I make this clarification because medjugorje.hr is providing two different Croatian texts on it's own website in different places (one is the full interview - which matches what is on the BiH Bishop's Conference website - and the other is shortened for just the portion on Medjugorje and this does NOT match the full length interview. The text in the shorted version is questionable and it appears that this is the one which used for other languages, including English). The Croatian text in the truncated version does not match the text provided in Croatian at the bishop's conference website, nor in the full interview provided in Croatian on medjugorje.hr!
At the very bottom of this post, I bullet some key contrasts between the two Croatian texts. For example, there is a big difference in saying, "the Holy Father is interested in Medjugorje" (short version) and, "the Holy Father is interested in the question of Medjugorje" (full interview). The word "question" is conspicuously missing in several places within the shortened version, among other strange things I noted.
Without further delay, here is the translation of the text as it appears on the Bishop's Conference website:
[Interviewer] Three days ago the Holy See established the International Commission for Medjugorje. How do you see that event?
[Abp D'Errico] Obviously, that also is a great sign of hope because it tells us one thing - the great attention that the Holy Father Benedict XVI pays to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and especially the Catholic community in the country and the questions being discussed within this community.
From personal experience, every time I met the Holy Father he had great interest in the question of Medjugorje, a question to which he was directed from the very beginning that he became prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It deals with a question for which he feels responsible as the supreme head of the Church to pronounce a clear message.
The Holy Father personally knows it very well and he has told me that several times - he is well acquainted with the whole phenomenon. He knows about the great good that is being done in this region by the priests, the Franciscan friars, and the laity. And on the other hand he asks himself how come there is information in such opposition to this phenomenon.
For that reason he wanted to establish this commission which is on an especially high level to obtain a complete picture of it by persons who are highly qualified. So from different parts of the world he has invited cardinals, bishops, experts and expert witnesses to be part of this commission.
It was announced that the president of this commission will be Cardinal Ruini, a Cardinal of great prestige and of high qualification, who as everyone knows is very close with the Holy Father and not only since he is the Pope. He is always very close to the Holy Father. Cardinal Ruini also knows B-H very well, especially since the time of the war when he was President of the Italian Bishops' Conference.
One interesting and special thing that tells about the great solidarity of the Holy Father with this land and this community is the fact that he could announce the commission and finish the question with it. But, because of the respect he has for the communities in B-H he wanted the announcement of this commission to be simultaneous, both in the Vatican and in Mostar. In Mostar because obviously Medjugorje is located territorially in the boundaries of the diocese of Mostar.
I am well aware that the media have talked about this commission for quite a while. A great suspense has been created. Today we can say that we are satisfied and grateful to the Holy Father for this attention that he wanted to show toward Mostar and toward our Catholic communities. Thus, in the name of the Holy Father I announced this important decision of the Holy Father to the bishops at the same time that the news was also announced in Rome. It is clear to us that the work of this Commission will be very demanding and I would like to invite all our communities to commend the work of the Commission to the patronage of St. Joseph whose feastday we will celebrate and to Mary, Mother of the Church, who are the patrons of Mostar.Here is the Croatian used for the translation, as it appears on the bishop's conference website (white space added for easier reading to match the above):
Prije tri dana Sveta Stolica utemeljila je međunarodno povjerenstvo za Međugorje. Kako gledate na taj događaj?
[D'Errico]Očito i to je veliki znak nade jer nam kaže jednu stvar - veliku pozornost koju Sveti Otac Benedikt XVI. posvećuje Bosni i Hercegovini i posebno katoličkoj zajednici u zemlji i pitanjima koja se raspravljaju unutar ove zajednice.
Iz osobnoga iskustva, svakoga puta kada sam susreo Svetoga Oca imao je veliko zanimanje za pitanje Međugorja, pitanje u koje je upućen od samoga početka kada je bio prefekt Kongregacije za nauk vjere. Radi se o pitanju za koje on osjeća odgovornost kao vrhovni poglavar Crkve da izrekne jasnu poruku.
Sveti Otac osobno dobro poznaje i to mi je više puta rekao – dobro poznaje cijeli fenomen. Zna za velika dobra koje se čine na ovome području od strane svećenika, redovnika, franjevaca, laika. A druge strane pita se kako dolaze tako suprotstavljene informacije o tome fenomenu.
Zato je želio ustanoviti ovo povjerenstvo koje je na posebno visokoj razini da bi stekao cjelovitu sliku o tome od strane osoba koje su vrhunski kvalificirane. Tako je s raznih strana svijeta pozvao kardinale, biskupe, stručnjake i vještake da budu dio ovog povjerenstva.
