Pope Francis appoints special envoy to Medjugorje

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Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Henryk Hoser of Warsaw-Prague, Poland, to be the Holy See’s special envoy to Medjugorje, the Vatican announced today. In a statement, the Vatican said Archbishop Hoser’s mission “has the aim of acquiring a deeper knowledge of the pastoral situation there and above all, of the needs of the faithful who go there in pilgrimage, and on the basis of this, to suggest possible pastoral initiatives for the future.” It added: “The mission will therefore have an exclusively pastoral character. Archbishop Hoser, who will continue to exercise his role as bishop of Warsaw-Prague, is expected to finish his mandate as Special Envoy by summer of this year.” Speaking to reporters, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke stressed that the envoy’s role was not that of an “apostolic visitation”. He also underscored that he “won’t enter into the merits of the Marian apparitions” which are “questions of doctrine” and so the “responsibility of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.” Burke said a 2010 to 2014 international commission that investigated the certain doctrinal and disciplinary aspects of the alleged Marian apparitions at Medjugorje was a separate matter and still “under study”. He did not say when any decision will be made.

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