http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100114-709300.html

By Carol Dean, Eyk Henning, Jan Hromadko

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

FRANKFURT (Dow Jones)--Belgian power grid operator Elia System Operator SA (ELI.BT) is the preferred bidder in the sale of Vattenfall Europe AG's (VTT-XE) German power transmission network despite a rival consortium increasing its offer for the assets, said people familiar with the situation Thursday.

The rival consortium, comprising Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), Allianz SE (ALV.XE) and Deutsche Bank AG's (DB) infrastructure fund RREEF, increased its offer for the German power transmission network to around EUR800 million last year, said two people familiar with the matter.

One of the persons said the consortium had previously offered more than EUR500 million.

The bidders are now hopeful that the transaction will be completed in the first quarter of 2010, the person added.

The consortium is competing against Belgian power grid operator Elia, which Wednesday confirmed that it is in talks to acquire a controlling stake in the 9,700- kilometer, ultra-high voltage power grid, which Vattenfall put on the block in summer 2008.

Elia's offer for the Vattenfall grid was higher than EUR650 million reported earlier Thursday by news agency Reuters, one person said but declined to give further details.

Vattenfall Europe, Elia and the financial consortium declined to comment on the matter.

Earlier Thursday, credit rating agency Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it placed Elia on CreditWatch with negative implications for its 'A-' long-term corporate credit rating.

S&P said "an acquisition, if completed, could materially weaken Elia's business and financial risk profiles to a level no longer commensurate with an 'A-' rating", as the current ratings assumed no merger and acquisition risk.

"The fact that the company is considering such a bid is...a departure from its current strategy," S&P said in a written statement.

Vattenfall Europe--a fully-owned unit of Swedish state-controlled Vattenfall AB--said in November that it had reopened the bidding process for its power transmission grid after failing to agree on key issues with the financial consortium with which it was in exclusive talks.

When Vattenfall broadened the sale to other bidders, the company said the key issues it had failed to agree on in the exclusive talks with the consortium included the purchase price.

Vattenfall's decision to reopen the talks to other potential suitors came after people familiar with the matter said the company had largely completed the sale to the financial consortium.

Shortly after that, however, E.ON AG (EOAN.XE) agreed to sell its German power transmission grid to Dutch network operator TenneT TSO BV for EUR1.1 billion.

Stretching around 9,700 kilometers from the Danish border in the north to the Alps in the south, E.ON's grid is only slightly larger than that of Vattenfall. Still, E.ON managed to achieve a much better purchase price than the roughly EUR500 million that the financial consortium is understood to have originally bid.

-By Carol Dean, Eyk Henning and Jan Hromadko, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29 725 503; jan.hromadko@dowjones.com

17-01-2010 om 19:07 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

Elia uit op controlerende participatie in hoogspanningsnet Vattenfall

• woensdag 13 januari 2010
• Bron: BELGA
• Auteur: wle

BRUSSEL - Elia, de beheerder van het hoogspanningsnet in ons land, heeft woensdagochtend bevestigd dat het onderhandelingen voert met Vattenfall om een controlerende participatie te verwerven in diens netwerk in Duitsland. Dinsdag waren er geruchten in buitenlandse media, maar Elia wou daar toen geen commentaar op geven.

Overname stroomnet Eon door Tennet rond

10-11-2009 | Gepubliceerd 12:29

Overname hoogspanningsnet E.ON door TenneT

Kamerbrief | 10-11-2009 | Actueel

Aan de voorzitter van de Tweede Kamer
Postbus 20018
2500 EA DEN HAAG

Ons kenmerk: FIN/2009/1589 M

Betreft: Overname hoogspanningsnet E.ON door TenneT

Geachte voorzitter,

Graag informeer ik u, mede namens de Minister van Economische Zaken, dat ik als aandeelhouder in TenneT Holding (“TenneT”) na uitgebreid onderzoek en overleg heb besloten TenneT toe te staan een bindend bod uit te brengen op het transportnet van E.ON (“Transpower”). Dit bod is door E.ON geaccepteerd. De overname sluit aan bij de kabinetsambities en de publieke belangen ten aanzien van het energiebeleid en levert aanzienlijke maatschappelijke baten op in de vorm van geharmoniseerde elektriciteitsprijzen tussen Nederland en Duitsland en lagere kosten voor balanshandhaving. Bovendien is sprake van een overtuigende en financieel gezonde propositie.

De Nederlandse markt voor elektriciteit raakt steeds meer verweven met de Noordwest-Europese markt. Met name voor Nederland, met een geliberaliseerde energiemarkt en onafhankelijk netbeheer is een volledige en onbelemmerde toegang tot de Europese elektriciteitsmarkt van groot belang. Fysiek is Nederland reeds verbonden met de Duitse elektriciteitsmarkt. Echter, er is nog geen sprake van volledige koppeling van markten: de handelssystemen voor elektriciteit zijn nog niet geïntegreerd.

De overname van Transpower draagt bij aan de versterking en de doelmatigheid van de elektriciteitsmarkt in Nederland. Koppeling van de markt komt door de overname versneld tot stand komt en leidt tot een versnelling van prijsconvergentie. Dit heeft, gelet op het gemiddelde hogere niveau van stroomprijzen in Nederland, een positief effect voor afnemers. Door de overname is TenneT in staat om de twee verschillende netten optimaal op elkaar aan te laten sluiten en investeringen op elkaar af te stemmen. Hierdoor zal bijvoorbeeld de fluctuatie van het aanbod van windenergie beter kunnen worden opgevangen. Een groter netwerk leidt bovendien tot een efficiëntere balanshandhaving in Nederland, hetgeen een belangrijke taak is van TenneT als netbeheerder. Hoewel synergievoordelen niet de voornaamste voorwaarden zijn geweest van het positieve besluit, zal de overname leiden tot kostenverlagingen, met name aan de inkoopkant voor investeringen. De maatschappelijke baten van deze strategische voordelen zijn berekend op EUR 0,9 tot 1,5 miljard. De maatschappelijke baten hebben een belangrijke rol gespeeld in de besluitvorming.

Naast de strategische voordelen die de overname biedt, is de financiële propositie overtuigend bevonden. Als een van de Duitse TSO’s[1] is Transpower net als in Nederland onderworpen aan regulering. De rendementen die gemaakt kunnen worden zijn daardoor beperkt maar stabiel. Het risico dat gemoeid is met de inkomsten is vergelijkbaar met de risico’s die TenneT loopt ten aanzien van de Nederlandse beheersactiviteiten en wordt acceptabel geacht.

De overnameprijs die TenneT betaalt voor de onderneming bedraagt EUR 885 miljoen. Deze waarde ligt significant onder de waarde van de zogenaamde regulated asset base[2] en is door de externe adviseur van de Staat beoordeeld als een goede prijs, die duurzame rendementen waarborgt. Evenals bij de beoordeling van de strategische ratio heeft de Staat ook hierover onafhankelijk advies ingewonnen.

De overname wordt gefinancierd door vreemd vermogen aan te trekken op het niveau van TenneT en door inzet van eigen vermogen van de Stichting Beheer Doelgelden. Deze Stichting is gelieerd aan TenneT, maar voert een aparte boekhouding. De achtergrond hiervan is gelegen in de Elektriciteitswet. Ten behoeve van deze Stichting heeft de Staat een garantie verleend. Deze Stichting mag zijn gelden namelijk uitsluitend risicovrij beleggen. De maatschappelijke baten van deze overname rechtvaardigen het afgeven van de garantie voor deze overname. De garantieverplichting zal in de Tweede suppletoire begroting van het Ministerie van Financiën worden verwerkt evenals de garantiepremies. De garantie wordt marktconform beprijsd. Graag verwijs ik voor meer informatie over de te verlenen garantie door de Staat naar mijn brief van 16 oktober jl. (28165, nr. 102). Deze brief is in eerste instantie als vertrouwelijk verstuurd vanwege de beursnotering van E.ON. Met de bekendmaking van deze transactie kan de brief ook openbaar worden.

Na de overname zullen de Duitse activiteiten worden ondergebracht in een dochter van TenneT Holding, evenals nu al het geval is voor TenneT TSO Nederland. Hierbij geldt dat de Staat als aandeelhouder dezelfde mate van zeggenschap zal krijgen in de Duitse activiteiten als deze nu heeft in TenneT TSO Nederland. Uiteraard heb ik mij vergewist van het feit dat de Nederlandse activiteiten van TenneT Holding op het gebied van netbeheer (TenneT TSO Nederland) geenszins (negatief) beïnvloed kunnen worden door de Duitse activiteiten. TenneT TSO Nederland is strikt afgebakend: de eigendommen en belangen zijn juridisch en financieel gescheiden van de overige activiteiten van TenneT Holding. Deze situatie bestond al voor de
overname en vloeit voort uit paragraaf 5 van de Elektriciteitswet 1998. Doel van deze wettelijke regeling is te voorkomen dat niet-gereguleerde activiteiten van TenneT Holding invloed hebben op TenneT TSO Nederland. Bovendien zal de overname geen impact hebben op de Nederlandse tarieven voor elektriciteitstransport; de kosten die gemoeid zijn met de overname kunnen niet verrekend worden in de tarieven. Deze investering wordt terugverdiend uit de inkomsten uit het Duitse elektriciteitsnet.

Ik zal samen met de minister van Economische Zaken de uitwerking en de resultaten van de overname nauwlettend volgen. Ik heb daartoe TenneT verzocht ons periodiek informatie te doen toekomen over de beschreven samenwerking.

Mede namens de Minister van Economische Zaken,

De Minister van Financiën,

Wouter Bos

[1] Transmission System Operator.
[2] Dit betreft de regulatorische waarde van het netwerk.

Eerst en vooral wensen we dus toch op te merken dat de Nederlandse Staat hier inspraak heeft gekregen in een buitenlandse overname door haar eigen nationale netbeheerder en bovendien ook zeggenschap heeft zowel bij het Nederlandse gedeelte als in het overgenomen Duitse gedeelte en dat er een duidelijke opsplitsing komt van beide activiteiten. Dit is natuurlijk niet meer dan normaal aangezien de Nederlandse Staat de enige aandeelhouder is van Tennet...

Wat zegt Tennet zelf?

Tennet maakt de dienst uit in Europa

door Chris van Alem. woensdag 11 november 2009 | 07:26 | Laatst bijgewerkt op: donderdag 12 november 2009 | 00:30

Tekstgrootte

Netwerkbeheerder TenneT heeft een belangrijke stap gezet op weg naar een landelijk hoogspanningsnet. ANP Photo

De miljarden die Tennet investeert in het Duitse en Nederlandse stroomnet, komen niet voor rekening van de Nederlandse consument. "De tarieven worden door de afzonderlijke toezichthouders in Nederland en Duitsland vastgesteld.

16-01-2010 om 00:00 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

15-01-2010 om 21:55 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

International Community

Petritsch extends mandate of the Hercegovacka Banka Provisional Administrator

The High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, on Thursday issued a Decision extending the mandate of the Provisional Administrator of Hercegovacka Banka with regard to the blocking of the deposits and investments in the Bank beyond the period of one year. (All Sarajevo dailies and Banja Luka Nezavisne Novine carried the Press Release on Saturday)

PDHR Hays says the Hercegovacka Banka founders intended to make an autonomous region under Croat control

Saturday’s Dnevni Avaz reports that Principal Deputy High Representative Donald Hayssaid on Friday at a press conference in Mostar that the final goal of the founders of the Hercegovacka Banka had been to make Herzegovina an autonomous region, i.e. to put it under Croat control. Hays said that the founders of the bank had wanted to control the community and then take taxes from it. He added that Hercegovacka Banka had been meant to become a kind of treasury for public funds. Although the bank was created to be commercial, it turned to be an institution that was fulfilling political goals of individuals, Hays said. According to the Radio Mostar East, Provisional Administrator of the Bank Toby Robinsonsaid that, since the investigation into the bank’s operations was underway, new criminal charges were expected to be filled during summertime. Robinson stated that not only OHR but also depositors had lost confidence in Hercegovacka Banka. Based on about million documents and over 600,000 computer files, the investigation showed, said Robinson, that this was really a story on major criminal of a small group of people who had taken large credits never giving them back. Two thirds of credits were given to shareholders, members of the Steering board and connected associations, Robinson said. She added that people who had organized all this were still in possession of the money that belongs to 40,000 depositors. According to Dnevni Avaz, Robinson said that there were three resolutions for the Bank: rehabilitation, selling or liquidation.

Saturday’s Dnevni Avaz declares Toby Robinson as the Person of the Day

Saturday’s Dnevni Avaz declared Hercegovacka Banka Provisional Administrator Toby Robinson Person of the Day in light of the extension of her mandate for another year. According to the newspaper, Robinson has been given more time to resolve the situation in once the largest financial institution in Herzegovina caused by more than suspicious transactions.

Petritsch not excluding possibility he will appear as a witness before The Hague Tribunal in trial of Milosevic

Ante Jelavić is a Croat politician and former Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Jelavić was born in 1963 in Podprolog, a village near Vrgorac, Croatia, then Yugoslavia, and was elected to the post as a candidate of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Ante Jelavić served as Chairman of the Presidency from June 15, 1999, to February 14, 2000. He was removed from his position on the three-member Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina by decision of the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, in March 2001. Petritsch justified his decision by observing that Jelavić had "directly violated the constitutional order of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and of Bosnia and Herzegovina"; in particular he cited Jelavić's leading role in the 'Croat National Assembly' rally in Mostar of March 3, 2001, calling for a separate governing entity for Bosnian Croats.^[1]

On January 22, 2004, Jelavić was arrested in his home in Mostar, on charges of corruption.

On November 4, 2005, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo found Jelavić guilty of abuse of office, embezzlement of office, and lack of commitment in office. The findings of guilt related, in part, to the use of funds from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Ministry of Defence to purchase shares in banking and insurance firms Hercegovačka Banka and Herzegovina Osiguranje. Judge Malcolm Simmons presided,^[2] A sentence of ten years imprisonment was subsequently pronounced, although Jelavić was not present at the sentencing hearing and remained at large.

Dragan Barbarić, acting for Jelavić in his absence, initiated a successful appeal against the first instance verdict on the grounds that it lacked proper factual description of the offence and as such was in violation of criminal procedural law. The verdict revoked, the appeal panel, presided over by Judge Nedžad Popovac, has called for new proceedings in which evidence presented at the first trial will be re-presented and in which new evidence may be presented too.^[3]

hier vinden jullie het volledige vonnis...

