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Bishop Ratko Peric Of Mostar Breaks A Self-Imposed Silence On Medjugorje For The Third Time Saying That His Predecessor Would Not Collaborate With The Ruling Communists Throughout Repressing Medjugorje.

The ruling Communists of then Yugoslavia tried to manipulate Bishop Pavao Zanic of Mostar in their plan to suppress Medjugorje and the claims of apparitions. Spies were all around him and his telephone had been wiretapped.

But Bishop Zanic did not collaborate with the Yugoslav regime or with UDBA, the secrets police, and the threats and repressions against Medjugorje were not decisive once the Bishop replaced his initial perception in the apparitions with a stance of disbelief and opposition.

Consequently says Bishop Ratko Peric of Mostar, the heir of Bishop Zanic, in a new write-up published on the diocesan website.

A reaction to secret police revelations

Bishop Peric’s write-up comes in response to the book “Medjugorje Misterij”, posted in June 2011, and later on coverage by Vatican journalist Andrea Tornielli. Within the book, four Croatian journalists documented how the Yugoslav secret police (UDBA) repressed Medjugorje inside the 1980s, through papers unearthed from UDBA’s archives.

Leaving the problem open to interpretation, the creators cited a collaboration between Bishop Zanic and UDBA as one possible way of understanding a certain document. In their article Bishop Ratko Peric denies this option, and further points to factual errors in UDBA documents. Early on, the particular Bishop clarifies his motives pertaining to writing:

“Since the late Bishop Pavao Zanic is actually mentioned in numerous pages from the book, and not in a free of charge way, it is our duty, for the love of truth and out of respect for Bishop Pavao, who had been a bishop in Herzegovina for 12 years, to respond to such hit-or-miss claims and insinuations” Bishop Ratko Peric writes.

Once the book “Medjugorje Misterij” had lend brand-new insight into the Yugoslav secret police’s handle Medjugorje, expert Vatican journalist/commentator Andrea Tornielli took up the issue within Vatican Insider. From the original papers translated into Italian, Tornielli produced four conclusions:

1) The secret police used Bishop Zanic as a “main tool” within compromising Franciscan priests associated with Medjugorje.
2) As “the next part” of the secret police program, Tornielli cites “using the ancient conflict that will exists in Herzegovina between the high-end clergy and Franciscans, foreseen to make chaos in the local Church simply by turning everyone against everyone.”
3) Bishop Zanic’s hostility to Medjugorje had been “fed by a series of documents put together ??by the men of the secret police, which were circulated amongst Mostar, the Vatican and some European countries.”
Four) A secret police report of November 17th 1987 “shows how Bishop Zanic was willing to accept virtually any document against the Franciscans and against the apparitions, even if of dubious source.”

“These documents will also be scrutinized through the Holy See committee required to pronounce itself upon Medjugorje” Andrea Tornielli concluded.

Bishop Peric’s recent article has Tornielli’s subsequent coverage in Vatican Core from the first paragraphs, discussing “very grave accusations”. In addressing Tornielli’s a conclusion, the Bishop allows a Medjugorje challenger in Canada to speak pertaining to him, from a short email exchange between the Canadian and Andrea Tornielli:

Tornielli is “attacking the intellectual, religious, and pastoral integrity of the ex- Ordinary of Mostar, Msgr. Pavao Zanic” but “does certainly not ‘document’ anything, does not verify everything: he copies/pastes very serious allegations with no granting his readers virtually any factual historical retrospective” Bishop Peric’s recent write-up says.

Andrea Tornielli has informed that will his article in Vatican Core was based on translations of the original papers from the secret police, given to him by “Miserij Medjugorje” main publisher, journalist Zarko Ivkovic.

Bishop Peric’s article does not that will address the conclusions the secret police gave his predecessor false documents, understanding that the Communists used the centuries-old clash among the Hercegovian clergy in combating Medjugorje.

One out of five book errors touches issue

Bishop Peric numbers 5 factual errors in “Misterij Medjugorje”. The initial four do not deal with the connection between his predecessor as well as the secret police:

1) The e-book mentions June 25th 1981 because the day of the first apparition when actually it took place on the day just before.
2) In 1986, Bishop Zanic went to Rome 7 times, not 14 as claimed in the e-book.
3) A UDBA document claiming that will 10 priests had disobeyed Bishop Zanic over testimonials and referrals is incorrect, as nobody disobeyed.
4) A UDBA document saying that Bishop Zanic had left a meeting with the other Yugoslav bishops within protest after his negative stand on Medjugorje had been criticized simply by Cardinal Franjo Kuharic of Zagreb is likewise wrong.

The book’s fifth factual problem, as found by Bishop Ratko Peric, relates to a UDBA document informing that the secret law enforcement considered to compromise Bishop Zanic by fabricating anonymous letters against him. These kinds of letters were to be sent to Key Kuharic, to Archbishop Frane Franic of Split, and to Ratko Peric himself, during his time as rector of the College of Street. Jerome in Rome.

In his write-up, Bishop Peric acknowledges that “the document declares that the letter was delivered to UDBA superiors for approval”. Possibly, no correspondence were sent. Bishop Peric then writes:

“Peric, the former rector and current bishop of Mostar, affirms responsibly that he in no way received any anonymous page, then or ever, towards Bishop Zanic.”

“But who will be able to rebut all the insinuations via UDBA, which the fans of Medjugorje transfer as the greatest discovery!” Bishop Peric furthermore writes, as reported tagza.com.