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January 18, 1995
FATHER JOZO ZOVKO'S MISSIONARY TRIP
Invited by pilgrims and friends of Medjugorje, Fr. Jozo Zovko visited nine Italian towns from the 11th to the 18th of December 1994. About 15,000 people participated in the meetings of prayer during which Fr. Jozo spoke about the message of peace of Medjugorje.
In Latina, during the meeting, Monsignor Domenico Peccile was the main celebrant of the Eucharist celebration. While visiting 3 other towns, the local bishops: Monsignor Garavaglia, Monsignor Cecchini and Monsignor Bonicelli met with Fr. Jozo to speak with him hoping to become more familiar with the message of Medjugorje and the situation of our mother country.
NUMBER OF COMMUNIONS AND CELEBRANTS IN 1994
In 1994, in the parish of Medjugorje, 579,420 communions were distributed. This figure indicates that in 1994 pilgrims were more numerous than in 1993, when 369,300 communions were distributed. The number of communions indicates that the number of pilgrims in 1994 is the same as in 1986, a year of peace and tranquillity. In 1994, 12,201 priests celebrated the Holy Eucharist in Medjugorje.
SEMINAR FOR GUIDES
In the house of prayer 'Domus Pacis', from the 8th to the 11th of January, Father Slavko Barbaric lead a seminar of spirituality and information for the guides working with pilgrims in the sanctuary of Medjugorje. During the seminar, Fr. Ivan Landeka, Fr. Ljudevit Rupcic and Fr. Miljenko Stojic spoke with the 16 guides who renewed themselves through prayer. This was done in order to be able to continue with their work with pilgrims who come to Medjugorje to find their own path to God through the messages of peace.
LAST BOOK OF FATHER LJUDEVIT RUPCIC
At the end of the year, the last book written by Professor Doctorate Father Ljudevit Rupcic was presented. The title is "Sudbina istine" (The Destiny of Truth). Fr. Ljudevit Rupcic, now residing in Medjugorje as the franciscan sister's chaplain, is a renowned Croatian Theologian. Translator and expert of the Holy Scripture, as well as a professor and educator of the franciscan students of Theology in Sarajevo, he also wrote many books referring to the facts of Medjugorje.
SEMINAR OF SPIRITUALITY AND INFORMATION
The seminar of spirituality and information for the leaders of prayer groups, Caritas groups and pilgrimages to Medjugorje will be organized in the Alga Hotel in Tucepi, 3 km south of Makarska. It will begin on the 2nd of April 1995 at 7pm with the celebration of the Holy Mass. It will end with a pilgrimage to Medjugorje. It will be lead by the Provincial, Fr. Tomislav Pervan, Fr. Ivan Dugandzic and Fr. Ljudevit Rupcic, with the participation of the other franciscan priests of Medjugorje. All those who are interested should call Fr. Leonard Orec at the telephone /fax number 385-21-361354 for reservations. The cost of the Hotel is 150 DM.
To fully understand what the seminar of spirituality and information is, we published the declaration written by the participants of the last seminar , which took place in June of 1994:
DECLARATION
Inspired by the messages of Our Lady in Medjugorje, the directors of the prayer groups and the Centers for Peace have gathered in Medjugorje from the 21 to the 24 of June for the 13th Anniversary of the apparitions. We thank God for His gift. We also thank all the friends in the world that accept, deepen, live and spread the messages of Our Lady. After having participated in the conferences: "Marian Times in the Light of the Papal Encyclicals", "Medjugorje in Today's Church" and "The Role of the Laity in the Medjugorje Movement"; we have become even more conscious of our own responsibilty forthe new evangelization. We have reflected on the diffusion of the messages of Our Lady in our ownsurroundings and we have paid attention to the difficulties we are facing. We wish to transmit the conclusions of our reflections to all our friends, our pilgrims and the parish of Medjugorje.
The messages of Our Lady do not bring any new revelation. All are based on that which is written in the Gospel: "Do whatever He tells you." (John 2:5) We wish to emphasize the need to transmit the messages in an authentic manner, looking for the translations to be in conformity to the original in the Croation language while at the same time respecting the spirit of each language.
There is no need to confuse the original spirituality of Medjugorje with any other phenomena or messages. We have made a collective decision to create in Medjugorje an information center that, being tied with all the centers of Medjugorje in the world, would send to them a monthly bulletin of the events related to Medjugorje.
We also wish that all responsible for the Medjugorje shrine or any other place in the world watch over the spiritual well being whether it be that of the pilgrims, or that of the parishioners of the parish of Medjugorje.
In the common interest of all venerators of the Queen of Peace, let all those who speak publicly on an official level on behalf of Medjugorje -- be it Priests, the visionaries, or the laity -- do it in accordance with the shrine.
We advise the groups and all those on their own to join as much as possible their own ecclesiastic community with full respect towards the local ecclesiastic authority.
We also wish to remind everyone that the messages of Medjugorje do not contain in them the fear of the apocalyptic times. Instead, it is a message of peace between man and God and peace between all people.
The shrine of the Queen of Peace in Medjugorje is a Marian shrine. According to Mary's example the village wishes to remain humble, obedient and simple.
We wish to continue with encounters of this kind and we wish to cherish them so that the bonds between us may remain as alive as possible.
Published by: INFORMATIVNI CENTAR MIR - Svetiste Kraljice Mira (Information Center MIR - Shrine of the Queen of Peace), 88266 Medjugorje.
Director: fra Miljenko Stojic.
Information Office: 00387-36-651-988
Parish Office: 00387-36-650-206; 650-310; 651-333
Fax: 00387-36-651-444
Radio: 00387-36-651-100; fax 651-300
E-mail: medjugorje-mir@medjugorje.hr; Internet: http://www.medjugorje.hr
Automatic Message: 060-325-325. By calling this number you can hear the latest message of Our Lady in Croatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland and Germany, as well as also the meditation and the news from Medjugorje which is updated every Wednesday.
Last Modified 11/22/2002