Pope Francis first appointed a papal envoy to Medjugorje in 2017, with the directive to oversee pastoral needs at the site of the alleged Marian apparitions.
In the Netherlands, Cavalli helped resolve issues around another alleged apparition, associated with the Marian title of “Lady of All Nations.”
The apparition is alleged to have occured 56 times to Ida Peerdeman in Amsterdam from 1945 to 1959. In 1956, the local bishop ruled that there was no evidence the alleged apparitions and revelations were supernatural in origin. The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) confirmed this position the following year and in 1972 and 1974.
In 2002, Bishop Jozef Marianus Punt broke with the decision of his predecessor and declared the apparitions to have a supernatural origin, sparking a debate about whether he had the authority to overturn a decision which had been affirmed by the CDF.
In 2020, the Vatican re-affirmed its 1974 ruling about the apparitions’ authenticity, and in January, the Vatican’s doctrinal office urged Catholics not to promote “the alleged apparitions and revelations” associated with the Marian title of “Lady of All Nations,” according to Bishop Johannes Hendriks.
Since their beginning, the alleged apparitions at Medjugorje have been a source of both controversy and conversion, with many flocking to the city for pilgrimage and prayer, and some claiming to have experienced miracles at the site, while many others claim the visions are not credible.
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