15-01-2010 om 00:00 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

14-01-2010 om 21:09 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

Bosnië en Herzegovina

Uit Wikipedia, de vrije encyclopedie

Bosna i Hercegovina Босна и Херцеговина
(Details) (Details)
Basisgegevens
Officiële landstaal	Bosnisch, Servisch, Kroatisch
Hoofdstad	Sarajevo
Regeringsvorm	Federale republiek
Staatshoofd	President Željko Komšić - SDP
Religie	Moslims 40%, orthodox 31%, katholiek 15%, overige 14%[1]
Oppervlakte	51.197 km²[2] (-% water)
Inwoners	4.377.033 (1991)[3] 4.613.414 (2009)[4] (90,1/km² (2009))
Overige
Volkslied	Intermeco
Munteenheid	Bosnische convertibele mark (BAM)
UTC	+1 (zomer +2)
Nationale feestdag	25 november, Dag van de Republiek
Web | Code | Tel.	.ba | BiH | 387
Voorgaande staten
← 1992 (Bosnische Oorlog)
Topografie
Portaal Bosnië en Herzegovina
Portaal Landen & Volken

Bosnië en Herzegovina, bestaande uit de landstreken Bosnië en Herzegovina, is een republiek in het zuidoosten van Europa, die ontstaan is bij het uiteenvallen van het voormalige Joegoslavië (sinds 5 april 1992). De hoofdstad is Sarajevo. Het land grenst aan Kroatië, Servië en Montenegro; bij Neum heeft het circa 21 kilometer kustlijn met de Adriatische Zee.

De nationale munteenheid is de Bosnische Mark (Konvertibilna Marka), ofwel BAM ofwel KM. 1 KM is ongeveer 0,51 euro; de koers ligt vast.

 Onafhankelijkheid

Zie ook: Geschiedenis van Bosnië en Herzegovina

Bosnië en Herzegovina riep in april 1992 de onafhankelijkheid uit. Na het uitroepen van die onafhankelijkheid brak de Bosnische oorlog uit. De onafhankelijkheid was uitgeroepen door de regering van Bosnië en Herzegovina, nadat de meerderheid van de Bosnische bevolking voor de onafhankelijkheid koos tijdens het referendum van 1 maart 1992. Het merendeel van de Bosnische Serviërs was echter tegen de onafhankelijkheid. Het leger van de Bosnische Serviërs, onder leiding van generaal Ratko Mladić, omsingelde in het voorjaar van 1992 de Bosnische hoofdstad Sarajevo. De politieke leider van de Bosnische Serviërs, Radovan Karadžić, kwam op 12 mei 1992 met het plan om Bosnische volkeren fysiek te scheiden. Al in 1992 werden tientallen Bosnische steden en dorpen aangevallen en vervolgens geplunderd en de niet-Servische bevolking uitgemoord, opgesloten in gevangenkampen of verdreven. De meeste massamoorden vonden plaats in Foča, Sarajevo, Visegrád, Zvornik, Prijedor, Kozarac, Vlasenica, Bratunac, Sanski Most en Srebrenica, waar in 1995 ruim acht duizend mensen zijn vermoord. Na internationaal ingrijpen in 1995 eindigde de Bosnische oorlog met het verdrag van Dayton. Sindsdien is het land verdeeld in twee entiteiten: De Federatie van Bosnië en Herzegovina (Federacija Bosna i Hercegovina), en de Servische entiteit: de Servische Republiek (Republika Srpska). In deze laatste is Banja Luka de belangrijkste stad, grondwettelijk is Sarajevo de hoofdstad. Naast de voornoemde twee deelrepublieken is er het Federaal District Brčko.

Rustig is het niet geworden op de Balkan, maar Bosnië en Herzegovina verdween wel uit het nieuws. Totdat Radovan Karadžić, werd opgepakt in juli 2008. Geholpen door deze actuele gebeurtenis zocht de Britse diplomaat en politicus Paddy Ashdown - voormalig Hoge Vertegenwoordiger van de internationale gemeenschap in Bosnië-Herzegovina - het nieuws. In The Observer meldde Ashdown dat Bosnië en Herzegovina op het punt stond om in te storten ^[5]. Ashdown meldde dat de Serviërs bezig zouden zijn met het opbouwen van een eigen staatsstructuur. De premier Milorad Dodik stuurde eerder een afvaardiging naar Montenegro om te onderzoeken hoe dat land zich in 2006 afscheidde. De Serviërs zouden streven naar een onafhankelijke Republika Srpska. Volgens Ashdown heeft de Europese Unie zich in de jaren '90 te snel teruggetrokken uit Bosnië.

 Bestuurlijke indeling

Zie Bestuurlijke indeling van Bosnië en Herzegovina voor het hoofdartikel over dit onderwerp.

Het Verdrag van Dayton deelt Bosnië en Herzegovina administratief op in twee entiteiten, namelijk de Bosniak-Kroatische Federatie (51%) en de Servische Republiek (49%). Daarnaast is er nog een federaal district, genaamd Brčko, dat tot beide entiteiten behoort.

De Bosniak-Kroatische Federatie en de Servische Republiek zijn weer onderverdeeld in respectievelijk 10 kantons en 7 regio's. De kantons en regio's zijn op hun beurt weer onderverdeeld in gemeentes.

 Bevolking

De staatsburgers van Bosnië en Herzegovina worden Bosniërs genoemd. De grootste etnische groepen in het land zijn de Bosniakken, de Serviërs en de Kroaten. Daarnaast zijn er kleine groepen Roma, Albanezen, Montenegrijnen, Oekraïners, Duitsers en Joden.

 Taal

Bosnië en Herzegovina heeft drie officiële talen: Bosnisch, Servisch en het Kroatisch.

De naam "Bosnisch" is onder de meerderheid van Bosnische Kroaten en Bosnische Serviërs controversieel. Bosnische Kroaten spreken Kroatisch en beschouwen dit als hun moedertaal. Bosnische Serviërs zien het Servisch als hun officiële taal. Alleen de Bosniakken geven de voorkeur aan Bosnisch. Het Bosnisch wordt gezien als een "aparte" Zuidslavische taal met Turkse en Arabische leenwoorden en wordt in het huidige Bosnië en Herzegovina samen met de andere twee talen als de nationale standaardtaal gezien. Het staat vast dat tot in de 19e eeuw de Bosnische bevolking Bosnisch sprak en een eigen Bosnisch schrift kende, het Bosančica.

 Geografie

Het noorden is overwegend vlak, het middenwesten heuvelachtig. In het zuiden en oosten liggen de hoogste toppen, het hoogste punt is de Maglić (2386m) op de grens met Montenegro. Het land heeft veel bossen en ongerepte natuur.

In het westen zijn kanovaren en rafting op de rivieren Una en Sana erg populair. Verder onderbreekt Bosnië en Herzegovina in het zuiden bij de stad Neum de kustlijn van het buurland Kroatië, waardoor het een 20 km lange kust aan de Adriatische zee heeft.

 Steden

De hoofdstad van Bosnië en Herzegovina is Sarajevo. Andere grotere steden zijn Banja Luka, Bihać, Mostar, Tuzla en Zenica.

 Bezienswaardigheden

• Sarajevo met zijn Bas Carsija, cultuur en vele moskeeën.
• Sarajevo, Vrelo Bosna; een natuurpark. 'Het vondelpark van Sarajevo'.
• Oude deel van Mostar met de brug Stari Most boven de rivier de Neretva
• Pocitelj wordt ook wel het Turks dorp genoemd. Oud Turks dorpje met een enorm kasteel.
• Blagaj; bron van de rivier de Una.
• Travnik, stad van de vizieren uit het Ottomaanse tijdperk.
• Bedevaartsoord Međugorje, dat veel pelgrims trekt uit binnen-, maar vooral buitenland.

 Economie en geld

De economie van Bosnië en Herzegovina heeft het zwaar te verduren gehad tijdens de oorlog. Met name de industrie, waar het land (en het vroegere Joegoslavië) van afhankelijk was en is, is flink beschadigd geweest. Het land telt vele industrieën, waarvan vele te maken hebben met het delven van de ruim aanwezige delfstoffen (kolen, zink). Ook is er veel petrochemische industrie in het land. Daarnaast is er sprake van intensieve akkerbouw en veeteelt. Vanwege de ligging vindt de meeste handel plaats met de buurlanden Kroatië, Servië en Montenegro.

De lokale munteenheid is de Konvertibilna Marka. De ISO-code is de BAM, maar lokaal wordt deze afgekort tot KM. In overwegend Kroatische gebieden wordt de Kroatische Kuna ook geaccepteerd. De euro wordt wijdverbreid geaccepteerd. De koers van de KM is ongeveer 51 eurocent, terwijl een euro ongeveer 1,96 KM is.

 Politiek

 Politieke Partijen

• Communistenbond van Bosnië en Herzegovina
• Partij voor Democratische Actie
• Kroatische Democratische Unie

Bestuurlijke indeling van Bosnië en Herzegovina

Entiteiten van Bosnië en Herzegovina: Servische Republiek · Moslim-Kroatische Federatie Federale Districten van Bosnië en Herzegovina: Brčko Kantons van de Moslim-Kroatische Federatie: Bosnisch Podrinje · Centraal-Bosnië · Herzegovina-Neretva · Posavina · Kanton Sarajevo · Tuzla · Una-Sana · West-Bosnië · West-Herzegovina · Zenica-Doboj Regio's van de Servische Republiek: Banja Luka · Bijeljina · Doboj · Foča (Srbinje) · Oost-Sarajevo (Sokelac) · Trebinje · Vlasenica

NATO troops raid bank to get evidence of Bosnian Croat separatists

Interview: Milan Sutalo, suspended spokesperson of the Hercegovacka Bank

We Do Not Fear Investigation; In Interview for Hrvatska Rijec Petritsch Only Offered New Untruths About Bank!

Hrvatska Rijec, Sarajevo, Federation Bosnia-Hercegovina, B-H, May 28, 2001

The results of the audit of the business dealings of the Hercegovacka Bank are expected by the public with a lot of interest, especially after several international community officials have announced that the audit would discover various criminal activities. Milan Sutalo, the spokesperson of the bank, however, disagrees. He was suspended together with other employees of the bank when the High Representative imposed an administrator earlier this year. It is interesting that Sutalo, a former editor of the news program on Erotel [Croat TV station banned by the Office of High Representative], has lost a job for the second time thanks to the decisions of the international community. In an interview for our magazine Sutalo explains his view of the raid of the Hercegovacka Bank. He and a group of other employees have for weeks been trying to convince the domestic and international public that the raid of the Hercegovacka Bank and the decision to impose a temporary administrator were illegal acts. They have set up a web site which is updated daily with fresh information, together with a selection of articles from the domestic and foreign press, including the recent interview of the American ambassador Thomas Miller for our magazine.

HRVATSKA RIJEC: In the last issue of our magazine High Representative of the International Community Wolfgang Petritsch said that the preliminary results of the investigation in the Hercegovacka Bank indicated that the situation had been even worse than expected? Would you care to comment and do you fear that the investigation will indeed prove that there were criminal activities in the bank?

SUTALO: With his statement Mr. Petritsch only demonstrates his consistency in trying to defame and slander the bank as in his unsuccessful attempt to destroy it by his statements for the media. When he and his collaborators failed in their attempt to undermine the bank in that manner, they used that campaign to win support in the public here and abroad, as well as the local and foreign political circles, for an illegal and violent act of breaking in, taking over by force, destroying and stealing information processing equipment, documentation and money from the Hercegovacka Bank.

I agree with Mr. Petritsch that there is a well-founded suspicion in the Hercegovacka Bank affair that a crime has been committed, the crime of bankocide, to my knowledge unprecedented in history of the human race. The situation is indeed worse than anyone could have expected. No one sane, including us in the bank, despite media speculations, expected that the OHR and Mr. Petritsch would take the course of action they took on April 6, and in the night between April 17 and 18, when the public both here and abroad could see for itself the horrific consequences of the tank audit of the Hercegovacka Bank.

Consequences of Petritsch's crime are felt today not only by the share holders and employees of the bank but also by 90,000 customers of the bank who have been denied access to their savings, their undeniable private property, by Petritsch. The consequences are also felt by thousands of companies that are on the verge of bankruptcy, as well as the Federation Bosnia-Hercegovina and Bosnia-Hercegovina herself.

Let me remind you that a month ago in an interview to Jutarnji List I stated that if the blockade of the Hercegovacka Bank was not lifted, the Federation Bosnia-Hercegovina would face bankruptcy. Today even the top officials, minister of finances Nikola Grabovac and member of BH Presidency Beriz Belkic, admit that.

However, the state is not facing bankruptcy because its money has been frozen in the Hercegovacka Bank but because Petritsch with his action had a catastrophic effect on the economy and thus did an extremely bad favor to the state.

Could you be more specific regarding whether the investigation will be able to prove that there were criminal activities in the bank?

We were not and are not afraid of any investigation or audit. If we were afraid we definitely would not have permitted the supervision of our business dealings by the Federation Bosnia-Hercegovina Banking Agency, whose auditors spent as many as 40 days in the bank, and after that visited bank to conduct post-audit controls. Ibrahim Polimac, the spokesperson of the Federation BH Banking Agency after the April 6 action clearly said on TV that all business dealings of the Hercegovacka Bank were legal, that not a single condition for the imposition of outside administration had been met, and that the Federation BH banking regulations and laws do not foresee a possibility that the OHR impose outside administration.

Therefore, when Mr. Petritsch says that the action was legal, he is again in direct collision with the law and the facts.

Let me remind you that the governor of the Central Bank of Bosnia-Hercegovina, Peter Nicol in his statement given to Jutarnje Novine said that the Hercegovacka Bank was an example of respect for the rules of internal monetary transfers, and the Federation Minister for Finance, Nikola Grabovac, confirmed that the Hercegovacka Bank had regularly met all its obligations with respect to the Federation BH budget.

Before April 6, the Hercegovacka Bank was also visited by special auditors of the OHR to whom, as well as to the OSCE mission, we gave all the requested data.

The Bank never refused to provide any auditor with any requested piece of information. Those who fear something try to avoid audits, and we publicly invited all the auditors, if they had any suspicions, to come to the bank. We expected auditors in business suits, and we got auditors in black balaclavas.

What is your interpretation of the reasons for the imposition of the temporary administration in the bank?

