MEDJUGORJE VISIONS ARE VISIONS ON DEMAND
VISIONS ON DEMAND, Network 5 International, 1997
DIVINE OR DECEIVED? COVER-UP, Network 5 International, 1998
Contact:
Network 5 International
PO Box 51
Liverpool
L69 3EE
A critical look at... the "apparitions" of the Virgin Mary in Bosnia-Herzegovina
Since 1981, the Virgin Mary, reportedly, has been appearing to six young Croats
during daily ecstasies which last several minutes. Millions of pilgrims have
responded to the Lady of Medjugorje, the young visionaries, and the Franciscans
who lead the parish there. What exactly has happened?
From a unique vantage point---he is both a Franciscan priest and a native son of
Medjugorje---the author of this book exposes contradictions and falsehoods that
have been omitted or intentionally concealed until now. He introduces us to the
group of visionaries, makes known and explains the Church's teachings on Marian
apparitions, and comments on exceptional and previously unpublished material (in
appendices) which allows a thorough examination of the roots of these events. He
scrutinizes the role of Medjugorje's Franciscans and the Bishop's interventions,
as well as those of the Commission of inquiry set up to evaluate the whole
question. He also provides an update of the recent events in Medjugorje and
attempts to explain the so-called apparitions. Finally, the theologian urges
readers to draw their own conclusions as to whether it is still possible to
believe in the Madonna's presence and action.
Father Ivo Sivric was born in Medjugorje in 1917. After completing his studies
in philosophy and theology in Mostar, he was ordained in 1941, and then went on
to complete his postgraduate studies in Zagreb and Rome where he received his
doctorate in Sacred Theology in 1947. Father Sivric emigrated to the United
States, taught at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, and has also written
several works, including Bishop J. G. Strossmayer - New Light on Vatican I
(1975), The Peasant Culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1982), both published by
the Franciscan Herald Press in Chicago, and Temelji krscanstva C.S. Lewisa [The
Christian Basics According to C.S. Lewis] (1988), published by Teoloska
Biblioteka in Sarajevo. After becoming a U.S. citizen, Father Sivric made eight
extended trips to Medjugorje. He served as director of Croatian Franciscan
Publications and he worked as a parochial vicar of a parish serving the Roman
Catholic Croatians in St. Louis, Missouri. Father Ivo Sivric passed away October
28, 2002, at age 85.
The author of the prospective Volume II (Observations of an anomalist) visited
Medjugorje, filmed the visionaries during four of their «ecstasies» and explored
various physical and psychological hypotheses to explain both the luminous
phenomena and visions as not supernaturally caused. He illustrates the sequences
of a spontaneous test done during an «apparition» and analyses their
consequences. He invokes the testimony of critical witnesses, as well as the
opinion and work of expert specialists. From the matrix of his special interest
in altered states of consciousness, he proposes his own experimental
counteranalysis of the «scientific and medical studies.» For example, an
«ordinary» student is shown doing a laboratory reproduction of the «ecstatic
electrophysiological parameters» identical to those recorded in the young
Yugoslavian visionaries. Important sociopolitical, ecclesiastical, and economic
factors, as well as the high stakes for Marian propagandists and the overt
manipulation are introducted and explored. In all, Louis Bélanger provides
readers with a complete overview of Medjugorje's apparent anomaly: on a fine
June day in 1981, two teenaged girls, moved by the sincerest hopes, incited a
collective drama which has drawn millions of believers in search of tangible
expressions of the spiritual dimension.
Louis Bélanger was born in Québec City in 1941. After his studies in political
science at Laval University, he pursued his research in the fields of psychology
and parapsychology at Freiburg University in Germany. Since 1975, he has been
conducting the study of paranormal phenomena at the University of Montréal's
Faculty of Theology. He has also written Psi, au-delà de l'occultisme [Psi:
Beyond the Occult], published by Québec-Amérique, and has presided over
film-lectures of the motion picture version throughout Québec, Europe, and
French speaking African countries. He has been scientific consultant and
researcher for the production of 55 film documentaries on paranormal phenomena
and controversies in science. Louis Bélanger is the editor of The Hidden Side of
Medjugorje.
To order The Hidden Side of Medjugorje, 419 pages, including 16 original
transcripts - ISBN 2-921010-01-1, please enclose a money order for CAD$ 40. ($
25.00 + $ 15.00 for Express/Priority postage & handling to the U.S.A. (including
Internet tracking and insurance - 3 to 4 days to come in) payable to PSILOG
INC., 465 Notre-Dame, Saint-François-du-Lac, (Québec) Canada JOG 1MO.
THE WEB
SCIENTIFIC STUDIES DONE ON THE VISIONARIES OF MEDJUGORJE – 1998 SCIENTIFIC STUDY
ON THE VISIONARIES
www.childrenofmedjugorje.com/medj/research.htm
AN OVERVIEW OF THE MEDICAL AND SCIENTIFIC TESTING OF VISIONARY NANCY FOWLER
CONYERS GEORGIA
http://members.aol.com/bbu84/biblicalstupidity/science.htm#10
DISCERNMENT AND SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF VISIONARIES FROM THE MEDJUGORJE STAR
http://members.aol.com/bbu84/biblicalstupidity/study.htm#11
