My Battle with Catholic Media to Tell the Truth About Medjugorje

By Stephen Ryan, author of “Beauty Will Save the World”

On September 19, 2024, the Vatican shocked the world—especially the Catholic community—by announcing that the devotion to the “Queen of Peace” at Medjugorje has been officially approved. This devotion received the highest Vatican designation, marked by an official “Nihil Obstat” blessing.

STEPHEN RYAN

I was delighted to hear the news, to say the least, because for nearly 20 years I have been following, writing and investigating the events known as “Medjugorje”.  

Email Steve Ryan at [email protected] if you have any questions about this article

The key word is “investigating.” From the moment I first encountered Medjugorje, including the mesmerizing and mysterious videos of Mirjana in “ecstasy,” I was astonished by what I was witnessing.

I will never forget the first time I witnessed Visionary Mirjana transition from a simple woman in prayer to someone seemingly oblivious to her surroundings, yet clearly engaged with a mysterious presence.

I shook my head, then read more carefully a bit of information on the YouTube video description:

“Mirjana’s Apparition with Virgin Mary”   

I was thunderstruck. I couldn’t believe that this attractive, well-groomed blonde woman was allegedly seeing and speaking with the Mother of Jesus Christ, who had come from Heaven and seemed to be having a conversation with her.

I watched the video over and over again, at least 30 times. I had never seen anything like it in my life.

Again, speaking to myself, I thought, ‘This woman is either the greatest actor alive or I’m witnessing the greatest unsolved mystery on Earth.’ I immediately realized I had just seen something extraordinary and otherworldly.

And that’s how my journey started. I simply wanted to get to the bottom of what I had just seen. 

It was interesting to me. I certainly couldn’t just dismiss what I had seen with my own eyes.

So I began my investigation and launched “Mystic Post”.  Happily my investigation also led me back into the Catholic Church. I was also very lucky to have the exceptionally talented Daniel Klimek, now Fr. Daniel-Maria Klimek, help me with my blog.

I began to write about Medjugorje. Then one day Michael Brown at Spirit Daily picked up one of my articles and after that a lot of things changed. 

Michael Brown has been a pioneer in presenting the mysteries of the Catholic faith in a responsible manner. It’s important to note that before founding Spirit Daily, he was a successful investigative journalist. In fact, I believe he was even nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his work on the ‘Love Canal’ incident.

As my writings gained attention among Catholic pundits, I discovered that many prominent Catholic writers felt it was their duty to protect the Catholic flock from the alleged apparitions at Medjugorje. The vast majority of journalists at mainstream Catholic news outlets were skeptical of any positive claims about Medjugorje and saw it as their responsibility to inform their audience of this skepticism.

I reached out to many of these writers seeking to determine if they knew something I didn’t. But quickly I discovered these reporters and journalists had no interest in independently investigating the events taking place at Medjugorje. 

All I heard from these folks was it was a fraud, a hoax,  the bishop has condemned, nothing to see here.

I was dumbfounded. Virtually everything the reporters wrote was either false or unproven. A few times, a reporter would actually answer my phone calls. But they weren’t interested in a conversation or listening to my perspective. Instead, they would lecture me and then hang up.

Catholic pundits writing on Medjugorje did not leave  a neutral opinion among the general Catholic population, particularly in the United States.  Many Catholics who had heard of Medjugorje believed it had been condemned, and even discussing the events there was seen as dangerous.

Mainstream Catholic media caused significant harm to the Catholic faithful with their superficial reporting on Medjugorje. Beyond a quick Google search, there has been no serious journalism or investigation.

It cannot be overstated: The Vatican’s positive progress on Medjugorje is largely due to the overwhelming spiritual fruits it has produced. Vocations, conversions, and deepened faith are hallmarks of the Medjugorje experience

The cost of poor journalism by many in Catholic media has been significant. The positive spiritual fruits of Medjugorje were evident to all but the groupthink among Catholic writers, which forced them to circle the wagons and condemn Medjugorje as a source of spiritual corruption.

Think about that for a moment. Our esteemed Catholic reporters and journalists at the big Catholic media companies, not only ignored a hugely interesting news story but they got the story completely wrong and for good measure robbed countless people of the joy of experiencing a rich and beautiful relationship with the Queen of Peace at Medjugorje.

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The steadfast writers in mainstream Catholic media remain reluctant to issue a formal apology. They continue to publish headlines such as ‘Vatican Cautiously Approves Devotion,’ ‘Tentatively Approves,’ and ‘Positive Fruits, but Not Supernatural,’ perpetuating a negative narrative.

Yet, here we are.  In a way we are still at the same place we were twenty years ago.  

Even with the historic approval of the devotion to the Queen of Peace at Medjugorje, Catholic pundits still struggle to ask themselves the fundamental questions: ‘Where do the messages of Medjugorje originate, and how did six children create one of the most spiritually genuine Catholic places on Earth?’