Najavljeno je da će predsjednik ovoga povjerenstva biti kardinal Ruini, kardinal od velikoga prestiža i velikih kvaliteta za kojega svi znaju da je vrlo blizak sa Svetim Ocem i to iz vremena ne samo dok je papa. Vrlo je blizak Svetome Ocu oduvijek. Kardinal Ruini također dobro poznaje BiH, posebice iz vremena rata kada je bio predsjednik Biskupske konferencije Italije.
Tada je odredio da talijanska Crkva i Biskupska konferencija bude prisutna velikim ‘interventima’ solidarnosti u korist svih naroda u BiH. Jedna zanimljiva i posebna stvar koja govori o velikoj solidarnosti Svetoga Oca za ovu zemlju i ove zajednice je i u tome da je mogao najaviti povjerenstvo i da stvar s time završi. No, zbog poštovanja koje ima prema zajednicama u BiH želio je da najava ovoga povjerenstva bude istodobno, u zajedništvu u Vatikanu i u Mostaru. U Mostaru jer je očito da se Međugorje nalazi teritorijalno na području biskupije Mostar.
Znam dobro da su mediji o ovome povjerenstvu govorili poodavno. Stvoreno je veliko očekivanje. Danas možemo kazati da smo zadovoljni i zahvalni Svetome Ocu za ovu pozornost koju je htio pokazati prema Mostaru i prema našim katoličkim zajednicama. Tako sam u ime Svetoga Oca najavio biskupima ovu važnu odluku Svetoga Oca istodobno kada je i u Rimu objavljena vijest. Jasno nam je da će rad ovoga Povjerenstva biti vrlo zahtjevan i htio bih pozvati sve naše zajednice da djelovanje ovoga Povjerenstva povjere zaštiti svetoga Josipa čiji ćemo blagdan proslaviti i Mariji Majki Crkve koji su zaštitnici Mostara.
THE SHORT VERSION (CROATIAN) ON MEDJUGORJE.HR
That second paragraph shown in the above pic (click and use "View-Zoom" to enlarge) is suppose to be an excerpt of what you will see when you click the link to see the full interview, which contains the same text that is on the bishop's conference website. However, the two texts in Croatian do not read the same (see emboldened text above). In particular, in Croatian lead-in paragraph, they quote the archbishop as follows:
''Kad god sam susreo Sv. Oca, on je pokazivao veliko zanimanje za Međugorje. Slijedio je sve, već od početka, dok je bio pročelnik Kongregacije za nauk vjere. Radi se o pitanju za koje on osjeća odgovornost da kao vrhovni autoritet Crkve kaže jasnu riječ.
Sv. Otac dobro poznaje, i više puta mi je rekao kako dobro poznaje, čitavi fenomen. Poznato mu je veliko dobro koje ovdje biva ostvareno od strane svećenika, redovnika, franjevaca, laika. I onda se pita kako to da dolaze tako suprotstavljene informacije o tom fenomenu.
Which translates much like what they have in English (compare this to what Fr. Philip Pavic translated at the top of this post (emboldened) from the full interview found at both the Bishop's Conference website and medjugorje.hr)
“Whenever I would meet Holy Father, he was always very much interested in Medjugorje. He was involved in everything, starting with the time when he was Head of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He is aware that this is the issue of special importance, and he, as supreme authority of the Church, needs to give his precise statement about that matter.
Holy Father is very much familiar with Medjugorje phenomenon; he even mentioned that to me personally. He is aware of huge amount of positive and good influence of local priests, religious, Franciscans, lay people, and therefore, it is very difficult for him to perceive that there can be so many opposing information about the same matter.
Contrasts
Point 1: Missing from the shortened Croatian version on this page of medjugorje.hr (and in their English translation), but not in this full interview version on medjugorje.hr (which matches what is on BiH bishops conference website)
- The word "question" preceding "Medjugorje" in several places. To say that the Holy Father is "interested in Medjugorje" is not the same as his being interested in "the question of medjugorje". In the English langauge, to say that someone has an interest in something can mean that the person has a favorable view of the thing (i.e., "The boy has an interest in fishing." means he enjoys it or likes it).
Point 2: Additions in the short medjugorje.hr version (my notes bracketed in red):
- "therefore" [which is a word that leads to a conclusion]
- "it is very difficult for him [the Holy Father] to percieve"
- "about the same matter"
- medjugorje.hr (short): "...difficult for him to perceive that there can be so many opposing information..."
- medjugorje.hr (full interview) and BiH Bishop's Conference as translated by Fr. Pavic : "...he asks himself how come there is information in such opposition to this phenomenon..."
As of this posting, I still have not received a response from Radio Mir sent on the Wednesday of Holy Week. I had asked them to upload the audio since a claim was made that the Archbishop spoke in Italian and felt that the audio would help clarify what was actually said. I pointed out the differences in texts and asked if they could confirm that the Archbishop spoke in Italian.
***Home Page***
