Patrick Madrid, Fr. Neil Buchlein, and Al Kresta talk Medjugorje on the radio

Patrick Madrid discussed the Medjugorje case today on Ave Maria Radio’s “Al Kresta Show” today. Speaking from a favorable point of view on the alleged apparition was Fr. Neil Buchlein, a pastor from West Virginia. You can hear a replay of the show over at Patrick’s blog.
While Fr. Buchlein got much more air time than Patrick did, he did seem to back off in his approach as the conversation progressed. He eventually resorted to saying that, for people who have good experiences at Medjugorje, Church approval really isn’t all that necessary. I had to wonder if that might have been his first exposure to the skeptical case, brief as it was.

UPDATE: Finding Christ outside LC/RC

There’s a reason the early Christians shared their personal testimony of how they encountered Christ. For most of us, a good story captures the imagination much more readily than dry theological treatises. Which is why I’m happy to see so many former LC/RC/3gf emerging in the blogosphere to share their personal stories of leaving Maciel’s movement. One never knows when the Holy Spirit will use your story to help others in a similar situation. By sharing the truth of your experience with the movement, Christ is setting you and others free.

What do I do with my kids now that I’ve left RC?

This is a question several parents – who are shying away from RC and its derivatives – have asked me over the past month. Where does one find a program that teaches kids self-discipline, self-respect, loyalty, faith and patriotism? A program that allows kids to socialize with other good kids, and that is at the same time easy on the budget and open to large families – both homeschooling and non-homeschooling?

St. Norbert rescues liberation theologian from 3gf

If one needed proof that vocations from God are more hearty than LC/RC reportedly claim, Rachel Gray shares her experience at a Norbertine monastery this past weekend on a vocation retreat for young women. At one point during the retreat, a Norbertine nun spoke about how she had been a liberation theologian before having a change of heart and concluding her vocation with the 3gf. But God had other plans, as you can read here.

Six Medjugorje seers, no religious vocations

[UPDATE (5/30): I’ve received some recommendations on improving the translation, to fix a couple of mistakes I made, and to add a couple of changes on the basis of the original text in Croatian, so I’ve updated this post accordingly.]

Here is a new background article on the Medjugorje phenomenon, published in March of this year in the diocesan bulletin of Mostar.

This piece discusses the history of the Medjugorje visionaries in regard to seeking vocations as friars or religious sisters. Over the 30-year course of the phenomenon four of the six expressed some interest in consecrated life, three are known to have made contacts or more extensive efforts toward such vocations, but none succeeded. All eventually settled the question by marrying.

The lack of religious or priestly vocations among the six has been a cause of puzzlement to observers, and Jose Cardinal Saraiva Martins mentioned it in his January interview as one of several points that make the Medjugorje case unlike Fatima.

In addition to what the article tells about the visionaries’ vocational decisions, it includes some interesting material about the personal relationships among them, and their relations with the priests who advised them over the years.

This translation, based on the Italian edition on the diocesan website, is my own work, and any suggestions for improving it are welcome.