The goal of the operation was not an audit, but a blockade and destruction of the bank, and financial and economic punishment of the territories served by the bank, so that a particular political message and response to Croat inquiries into their rights in Bosnia-Hercegovina could be sent.

When force is illegally used or abused for such goals, the planners and organizers have no other recourse than to keep lying. Those who lie are prepared to do anything to hide the true goals and motivation for the action. After the analysis of Petritsch's statements one can easily identify the ideas behind the whole campaign against the bank.

You have frequently claimed so far that the action conducted by SFOR and the OHR could not be conducted anywhere in the west, since very weak evidence of alleged criminal activities was offered before the attack, and the Hercegovacka Bank is also a privately owned bank. However, the other side responded that activities such as redirection of 54 KM million of assistance sent from Croatia also would not be possible in the West, so that the appeals to legality are irrelevant?

If you give equal weight to facts and fabrications then that may be true. Mr. Petritsch, Mr. Racan and all the auditors who have spent time in the Hercegovacka Bank know very well that that infamous secret account does not exist. We do not have the so-called secret, i.e. code protected, accounts as all accounts in banks are secret and the banking business is based on that secrecy. Mr. Petritsch still claims that he has evidence about the existence of a secret HDZ account at which 54 KM million is deposited and another 50 secret sub-accounts used by the HVO. If that is true, why, for God's sake, does he not finally present that evidence to the public?! We would be overjoyed if some of our clients had so much cash on their accounts. We have about 90,000 individual account holders and also service accounts of 4,500 legal entities, such as companies and organizations, and our total deposits are at about 100KM million. You can imagine what we would do if we could get a client whose account would be equal to 50% of all other deposits.

We do not deny the need that even such an obvious fabrication be investigated, but question the manner in which all of that was done.

Namely, if there is a suspicion that a bank has violated any laws, then auditors and the financial police, normally people who do not carry weapons, come to the bank and request certain documentation and on the spot establish whether anyone of the bank's employees may have broken the law. If that is the case, then an investigation is initiated and it may result in indictments against one or more persons.

Another option is to approach the bank with a court warrant and demand access to the account of the client that is suspected of illegally acquiring the money on his account. The bank is obliged to provide access to that account and that is where its obligations end, as the investigation then continues against the client, rather than against the bank. Nowhere in the world can authorities impose outside administration that will conduct an audit, nor can an audit be conducted outside bank's premises and without involvement of the bank's employees and its management. The audit is always conducted in the bank and the auditor can only take from the bank's premises copies rather than original documents. If anyone takes original documentation from the bank, and every document is money, then audit is not your true goal. In that case, you have some other, hidden goals.

Why does eliminated management of the bank refuse to cooperate with temporary administrator Toby Robinson, which, according to her, is slowing down the return of money to clients?

Ms. Robinson is trying to place blame where there is none. First of all, she was illegally appointed for a temporary administrator. The decision of the High Representative suspended the management, shareholders and employees of the bank, and all our authority was conveyed to the temporary administrator. When I saw that decree I wondered how one person can replace 270 people, shareholders and management. That person must have supernatural powers. Secondly, how can we cooperate with her if we are suspended, without any reason thrown out on the street and left without right to work and existence? Without the withdrawal of the suspension we would be unable to cooperate with Ms. Robinson. However, there are also ethical reasons that, to me personally, do not allow to cooperate with the person who illegally usurped our rights, took over private property and conducted a tank audit of the bank. We never refused to cooperate with any audit, but we do not want to participate in the murder of our own bank.

Statements of Ms. Robinson that account holders are suffering because of our lack of cooperation are beyond fake concern and hypocrisy. I would like to remind her on this occasion that 90,000 customers did not open their accounts in the Hercegovacka Bank because of their trust in her, but because of their trust in us. All of them were able to withdraw their savings at any time, and that was the case until her boss, Mr. Petritsch, ordered the blockade of the bank. If it is true, as she claims, that only she can unblock the accounts, than what does she need us for? If her goal was to conduct an audit she would not have come to the bank with armed escort and take away computers and documentation.

One of the leading American information technology companies, whose experts were present during the first raid of the bank, was recruited for the analysis of the confiscated computers. What information do you have about the condition of the equipment after the raid, and what happened with the "lost" back-up tapes requested by temporary administrator Robinson?

We were a bank with the best information system and excellent information technology staff. That is one of the chief reasons for our success and our success in tenders for public revenue of the Federation BH, and the tender for the accounts servicing the treasury and other institutions of Bosnia-Hercegovina.

The equipment was in excellent condition and we serviced it properly. The participants in the OHR action destroyed and took away the back up computer, development computer, central computer, the computer of the Central bank of Bosnia-Hercegovina, which had been loaned, and we used it to conduct inter-bank transactions that must go through the Central Bank. 90 percent of desktop computers were also taken away. We do not know whether they did or did not lose those tapes. Essentially, we do not have the stuff they took away.

Even some western media (Newsweek, The Spectator, Sunday Telegraph and others) that criticized the raid on the bank stated in their articles that the Hercegovacka Bank was supposed to finance the Croatian autonomy and that that is the reason it was destroyed. What is your opinion about that?

Articles in those media helped us inform the world public about the facts and reveal the true goals of the action, one of which is the destruction of our bank. They tried to find any seemingly rational justification for that destructive operation and thus accepted something that appeared to make sense and was suggested in the statements and press releases of the international representatives in Bosnia-Hercegovina. However, that claim is nothing but a speculation regarding what would happen if something else happened first. It is the fact that the Croatian autonomy at the time of the raid did not exist as an institution. Therefore, it is impossible to finance something that does not exist. Secondly, one cannot accuse someone only on the basis of a guess that he may do something in the future.

Let us assume that the Croatian autonomy was established at some point. The Croatian autonomy would naturally have its institutions, laws and all legal entities and persons would have to decide whether they were willing to respect the regulations of the autonomy and fulfill their obligations with respect to the autonomy.

The regulations of the autonomy would apply to all the banks. In that case, all the banks would have to decide which set of regulations they were willing to disobey. In any case, they would violate either the regulations of the autonomy or the Federation BH. However, that would apply to all the banks. In that case the Hercegovacka Bank would have been forced to make its choice as well.

Secondly, any legal entity, even if it is a bank, cannot on its own finance an autonomy and its institutions. If we tried to do so we would have gone bankrupt in a few days. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that in our work we respected all the Federation regulations.

What are the former bank employees doing at this point? How many of them joined the recently formed trade union? What is going on with the Association of Shareholders? What have you done so far?

This interview, therefore a presentation of facts about the bank, is a part of our work outside the bank. We have been illegally, with weapons, evicted, thrown out on the street. We have been denied the right to work without any evidence of our culpability. We haven't been paid for more than two months and many of us are facing financial difficulties. We are trying to draw public attention through the work of our trade union. We gather daily, discuss our future actions and act independently of any institutions. Besides providing information for the local media and media abroad, we have established contacts with the most powerful international trade unions and are preparing a suit that we shall file with suitable international organizations. At the moment, our biggest problem is the lack of money, but we hope to get financial assistance as we have sent appeals for assistance to many addresses in the country and abroad.

A publication from Sarajevo has recently published data obviously provided by the Border Service or the customs about allegedly suspicious transfers of money from the Hercegovacka Bank to Croatia before the imposition of the temporary administration?

Yes, the daily Osloodjenje, which, unlike Dnevni Avaz and BHT, publishes our press releases and statements by the representatives of the bank, published the article under headline "They Transport Foreign Currency in Bags from Hercegovina Abroad". The goal of that propagandist article was to intimidate our customers and to urge them to hurry to withdraw their savings from the bank. That is one of the ways to destroy a bank. The result of such and similar articles, that have been published for months in many newspapers, was a significant outflow of money from our accounts. Despite that, we retained liquidity and stayed on our feet, thanks to skillful and professional management of our resources. When such and similar articles failed to produce the desired results, they reached for weapons. Then, the same article was used one more time, this time in the weekly Dani, in a somewhat longer version, as a justification for the raid of the bank.

However, the transfer of money is one of legal business transactions conducted by all banks, everywhere in the world. The money is transported to the bank's accounts abroad or sold as cash and all of this is perfectly legal, but the goal was to portray this as a robbery of the bank. Customs officers at the border who provided the data regarding when and which bank clerk transferred how much money at someone's request violated the law and should be prosecuted.

Banks everywhere in the world daily transport cash, not in bottles, but naturally in bags and if state officials were allowed to publish data about such transports in the media potential robbers would have an easy job. They would only need to read newspapers and they would know where to wait for the bank's vehicle, who would be in it and how much cash they could get in the robbery. The fact that we transported large amoun

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Zware rassenrellen in Calabrië

• zaterdag 09 januari 2010
• 
  
• Auteur: Ine Roox

Opstand in Rosarno: woedende zwarte immigranten staan oog in oog met de Italiaanse politie.ap

© ADRIANA SAPONE

Stadsguerrilla tussen zwarten en Italianen in maffiagebied — BRUSSEL - In de kleine provinciestad Rosarno, in het Zuid-Italiaanse Calabrië, zijn duizenden woedende zwarte immigranten in opstand gekomen tegen wat zij het racisme van de Italianen noemen. Er vielen zeker 34 gewonden.

Paus stelt rellen in Calabrië aan de kaak

• maandag 11 januari 2010
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• Auteur:

VATICAANSTAD (AP, AFP) - De Italiaanse justitie opent een onderzoek naar de eventuele betrokkenheid van de maffia bij de rellen.

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10-01-2010 om 23:30 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

NAAR MEDJUGORJE MET DE STICHTING MEDJUGORJE BEDEVAARTEN

Stichting Medjugorje Bedevaarten
Theo van den Heuvel (voorzitter en tevens één van de reisleiders)
Ridder 25
5282 GE Boxtel
Tel. 0411-601565.
E-mail: bedevaarten@medjugorje.nl Dit e-mailadres is beveiligd tegen spambots, u heeft JavaScript nodig om het te kunnen bekijken

HOEZO MEDJUGORJE?
Miljoenen en miljoenen mensen in de hele wereld geloven dat Maria, de Moeder van Jezus én onze Moeder, sinds 25 juni 1981 is verschenen aan zes jongeren.
Die verschijningen zijn nog steeds niet afgelopen: de zieners Vicka, Ivan en Marija zien de Koningin van de Vrede nog dagelijks, terwijl Ivanka en Jakov haar nog slechts één keer per jaar mogen aanschouwen.
De zieneres Mirjana ziet de Koningin van de Vrede elk jaar op 18 maart en vaak ook op de tweede van elke maand. Moeder Maria nodigt de pelgrims praktisch altijd uit om daarbij aanwezig te zijn.

Zeer veel mensen uit alle werelddelen willen zelf naar Medjugorje gaan, gelovig, kritisch of anderszins. Ongeveer veertig miljoen pelgrims zijn er al geweest, en vaak meerdere malen, want Medjugorje is een weldaad voor ieder die zijn hart open stelt voor Gods genade.

WACHT NIET OP ERKENNING
De verschijningen in Medjugorje zijn weliswaar nog niet door de rooms-katholieke Kerk erkend, maar Medjugorje heeft van diezelfde Kerk al wel de status van bedevaartsoord gekregen. In Lourdes heeft men destijds vier jaar op erkenning van de verschijningen moeten wachten en in Fatima dertien jaar. De goede God en Moeder Maria zullen het niet erg gevonden hebben dat de pelgrims zich daardoor niet hebben laten weerhouden, maar van het begin af aan in groten getale toestroomden.

GOEDE VRUCHTEN
Jezus heeft zelf gezegd, dat een goede boom goede vruchten voortbrengt. Zelfs de meest kritische personen kunnen niet ontkennen dat de vruchten in Medjugorje onmiskenbaar goed zijn én zeer talrijk! In Medjugorje wordt ons rijke geloof nog echt gevierd en beleefd!

WAAROM MET ONZE STICHTING
Onze Stichting Medjugorje Bedevaarten werd op 23 februari 1990 opgericht mede door de Stichting Vriendenkring Medjugorje Nederland als vervolg op een succesvol particulier initiatief. Sindsdien heeft zij al vele tientallen bedevaarten per vliegtuig georganiseerd. Zij maakt daarbij gebruik van haar grote ervaring en van de prima contacten met de bevolking van Medjugorje en omgeving. Daarom is onze Stichting de aangewezen organisatie om uw bedevaart naar Medjugorje tot in de puntjes te regelen.

BEGIN OP SCHIPHOL
Onze vliegbedevaarten beginnen op de luchthaven Schiphol. U hoort van ons, hoe u daar kunt komen en waar u precies moet zijn. En natuurlijk laten we u ook weten, waar u uw medepelgrims zult ontmoeten, zodat u samen verder kunt gaan. U ontvangt tijdig uw vliegticket. Indien mogelijk is er vóór het vertrek in een gebedsruimte van de luchthaven een Eucharistieviering voor onze pelgrims.

REISLEIDING
Stichting Medjugorje Bedevaarten organiseert een aantal bedevaarten die begeleid worden door een priester en een ervaren reisleider.(Meestal de heer Theo van den Heuvel)
Bij kleinere groepen zal dat niet altijd mogelijk zijn, omdat priesters en reisleiders soms moeilijk te vinden zijn. Maar ook voor die kleinere groepen en voor individuele personen hebben wij prima mogelijkheden! (Zie de paragraaf 'OP EIGEN GELEGENHEID' )

DE VLIEGREIS
Wij vliegen met Croatia Airlines. Dat is weliswaar geen grote maatschappij, maar men beschikt wel over betrouwbare vliegtuigen, o.a. de moderne Airbus. In de periode van april t/m oktober 2009 vliegen we op zaterdag en woensdag rechtstreeks van Schiphol naar Split. We vertrekken rond 15.00 uur en landen ongeveer twee uur later in Split. Onderweg worden dranken en een lichte lunch geserveerd. In het vliegtuig kan geen rekening gehouden worden met diëten.


VERDER PER BUS
Op het vliegveld Split staat de bus klaar, die ons in minder dan drie uur naar de pensions in Medjugorje brengt. Onderweg passeren we o.a. de beroemde badplaatsen Split, Omis, Makarska en Podgora. In Vepric komen we langs het Kroatische Lourdes. Na twee uur genoten te hebben van het fraaie landschap met o.a. de Adriatische Zee en haar vele eilanden verlaten we de Dalmatische kust langs hoog oprijzende rotswanden en gaan door het schilderachtige bergland naar Medjugorje. Tijdens de busreis bereiden we ons biddend en zingend voor op de aankomst in het genadeoord van de Koningin van de Vrede, terwijl er ook voldoende tijd is om met de medereizigers kennis te maken. De bus brengt ons tot vóór de deur van de pensions waar we zullen verblijven. We worden hartelijk ontvangen door de gastvrouw en gastheer; we voelen ons echt welkom en dat zijn we ook!

