. Gulisano is also a celebrated cultural essayist. He is ripping to shreds "one of the most famous slogans of the current pontificate," which is the Church as "field hospital."

By Jules Gomes, Church Militant - Meanwhile, Bp. Francesco Beschi of Bergamo said priests could no longer administer last rites to the dying. He called on baptized laypeople to offer some form of a blessing to their loved ones… "We can no longer even anoint the sick," the bishop said, remarking that it would be imprudent to do so in the face of the epidemic… "At this point we say: Why can't a baptized person make a Christian mark on those who are sick?" Beschi asked. "Starting with those who are in the family, the children or the grandchildren can bless their grandparents or parents. Thus they can make a sign of faith for them."… "The Church," he observed, "says that if a penitent has the intention of making a sacramental confession as soon as possible, he or she receives God's forgiveness."