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	Medjugorje Priest Defrocked By Rod Dreher Beliefnet July 29, 2009 http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2009/07/medjugorje-priest-defrocked.html This is a stunning blow to the Catholics who believe in the validity of the alleged Marian apparitions in Medjugorje. I used to pretty much believe in them, mostly because I'd known a few people who had been there, seen mystical things they couldn't explain, and had profound conversions, even healings. And I read Randall Sullivan's remarkable book "The Miracle Detective," which is mostly about Medjugorje and the amazing things he encountered there (it also has a significant portion devoted to Fr. Philip Pavich, who used to serve in Medjugorje, and who is an angry skeptic of the apparitions). But at some point a while back, I quit thinking about Medjugorje. It's not that I decided they weren't true; it's that I decided that whether or not they were true was not really important to my Christian life, and in fact could be a distraction from what's really important. If you ask me today whether or not I believe in the apparitions, I'd say no, I don't, but that I hope that they are true, because a lot of people had a lot of good out of them. So it's sad to me to see it fall apart, but it doesn't affect my faith one way or another. Lisa Fullam at Commonweal's blog, while not endorsing Vlasic or Medjugorje, nevertheless wonders: On the other hand, what if he isn't a fraud, and truly believes in the apparitions he did so much to publicize? Well, would you listen to the Pope's order not to speak about Medjugorje over what you believe was the Virgin Mary's command (through 6 schoolchildren) to do so?
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