DE PENSIONS
De pensions waar onze pelgrims logeren, staan allemaal in Medjugorje, en wel in de buurtschap Bijakovici, waar de verschijningen in 1981 begonnen zijn. Daar wonen de zieners Ivan, Mirjana en Jakov. Wij brengen onze pelgrims onder in verschillende pensions, te weten:

A. Mladen en Ana Ostojic (een splinternieuw pension tegenover de ‘Tuin van St. Franciscus’, een beschermd bosgebied)
B. Kreso en Marica Ostojic;
C. Sima Ostojic;
D. Zdravko en Radmila Ostojic;
E. Zeljko en Drazenka Ostojic; F. Iva Ostojic.
G. Nikola en Mira Ostojic

De letters geven de volgorde aan.|
Onze pelgrims worden eerst ondergebracht in pension A. Als daar geen plaats meer is, komt pension B aan de beurt, daarna C enzovoort.
Pension A t/m E liggen in een prachtig natuurgebied aan een doodlopende weg. Er is daar nauwelijks verkeer: geen hinderlijke taxi's, geen bussen, maar een heerlijke rust. U kunt uw raam dus zonder problemen openzetten en u kunt voor uw genoegen buiten gaan zitten. De pelgrims die er gelogeerd hebben zijn er enthousiast over en willen er de volgende keer graag weer te gast zijn. Vanaf de pensions A t/m E kunt u desgewenst over een prachtig paadje naar de kerk lopen.

DAGELIJKS GRATIS VERVOER IN MEDJUGORJE
Maar…de gastheren van pension A en B brengen hun gasten gratis met een personenbusje of een auto naar de kerk, naar de Verschijningsberg, naar de Kruisberg, naar de zieners enzovoort. Elke dag, wanneer en waarheen u maar wilt! De gastheer van pension D biedt gratis vervoer aan in de loop van de namiddag en 's avonds. Een prima service!

HEBT U EEN ROLSTOEL?
Zit u regelmatig in een rolstoel, maar kunt u met hulp wel een stuk of vier treden lopend omhoog, dan durven wij u uit te nodigen voor een prachtreis die u nooit zult vergeten. Met uw rolstoel zit u steeds vooraan en met het kleine personenbusje kunnen we u en uw rolstoel gemakkelijk vervoeren. Maar…u moet wel een paar treden omhoog kunnen. Ook al zijn er zeker mensen in de groep die uw rolstoel willen duwen, toch is het wel wenselijk om een begeleider mee te nemen. Voor u is pension A de beste keus!

INDELING VAN DE PENSIONS
Onze pensions hebben enkele kamers met drie bedden, maar de meeste kamers hebben twee bedden. Er zijn een paar echte eenpersoons kamers, maar als de ruimte het toelaat, worden kamers met twee bedden ook als eenpersoons kamer gebruikt. Tot nu toe konden we aan de grote vraag naar eenpersoons kamers altijd voldoen! Voor de pelgrims die geen trap op kunnen, zijn er wat kamers op de begane grond in pension A,B,D en G. Bijna alle kamers hebben een eigen badkamer met douche, toilet en wastafel. De bewoners van enkele kamers moeten een badkamer delen.

DE MAALTIJDEN
U logeert in Medjugorje op basis van volpension: drie goede maaltijden per dag, inclusief diverse dranken aan tafel. 's Morgens een welvoorzien ontbijt, waarbij zelfs een naar wens gekookt eitje niet ontbreekt. 's Middags is er een warme lunch met elke dag een ander driegangen menu. Als uw dieet niet ingewikkeld is, kan er rekening mee gehouden worden. Omdat we 's avonds pas na afloop van de viering eten, hebben we gekozen voor een broodmaaltijd. Degenen die niet zo lang kunnen wachten, kunnen op een eerder tijdstip alvast wat eten. Koffie, thee, andere dranken en fruit in de loop van de voormiddag, de namiddag en 's avonds worden niet extra in rekening gebracht!


HET PROGRAMMA
Uit ervaring weten we dat de Moeder Gods het programma in Medjugorje zo laat verlopen dat iedere pelgrim krijgt wat hij/zij nodig heeft. Ook daarin toont zij zich een echte Moeder.

• We streven ernaar om in de loop van de voormiddag samen de Eucharistie te vieren in onze eigen taal.
• We beklimmen de Podbrdo (de Verschijningsberg) en de Krizevac (de Kruisberg). U dient hiervoor goed ter been te zijn en over voldoende adem te beschikken.
• We gaan naar het Blauwe Kruis, evenals de genoemde 'bergen' een plaats van verschijningen.
• We gaan bidden bij het graf van Pater Slavko Barbaric.
• We bezoeken één of meer zieners.
• 
• We kunnen in 2009 niet naar Pater Jozo Zovko in Siroki Brijeg, omdat hij op eigen verzoek een jaar van rust en bezinning wil hebben voor zichzelf. In plaats daarvan gaan wij toch naar Siroki Brijeg waar in 1945 dertig franciscanen hun leven gaven voor het geloof. We bezoeken de plaats waar dat gebeurde en we bidden bij hun graf. Natuurlijk gaan we ook naar het Instituut van de Heilige Familie, dat door Pater Jozo gebouwd is als tehuis voor weesmeisjes en meisjes die het om andere redenen heel moeilijk hebben.
• 
• We bezichtigen het Instituut en vieren er de Eucharistie in een prachtige kapel. We brengen een bezoek aan Campo della Vita (het drugsverslaafden-centrum van Zr. Elvira) en aan de Oase van de Vrede (waar een religieuze gemeenschap leeft).
• MOSTAR
  Wij gaan ‘s morgens naar Mostar via een prachtige route. In Mostar gaan we eerst de herstelde Stari Most, de beroemde oude brug, bezichtigen. Als enige bedevaartorganisatie bezoeken wij de zwaar getroffen parochies van de Franciscanen en bewonderen de wederopbouw. We maken kennis met de begeesterde pater Luka en we vieren daar samen de Eucharistie. Na afloop worden we gastvrij onthaald op hapjes en drankjes. Indrukwekkend en zeer positief! Onze pelgrims zijn daar altijd laaiend enthousiast over! We zijn vóór de lunch weer terug in Medjugorje.
• DE AVONDVIERING
  Het hoogtepunt van elke dag is de avondviering in de parochiekerk.
  Het programma is dan als volgt:
  - Twee rozenhoedjes;
  - Eucharistieviering;
  - Kroatisch gebed (geloofsbelijdenis, zeven keer Onze Vader, Wees gegroet en Eer aan de Vader);
  - zegening van devotionalia;
  - gebed voor innerlijke en licamelijke genezing;
  - het derde rozenhoedje.
  - Op donderdag wordt het derde rozenhoedje vervangen door Eucharistische Aanbidding en op vrijdag door de verering van het H. Kruis.
  -Op woensdag en zaterdag is er 's avonds om 22.00 uur (zomertijd) een uur Eucharistische Aanbidding in de kerk.
• Een kort uitstapje naar de fraaie Kravica-waterval staat ook op het programma.

• U beslist zelf in hoeverre u aan het programma deelneemt! Indien u aan één of meer onderdelen van het programma niet deelneemt, ontvangt u geen terugbetaling van een deel van de reissom.
  
  In de periode van april t/m oktober 2009 vertrekken we op zaterdag rond 12.00 uur uit Split. We hoeven dan niet buitensporig vroeg uit Medjugorje te vertrekken. Croatia Airlines vliegt op zaterdag en woensdag in het seizoen rechtstreeks van Split naar Amsterdam. Er is dan geen tussenlanding in Zagreb. Die is er wel op andere weekdagen in het seizoen. Buiten het seizoen is er altijd een tussenlanding in Zagreb op alle weekdagen.
  
  OP EIGEN GELEGENHEID
  Als u individueel of met een eigen groep naar Medjugorje wilt gaan, wil onze Stichting u daarbij graag van dienst zijn. Wij hebben een speciale brochure samengesteld voor degenen die op eigen gelegenheid naar Medjugorje gaan. Met behulp van die brochure mist u absoluut niets van alle belangrijke plekjes en vieringen van Medjugorje. Bovendien weten de gastheren van onze pensions heel goed, wat onze Stichting belangrijk vindt voor de pelgrims en zij doen dan ook hun uiterste best om hun gasten daarbij van dienst te zijn.
  
  WAT KRIJGT U VOOR UW GELD?
  Uw vliegticket Schiphol - Split v.v.
  Alle luchthavenbelastingen in Nederland en Kroatië.
  Het vervoer van Split naar Medjugorje v.v.
  Het vervoer van Medjugorje naar Siroki Brijeg v.v.
  Het vervoer van Medjugorje naar Mostar v.v.
  Het vervoer van Medjugorje naar de Kravica-waterval v.v.
  Complete pensionkosten op basis van volpension. ’s Morgens en ’s avonds een goed verzorgde broodmaaltijd en ’s middags een prima warme maaltijd. Geen vreemde gerechten! Er wordt rekening gehouden met een niet al te ingewikkeld dieet.
  Alle dranken in het pension van uw aankomst tot vertrek zijn gratis, ook koffie, thee of iets anders tussendoor.
  In pension A en B gratis vervoer in Medjugorje zelf, wanneer en waarheen u maar wenst.
  Desgewenst regelen wij een goede reisverzekering van ELVIA voor u. Dat geldt ook voor een annuleringsverzekering van Elvia. De premie bedraagt 7% van de reissom. .
  
  Als u om dringende redenen niet mee kunt, betaalt de annuleringsverzekering u de reissom terug, zelfs als u tijdens de reis onverwacht naar huis moet. Het is dus zeer wenselijk dat u die verzekering afsluit. Indien u dat wenst, sluiten wij voor u een annuleringsverzekering af bij ‘ELVIA’. De premie bedraagt ca. 7% van de totale reissom. Uw reispapieren ontvangt u ongeveer enkele weken vóór het vertrek. We verstrekken u zeer uitgebreide informatie.
  
  NADERE INLICHTINGEN
  Indien u nadere inlichtingen en/of inschrijfformulieren wenst, kunt u vrijblijvend contact opnemen met Theo van den Heuvel, voorzitter, en tevens één van de reisleiders, tel. 0411-601565. E-mail: bedevaarten@medjugorje.nl Dit e-mailadres is beveiligd tegen spambots, u heeft JavaScript nodig om het te kunnen bekijken
  
  HULP BIJ DE VOORBEREIDING
  Wij willen u graag van dienst zijn bij de voorbereiding van uw reis. Na aanmelding ontvangt u van ons een lijst met dingen die u zeker niet mag vergeten en met zaken die wellicht van nut kunnen zijn. We geven u ook informatie over het te verwachten weer in Medjugorje. Inwoners van de landen van de Europese Unie dienen alleen een geldig paspoort te hebben. Het moet nog drie maanden geldig zijn na afloop van de bedevaart. Dit geldt ook voor mensen met een Amerikaans of Canadees paspoort. Voor mensen die een andere nationaliteit hebben, kan een visum vereist zijn. En dat moet tijdig aangevraagd worden.

10-01-2010 om 17:22 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

10-01-2010 om 00:00 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

09-01-2010 om 21:41 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

A Letter From Pope John Paul II to Fr. Jozo Zovko

Saturday Evening, August 24, 2002
Zagreb Daily Newspaper,
"The Vercernji List"

Headline Reads:
"A Surprising Gesture From the Vatican. The Pope Thanks Father Jozo for Medjugorje!"

The cover photo was taken when the Holy Father welcomed Fr. Jozo in 1992, in the midst of the Bosnian war. At that time the Pope told him: "I am with you, protect Medjugorje! Protect Our Lady's messages!"

Web site for "The Vercernji List"
http://www.vecernji-list.hr

---

The article in the paper shows Fr. Jozo at his desk, reading the Pope's letter, with a caption to the left of the picture: "The Pope has signed a thank you note to Fr. Jozo Zovko." A translation of the article from Croatian reads:

Siroki Brijeg - The world renowned Franciscan, Fr. Jozo Zovko, was more than surprised when yesterday Polish pilgrims came to thank him for twenty-one years of testifying to the Medjugorje apparitions, and especially when they handed him a thank you note personally signed by the shaky hand of their best known compatriate, John Paul II. Actually, after coming back from Poland the Pope wrote from the Vatican to personally thank and send his apostolic blessing to Fr. Jozo Zovko.

'Our Poland is grateful for your every word, for every thing that you have done for us', said the Pope's collaborator, Krystyna Gregorezyk, who personally handed the thank you note to Fr. Jozo in the Siroki Brijeg church.

'So far I have received hundreds of gifts and thank you notes but none can compare with this one. I am most pleasantly surprised,' a visibly shakened Fr. Jozo said for our paper.

Fr. Jozo Zovko is a member of the Hercegovinian Franciscan Province. As a witness to the Medjugorje apparitions, he has become one of the best known priests in the world. Many tribes have made him their chief and he is connected with many miraculous healings. According to a poll conducted by "The Daily Catholic", Fr. Jozo has been elected among twenty-nine Catholics of the century." (J.P.)

Letters of Clarification
Regarding Fr. Jozo

Below you can find the letters of Provincial Fr. Slavko Soldo and the Vicar General of the Franciscan Order Stefano Ottenbreit, that states Fr. Jozo is a Franciscan in good standing in the Order, even if he is under penalties from the Bishop.

11.21.2002 – Many people contact us regularly with questions concerning the status of the Franciscan Fr. Jozo Zovko, OFM. This is why we publish the "Attestation of Good Conduct" by Fr. Stefano Ottenbreit, OFM, Vicar General of the Order of Friars Minor (OFM) and a letter by Fr. Slavko Soldo, OFM, Provincial of the Herzegovinian Franciscan Province of the Assumption of the BVM.

Fr. Stefano Ottenbreit,
Vicar General of the Order, writes:

"I Fr. Stefano Ottenbreit, the undersigned, Vicar General of the Order of Friars Minor, testify that Fr. Jozo Zovko is a Member in good standing of the Province of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Herzegovina of our Order. I, also, declare to whom it may concern that he has never been suspended from our Order."

Signed and sealed with the seal of the Order at our General Curia in Rome on this 21st day of November in the year of the Lord 2002.

In fide, Fr. Stefano Ottenbreit, OFM, Vicar General

Fr. Slavko Soldo, OFM, Provincial of the Herzegovinian Franciscan Province of the Assumption of the BVM, writes:

"Fr. Jozo Zovko is a member of our community in good standing. He was the pastor at Medjugorje when the apparition of the Blessed Mother started in 1981. It was time of the communist regime in our country. As pastor of Medjugorje Fr. Jozo was put in prison by the communist court. After he was released from the prison, he continued to spread the message of the blessed Mother Queen of peace.

In our community Fr. Jozo Zovko is known as a charismatic priest who suffered for his faith and continues suffering. He spends long hours in prayer, counseling and preaching. Most of the time he is in the church, often for 10 hours a day.

Those who oppose the apparitions of the Blessed Mother at Medjugorje are constantly after Fr. Jozo, trying to stop his mission, but those who accept the Medjugorje consider him a dedicated priest and are inviting him to lead retreats for them and pray for them in their needs. Among those who are inviting him, are many priests and bishops. Fr. Jozo is tireless in that service. He did ask permission to travel to the United States and it was granted to him. I hope that this will be of help to you.

Peace and all things good!"

Mostar, November 14, 2002, Fr. Slavko Soldo, provincijal

With this statement I wish to awaken the consciences of those who defend Medjugorje. Their path is simple, wide and downhill all the way, while mine is difficult, thorny and uphill. The Church and Our Lady have no need of falsehoods. Jesus says: "The truth will make you free" (Din 8,32). "I am the way and the truth and the life" (Jn 14,6) "For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth, hears my voice" (Jn 18,37). For even a short description of the falsehoods about Medjugorje we would need 200 pages, but for now all I will give is this short summary without a scientific approach. I am somewhat uneasy because of the fact that in some statements my name is in the forefront, yet from the beginning of the "apparitions" I have been in the center of the events due to my episcopal position and duties. I am sorry as well for having to mention some "unpleasant things", but without them the arguments lose their strength. However, the most unpleasant things will be left out.

2. A characteristic attitude: Marina B., a tourist guide for Atlas travel, brought a priest from Panama to my office in August 1989. His name: Presbitero Rodriguez Teofilo, pastor of Nuestra Senora de Lourdes. With him came Carmen Cecilia Capriles - a journalist, Gerente General of the IATA agency, and Averrida Alberto Navarro, Apartado 1344 zona 7, Panama. Marina presented herself as a tour-guide, translator for English and a convert of Medjugorje. The priest asked me for the reasons why I do not believe in the "apparitions". I told him that I have at least 20 reasons not to believe, of which only one is necessary for those who are sober and well instructed in the faith to come to the conclusion that the apparitions are not of the supernatural. He asked me to please tell him at least one reason. I told him about the case of the ex-franciscan priest Ivica Vego. Due to his disobedience, by an order of the Holy father the Pope, he was thrown out of his franciscan religious order OFM by his General, dispensed from his vows and suspended "a divinis". He did not obey this order and he continued to celebrate Mass, distribute the sacraments and pass the time with his mistress. It is unpleasant to write about this, yet it is necessary in order to see who Our Lady is speaking of. According to the diary of Vicka and the statements of the "seers", Our Lady mentioned 13 times that he is innocent and that the bishop is wrong. When his mistress, sister Leopolda, a nun, became pregnant, both of them left Medjugorje and the religious life and began to live together near Medjugorje where their child was born. Now they have two children. His prayerbook is still sold in Medjugorje and beyond in hundreds of thousands of copies.

I asked Marina to translate this in English. Marina cannot be blamed for having fallen into a community which is concealing the truth. She spontaneously responded according to the practice in Medjugorje: "Do we have to tell them these ugly things?" I responded by saying that if you had not held back and covered these "ugly events" these people from Panama would have found out earlier and they would not have had to travel to Medjugorje for nothing. It is an injustice and a sin to hide this truth, even though it be unpleasant, it must be said.

3. The Marian theologian Rene Laurentin behaves in the same manner. He came to visit me around Christmas 1983, and I offered him dinner. He asked me why I did not believe in the apparitions. I told him that according to the diary of Vicka and the words of the other "seers" this 'Lady' has been speaking against the bishop. Laurentin quickly responded: "Don't publish that, because there are many pilgrims and converts there." I was scandalized by this statement of this well known Mariologist! This has remained Laurentin's position: to hide the truth, and defend falsehoods. He has written around ten books on the topic of Medjugorje and in almost all of them, the truth and bishop Zanic are under fire. He knows well what people like to hear. Therefore, it was relatively easy for him to find those who would believe him. "A veritate quidam auditum avertent, ad fabulas autem convertentur" - They will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths (2 Tim 4:4). The "seers" and defenders of Medjugorje led by Laurentin, from the very outset have seen that the modern believer in a communist country very quickly believes in everything "miraculous", in apparent miraculous healings and apparent messages from "Our Lady".

4. The main players on which Medjugorje rests are retired archbishop F. Franic, R. Laurentin, Lj. Rupcic OFM, Amorth, Rastrelli S.J., and some franciscans and charismatics from all over the world. Many books have been quickly published, as well as articles, brochures, films and souvenirs. On the move are tourist agencies, pilgrimages, prayer books written by two franciscans Vego and Prusina who were thrown out of the OFM Order, published in many languages in 600,000 copies, fanatical prayer groups that are inspired by the apparent messages of Our Lady and the great motivator of all - money. No one even mentions that which throws doubt on the "apparitions". The bishop has been warning everyone, but the 'machinery' has been breaking forward. There have been mentioned 50 miraculous healings, then 150, 200, 300 and so on. Laurentin chose 56 dossiers and sent them to the "Bureau medical de Lourdes". Dr. Mangiapan responded in their bulletin Avril/84, that these dossiers have no practical value, and they cannot be used or considered as serious proofs of the apparitions in Medjugorje. Much has been written about the healing of Diane Basile. I sent the dossier to Dr. Mangiapan who studied the case and then took the position: "opinion plus que reservee". It is a case of sclerosis multiplex. More will be written about this later in a book.

5. The credibility of the "seers" - Mirjana Dragicevic. One month after the beginning of the "apparitions" I went to Medjugorje to question the "seers". I asked each of them to take an oath on the cross and demanded that they must speak the truth. (This conversation and oath was recorded on tape). The first one was Mirjana: "We went to look for our sheep when at once..." (The associate pastor in the parish interrupted and told me that they actually went out to smoke, which they hid from their parents). "Wait a minute Mirjana, you're under oath. Did you go out to look for your sheep?" She put her hand over her mouth, "forgive me, we went out to smoke." She then showed me the watch on which the "miracle" occurred because the hands of the watch had gone haywire. I took the watch to a watch expert who said that the watch had certainly fallen and become disordered. After bringing the watch back to her I told her not to mention that a miracle occurred. Yet, on cassettes taped later on, she went on to speak of how a miracle occurred with the watch and that initially they had gone out to search for their sheep.

Later on, she spoke that Our Lady said that all faiths are equal. How much can we believe Mirjana?

6. Vicka Ivankovic is the main "seer" from the beginning and through her the creator of Medjugorje, Rev. Tomislav Vlasic OFM, has launched the main portion of falsehoods regarding Medjugorje. He presented himself to the Pope in a letter May 13, 1984 as follows: "I am Rev. Tomislav Vlasic, the one according to Divine Providence who guides the seers of Medjugorje." It would have been better for him that he withdrew himself into the 'desert' and that he remained silent, because his past speaks enough about him. Vicka spoke and wrote much, and in so doing she fell into many contradictions. Prof. Nikola Bulat, a member of the first commission, questioned her and wrote a 60 page study on her. He numbered all the illogicalities and falsehoods of her diary. Here I will only mention the bloody handkerchief. Word spread around that there was a certain taxi driver who came across a man who was bloody all over. This man gave this taxi driver a bloodied handkerchief and he told him to: "throw this in the river". The driver went on and then he came across a woman in black. She stopped him and asked him to give her a handkerchief. He gave her his own, but she said: "not that one but the bloody handkerchief." He gave her the handkerchief she wanted and she then said: "If you had thrown it into the river the end of the world would have occurred now." Vicka Ivankovic wrote in her diary that they asked Our Lady if this event was true and she said that it was, and along with this, "that man covered, with blood was my son Jesus, and I (Our Lady) was that woman in black."

What kind of theology is this? From this it appears that Jesus wants to destroy the world if a handkerchief is thrown into a river and it's Our Lady who saves the world!

7. On the 14th of January 1982, Vicka, Marija and little Jakov came to visit me. Vicka began to speak quite nervously because she was speaking falsehoods. She said: "Our Lady sent us to you to tell you that you are too harsh with the franciscans..." In what way? "We don't know!" Two franciscan chaplains in Mostar, Ivica Vego and Ivan Prusina, which the bishop sought to remove from Mostar because of disorder and disobedience towards the faithful of the newly established cathedral-parish in Mostar, defended themselves before their superiors by saying that they would not leave Mostar because Our Lady through Vicka, told them not to leave. This was mentioned to me by a member of the franciscan Provincial council. I asked Vicka at our meeting: "Did Our Lady mention anything about the Mostar chaplains, Vego and Prusina?" "She did not, we don't know them" responded all three. Our conversation lasted 30 minutes and I taped all of it. I repeated the question of the chaplains of Mostar several times and they always responded: "We don't know them." Later on, I found from Vicka's diary that they knew the chaplains very well. It was clear to me that they were lying, yet I did not want to mention this to them in order to maintain their confidence during our conversations.

8. On the 4th of April 1982, Vicka and Jakov came to visit me "sent by Our Lady". The chaplains of Mostar, Vego and Prusina were thrown out of the franciscan Order OFM in January of that year by the superiors of their Order. Many followers of Medjugorje and "Our Lady" defended the expelled chaplains. During our conversation Vicka very excitedly began: "The last time we were with you we didn't tell you everything and for this reason Our Lady scolded us. We spoke of many things and therefore we forgot..." "What did you forget?" "Our Lady told us to tell you that those chaplains Vego and Prusina are priests and therefore they can celebrate Mass just as other priests." "Wait a minute. Did Our Lady tell you this before our last meeting?" "Yes, that's why she sent us to you. Last time I spoke of many other things and I forgot to mention this." During that previous meeting I asked her directly several times if Our Lady mentioned anything about the two chaplains. It was clear to me that Vicka was lying and this was proof enough for me not to trust her statements. Marija and Jakov also participated in this lie.

9. Towards the end of January 1983, Rev. Grafenauer, a jesuit priest, came to me with the intention of searching out the phenomenon of Medjugorje. He listened to 20 cassettes and after having listened to them he said that he would not go to Medjugorje because he concluded that Our Lady is not there. Upon my insistence he went to Medjugorje and after a few days he came back as a "convert" of Rev. Vlasic. He brought some documents, threw them on the table and said: "Here's what Our Lady wishes to tell you!" I understood this as a plot to overthrow the bishop with the help of Our Lady. The documents he brought were a compilation of Vicka's diary, the parish chronicle and hand written documents. For this reason it is difficult to establish where they were first written. Vicka and those who defend Medjugorje hid this from the bishop for more than a year. Here are a few quotes:

Dec 19, 1981. "Our Lady said that the bishop is to blame for the disorder in Herzegovina. She also said that Rev. Ivica Vego is not to blame, yet that the bishop has all authority. Our Lady said that he (Vego) remain in Mostar and not leave.

January 3, 1982. All the "seers" together asked Our Lady about Rev. Ivica Vego. Our Lady answered: "Ivica is innocent. If they throw him out of the franciscan Order, may he remain courageous... Ivica is innocent." Our Lady repeated this three times.

January 11, 1982. We asked again about the two chaplains of Mostar and Our Lady repeated twice that which she mentioned earlier regarding them. Note: January 14, 1982 Vicka was at the Chancery office with the bishop and at that meeting she mentioned that she did not know Vego.

January 20, 1982. The children asked what Rev. Ivica Vego and Rev. Ivan Prusina were to do now that they were thrown out of the Order. Our Lady answered: "They are innocent. The bishop was harsh in his decision. They can stay."

April 15, 1982. Vicka asked Our Lady a question. "Could you generally tell me everything about Ivica Vego and Ivan Prusina?" Our Lady smiled at the first and then she said: "They are innocent." She repeated twice that: "The bishop has made a mistake... let them remain in Mostar... they can say mass sometimes but may they be careful to stay away from attention until things calm down. They have no faults..."

April 16, 1982. Yesterday while we were with Our Lady we asked her if we could pray an Our Father for them (Vego and Prusina). She answered immediately: "Yes you can", and she prayed with them. When we finished the prayer she smiled and said to me: "Those two are constantly on your mind." I answered: "You're right". April 26, 1982. Our Lady: "The bishop has no real love of God in his heart. Regarding the bishop, may Ivica and Ivan remain calm. What the bishop is doing is contrary to the will of God, yet he can do as he pleases, but one day justice as you have never seen shall be revealed."

10. Vicka never denied that Our Lady said these things or that she wrote these things down in her diary. The assurance and authenticity of this can be best confirmed by a cassette taped by Rev. Grafenauer during his talks with Vicka and Marija. He left taped copies of the cassette in the parish of Medjugorje, with the bishop and he left one with the Bishop's Conference in Zagreb. The cassette should be heard!

A conversation with Vicka: "The bishop has the duty to judge whether or not this is Our Lady..." said Rev. Grafenauer.
Vicka: He can judge as he wants, but I know it's Our Lady.

Graf: The Church says that those who are confident in themselves, that this itself is a sign that Our Lady is not in question here.
Vicka: Let those who are doubtful remain doubtful, I'm not.
Graf: This is not a good sign... you once told the bishop that he should listen more to Our Lady than to the Pope.
Vicka: Yes I did.
Graf: This means that the bishop should listen to you more than to the Pope.
Vicka: No, not me.
Graf: But the bishop doesn't know what the phenomenon is and perhaps it is not Our Lady.
Vicka: Yes it is Our Lady.
Graf: You told the bishop that he is to blame and that those two (Vego and Prusina) are innocent and that they can perform their priestly duties.
Vicka: Yes I did.
Graf: Can they hear confession? Did Our Lady mention this?
Vicka: Yes.
Graf: If Our Lady said this and the Pope says that they cannot...
Vicka: The Pope can say what he wants, I'm telling it as it is!
Graf: See, this is how one can come to the conclusion that this is not Our Lady... when the Pope says no, they cannot celebrate Mass, and they cannot hear confessions, and then on the other hand, Our Lady says they can do both, this cannot be!
Vicka: I know what is right (What Our Lady said).
Graf: This cannot be true. I would put my hand into fire to testify that this is not Our Lady speaking. When a person has a greater gift there also exists a greater danger that the devil could be at work upon this person.
What a degrading humiliation of Our Lady! From these statements she is destroying obedience in the Church, obedience to the bishop, to the heads of the OFM Order, and to the Holy father. She is defending Vego!

11. The apparition in Cerno. Cerno is a village not far away from Medjugorje. The eighth day after the beginning of the apparitions in Medjugorje there was an "apparition" near Cerno. The "seers" told Rev. Jozo Zovko, the pastor of Medjugorje at the time, of this happening the evening of the event. They mentioned that Our Lady said four or five times that she would appear three more days, that is, on July 1, 2, and 3rd. This was taped on cassette and publicized by Rev. Ivo Sivric OFM. The cassette was reproduced. A few years later Rev. Janko Bubalo published a book titled: A thousand meetings with Our Lady. This is a book of conversations with Vicka. Vicka does not mention this event, therefore Rev. Bubalo asked whether or not Our Lady said "only three more days". Vicka responded that she does not remember!

It is evident that Vicka is speaking falsehoods and that Our Lady cannot say that which Vicka is saying. Vicka is fabricating these statements. Should this remain unknown to the rest of the world? Evil (such as speaking falsehoods about Our Lady) must not be done in order to obtain a good (such as pilgrimages, prayers, etc.)

12. "Seer" Marija Pavlovic. Here is a written account of the taped conversation between Rev. Grafenauer and Marija:
Graf: Did Our Lady say that the bishop is to blame?
Marija: Yes.
Graf: Did she say that Vego and Prusina were not to blame?
Marija: Yes.
Graf: When Our Lady says that the bishop is to blame this immediately appears suspicious and we could conclude that this is not Our Lady speaking. The seers are apparently spreading word around that the bishop is to blame.
Marija: Our Lady told us this.
Archbishop F. Franic, Laurentin and many others know all this, yet they remain silent. What kind of theology can accept these statements by Our Lady through the declarations of the "seers" that their Teacher, Pastor and Liturgist - the bishop, who has legally received his duty from Christ through the Church, has no love of God in his heart, that he is declared a sinner throughout the world, that he should convert and that prayers will be said in Medjugorje for this intention? There were even statements made that Jesus himself would pray for the bishop so that the bishop would believe and then take better action in favor of the events in Medjugorje. To say that the bishop is to wait for Our Lady's judgment is an absurdity. It is an offense against Our Lady the Mother of the Church. God knows that I am not without sin, and that Our Lady could criticize me, yet God alone is the judge. I have never been reprimanded or warned by the Holy See for my episcopal service.

13. The creator of Medjugorje, Rev. Tomislav Vlasic, amongst other things has published and distributed in many languages a seventeen page booklet titled: A calling in the Marian year, Milano, March 25 1988. This regards the founding of a prayer group for young men and women (from Medjugorje) who would live together (Parma, Italy - something which has been unheard of in the history of the Church!) They would be the ones who would save the world. Our Lady apparently gave Rev. Vlasic and Agnes Heupel (a German woman supposedly healed in Medjugorje) the inspiration to establish and to lead this community together in a manner similar to saints Francis and Clare, as described by Vlasic. In order for this action to succeed, Rev. Vlasic asked Marija to add "her witnessing" on three pages. She is a member of this community and on April 21, 1988 she wrote: "Sento il bisogno..." - I feel the need... As can be concluded, Our Lady has given a set program to this community of the "Queen of Peace" and she leads this community through Rev. Vlasic and Agnes who give messages to the community. "I have been in the community for a month and a half. I have apparitions and Our Lady leads me in the mystery of suffering which is the foundation of this community. I must write down everything and publish this once Our Lady tells me to. I have understood God's plan which he began through Mary in the parish of Medjugorje." This quote is taken from pages 15 and 16 of Rev. T. Vlasic's text. The defenders of Medjugorje quickly understood that this community of young men and women living, sleeping, working and praying together in the same house would eventually destroy themselves and Medjugorje. Therefore, they sent their Provincial, Rev. Jozo Vasilj to Parma. He went together with the bishop of Parma, Msgr. B. Cochi and Rev. T. Vlasic to the Congregation in Rome. They were told there that the Church cannot allow such a community to exist and then Rev. T. Vlasic was ordered to dissolve the community and to return to Herzegovina. Vlasic did not obey immediately, yet he returned later. This is what was explained to me by Rev. Jozo Vasilj regarding the community.

14. The same Marija Pavlovic made another public declaration on the 11th of July 1988. On a single sheet of paper, distributed in the same manner as the earlier statement, she mentioned: "I feel a moral obligation to declare before God, Our Lady (the Madonna), and the Church... from the text of A calling... it appears as if I gave Our Lady's answer to the question put forward by Rev. T. Vlasic, etc. I now declare that I never sought from Our Lady (the Madonna) a confirmation of the work of Rev. Vlasic and Agnes Heupel... my first declaration... does not correspond to the truth. Rev. Vlasic suggested to me a few times (N.B.) that I as one of the "seers" should write a declaration which the world expects... Everything I said does not correspond to the truth. This I declare before the Blessed Sacrament." Marija Pavlovic.

15. Marija does not deny that she gave her first statement. Rev. T. Vlasic sought statements from her many times and this obviously turns out to be manipulating with one of the "seers". So we can conclude that Marija has consciously spoken falsehoods on the first or second occasion. She has lied and this she attributes to Our Lady. It is evident that she (Marija) is a toy in Rev. Vlasic's hands. This was clear to me even earlier yet up till now, I didn't have material proof to back this up. Rev. T. Vlasic has manipulated with all the "seers" in the same fashion. Under this type of manipulation Marija saw how Our Lady cried when someone mentioned the bishop at a prayer meeting: "From Our Lady's eye flowed forth a great tear. The tear ran down her face and disappeared into a cloud under her feet. Our Lady began to cry and she ascended to heaven crying" (Aug. 22, 1984). An obvious fabrication by Rev. T. Vlasic intended to frighten the bishop.

Why don't the defenders of Medjugorje mention these two statements of Marija? Must these "ugly" things be hidden from the world because there are many "conversions" in Medjugorje? (Laurentin). Laurentin writes in his book Dernieres Nouvelles 3, on page 27, that a certain monsignor asked Marija to pray for a message from Our Lady for his priests. Marija answered: "Our Lady said that they should read Laurentin's book and spread it around"!

It is a terrible sin to attribute one's own lies to Our Lady. When the world learns of this, who will believe them anymore? They have been discredited. No one can destroy this material evidence. It will be reproduced and spread by word of mouth. I know well that there are many who disregard such material. They accept the events of Medjugorje irrationally, with great emotion and with personal interests. They are blind, but these documents will remain a part of the history of the Church and of Mariology.

16. The "seer" Ivan Dragicevic. Regarding the "great sign", Vicka mentions this 13 times in the diaries, 14 times it is mentioned in the Parish chronicle, 52 times on the cassettes, and innumerous times in talks with the bishop. In the spring of 1982, I asked the "seers" to write everything they knew about the sign without making the "secret" public. The way I suggested they do it was to write down information on paper in duplicate. Then this would be sealed in an envelope and a copy would remain with them, and one with the bishop. When the "sign" occurs, then we would open the envelopes and see whether or not the "sign" was predicted. Rev. Tomislav Vlasic, pastor of Medjugorje at the time, told the "seers" to say that Our Lady said not to write anything down for nobody, and so they didn't. Ivan Dragicevic was in the franciscan minor seminary at Visoko, Bosna at that time and he wasn't informed of this on time. Two members of the first Commission, Dr. M. Zovkic and Dr. Z. Puljic (now bishop of Dubrovnik), went to visit Ivan in Visoko. They gave him a sheet of paper which was somewhat greenish in color with questions typed out on it. Ivan wrote down the content of the "sign", dated the document and signed it in their presence without a word or any sign of fear. A few years later, Laurentin wrote that Ivan told him personally that he wrote absolutely nothing down on that sheet of paper and that he tricked the two members of the Commission. On March 7, 1985, three members of the Commission went to ask Ivan if what Laurentin writes is true. Ivan said it was true and that they could freely go ahead and open the envelope in the chancery office because in it they will only find a white sheet of paper. They came back to Mostar where the Commission was having a meeting and before all the members, they opened the envelope. In the envelope on a greenish sheet of paper they found written the content of the sign: Our Lady said that she would leave a sign. The content of this sign I reveal to your trust. The sign is that there will be a great shrine in Medjugorje in honor of my apparitions, a shrine to my image. When will this occur? The sign will occur in June.

Dated: May 9, 1982. Seer: Ivan Dragicevic.
After having heard this lie, the members of the first Commission wanted to end all further work, yet they stayed on. Within a few days of this event Rev. Slavko Barbaric OFM, took the "seers" somewhere and instructed them all, including Ivan, to write a declaration that Ivan did not disclose the sign!
Ivan sent messages from Our Lady to the bishop. On April 24, 1984 Our Lady said the following regarding the bishop: "My son Jesus is praying for him so that he (the bishop) would believe and therefore take better action in favor of Medjugorje." She added: "How would he react if my son were to appear on earth? Would he then believe?"
Regarding the Commission, Our Lady says only the following: "Pray, pray, pray! Think over and live the messages I have given and you will see why I have come." Ivan Dragicevic, Medjugorje.

17. "Tell the bishop that I seek a quick conversion from him towards the happenings in Medjugorje before it's too late. May he accept these events with plenty of love, understanding and great responsibility. I want him to avoid creating conflicts between priests and to stop publicizing their negative behaviors. The Holy father has given all bishops the duty to fulfill certain tasks in their respective dioceses. Among these, bishops are to solve problems and arguments. The bishop is the spiritual father of all the parishes in Herzegovina. For this reason I seek his conversion towards these events. I am sending my second-last warning. If what I seek does not come about, my judgment and the judgment of my Son await the bishop. This means that he has not found the way to my Son Jesus." Our Lady told me to give you this message.

18. Ivan kept his own diary of the apparitions for a couple of years. This has not been revealed as Vicka's has not, nor the writings of the others. These are original fonts of the events, yet they are full of naive statements, clear falsehoods and absurdities. They are good proof of the fact that the "seers" do not see Our Lady or receive messages from her. These messages were written by someone else and they were given to Ivan for him to sign as his own. When Rev. Grafenauer brought excerpts from Vicka's diary to me, I later on asked Vicka to bring her diary to me. She wrote to me on May 7, 1983: "I have found out that excerpts from my diary are being distributed..." This was a very important point which the Commission accepted as good argument that the diary was written by Vicka herself or that she considered it her own. Later on, Rev. T. Vlasic, also came to this conclusion, and therefore in 1984, he declared before the Commission and myself, that Vicka did not write that letter to me but rather, that a franciscan did (probably Vlasic himself) and that he gave it to her to sign! There are many similar examples of manipulation, but none have such clear cut evidence as this.

19. Secrets and secrecy. From the beginning of the "apparitions", the "seers", (obviously having been instructed in order to escape being controlled) have said that "Our Lady" speaks differently to each of them. When the "secrets" were fabricated, each was to have his/her own (60 in total) and no one was to reveal them to anyone. Mirjana and Ivanka received a letter from Our Lady which nobody was to read. In the beginning there were no moments of ecstasy nor avoiding the community. They spoke publicly and were spoken to. They only avoided the Commission. After having admitted that they were consulted, they asked "Our Lady" if they could write down the content of the "great sign" on paper and seal it in an envelope. "Our Lady" responded: NO! Ivan though, wrote down the sign and later on he said (which has been taped as well) that "Our Lady" did not scold him for doing this. The secrets were to be given to a priest (a franciscan). Why were they not given to the Commission, the bishop, or to the Pope? In the first months they often said that the "great sign" would come: very soon, quickly, and so on... When the first year ended, they changed their tone. Vicka wrote "Our Lady's life" for a year and a half, and this is a great secret which shall be published "when Our Lady permits." The Commission asked for this diary about Our Lady, yet "Our Lady" did not comply with their demand. Can the Commission just see the diary without taking it or opening it? No it cannot! This turns out to be a plot to make fools out of all those who are naive enough to wait for this sign until the end of the world. I have already declared earlier and now I repeat the same declaration that if Our Lady leaves a sign which the "seers" are speaking of, I'll make a pilgrimage from Mostar to Medjugorje (30 km) on my knees and beg the franciscans and the "seers" for forgiveness.

20. Slander against the bishop. "The bishop also believed in the beginning". This is not true! While the communists were persecuting the franciscans, the "seers" and pilgrims, I defended all of them and therefore I did not change my mind "because of threats by the Republic commission or because the diocesan priests sought this from me." This is simply fabricated slander by many. While I was publicly defending the imprisoned franciscans, Rev. Jozo Zovko said during the investigations that the bishop is a 'wolf' and a 'hypocrite'. These are the exact words written down in his sentence. Zovko's lawyer, Vukovic, asked through a colleague what I had done to Zovko to deserve such heavy accusations. Rev. T. Vlasic often put "Our Lady's" words into the mouths of the "seers", such as "Our Lady's" affirmation that satan (in this case the bishop) is out to destroy her plan. He wrote this more clearly in a letter to friends in the Vatican. I complained about this accusation that he has called the bishop satan, in front of Vlasic and his Provincial. He did not deny my objection but rather, he justified his words by saying that he wrote this while under the influence of extreme emotion. A person can say something while under emotion, but this cannot be written down and translated into foreign languages.

21. By their fruits. The most common argument of the defenders of Medjugorje is that the fruits of the events in Medjugorje prove that Our Lady is appearing there. Those who know a bit more than the pilgrims who come to Medjugorje say: the fruits of the staunchest defenders of Medjugorje show that they themselves do not believe in the apparitions. If all the "ugly things" could be made public then surely the answer would be clearly negative to everyone. Yet, Laurentin, Rupcic, Vlasic, Barbaric and others meticulously hide the truth. If the defenders of Medjugorje come across someone who is skeptical of the apparitions, they quickly isolate this person, accuse him of something or declare him mad (J.L. Martin). The majority of the pious public has naively fallen victim of the great propaganda, the talk of the apparitions and healings. These people themselves have become the greatest propaganda for the events. They do not even stop to think that the truth has been hidden by deliberate falsehoods. They do not know that not one miraculous healing has occurred that could have been verified by competent experts and institutions such as the "Bureau medical de Lourdes". No one knows of any healed from Herzegovina. Everyone knows that little Daniel, old Jozo Vasilj, Venka Brajcic and others cited in the first books about Medjugorje were not healed.

22. Promises of healings are characteristic of the events. When they don't occur as promised, then they are denied because they were never taped or written down on paper. There have been many promises that have ended tragically. What interests us is whether or not "Our Lady" is giving these promises, or whether or not they are thought up by the "seers". The tragic end of Marko Blazevic as described by the retired archbishop of Belgrade, Msgr. Turk, says much regarding "promises" of healing. The archbishop writes May 22, 1984, that he was received as a patient of the Cardiology clinic at the Belgrade hospital. The archbishop received the bed that was previously occupied by Marko Blazevic of Buna, near Mostar, who was to go in for an operation. Mr. Blazevic told the archbishop and many other patients, doctors and hospital staff that Our Lady had promised, through the "seers", that the operation would succeed. A nun who assisted in the operating room, wrote to me later that Blazevic's wife and his daughter spoke to her with a fanatical type of faith in "Our Lady's promise". A certain doctor was also convinced in this promise. The patient did not wake up after the operation. During the operation, a group of patients prayed fervently outside the doors of the operating room. Many spoke of this incident which left many very disappointed and ashamed before people of other faiths and atheists. Rev. T. Vlasic, in his typical fashion of hiding the truth, succeeding in convincing the daughter of the late Mr. Blazevic, to go to the bishop to tell him that Our Lady only told them to pray, not that she promised them that the operation would succeed!!! I told her not to make a liar out of her late father or liars of the others to whom he spoke to.

23. The franciscan and diocesan clergy. The relations between the franciscan and diocesan clergy regarding pastoral duties in the parishes of Herzegovina were established by a Decision of the Holy See in 1899 by the suggestions of the franciscans themselves and then bishop Paskal Buconjic OFM. According to this Decision the parishes were to be divided equally into two groups of 50% of the faithful between the clergy. Since there were no diocesan clergy at the time, the parishes that rightfully belonged to them were in 1923 left to the franciscans "ad nutum S. Sedis". Bishop Cule, the first diocesan bishop of Mostar, in 1948 was sentenced to 11 years and 6 months in jail. He served eight and a half years of this sentence before being released. After his jail term the number of diocesan clergy began to rise. In 1968, the Holy See ordered the franciscans to hand over five parishes to the diocesan clergy. They barely gave two parishes. In 1975 after many years of talks and consultations a Decree of the Holy See was issued regarding the division of parishes in Herzegovina. The franciscans publicly and collectively denounced this Decree even though they administer over 80 % of the faithful in the diocese of Mostar. In 1976, due to disobedience, the hierarchy of the franciscan Province along with then Provincial Silic, lost their authority and since then, the Province has been without its independence, and the General of the Order rules directly over the Province "ad instar". Another penalty was that in 1979, the franciscans from Herzegovina were not allowed to participate in the election of the General. The first point mentioned by the new General of the Order to his brothers in Herzegovina was: 'the development or creation of obedience to, and cooperation with the bishop in Herzegovina'. Disobedience prevails today as before, and "Our Lady" from the beginning has been defending disobedient franciscans. Vicka writes in her diary of the apparitions, that Our Lady said that the bishop is to blame for all the disorder in Herzegovina. (See no. 9). This is repeated many times. The franciscans themselves are divided. The franciscan opposition that defends Medjugorje succeeded in toppling their own "ad instar" superiors that developed good relations with the bishop, and they installed a group that defends Medjugorje. The new Provincial "ad instar", Rev. Jozo Vasilj, did not succeed in creating peace and order amongst his brothers so he escaped to the missions in Zaire and won't come back! (Fruits?!) He has been replaced by the Vice Provincial and the General has called for obedience from all or else the Province shall be abolished. "It is time that everyone take their own personal responsibility before judicial sanctions are made or the Province is abolished." (Acta Ordinis F.M. fasc. 1/89). The Province will not receive its own hierarchy until the Decree is completed. Three visitors of the OFM Order who came to the Province in 1988, said that there is not one franciscan in the Province who is in favor of completing the Decree. This opinion is exaggerated yet still important.

24. This is only a portion of the "good fruits" of the events. The pilgrims, though, only know that the bishop "hates the franciscans". There are a good number of franciscans in the Province who cooperate well with the bishop and these franciscans do not believe in the apparitions either. Some of them have never set foot in Medjugorje.

A number of good franciscans have begged me to write something so that together, we could start a battle against the lies of Medjugorje because they believe that "God will punish us franciscans severely because we have spread lies and falsehoods throughout the world and made money on them".

Of the one hundred diocesan priests in the dioceses of Herzegovina, not one believes in the apparitions. Of the 42 bishops of Yugoslavia (ordinaries, auxiliaries and retired), only one has been outspoken in declaring his belief and has defended the events. Of the 15 members of the first Commission, which was formed by the bishop of Mostar with the help of there(?) bishops and provincials from Yugoslavia, 11 of the members said that there is nothing supernatural in the events of Medjugorje, 2 (franciscans) claimed that the apparitions are authentic, 1 member said that there was something "in nucleo" (in the beginning) and 1 abstained. That which the Commission worked on for three years, the Holy See (contrary to what has been spread by the defenders of Medjugorje) never asked for, or saw, or gave a judgment of. Neither did the Holy See abandon the bishop.

25. From the beginning of the events I warned the franciscans that they must wait for the judgment of the Church, so that together we can search for the truth. The leaders of the events though, had as their aim to bring the masses as soon as possible to Medjugorje, obtain a lot of money for propaganda and use Our Lady for their battle against the bishop. They fabricated miracles regarding the sun. Many pilgrims damaged their eyes from staring into the sun. They cited 50, 150, 200 and 300 healings and they spoke of all sorts of things seeing that the faithful believed everything they said, especially when archbishop F. Franic and Laurentin were there to back them up. The faithful in Medjugorje look upon the events as they are instructed, as is the case in all other places of apparitions be they true or false. The marveling and excitement here has been regarded at times as leading to great blindness and fanaticism.

26. The Italians know well the "story" of Gigliole Ebe Giorgini, the foundress of the false order of "Pia Opera di Gesu Misericordioso". Separated and remarried civilly, she spent time doing quackery. She gathered young women for their order and she received and earned great amounts of money. She had two priests in her service and many houses. She led a double life and had false stigmata which she made herself. Her "sisters" followed her fanatically and they called her Mamma Ebe. She had male vocations as well, but some who left her later on, declared that she led an immoral life. She had many jewels and gold, two yachts, 32 furs, etc. Many in the Church objected to her way of life, while others fanatically defended her, citing good fruits. She even received praise from two bishops. Twice during the night police raided her room in the mother house and they found her in bed with one of her seminarians. A scandal broke out and she was sentenced twice to many years in prison along with a franciscan who was her confessor. The press wrote for years about this scandal. An illicit film was made as well, yet her followers fanatically and blindly defended her even when the order fell apart. According to them, she was a saint who attracted many vocations and this was argument enough for many that from the "fruits" she was obviously inspired by God! Religious blindness is extremely hard to cure. Fanaticism brought the beginning of the heresies in the church, today it's the foundation of sects.

The Protestant pastor Rev. Jim Jones developed a great charitable organization in southern Chicago and he gathered great sums of money and many fanatical followers of his sect. In order to be freer in their work, about 1000 of them, went to Guyana, South America where they established "Jonestown" as their new home. They established a dictatorship and fanatical obedience to their "Messiah". Much was written about terrible things that went on, about the immorality of Jones and how some tried to escape the community but were caught and killed. Then they were without money. Rumors spread that the American army would intervene, so Jones ordered them to retreat to the jungle. Seeing no way out, he called on everyone to give up their lives in order to travel to eternity. Over 900 of them came with cups to a huge pot in order to drink poison and then fell dead. What gave them the strength to commit suicide? Fanaticism! Yet when the Christian faithful hear of apparitions and miracles they easily accept these events as facts without being at all critical of the events. They are then caught up in their blindness and fanaticism. Whatever is spoken is believed automatically, such as, that ordinary rosaries in Medjugorje turn to gold! And people actually believe this!

27. This blindness towards the events in Medjugorje has also caught some priests and bishops. Many priests from Italy, (such as Amorth, Rostral and others), easily could have heard that the bishop, the Commission, the bishops of Yugoslavia, a portion of the franciscans and all the diocesan priests do not believe in the events. Yet, they avoided the truth, even though I received everyone who inquired about the events and gave them my time. I'm particularly surprised by the lack of collegiality by some bishops. Nobody has to accept my judgment, but everyone is obligated by conscience to study well the events of Medjugorje before taking a portion, especially if that person has a position of authority in the Church, as bishops do.

"What have they done to you Our Lady!" For nine years they have been dragging you along as a tourist attraction. They have been speaking with you whenever it pleased them, as if you were a bank teller. They have fabricated messages, and they say that you come and appear there, but beyond their own arguments they have nothing to prove that what they say is true. The whole world is in expectation of a "great sign" and the naive still wait and believe. Unfortunately this false sensation will bring great disgrace and scandal upon the Church. Those who lead the events are not converting even though the threat of the abolition of the Province by the General hangs over them.

This is only a small compilation of that which I would like to write about. Hopefully, I will have the opportunity to expand further, with precise documentation and publish a book on these events.

28. There are many prayers and pious activities in Medjugorje. Some say that there have been conversions as well. I have received indeed many truly touching letters, and I feel sorry for those who will sooner or later be disappointed. But there has also been fanaticism, superstition and misinformation in the events of Medjugorje. I have also received many rude accusations in the mail which I cannot mention, all in the name of the "Queen of Peace". That which is positive in these events cannot justify the falsehoods and lies that have been spread in order to win the world over for God. Jesus said: "I have come into the world to witness to the truth." The Church would easily be able to attract the masses if it dropped the sixth commandment, if divorce were allowed, if it let everyone believe and do what they wanted. But, Jesus went on the cross for the truth, and the martyrs gave up their lives for the truth. St. Paul writes to his faithful: "If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed." (Gal 1,9). Today, many prayer groups all over the world pray from Rev. Ivica Vego's prayer book and meditate over the supposed messages of Our Lady as it these things were more important than the Bible and the teaching Magisterium of the Church. I do believe despite these events, th

08-01-2010 om 23:08 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

Jozo Zovko, the living Saint of Medjugorje There is a big controversy in the Roman Catholic Church, but it is not so that all priest have sex-affairs with little Choir- or Altarboys Thank God that there are known hetrosexal priests as well, and one of these outstanding persons is father Jozo Zovko o.f.m., the curate in Medjugorje when the apparitions of the Mother of God (known as the ‘Gospa’ started in June 1981. The Utmost Holy immediately recognized the greatness of Father Jozo. Just a few moths after Her first apparition, on October 21 1981 the’ Gospa’ said that this Franciscan Zovko is a ‘ saint’. It was a Belgian Medjugorje-fan, called Mark Waterinckx, who started a sleazy campaign about assumed sex affairs of Father Jozo. Waterinckx knowledge was only based on hearsay about hetero sex-affairs with adult woman only. Without knowing the reason why Jozo was suspended,. he published about it in French, Italian, English, German, Dutch, Croatian. Claiming he know all bout these suspensions of Jozo. Since the motives for the sanctions against Zovko were not made public, we must try to answer delicate questions. More interesting might be to find an answer on what fuelled the Belgian Waterinckx to start such an international hate campaign against Father Jozo. Resulting in temporarily suspensions of clerical services by bishop Zanic in 1989 and by bishop Peric in 1994. That Jozo has been suspended only two times, can hardly be marked as sound reason to proclaim him a sex maniac, as Waterinckx does. Recognized Saints as Padre Pio were suspended many more times.. Before pointing at Father Jozo Zovko, you must know that the Belgian Mr. Waterinckx was a real Medjugorje-freak, who went no less than 24 times to this sanctuary near Mostar to venerate the apparitions of the Gospa. He experienced there “a kind of collective psychosis” and developed “a fanatic faith, which does not tolerate any contradiction.” So you are warned. Waterinckx lowered himself to coarse lies, manipulations and flinging mud at Jozo Zovko. The title of an anonym article about the “Waterinckx Investigation” on the website of the extreme conservative Unity Publishing was “The ‘ Saint ‘ Jozo Zovko And His Many Sex-Affairs” You have to deal with evidence as: “In 1986 already a Dutch business-man who lived in Yugoslavia said to Mark Waterinckx that Jozo had a special interest for beautiful ladies “ As if this is a sin, and great secret. And who is that anonymous Dutch businessman? How he found out? On the suspencion of Jozo in 1989 by bishop Zanic we read: “Officially it was not mentioned, but insiders do know”. Yeah, guess who is this insider? Right! Mr. Waterinckx himself! As: “Bishop Peric himself spoke during a tape-recorded interview with Mark Waterinckx on August 4 1997 about these 2 suspensions”. We do not learn what Peric said about the sexlife of Jozo, just that he “later repeated (his interview on tape) in letters” to a Dutch villagepriest “and to the Rector of the Basilica National Shrine of Our Lady in Washington” and that as “a result of these 2 last letters, it was forbidden to Jozo Zovko even to enter the church”. And that on October 15 1996 “the bishop of Mostar had confirmed to Mark Waterinckx by letter the suspensions of Frs. Jozo Zovko and Leonard Orec” and more smoke, but still no word about why Father Jozo was suspended. This article puts Waterinckx in a specialist-position with even more smoke. “In 1994 already Mgr. Peric had sent the ‘declarata’ to Jozo himself and warned all dioceses of Bosnia-Hercegovina and put the official publication in his diocesan bulletin “ Crkva na Kamenu “ (“ The Church on the Rock”)”. Very interesting, but why? The anonym article about ‘ Saint ‘ Jozo Zovko And His Many Sex-Affairs” states that Jozo was since 1984 Mark’s confessor. “At that time Mark was shocked and scandalized by such a slander. But later more and more such rumours came to his ears.” So in the summer of 1989 an American woman came to Waterinckx “and told him with all details how Jozo had sexually assaulted her”. This American lived with three other girls in the parishhousing of Zovko in Tihaljina, a village 32 km from the sanctuary in Medjugorje. A rather safe place for girls, as most of the priest there are at least latent homosexual and heavy into penitention. There is a local saying: If you like to suffer, go to Tihaljina. Instead of informing the police about this assault, Waterinckx went the next day to Jozo to tell him what the American woman told him. Zovko denied everything but was “pale and in a terrible state”. he was terrified and “ lied 3 times” about the girl. More interesting is the statement that the Franciscan lived with “4 young girls (!)” in his parish of Tihaljina. According to the article one of those four stated that nothing had happened, but “Mark was very worried about Jozo’s behavior.” So the next day Waterinckx “decided to walk (partially barefoot) the 32 km. to Tihaljina.” When he arrived, Jozo “was cynical” about the “severe burns of Mark’s feet ( what resulted in 10 days of hospital)” and since then “Jozo will say that Mark and all the girls and women who accuse him are crazy.” What else can you say on all this hearsay? We wanna know facts, not whispering! Mark Waterinckx however, did not helped the girl to legal action against the of rape accused priest, but told the story to the curate of Medjugorje,” but he “seemed unconcerned”. More concerning is the serious scandalizing of the secret of confession. The unknown author of the article: “But meanwhile the American girl had told her nightmare to her confessor, the American Fr. Filip Pavic”, who also refused the girl to undertake legal action, but contacted Waterinckx “and told him that he had already heard different similar accusations against Jozo earlier.” So we are involted in sleazy accusations in a so called “Jozo’s sex-problem”.Also the American Pavic “really puzzled”, refused to undertake legal action. Instead he told another priest about what he heard. “who immediately shouted 2 times: He did it again!” according to this anonymous article. Waterinxk continued to spread the rumors about Jozo. “When Mark spoke later to Frs. Ljudevit Rupcic and Slavko Barbaric” and “these 2 Franciscans seemed to be very embarrassed”. So they just seem to be? Who wrote this article? What is the reason that Waterinkcx refused to undertake legal. Why this raped American woman did not undertake action against her assaulter? . The more as, according to Mark Waterinkcx, there are many more “Sex Problems in Medjugorje.” This article contributed by Jane Turner.

unitypub@unitypublishing.com

There is a big controversy around Fr. Jozo Zovko o.f.m. He was the curate in Medjugorje when the ‘ apparitions’ started in June 1981. Already on October 21 1981 the’ Gospa’ said that Zovko is a ‘ saint’. But in reality this Franciscan has been suspended already twice. A first time by bishop Zanic on August 23 1989(diocesan letter Nr. 622/89) and a second time by bishop Peric on June 14 1994 (diocesan letter Nr. 423/94).

Many Medjugorje-fans go crazy when they hear about these suspensions of their ‘ saint’, but nobody has the courage to put these two questions to Fr. Jozo : 1- Is it true that you have been suspended ? 2- For what reason have you been suspended ? Let’s now try to answer these delicate questions.

The fact that Jozo has been suspended has already been published in many languages i.e. french, italian, english, german, dutch… in more than 10 occasions. Mark Waterinckx, who went 24 times to Medjugorje, has this list. Even the French priest and big promoter of Medjugorje, Fr. René Laurentin, wrote in his book “ Dernières Nouvelles de Medjugorje “The 15 of June 1996 on p.34 that, since the motives for the severe sanctions against Zovko were not made public, it must be serious. Also Fr. Slavko Barbaric (another Franciscan already declared ‘ saint’ by the Gospa one day after his death !) confirmed in a tape-recorded interview with Mark Waterinckx on August 8 1997 that Jozo was suspended twice.

Bishop Peric himself spoke during a tape-recorded interview with Mark Waterinckx on August 4 1997 about these 2 suspensions, what he later repeated in letters to the Dutch priest Fr. Rudo Franken on February 7 2000 (prot. 131/2000) and to the Rector of the Basilica National Shrine of Our Lady in Washington, Mgr. Michael Bransfield on November 18 2002 (prot. 1942/2002). As a result of these 2 last letters, it was forbidden to Jozo Zovko even to enter the church. Already on October 15 1996 (prot. 1405/96) the bishop of Mostar had confirmed to Mark Waterinckx by letter the suspensions of Frs. Jozo Zovko and Leonard Orec.

In 1994 already Mgr. Peric had sent the ‘declarata’ to Jozo himself and warned all dioceses of Bosnia-Hercegovina and put the official publication in his diocesan bulletin “ Crkva na Kamenu “ (“ The Church on the Rock”)

Second question : Why has Jozo been suspended in 1989 by bishop Zanic ? Officially it was not mentioned, but insiders do know. In 1986 already a dutch business-man who lived in Yugoslavia said to Mark Waterinckx “ that Jozo had a special interest for beautiful ladies “

At that time Mark was shocked and scandalized by “ such a slander “. But later more and more such rumours came to his ears. In the summer of 1989 an American girl came to him and told him with all details how Jozo had sexually assaulted her. Next day Mark went to Tihaljina to confront Jozo with this story. Zovko denied everything but was pale and in a terrible state. He trembled and accused his good friend Mark ( since 1984 he was Mark’s confessor) of bringing him in such a situation while the church was full of pilgrims waiting for his service. He lied 3 times about the girl and let Anka swear that nothing had happened. Anka was one of the 4 young girls (!) who lived together with this Franciscan in that time in the parish of Tihaljina… Mark was very worried about Jozo’s behavior.

Next day, after praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament in Medjugorje, he decided to walk (partially barefoot) the 32 km. to Tihaljina. But this time Jozo had regained his composure. In spite of the severe burns of Mark’s feet ( what resulted in 10 days of hospital) , Jozo was cynical and laughed at him. Since then, Jozo will say that Mark and all the girls and women who accuse him are crazy. When Mark told the whole story to the then curate of Medjugorje, Fr. Leonard Orec, this collegue of Jozo seemed unconcerned. But meanwhile the American girl had told her nightmare to her confessor, the American Fr. Filip Pavic.

This Franciscan contacted Mark and told him that he had already heard different similar accusations against Jozo earlier. Also Pavic was really puzzled and told about Jozo’s sex-problem to Fr. Svetozar Kraljevic, who immediately shouted 2 times : “ He did it AGAIN !”

Also this Franciscan had already confronted Jozo with accusations from other women , but Zovko denied everything. When Mark spoke later to Frs. Ljudevit Rupcic and Slavko Barbaric about ‘ Medjugorje’s best kept secret ‘, these 2 Franciscans seemed to be very embarrassed with the whole problem around Jozo.

Bishop Peric told Mark (on tape-recorder) that since it was forbidden by bishop Zanic in 19989 to Jozo to hear confessions and since Jozo still continued, that Jozo was suspended ‘latae sententiae’ (automatically) a divinis because of pertinacious disobedience.

Other Sex Problems in Medjugorje

But Jozo Zovko is not the only Franciscan in Medjugorje having sex-problems. Fr. Tomislav Vlasic ( the creator of Medjugorje, says bishop Zanic), had made Sister Rufina ( Manda Kozul) pregnant already in 1976. The child Toni was born in Germany on January 25 1977.

Crackdown: Pope Benedict XVI has authorised 'severe cautionary and disciplinary measures' against Father Tomislav Vlasic

Manipulated? pilgrims pray in Medjugorje, Bosnia

Strong belief: About 20,000 pilgrims at Medjugorje in 2001 celebrating the twentieth anniversary of when six children said they had seen the virgin there

07-01-2010 om 22:25 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

06-01-2010 om 21:57 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever  

Koningin van de Vrede: in Hrasno of in Medjugorje? Zowel het Bosnische Hrasno als Medjugorje zijn plaatsen van Mariaverering. De ene is erkend, maar onbekend. De andere is niet erkend, maar immens populair. Het lijkt op een strijd om de titel Koningin van de Vrede, vindt Mark Waterinckx. Hrasno wordt ook wel het Fatima van Hercegovina genoemd. Het officieel erkende heiligdom van de Koningin van de Vrede ligt op veertig kilometer van Medjugorje, dat haar eigen Koningin van de Vrede heeft. Hrasno is vier jaar eerder dan het begin van Medjugorje in 1981 opgericht. Medjugorje is nooit door de Heilige Stoel erkend en ook de nationale bisschoppenconferentie en de bisschop van Mostar erkennen de verschijningen in Medjugorje niet. Beide plaatsen vallen onder het bisdom Mostar-Duvno. Hrasno ligt in het bisdom Trebinje. Het bisdom Trebinje had tot 1819 een eigen bisschopszetel. Tot 1890 werd het bisdom toevertrouwd aan de bisschop van Dubrovnik en vervolgens aan de bisschop van Mostar-Duvno die nu de apostolische administrator van Trebinje is. De twee bisdommen functioneren als één geheel onder de bevoegdheid van de bisschop van Mostar. Het idee voor een Mariaheiligdom in Hrasno kwam oorspronkelijk van de lokale pastoor, mgr. Stjepan Batinovic. Vanaf het begin van zijn pastoraat in 1947 wilde hij een ereplaats voor Maria bouwen. Er waren een aantal redenen waarom de pastoor dat wilde. Een eerste reden is historisch van aard. In verband met de voortdurende onrust in het gebied voelde hij de drang voor gebed ter ere van Maria, Koningin van de Vrede. Tegelijkertijd zijn er drie religies in het gebied (katholiek, orthodox en moslim), waardoor het heiligdom interreligieuze dialoog kon bevorden. Een derde reden is cultureel-economisch: om de mensen er van te weerhouden naar het buitenland te emigreren of om ver te moeten reizen voor een bedevaartplaats. OLV Koningin van de Vrede in Hrasno OLV Koningin van de Vrede in Medjugorje In 1957 liet Batinovic op de binnenplaats van de pastorie een kleine grot voor Onze Lieve Vrouw van Lourdes bouwen. In 1975 was hij van plan om een groot heiligdom op de berg Budisavina te bouwen, maar dat ging niet volgens plan. Daarom begon hij prompt de heuvel Gradina naast de kerk van Hrasno voor te bereiden voor zijn project. Uiteindelijk werd het heiligdom van de Koningin van de Vrede in 1977 opgericht. Op 8 mei 1977 zegende de bisschop van Mostar mgr. Cule het nieuwe beeld van Onze Lieve Vrouw Koningin van de Vrede, in aanwezigheid van drie andere bisschoppen, veertig priesters en vijfduizend gelovigen. “De belangrijkste reden hiervan is dat men in Hrasno Onze Lieve Vrouw, Koningin van de Vrede, wilde vragen om verzoening van de mensen die in dit gebied wonen en voor de eenheid van de kerk. De Gospa van Medjugorje neemt het vanaf het begin op voor een aantal Franciscanen die tegen de bisschop van Mostar rebelleren en tegen het decreet "Romanis Ponificibus' door paus Paulus VI van 6 juni 1975,” zegt Mark Waterinckx, die de ontwikkelingen in Medjugorje met een kritisch oog volgt. Waterinckx zegt hierover: “Reeds in de tachtiger jaren, toen ik met de bus op weg was van Medjugorje naar Dubrovnik, had ik net ten noorden van Metkovic, een richtingaanwijzer gezien waarop “heiligdom Koningin van de Vrede Hrasno 20 km" stond. Maar in Medjugorje houdt iedereen zich muisstil over deze plaats.” Mark Waterinckx stelt zo zijn vragen. “Waarom heeft bijvoorbeeld marialoog en Medjugorje-voorstander Rene Laurentin Hrasno nooit vernoemd? Waarom heeft de Gospa van Medjugorje het nooit over Hrasno? Zouden er twee verschillende heiligdommen kunnen zijn met dezelfde titel in dezelfde kerkelijke provincie?” “Op 9 mei 1997 stuurde paus Johannes Paulus II een telegram met gelukwensen voor de twintigste verjaardag van het erkende heiligdom 'Kraljica Mira' in Herzegovina. Hij gaf zijn bijzondere apostolische zegen aan dit 'vero centro di devozione Mariana' (echt centrum van Mariale devotie). Dit moet voor elke Franciscaan in Medjugorje toch wel duidelijk zijn. Eens vroeg ik in Medjugorje aan een Franciscaan om met mij mee te gaan naar Hrasno. Hij weigerde. Waarom? Omdat 'Hrasno een diocesaan Heiligdom is en niet een Franciscaans', zei hij. Heel typisch voor deze vreemde situatie in dit gebied van rivaliteit en fanatisme.” Waterinckx meent dat het er alle schijn van heeft dat in 1981 de Franciscanen het erkende heiligdom in Hrasno hebben overgebracht naar Medjugorje voor aldaar verblijvende valse zieners. “In die tijd waren de paters Vlasic en Slavko Barbaric allebei kapelaans in Capljina, een kleine stad halverwege tussen Medjugorje en Hrasno. Dat kan haast geen toeval zijn.” De Franciscaanse paters en de bisschop van Mostar leveren al jaren een strijd. Naar het idee van Mark Waterinckx wordt Medjugorje hiervoor ingezet. Veel van de Medjugorje-paters zijn op hun vingers getikt, of zelfs gesuspendeerd. Vorig jaar pater Vlasic, de eerste geestelijke leider van de Medjugorje-‘zieners’, door Rome zwaar gestraft voor gewetensmanipulaties, twijfelachtige doctrines, verdacht mysticisme, ongehoorzaamheid, schandalig seksueel wangedrag en verdenking van ketterij en schisma. “Het is merkwaardig dat Maria van Medjugorje in haar boodschappen deze pater altijd bemoedigde in haar boodschappen aan de zieners.”

» link | | 7-3-2009 Waterinckx vervolgt: “De Franciscaan Bozo Rados, kapelaan in Capljina, zei me in 1997: ‘Ik word geleid door de Heilige Geest. Ik heb geen paus nodig, ik heb geen bisschop nodig’. Rados is thans uit de Franciscaanse orde verwijderd door de Franciscaanse Generale Overste in Rome. Het is eveneens merkwaardig dat pater Jozo Zovko, de voormalige pastoor van Medjugorje en beschermeling van de zieners, driemaal werd gesuspendeerd door de bisschoppen van Mostar, maar een ‘heilige’genoemd door de Franciscaanse Maria, nu plots verdwenen is uit de provincie Mostar. Officiëel wegens gezondheidsredenen.”

Medjugorje? Ja, tenzij...

Foto: KN Archief

Vaticaanse Commissie Medjugorje

Foto: AP

The Catholic Herald (UK) (www.catholicherald.co.uk/)

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06-01-2010 om 21:44 geschreven door Vorser-Raadgever